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Basswood
Bolt-on maple w/rosewood fingerboard
Dots
21 narrow and tall
25.5"
1V, 1T, 3-way switch
2 Malden alnico V single coils
Chrome
Cream

Twang 10!

Amongst the new wave of guitar brands, Malden seems to be turning the most heads.  Their guitars not only have a look that references the classics without getting out the cookie-cutter but also boast tones and setups that belie their offshore origins.  The Mozak, equal parts pawnshop prize, country classic and gnarly surf plank, thoroughly embodies this philosophy.


THE MOZAK MOJO

Much of the Mozak can be traced directly to Leo Fender’s drawing board.  The single coil pickups, ashtray bridge, and six-in-line tuners hark back to Fender’s first classic, while the offset double-cutaway body design has the vibe of those '60s models so beloved by that era’s surf bands.  Yet the tastefully skewed curves and the yellowed pearloid pickguard suggest, almost ironically, the first wave of Japanese imports from that same era.  The guitar's impeccable three-toned sunburst finish highlights a remarkable amount of grain for a basswood body, giving the Mozak a kind of upscale pawnshop vibe, it looks like something you might have found in the hands of Muddy Waters circa 1963.

Once you play the Mozak, you'll experience yet another kind of mojo.  The neck’s full C contour, 1-11/16” nut width, and tall, narrow frets make the playing experience more akin to that of a chunky single-cut.  There's an incredible attention to detail here, the perfectly cut Micarta nut, an electronics cavity shielded with neatly applied nickel paint, and a fine out-of-the-box setup.  Sticklers for intonation might fuss over the three barrel bridge saddles, but we found the pitches they rendered to be more then acceptable.  Of course, the bridge surround will accept an upgrade to six individual saddles if that's your preference.
 

MO’ CLUCK ‘N’ SNAP

The tone, while pretty darn close to what you’d expect from an American-made axe with a similar pickup configuration, is filtered ever so slightly by the warmth of the basswood body.  The bridge pickup has loads of stringy snap, the dual pickup setting delivers a henhouse full of cluck, and the neck position is clear and clangorous, yet just a bit reserved.  The pickups do, however, lack some of the thump of top shelf transducers, and their low output will tend to generate more fizz than aggressive bark when overdriven.  But keep this axe on the clean side, and you’ll find plenty of settings suitable for hot country, well-mannered blues, and wide-collared funk.
 

           
There exist traditionalists who insist on “playing with their eyes,”--these players wouldn't accept an axe outfitted with this pickup configuration if it jumped off of the cover of Springsteen's Born To Run.  Fortunately, Malden is more open-minded in its design approach, and the Mozak gives similarly open-minded players an axe worthy of their tastes and techniques.  If you lean toward the clean-toned variants of America’s roots music, or if you want to carve a whole new path of cluck and clang, the attractively priced Mozak could be exactly what you need.

Guitar One

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