Ancoats Guitars Stage Granada review – a fiery twist on the oldest formula of all
From £949, ancoatsguitars.co.uk
Here’s my verdict on the Ancoats Guitars New Islington, from October 2022: “Unique and ultra-playable, this could be the only single-pickup guitar you ever need.” Today I’m reviewing the Stage version of the Granada, an eye-catching take on the classic Fender Telecaster recipe. Could it be the only two-pickup guitar you ever need?
READ MORE: The Big Review: Ancoats Guitars New Islington – A British-made mash-up of Junior, Esquire and Cabronita
Well, no, of course not – because everyone needs at least seven or eight of those, right? Or maybe call it a round 10, just to be on the safe side. But when you consider that the Stage guitars are even more affordable than the standard Full Custom jobs, despite still being hand-made in the UK, it does start to look like a potentially irresistible bargain.
Image: Adam Gasson
Ancoats Guitars Stage Granada – what is it?
Don’t rush me – first of all, what is the Stage range? The answer, it turns out, is a very canny compromise. Company boss Dave Roberts builds all his instruments in the same Manchester workshop, but with the Stage versions the neck is outsourced. It isn’t just shipped in, bolted on and tossed out the door, though: fret levelling, crowning and edge-rounding, plus final sanding and the satin oil finish, are all handled in-house.
The pickups are made by a local firm, and it’s a new name on me: Green Pickups. This set has been designed specifically for the Granada, with “a subtle boost in output” compared to vintage Tele pups. The gold foil on the neck unit is a nice touch, and ties in with the brass of the compensated saddles on the Wilkinson bridge (which, incidentally, is top-loaded – there are no holes through the body for traditional stringing).
Will these slightly hotter pickups take us in the direction of a Gibson Firebird? Certainly the shape of the pickguard is a nod to the old non-reverse design, and I love the way a slice of the same material has been inlaid to add some dynamism to the front of the headstock.
I also love the cherry red finish – a slightly lighter, pinkier shade than the classic SG colour – and the German carve on the front of the korina body, a £50 option that takes the price of the review guitar up to £999. Speaking of options, you’ve got a few: most of the big calls are your choice, from body colour to scale length (it’s 25.5 inches here), and the price only goes up if you get greedy and ask for a thinline semi-hollow build or a Göldo Shorty vibrato.
Image: Adam Gasson
Ancoats Guitars Stage Granada – playability
This maple neck is just as slim as the sapele one on that New Islington, and the feel of it in the hand might be described as generic. Then again, it might also be described as smooth and silky. Either way, it’s a very easy neck to glide up and down, with a smooth satin finish that’s as huggable as a puppy. The 12-inch radius is good for big bends, and the fret ends are tidy – whatever the outsourced raw materials were like when they arrived in Manchester, they’ve left in a very presentable state indeed.
That’s not to say the build quality of the whole guitar is absolutely impeccable, mind. A couple of off-kilter tuners and a loose tone knob can easily be put down to being bashed about in transit; a slight bumpiness to the back of the body and some sticky-out screws on the jack plate suggest that, just maybe, the Stage guitars don’t get quite the same attention to detail as the higher-priced models. None of this affects playability, though.
Image: Adam Gasson
Ancoats Guitars Stage Granada – sounds
Workhorse guitars don’t come much workhorsier than my ’90s American Standard Telecaster – it’s a solid all-round performer, which makes it a perfect reference point for the Granada with its nearly-but-not-quite-Tele specs. And sure enough, the young pretender sounds… the same but different.
In terms of overall character, we’re certainly in Tele country: bright and spanky on the bridge pickup, smooth and chunky on the neck, and with enough phasey twinkle in the middle position to summon elves, pixies and possibly Johnny Marr. That’s the basics ticked off, then.
But the promised extra output from both pickups is real, and it’s very much focused on the midrange. This gives the guitar plenty of aggressive cut-through – not exactly like a Firebird, but very much in that general direction – which will be a welcome feature for some players, although maybe not if you’re all about ultra-clean funk chords or soulful blues leads on the neck pickup.
Seeing as the company’s motto is ‘Unique guitars for the alternative musician’, none of that should come as a surprise. Old-school sticklers might want to stick with a trad Tele, then; but if the idea was to create a twang-plank with classic foundations that covers clean indie-pop jangle, fuzzy grunge fury and everything in between, this is a job well done.
Image: Adam Gasson
Ancoats Guitars Stage Granada – should I buy one?
The Granada’s combination of stand-out looks and feisty T-type tones is hugely appealing – and for British-based buyers, the fact that it’s a homegrown guitar priced to compete with the Far Eastern production lines is potentially a killer selling point.
Purists with a few extra pennies to spare will still see the advantage in going for the Full Custom range, but the Stage line represents less of a sacrifice than you might expect: this is a well-made instrument with a bold voice of its own.
Incidentally, in case you’re wondering why it’s named after an ancient city at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, the truth is somewhat less exotic. As every Coronation Street fan knows, Granada also used to be the name of the north-west’s local ITV network.
Image: Adam Gasson
Ancoats Guitars Stage Granada – alternatives
The Granada is a proper bargain, but there are other UK-built options in this price range, most notably the Gordon Smith Classic T (£999). For a little bit more you’ve got the PJD Guitars York Standard (£1,299); but if you want ‘the name’ on the headstock, have a look at the Mexican-made Fender Player Plus Telecaster (£979)… and note that the Nashville model with an added middle pickup is actually £20 cheaper.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
