Shelton SkyFlite IV Swamp Ash w/ Roasted Flame Maple & Porter PUs – Sonic Blue

Information

Brand New w/ Warranty. We are an authorized Shelton Dealer.

Like what you see? All photos are of the actual instrument you will receive.

The Shelton SkyFlite IV brings a classic into a new age. Without losing the soul of its traditional brethren, this guitar packs some extra heat with twenty-one voicing options from its souped-up HSS configuration. Incredible tones in a variety of flavors. Still not the exact Shelton you’re looking for? Contact us and we can help you spec out a custom order to your exact liking!

What Do We Think?

This guitar features an absolutely gorgeous flame roasted maple neck. Block inlays, binding, the works. All for show? Not quite. Roasted necks and fretboards have a little more focus than their non-roasted counterparts. In this case, just the right amount to keep the lows tight and percussive, and the snap on top controlled yet lively.

The Porter ‘50s single coil in the neck is naturally big and scooped, while the ‘60s wind in the middle is a little more mid-forward. The in-between position is spanky without being hollowed out, really a best-of-both-worlds Strat tone. And so far we’ve just covered the tip of the iceberg; there are a total of twenty-one pickup and wiring combinations to be had!

Let’s move to the humbucker. It is a combination of a Porter S90 on the outer coil and Vintage Custom on the inside. The blend is thick, harmonically-rich and delivers a good bark up top. The coils can also be individually selected via push/pull pots (second and third knobs) to give you access to either the more traditional voicing of the Vintage Custom or the thicker, hot-rodded snarl of the S90.

You can have your rig set to get a grinding breakup out of the humbucker and quickly flip the 5-way blade to the neck position for a big chimey tone that cleans up and responds beautifully to pick dynamics. And while it’s really nice having that extra “oomph” of the full humbucker on tap, it is equally nice to solo the S90 coil at times for a crisper rhythm tone with a little more cut.

Another highlight is a wiring modification hiding in plain sight in the 2^nd “tone” knob. Roll it back to bring in the middle pickup in series with the neck or bridge position. This gives you fatter in-between tones than the standard pickups-in-parallel arrangement available on the 5-way switch. They have thick, juicy vowels and compress the amp a little quicker.

Lastly, the neck position can be added to any pickup position via the push/pull volume knob. Combining neck and bridge à la a Telecaster gives you some wonderful snap and snarl that you can’t usually access on a Strat, further accentuated by the various split options on the humbucker. You can even run all three pickups together for colossal funk tones.

You’ll notice this guitar doesn’t sport the standard fare in tremolo either. The Vega trem is a superb unit, melding the best of a Strat tremolo, Bigsby and Floyd Rose into one. While it feels quite traditional, it doesn’t pull out of tune as much as a standard Strat bridge. It bounces back to zero smoothly and to exactly the same place every time. And like a Floyd, it allows for both dive bombs and up-whammies if you get the urge.

How Does It Play?

We have this beauty set up with low string action, hovering around 4/64” at the 12th fret. Just enough room to dig in and get under the strings when you bend, and low enough to play quick passages effortlessly. The neck is a fast, fairly slim C with nice shoulder to keep it feeling supportive. It has a satin finish that stays nice and smooth

Weight: 7lb 8.5oz

The Custom Shelton G&G Hard Case is included!

Specifications

Body

Body Wood: Swamp Ash

Body Finish: Sonic Blue Gloss

Neck

Neck Wood: Master Grade Flame Roasted Maple

Neck Finish: Sonic Blue Swoosh w/ Natural Satin Back

Neck Shape: Custom C

Scale Length: 25.5”

Fingerboard Material: Bound Master Grade Flame Roasted Maple w/ Pearloid Block Inlays

Fingerboard Radius: 9.5-12” Compound

Number of Frets: 21

Fret Size: JESCAR FW47095

Nut Material: Tusq XL

Nut Width: 1.687”

Shape Dimensions: Med C 1^st FRET = .800” / 12^th FRET .880”

Electronics

Bridge Pickup 1: Porter S90

Bridge Pickup 2: Vintage Custom

Middle Pickup: Porter 1960’s S

Neck Pickup: Porter 1950’s S

Controls:

Volume (Push/Pull activates neck pickup),

Master Tone, (Push/Pull splits humbucker to S90 single coil only)

Series Pot (Push/Pull splits humbucker to vintage custom single coil only)

Note: Series mode runs bridge and middle pickups or middle and neck pickups in series

Switching: 5-Position Blade:

Position 1: Bridge VC90 Humbucker (S90 and vintage custom in series)

Position 2: Bridge & Middle Pickups

Position 3: Middle Pickup

Position 4: Middle & Neck Pickups

Position 5: Neck Pickup

Pots: (3) CTS Push/Pull Potentiometers

Switch: (1) Oak Grisby 5-Way Switch

Jack: Switchcraft ¼” Mono

Capacitor: (1) Sprague Orange Drop

Hardware

Bridge: Vega VT-1 Ultra Trem

Tuning Machines: Kluson Supreme Staggered

Pickguard: 3-Ply White Plastic, Wide Bevel

Knobs: White Witch Hat

Finish: Brushed, Nickel

Other

Strings: 10-46

Case: G&G Deluxe Hardshell Case

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