Free guitar clinic: Alex Skolnick of Testament, live at Sound Pure on Sun, Oct 18 at 5:00 PM. Reserve a seat

Sound Pure's Take

Condition: Used, Good (multiple body dings and finish chips which have been repaired in-house)

This Taurus Sportster might look, at first glance, like a down and dirty, singlecut, rock machine, and you'd be right but it's got so much more to give! Thanks to some fancy footwork, the 5-way switch on this Taurus will split your bridge and neck pickup in positions 2 and 4 for spanky, cleaned up single-coil tones. We love the boost in richness and volume achieved when bouncing from split to full humbucking operation, almost like a built in lead boost!

SP Luthier Notes: Fret dress, drop fills, and setup

From Terry C. McInturff Guitars

I built my first guitar in late 1977 and have been a full-time luthier ever since. It has been a fascinating journey, involving many tens of thousands of instruments of all kinds and vintages in addition to the 3600 or so McInturff guitars I’ve made to this point. It has been a lifetime's career devoted to the guitarist's world.

The first phase of my career relied upon guitar repairs/restorations to pay the bills, and I cannot imagine pursuing my building without having had that incredible education in my background. I have been hands-on with countless vintage guitars as well as with their modern counterparts. If it weren’t for this background, I'd likely be “building by numbers”... Copying the traditional designs without knowing exactly why the very best guitars sound the way that they do.

I remain an active performing guitarist, and my lifelong hobby of audio engineering continues to inform my work as well. Here we have two additional sets of experiences that I cannot imagine doing without; the former has given me the opportunity to learn what the real world of the working guitarist is all about... The “combat conditions” of stage and touring, whilst the latter has enabled me to study in detail the pivotal subject of sound. It is all about sound, this passion of ours.

Along the way I've been lucky enough to have been awarded consecutive “Editor's Pick Awards” by the good folks at Guitar Player Magazine; my work has been featured in many magazines, receiving excellent reviews; I've been the subject of various interviews on TV, radio, and internet publications; and of course I have had the opportunity to work with the finest woods in the world.

I have also been gifted with the opportunity to build guitars for artists such as Eric Clapton, Chuck Garvey, Jimmy Page, Seth Yacovone, Brad Whitford, David Hidalgo, BradDelsen, Chris Stamey, and many other fine players.

But the greatest reward that my career has brought me is the thousands of friends that I have made from all over the world. As you can imagine, I've had quite a few clients and I can say in all honesty that I have never had a bad client. Guitarists are uniformly interesting people and getting to know so many of them has been a true gift. I am very grateful indeed.

Model
Taurus Sportster
Serial
8031
Weight
8.4 lbs
Color
Black
Top Wood
Mahogany
Body Wood
Mahogany
Scale Length
25.25"
Number of Frets
22
Fingerboard Radius
12"
Fret Wire
.103 x .043
Neck Shape
.850" - .880"
Neck Wood
Mahogany
Fingerboard Wood
Indian Rosewood
Fingerboard Inlays
Abalone
Nut
Graphite
Hardware
Chrome
Tuning Pegs
Sperzel Locking
Bridge
Tune-O-Matic
Tailpiece
Stop-Tail
Neck Pickup
DiMarzio TCM Zodiac Humbucker
Bridge Pickup
DiMarzio TCM TOL Humbucker
Controls
Volume, Tone, Tone
Switching
5-Way Blade
Case
Hardshell

Warranty

This item is sold without the Sound Pure 3-year warranty (used / B-stock / dealer-exempt). Coverage terms for items in this category live in Terms & Conditions, Section 27.

Returns

Try Before You Buy: take it home, commit only when it's right. Program details →

Sound Pure Studios Control Room A — Durham, NC

Sound Pure Studios · Durham, NC

Come hear it in our control rooms.

Sound Pure is a working studio in Durham, NC — a 1,000 sq ft live room and two pro control rooms. Book a session to audition gear in a world-class acoustic space before you buy.