“A vibrant Fender-y voice, lightweight feel and original style”: Ancoats Guitars New Islington review

Ancoats’ guitars are made by David Roberts in a converted shipping container in Pollard Yard, Manchester. 

“It was an old parking lot or something, but it now has around 130 shipping containers – just a lined empty container with patio doors on the front – and everyone’s turned them into their own start-up businesses,” David tells us.

After attending an evening class at Merton College in London about a decade ago, before relocating to Manchester, David sold his first Ancoats guitar around three years ago and now splits his time as a radiographer and guitar maker 50/50.

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The New Islington – which, like the brand, is also named after an area in Manchester – was David’s first original design, and the guitar you see here is the recently upgraded version three. It’s based on two of David’s favourite electric guitars, a double-cut Gibson Les Paul Junior melded with some Rickenbacker style, but among his main inspirations are Matt Oram’s Fidelity Guitars.

“I don’t think I’d be doing this without him,” muses David. “He is kind of a trailblazer, one of the best independent guitar makers around.”

It’s certainly an original vision, but it’s quite a flexible platform, too. For example, the base model comes with an ABM 3250 hardtail through-strung bridge, while ours swaps that for the Göldo DG Shorty vibrato you see here (with a roller saddle bridge) that looks like it came off some 50s European build.

And while David is yet another fan of lightweight obeche for the body, here you can swap that for swamp ash. There’s also a choice of scale length, fingerboard radius, pickup style and a huge colour choice from The Little Green Paint Company, also based in Manchester.

There’s certainly an appealing retro vibe, not least the (optional) German carve around the top edges of the body, leaving the quite angular horns with just a small edge radius. The slab style is loaded with a three-piece cream plastic ‘rocket-ship’ pickguard. 

Its larger centre piece holds the two original-design A Line single coils, which are made by Green Pickups, another Mancunian enterprise, and the three large‑knobbed rotary controls are rear mounted. There’s thought and flair in the design, for sure.

Our sample uses a 629mm (24.75-inch) scale length, the bolt-on neck is roasted maple with a typically deep caramel colour, and the rosewood ’board is peppered with large brass ringed mother-of-pearl dots on the fingerboard edges either side of the dual 12th fret markers. 

Even the colour-matched headstock, a new six-in-a-line design, dares to be a little different with its relieved plastic-faced edge on the treble side.

Feel & Sounds

Stylistically, it might be a little different, but along with a nice weight of 2.69kg (5.92lb) it feels rather good seated or strapped on, very much in line with numerous modern makers, particularly here in the UK. 

The neck profile is quite a full-shouldered ‘C’ with a central flat back, and it feels a little bigger than it measures: 42.5mm wide at the nut, 20mm deep at the 1st fret and 22.6mm by the 12th. 

The fret gauge is good, too – a medium 2.65mm width and plenty of height at around 1.2mm. There’s a little bit of fingerboard edge rolling that’s always welcome, and while, to be critical, those fret ends could be a little rounder and smoother, it’s a good overall player.

Green Pickups is a new brand for us, and on this platform the A Line single coils (designed to be an original take on a ‘hot’ Strat recipe with a central blade polepiece) come out shining. 

At the bridge we have a nicely twang-some Strat-y voice contrasted by good depth with clarity at the neck. The parallel mix certainly shouts Telecaster; the bigger series combination loses some definition but gives the New Islington a broad and pretty pokey fourth voice. There’s a very good quality of sound here.

The vibrato adds some light offset-style shimmer, and once the strings have settled in there’s good tuning stability, although that string tree on the top strings does seem to snag the high E occasionally. 

Verdict

With so many ‘new’ designs barely moving from the classics, there’s plenty of retro-themed appeal here. There are a few minor quibbles, and unless you’re into offset vibratos you could save some money with the standard, very good-quality ABM bridge that Ancoats offers. 

But what the New Islington lacks on a couple of easily sorted fine details, it certainly makes up for with a vibrant Fender-y voice, lightweight feel and original style, not to mention a welcome shout-out for Manchester craft.  

Specs

• PRICE: £1,900 (inc case)
• ORIGIN: UK
• TYPE: Double-cut bolt-on solidbody electric
• BODY: Obeche
• NECK: Roasted maple, medium ‘C’ profile, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Bone/42.5mm
• FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, brass ringed mother of pearl dot inlays, 305mm (12”) radius
• FRETS: 22, medium jumbo
• HARDWARE: Göldo DG Shorty vibrato w/ roller saddle tune-o-matic-style bridge, Gotoh rear lock tuners with dual height posts
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 51mm
• ELECTRICS: 2x Green A Line single coils, master volume, master tone, 4-way rotary pickup selector switch
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.69/5.92
• OPTIONS: The New Islington starts at £1,650 with hardtail ABM bridge. The upgrade here is the vibrato (£250). Other options include scale length, pickup style and body wood (£POA)
• RANGE OPTIONS: Offset NQ (from £1,650), plus custom orders
• LEFT-HANDERS: Yes, same price
• FINISHES: Jewel Beetle Green (as reviewed) from choice of 210 water-based colours – open-pore ‘Future Relic’ finish
• CONTACT: Ancoats Guitars