Hardluck Kings Bossman, Chop Shop Series, Olive Green

Hardluck Kings is a Southern California direct-to-player brand started in 2010 by a former DW Drums executive. No music-store dealers, no magazine ads; they sold online and through Harley-Davidson shops to people who wanted a $400 rock guitar that did not look like everyone else's. The Bossman was the single-cut in the launch Chop Shop Series (the headstock back on this one says exactly that, "Chop Shop Series, designed and backed by Hardluck Kings, SoCal USA," serial 123006). Mix magazine reviewed one and wrote that it played as if it had been Plek'd and should have sold for just under $1,000.

Specs

• Mahogany body, single cutaway, olive green gloss finish, cream top binding
• Set mahogany neck, thin profile, rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, bone nut, pearl "brass knuckle" fret markers (the HLK trademark)
• Two Seymour Duncan humbuckers, uncovered black, logo on both bobbins. These are an upgrade over the stock HLK pickups and are worth a good part of the price on their own
• 3-way toggle (Rhythm/Treble ring), two volume and two tone, chrome-topped black knobs
• Tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece, Wilkinson-style sealed tuners, bell truss rod cover, black pickguard with the HLK skull

Condition: Excellent. Finish is glossy and clean front and back, binding intact, frets show little play, electronics quiet. Set up and checked in our shop. Includes gig bag.

A heavy-sounding, well-built single-cut with real pickups in it. Part of the Kuffler collection at Brothers Guitar Shop, Forest Hills, Queens.