Ancoats Granada Special review – a unique modern-retro design with a fresh approach to relic’ing

What is it?

The current Manchester-made Ancoats line-up consists of just three guitars: the original New Islington, the NQ and the latest Granada as we have here.

But it’s far from what you see is what you get as each model can be very much custom tailored to what you want. For example, the standard Granada starts at £1,099, including a gigbag, and is a more T-style version of what we have here.

“This is a Granada Special,” confirms Ancoats founder, Dave Roberts. “This is ‘Special’ because I’ve moved the pickup selector switch to the top horn as the traditional placing on a Telecaster can get in the way of strumming for some people.

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These guitars are normally more expensive than the ‘standard’ Granada because it takes more work to rout the rear cavity for the controls – I do this by hand in my workshop, not on the CNC.

“This exact guitar, if ordered as a custom build, would currently be £1,494,” he tells us, “but it’s actually a part of a small batch where I got the body made at the same place I get my necks made [Dave uses a local CNC manufacturing partner to make the very repeatable necks].

This cuts down the work time so these are available from £1,350, plus there’s 10 per cent off if you join the mailing list, so it actually works out at £1,215. It’s exactly the same materials and guitar as the custom jobs, but I get to choose the components – bulk order to save money – and it cuts down build time, so I can offer them a bit cheaper.”

That sense of value for money pervades the build. One change here is that the body wood has switched from obeche to the more mahogany-like okoume (korina and swamp ash are the Ancoats standard), here with an overall depth of 40mm, and a top edge-only ‘German-carve’ to the edge that is nicely done and suits the style.

Ancoats is another new brand that uses proper threaded bolts (not screws) to attach neck to body. There’s a classy-looking aluminium neckplate, while the neck here is a clean caramel-coloured roasted plain maple, like the separate fingerboard that has those neat offset dot inlays.

Overall, there’s an appealing clean craft, not least to the satin finish neck and more textured ‘open-pore’ finish to the body, which Dave has coined ‘Future Relic’: “This is my answer to pre-relic’d or roadworn guitars,” he says. “It’s probably not that novel of a concept, really. It’s basically a thin-skin, water-based finish from Little Greene Paint Company in Manchester with a secret colour underneath.

“If you play it hard enough the paint will wear naturally and you will have a naturally worn instrument in a few years. If you want to keep it pristine, just don’t play it hard and look after it.”

The hardware is a little more everyday, not least the die-cast non-logo tuners that provide little behind-the-nut string angle. The ‘cut-off’ T-style bridge is by Wilkinson, with compensated brass saddles, but perhaps oddly doesn’t offer through-body stringing, just top-loading. That’s not the bridge’s fault; the body simply hasn’t been drilled for the former.

The big change over the standard, more T-style Granada is the pickups, typically wound by Green Pickups, again based in Manchester, which move away from the T-style single coils to this humbucker/P-90 setup. Controls are simple: there’s the shoulder-placed toggle switch selector paired with a simple master volume and tone, and side-placed output jack.

Specs

• PRICE: £1,494 (approx $1,999 inc gigbag)
• ORIGIN: UK
• TYPE: Lightly double-cut bolt-on solidbody electric
• BODY: Okoume
• NECK: Roasted maple, medium ‘C’ profile, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Bone/42.5mm
• FINGERBOARD: Roasted maple, white dot inlays, 305mm (12”) radius
• FRETS: 22, medium jumbo
• HARDWARE: Wilkinson ‘Short Bridge’ w/ compensated brass saddles, non-locking die-cast tuners
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.5mm
• ELECTRICS: Green Pickups GoldFoil HB (Bridge) w/ Staple P90 at neck, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, master volume and tone with over-sized control knobs.
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.90/6.38
• OPTIONS: Lots! The Ancoats configurator will tell you all you need to know. All models start at £1,099
• RANGE OPTIONS: Other current models are the New Islington and the NQ. All share the same base price and wide option palette
• LEFT-HANDERS: Yes, same price
• FINISHES: Jewel Beetle Green (as reviewed) from huge choice of water-based colours – open-pore ‘Future Relic’ finish
• CONTACT: Ancoats Guitars

Build quality, usability and sounds

Just as its ‘Special’ specification moves this version away from the T-style, it also results in a feel that’s nicely original. Yes, on your lap the guitar neck dives a little, but strapped on it feels purposeful with an excellent weight only slightly heavier than the previous obeche New Islington model we looked at a couple of years back.

The nicely done neck again follows a relatively thin-depth/full-shoulder profile, the medium-gauge frets are nicely finished, too, with good height on the 350mm (12-inch) cambered fingerboard. These fine details, like the satin Osmo oil finish, are all done by Dave, creating a great feel with an almost bare-wood vibe. Does it feel like a vintage Fender? No, but there’s nothing that feels ‘wrong’ and there’s an inviting clean ring unplugged.

We’ve spent a little time with Leigh Greenhough’s Green Pickups, and these seem well suited to the Granada Special. The Staple P-90 at the neck is standout, percussive and hollowed – it might well be a pickup you’d centre a whole build around. On this platform it’s a beautifully funky, choppy rhythm pickup, but pull the volume back a little and there’s old-school jazz roundness with just enough clarity.

The GoldFoil HB at the bridge is a great match, too. Less a classic ‘Gold Foil’, more a relatively clean and clear ’bucker with enough clout and midrange for some pretty gained lead voices, it sounds as good as it looks.

If this were our order, we’d be requesting a coil-split, though, to create a more T-style single coil at the bridge and another texture for the nicely jangly mixed position. But, as standard, this is a well-voiced and surprisingly versatile pickup set that really suits the guitar’s potential.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

There’s an increasing number of UK makers, from Fidelity to West Valley, who are creating quite original guitars based less on the well-worn classics and more on an often unique style. Ancoats certainly fits into that area.

And while the new standard Granada model is more T-style alike, this Special is a little more unique without the bridge or control plate that we’ve been looking at for decades. There’s plenty to customise, too, via the neat webpage configurator and, while we’ve evaluated this piece at its top price, there are clearly deals to be had.

Guitar World verdict: The style and craft is good. A few minor points could be addressed, but – particularly due to the simple construction and really good pickup set – this is a pretty stylised, classy piece. And along the way it places the heritage of Manchester centre stage. We look forward to seeing and hearing more from Ancoats.

Hands-on videos

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Ancoats Guitars 'Granada' T style introduction - YouTube

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• “A vibrant Fender-y voice, lightweight feel and original style”: Ancoats Guitars New Islington review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.