Jon "Sully" Sullivan has been making sleek, modern guitars since 2001—starting as a prefab hobby builder but quickly moving on to making his own custom bodies and necks. With the launch of his Sully’s Guitar Garage YouTube channel in 2008, his guitars found a large, receptive audience. And since then, the Texas-based Sully Guitars brand has continued to grow.
Last month, Sully introduced his new Conspiracy Series, which sees his custom designs manufactured by the World Musical Instruments factory in South Korea—the same factory that produces guitars for LTD, PRS, Ormsby, and other brands. The arrangement allows for his guitars to be available for a more affordable price than if Sully had built them himself.
The Conspiracy Series is comprised of three new guitars: the ‘71 Starling, the Stardust, and the ‘71 SD.
The dual-humbucker ‘71 Starling has a mahogany body and a set, three-piece laminated mahogany neck. It has a 25.5-inch scale length, an ebony fretboard with a 12-16-inch compound radius, and Hipshot hardtail bridge and locking tuners. The street price is $1,199 USD.
The Stardust features a bolt-on, three-piece laminated maple neck, along with an alder body. It comes with either an ebony or maple fretboard, again with a 12-16-inch compound radius and Hipshot hardware. The quasi-offset design is Sully’s homage to David Bowie. The guitar is available for $1,099 USD.
Stevie D is a guitarist who has played with Buckcherry, as well as Josh Todd and the Conflict. The ‘71 SD is his signature model. Of the design, Sully says, "When I started playing guitar as a little kid, all I ever wanted was the guitar Ace Frehley played. But I eventually realized that I never kept them because of the scale length. So I started drawing. I let the design breathe a bit."
Like the ‘71 Starling, it features a set, three-piece mahogany neck, an ebony fretboard, and a mahogany body with a custom graphic on a black matte finish. As with the rest of the series, it features dual humbuckers as well as a Hipshot hardtail bridge and locking tuners. The street price is $1,249 USD.
For more information, check out the Sully Guitars website.