John Cruz’s First Guitar With Farida — Is This a Game Changer?

On this episode of Talking Guitars on Johnny Beane TV, we take a look at a fascinating new guitar collaboration that brings together legendary guitar builder John Cruz, formerly of the Fender Custom Shop, and Chinese guitar brand Farida Guitars. Cruz has unveiled his first guitar design with Farida — the JC-1, a vintage-inspired S-style guitar that combines classic looks and tones with some interesting modern features. And there's a lot to talk about! 🎸 The Farida JC-1 🔥 Designed by former Fender Master Builder John Cruz 🇨🇳 Cruz's first guitar design with Farida Guitars ⏱️ 273 days of development went into the JC-1 🎸 Vintage-inspired S-style design 🌳 Two-piece alder body 🍁 Bolt-on Canadian maple neck ✋ John Cruz's custom "JC Comfy C" neck profile 🌹 Rosewood fingerboard ⚪ Olympic White finish 🐢 Tortoiseshell pickguard 🎨 Light relic finish inspired by how vintage guitars naturally wear 🎛️ Modern Features The JC-1 isn't simply a vintage-style S guitar. It features three custom-wound single-coil pickups, developed by Cruz and the Farida team, designed to deliver a '60s-inspired sound. The control layout is particularly interesting: 🎚️ 5-way pickup selector 🔊 Master volume 🎛️ Master tone 🔀 Blend control for combining neck and bridge pickups That blend control allows players to mix the bridge and neck pickups in positions 1 and 5, giving the guitar some tonal options you wouldn't normally get from a traditional S-style setup. 🛠️ John Cruz's Approach Cruz says building a great guitar starts with the wood. He personally weighs body blanks and even taps on them to listen for their individual characteristics. His philosophy is also heavily focused on the player. "I am a guitar builder but I am also a guitar player." For Cruz, playability is at the heart of the instrument — the guitar needs to be something a player wants to pick up and play every day. 💰 Only 60 Being Made Farida reportedly plans to produce just 60 JC-1 guitars, making this a very limited run. The guitar has been suggested at around $1,989, which is an interesting price point for a high-end, relic'd instrument designed by a former Fender Master Builder. 🤔 The Big Question Could this be a sign of where the guitar industry is heading? What happens when a world-class American guitar builder teams up with a Chinese guitar company and gets the resources to build the guitar he wants? Would you buy a guitar like the Farida JC-1? That's what we're talking about on this episode of Talking Guitars on Johnny Beane TV! #JohnCruz #FaridaGuitars #GuitarBuilder #TalkingGuitars