Decades of tone in one guitar!

Jerry Donahue, doyen of the string benders, and founder member with Will Ray and John Jorgensen of the legendary Hellecasters, is a player whose outstanding talents have seen him feature with artists as diverse as Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, Joan Armatrading, Gerry Rafferty, Robert Plant, Elton John, The Proclaimers, Johnny Hallyday, George Harrison, Cliff Richard, Chris Rea, Warren Zevon, Bonnie Raitt, Hank Marvin, Roy Orbison, Nanci Griffith, The Beach Boys and The Yardbirds. Jerry knows a thing or two about tone, and when the opportunity to cooperate with Fret-King and Trev Wilkinson to create a guitar he could be 100% happy with arose, the gauntlet was thrown down. With its single coil pickups custom wound to Jerry's exact recipe, and five way switch wired and tuned to his specification, the JD meets his vision of a single guitar which really can sound like all of the most instantly recognisable solid-body sounds of the last 50 years. Country twang, to rich, dark midnite jazz chords, to that elusive `in-between quack-tone' in just the flick of a switch, and more, it's all there in spades.

JD Pickup Selections

“My JD cranks out five of the blazingest tones associated with the three most popular solid body guitars ever.

ONE: This neck pickup yields the rich, sparkling tone of the traditional three-pickup guitar. The result: that unmistakable single-coil sound that echoes the soaring, majestic blues tones of the '60s and '70s.

TWO: The neck pickup (now with a special cap engaged) affords this position a special tonal quality you would ordinarily expect to hear from a full-body jazz guitar! Engage an overdrive and you capture that classic late '60s `Woman Tone'.

THREE: The neck and bridge pickups are in a customised parallel wiring, producing an enhanced, more contemporary version of the customary middle position timbre on the classic two-pickup guitar.

FOUR: By combining both pickups with a capacitor and resistor in a controlled degree of reversed phase, this position offers the popular `in-between quack tone' found in this position on three-pickup guitars.

FIVE: This is an updated stock-style bridge pickup with symmetrically staggered polepieces for great string balance and a special wind for increased sustain. It captures that amazing gutsy lead sound found on the very best of those traditional two-pickup guitars!

Of all the special guitar projects I’ve ever been involved with in my quest for the perfect guitar, the JD beats them all – at any price, it’s the best, and the most affordable… I couldn’t be happier!”

Jerry Donahue.

The 'JD' guitar is an original Fret-King® Artist Series™ guitar created by Trev Wilkinson, Jerry Donahue and the UK Fret-King design team.

> Jerry Donahue's Profile

> Read the reviews by Guitar Interactive Magazine, Guitarist Magazine and Play Music Pickup Magazine.