Shergold Telstar Standard ST14 review – don’t sleep on this new boutique-style solidbody, especially at this price
Styled somewhere between a Firebird and a Cabronita Telecaster, this is a mighty fine-looking new design from the ’70s Brit-brand – and at a very tempting price
Low-cost doesn’t mean low performance – certainly in this case. This is a familiar-yet-original design that performs well above its price in playability, sound and style.
Pros
+
Affordable and original.
+
Pleasing neck profile.
+
Very playable.
+
Three highly usable sounds.
Cons
-
Might be hard to find in some territories.
-
The tuners aren't anything to write home about.
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Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of Shergold, the minor-league brand, headed by Jack Golder, that built guitars in the UK from 1975 to 1982. At the time they were well-liked, and famous users include Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook.
Fast-forward to 2017 and UK distributor Barnes & Mullins – the company behind Faith acoustic guitars – re-launched Shergold with the new Masquerader designed by top UK-guitar maker Patrick James Eggle.
Another more mainstream design dropped in 2019, the Provocateur. These Indonesian-made designs, featuring various Seymour Duncan pickup configurations, and initially rosewood, then mahogany necks are still available and start just below £800.
For this year, however, in an attempt to kick-start the brand yet again, there’s a new model that comes from China, is under half the price of those now-called Custom Series models, and is once again designed by Mr Eggle.
(Image credit: Future / Phil Barker)
“I’m very proud of the Custom series,” says Barnes & Mullins’ owner and MD, Brian Cleary, whose idea it was to bring back Shergold in the first place. “I think they still represent very good value for money but to achieve more mass appeal, it was obvious we needed to look at a lower price. It was a good year and half ago that we started the conversation with Patrick to get the design going.”
Well, it’s a fine slice of boutique-style design: a slightly offset T-style with a Gibson Firebird-like raised centre and echoes of Fender’s Cabronita Telecaster with its pair of Gretsch-like humbuckers.
Two fetching opaque and quite retro colours are offered and you’ll still get plenty of change from £400. The good news is that this so-called Telstar is the first of a new Standard Series for Shergold; by the time you read this there’ll be a low-cost version of that Provocateur at £409 with more designs promised.
But there’s no shortage of solidbody electric guitars at this price point, Squier being the obvious market-leaders, so, really, why on earth should we be interested here? Let’s take a closer look.
(Image credit: Future / Phil Barker)
As you’d expect, the design is based around the classic 25.5-inch Fender scale length. The slab-sawn maple neck has a pretty credible ‘slim C’ profile that’s more palm-filling than it sounds, and a milk-chocolate coloured laurel fingerboard with vibrant laminated abalone dots.
Importantly, that feel is enhanced with lightly rolled edges to the fingerboard and very good fret work from a quite wide and low wire that on the 12-inch radiused face makes for a seriously good player.
The heel is nicely rounded, too, and the neck screws sit in recessed cupped washers. Thanks to the poplar body, weight is good at 7.25lb and even unplugged there’s a good resonant ring to the guitar’s response.
(Image credit: Future / Phil Barker)
Plug in and you don’t quite get the sound that those pickups suggest. These are more standard humbucker pickup than true Filter’Tron and there’s no mistaking a more mini-humbucker-like voice, certainly at the neck, where there’s good clarity and depth.
At the bridge there’s more heat and midrange growl, perfect for some ’60s garage and dirty rock ’n’ roll. With both on, we’re treated to some expected jangle that hints at a rounder Rickenbacker-style voice. It plays great and has three strong sounds, while the humbucking nature means hum isn’t a problem for recording or high-gain.
(Image credit: Future / Phil Barker)
But there’s got to be a catch, right? Yes, the tuners are rather generic, but, to be fair, don’t feel bad because that’s contrasted by the good-looking, thru-strung bridge which might be a knock-off of a higher-end Hipshot design, but it not only matches the look of those pickups, it’s a pretty credible piece.
“It’s a cool design that was simply available to the manufacturers for the right money,” confirms Patrick. “We could have gone with a more traditional chopped T-style bridge, but these bridges are great: they look good and are pretty solid.” Again, the low cost means the pickups, with an invented Page brand-name, are off-the-shelf Chinese-made lookalikes.
But low-cost, certainly in this case, doesn’t mean low performance. In a market area that is awash with no-name copies and lookalikes, this Shergold Telstar comes across as a breath of fresh air: a familiar-yet-original design that performs well above its price in playability, sound and style.
Dave Burrluck is one of the world’s most experienced guitar journalists, who started writing back in the '80s for International Musician and Recording World, co-founded The Guitar Magazine and has been the Gear Reviews Editor of Guitarist magazine for the past two decades. Along the way, Dave has been the sole author of The PRS Guitar Book and The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance as well as contributing to numerous other books on the electric guitar. Dave is an active gigging and recording musician and still finds time to make, repair and mod guitars, not least for Guitarist’s The Mod Squad.
