http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/index.html
Ray's own semi-hollow body shape, a hybrid selection of Brierley '52 T and P90 pickups, fat frets, C-shaped Custom neck, Gotoh and Callaham hardware, along with Ray's 'ToneRanger' electronics, makes his 'Astrocaster' a very handsome and wonderful playing instrument indeed. The body is made from a slab of Tasmanian Myrtle that Ray has been judiciously using for the best part of 15 years. It's just about all gone now. The vintage-spec pickups by Mick Brierley give the guitar a versatility that stretches from twang to warmth and the solid and thoughtful hardware ties it all together. The guitar is very light at 2.5kgs and easy on the eye. I had a lot of fun with it for the hour that it was with me. I wish it could stay! Congratulations to the lucky owner.
Today's tools:
Guitar: 2017 Carlton Astrocaster 'The Walrus' with Brierley '52 T and P90 pickups
Amp: 2017 VASE Tonesetter 18 and ext. cabinet (G12M's)
Extra effects: Hermida Audio Zendrive and Empress Echosystem
Cables: Goodwood Audio and Providence
Power Supply: Strymon Zuma
Mic: sE V3 Dynamic and VR1 (https://www.seelectronics.com) (VASE); Samson Airline77 (me)
Camera: Canon 60D and iPhone 7+ (held by Ray Carlton)
Soundcard: AVID Mbox Pro 3 (for recording) & Fractal Audio Systems Axe-FX II XL+ (mixing and bouncing).
Computer: Apple iMac 27" i7 3.4 GHz 16 GB RAM
Software: Logic Pro X, Eventide/Newfangled Audio ‘Elevate’ Mastering Limiter, Apple Final Cut Pro X (video editing and Youtube compression).