Mockingbird Supreme

Reviewer: Sounds Book of Music 31.3.79
Price: £899

Once in a while you get an instrument that's truly in a class of its own to review. The mockingbird supreme happens to be one, and in case you're in any doubt, its right at the top of the class.

Until very recently, you couldn't buy one in this country but video appearances in the hands of Thin Lizzy and the like have helped create a market in the UK. With other models costing between £750 and £2000 these guitars are definitely not cheap.

So what do you get for your money?  Superb craftsmanship, top grade materials and innovative electronics, that’s what, and all packaged in a highly original body shape which gives the high flying looks to match its high flying sound.

The woods used in the construction have been chosen for their beauty as well as their physical properties. The 2 birds eye maple body sections having just about the most attractive and expensive appearance you could wish for, while the straight through neck design with rosewood (or mahogany) strips forming a sandwich along the centre line of the body combines visual aesthetics with better sustaining properties.

The neck/body joint is heelless and the 2 sculptured cutaways give good access to the top of the 24 fret (2 octave) fingerboard.

Frets are of the fat type which I prefer, but one of the few criticisms I have of the guitar is that they're not as low as I would expect on a guitar this expensive There is an element of personal taste here, so lets just say I’ve played brand new guitars with friendlier fingerboards than this one.

We can't leave the fingerboard without mentioning the position markers, which are mother of pearl blocks cut in a beautiful cloud shape, and the nut that looks to be either bone or ivory.

In contrast to the asymmetrical body the shape  the head is a fairly conventional affair with just a slight lip on one side to give it a little individuality. a mother of pearl "r" is set into the top and the machines are all metal grover imperials with fancy keys.

Pickups are dimarzio dual sounds and a one piece Leo Quan bridge tailpiece is fitted, keeping "lumps" along the centre line of the body to a minimum.

Apart from the controls that I’ll get into in a moment, the only other pieces stuck to the body are the jack socket mounting and rear access panel. Surprisingly, both these items are made from a black and white sandwich of laminated plastic that is a bit cheap compared to the other materials used. and for reasons best known to themselves, the makers have fitted these bits of plastic standing proud from the surface of the wood, rather than flushed in which is the usual method and looks much neater...wonder why?

But now we come to the guts of the guitar, which, in the case of the mockingbird supreme, are pretty extensive due to the inclusion (yet again) of active circuitry. And when you see what this means in terms of controls this can be a little daunting.

In all there are 3 pots, 1 Gibson type pickup selector switch, 1 Gibson type varitone control and 4 mini toggle switches. The pots and pickup selector are arranged in a straight line parallel to the centre line of the body. The front pot is a master volume control, the centre one is for pre amp volume control and the rear one is master tone.

The other controls run in 2 lines parallel to the bottom curve of the body. Right next to the pre amp volume control is a pre amp on/off switch and next to this is the varitone knob. Then in a little group of 3 below are the phase switch, dual sound rhythm switch and dual sound lead switch.

Obviously it takes some time to investigate the many tonal and output level variations which all these controls offer, and since I only had the axe for one day, I don't pretend to have discovered them all (154 in total - Ronz) I will however point out what I reckon are the main points of the electrics.

Point one is that with these specially wound pickups its almost impossible to get a completely clean sound out of your amp without turning the master volume down a little. (This is with the pre amp not in use). By any standards the pickups alone are red hot.

The 6 position varitone switch acts like a kind of preset tone selector, and with this, the pickup selector and single tone pot alone you've got more readily accessible variations than most guitars boast. With the addition of the dual sound and phase switches, the possibilities are endless. Bring in the pre amp, and you have all the gut ripping extra gain you could ever want for sustained lead sounds, to the point where the guitar will feed back notes at practically zero volume if you want it to.

However, I can sympathize with anyone who feels the complexity of the controls is self-defeating, for live work anyway. If I hadn't seen Rick Derringer using one successfully on stage, I might be more conservative about this myself.

My main beef is that the pre amp on/off switch is located in an impractical position. for switching from rhythm volume to boosted level for lead, the most likely function of the pre amp switch, you need a switch you can hit easily and cleanly, and every time a tried to do this I found myself hitting the pickup selector instead. (Dumbass.........Ronz)

But when all's said and done, how does the mockingbird supreme measure up in the value for money stakes?  This is a difficult judgment to make because when you get up to these kind of prices for guitars, value for money doesn't have a lot of meaning. All I can say is that if you put it next to a new Gibson costing say £700,then the supreme at £899 with a hard case certainly looks like it ought to cost a couple of hundred more at least.