Metisse Guitar

Metisse is a French word meaning "a woman of mixed heritage". I can think of no better word to describe this guitar.

She started life as a mid-80s Asian-made (I think Taiwan, at that time) Harmony. I bought it at the flea market, outside my home town in Tennessee, 6 or 7 years ago. My oldest nephew took it home, for a few years, and I ended up bringing it home with me, last year, after a visit to Pennsylvania.

 I never really liked the headstock shape on these guitars, so I slightly reshaped the profile, did a nice set-up, and used it once or twice for solo gigs over at Fermaentra. It was just fine as it was so, of course, I decided I needed to modify it.

For some reason, I was craving a rosewood fingerboard on this guitar. I like the "woodier" feel of the rosewood grain, as opposed to the smoother maple, and I just thought it would look good in contrast to the blonde finish on the body. The original look was a little too monochromatic for me.

The easiest way to change fingerboards on a bolt-neck guitar?  A new neck.

So, I started watching eBay and, after a few weeks, I saw this Squire Bullet neck for $50.00, free shipping. I hit the "Buy It Now" button and, a few days later, the neck was in the house. Today, I decided the time was ripe to swap the necks.

Now, I have the Metisse; a 1980s plywood Harmony with a new Indonesian Squire Bullet neck on it. Not the fanciest guitar I own, but it has its place in the stable.

I'll probably swap the tuners out, eventually. That is always the weak point on the imported Fender product necks. The intonation is fine, the frets are nice and level, and the neck has a nice profile. Sounds good, feels good ... it's all good.

I might get a custom "Metisse" decal made for it, just for grins. Then again, I might just leave the Squire logo on it. It doesn't really affect the sound or playability, after all.

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