Switzerland's Relish Guitars – the company responsible for the novel aluminum and wood veneer Jane guitar from 2015 – has been working on a new project for over a year. The company's first solid-bodied guitar, the Trinity, now debuts with an instant pickup swapping system.
The pickup swapping system was first introduced last year and has since been rolled out to all of the Relish Guitars range. It allows for regular humbucker-sized pickups to be quickly plugged in and out from the back of the guitar thanks to injection-molded mounting frames with pre-soldered connection points. But Relish instruments are not cheap, putting them – and the pickup swapping technology – beyond the means of many players.
"With the launch of our instant pickup swapping system, we’ve received an overwhelming feedback from guitarists who loved the idea and the possibilities these new functionalities opened up," said Silvan Kueng, Co-Founder and CEO of Relish Brothers AG. "But a Swiss-crafted high-end instrument was simply financially impossible for most. That’s how we came up with the concept of Trinity. We wanted to share this groundbreaking innovation with a larger part of the guitarist community.”
For that to happen, Relish partnered with Indonesia's PT Cort, which will be assembling the guitars. The Trinity's solid basswood body rocks two open slots at the back to allow players to get at, and swap out, the pickups. There's a 24-fret, 25.5-inch scale Canadian maple neck topped with a laurel fingerboard, and, unlike the Jane model with its touch-enabled pickup selection, this guitar comes with a three-way selector.
Relish has a range of pre-mounted pickups available (including P90, PAF, single coil and ceramic humbuckers) for US$299 a pair, or players can send in their favorite pickups for mounting and return.
The Trinity model is available in red, blue or black metallic finish, and is priced at $1,998. But Relish is currently taking pre-sale orders (until January 20, 2020) for a bundle that includes the guitar, a set of Bucker XX Duo pickups, a pair of Relish P90s and a gig bag for $1,699.
Product page: Trinity by Relish
