Reverse-Body Guitar Kit Review — FB-Style Kit Building Guide

The reverse-body has to be one of the more unusual yet visually appealing guitar body shapes ever created. And, while commonly associated with blues guitarists such as Johnny Winter, the FB-style is arguably one of the more versatile offset-body electric guitars available.

The history of the FB-style

The reverse-body has a more interesting past than most and unlike many iconic guitars e.g. the JA-style has remained in production since first being released in 1963. And, while never achieving the sales volume of the single-cutaway set-neck or G-style the FB-style remains popular, due to its unique design and versatility with regard to the musical genres it calls home.

Design

The FB-style was first conceptualized and designed to draw customers back from the original manufacturer. the original manufacturer had started losing ground to the original manufacturer in the 1960s after initial success with the the original manufacturer single-cutaway set-neck in the 50's due to the number of artists endorsing the original manufacturer products. 

the original manufacturer's answer to this problem was to offer a radically different guitar body shape, which beginning in the 50s with the V-shape and angular-body was followed up in the early '60s by the FB-style, perhaps the most radical design of all.

Ray Deitrich

The FB-style body shape was the brainchild of Ray Deitrich (renowned car body designer responsible for the design of checker cabs and founder of Dietrich Inc.) who at the request of the president of the original manufacturer at the time (Ted McCarthy) was lured out of retirement in 1950 to design the original FB-style body shape.

As can be seen in the image below. It’s not difficult to spot the similarities between the clean lines of the guitar and car tail fins from the ’50s and ’60s.

Gary Moore

The FB-style was nothing if not a unique looking electric guitar. Deitrich had been brought in, not only to offer a new take on the electric guitar body but also to do so in a commercially viable manner, something the earlier the original manufacturer angular-body and V-shape (also radical departures in design) had failed to do, at least up to that point in history.

Looking something like a reverse 'angular-body' with rounded edges the FB-style came to be commonly referred to as a ‘reverse’ guitar featuring a wider lower bout (typically guitars featured a larger top bout e.g. the the original manufacturer S-style), banjo style tuners mounted to the underside of the headstock (now commonly referred to as a reverse headstock), a laminate neck consisting of Mahogany and Walnut, and small footprint ‘mini’ humbucker pickups (the 1965 model was also available with single-coil P90 pickups also).

If that wasn’t enough, The FB-style also featured a solid body with neck-thru design (the neck timber extends the full length of the body), often credited for emphasizing sustain.

FB-Style Models

the original manufacturer offered four variations on the original FB-style when first released, the I, III, IV and VIII all featuring the neck-thru design. 

In typical FB-style fashion the naming convention was anything but conventional, using the Roman Numeral system:

• The "I" featured a single, mini-humbucking pickup and single volume and tone control.
• The "III" featured two mini-humbuckers, plus 2 volume and 2 tone controls and a 3-way pickup selector.
• The "V" offered the same features as the III along with a Tune-O-Matic bridge and tailpiece and trapezoid inlays.
• The "VIII" featured the same configuration as the "V" along with gold hardware, binding on the fretboard and trapezoid inlays.

Following the threat of legal action from the original manufacturer, claiming the FB-style’s body was a violation of the original manufacturer's copyright along with claiming the headstock design was too similar to the the original manufacturer S-style, the original manufacturer also produced a non-reverse FB-style, partly due to the threat from the original manufacturer and partly due to poor initial sales.

The non-reverse FB-style’s production run was short-lived, available for four years from 1965 through to 1969, although now available again as a reissue.

The non-reverse model featured regular mounted tuners, a set neck, as opposed to the neck-thru design utilized on the standard FB-style and larger humbucker pickups. While obviously subjective the non-reverse model was a far cry from the unique lines of the original FB-style.

Notable Reverse-Body Players

Equally at home playing hard rock, blues, punk or country the list of artists below who play or have played the FB-style during their career demonstrates the versatility of the instrument.

• Johnny Winter
• Paul McCartney (The Beatles)
• Joe Bonamassa
• Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
• Steve Clark (Def Leppard)
• Steve Jones (Sex Pistols)
• Eric Clapton
• Brian Jones (Rolling Stones)
• Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones) 
• Joe Perry (Aerosmith)
• Paul Stanley (Kiss)
• Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers Band)
• Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music)
• Gary Moore
• Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters)

Build your own offset DIY guitar using one of these kits: Offset Guitar Kits

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