From the tip of its generously proportioned Starcasterish headstock with vintage-style Kluson tuners and single string tree to bottom of its gadget-laden, contoured alder body, the BilT Relevator is designed for what creators Tim Thelen and Bill Henss call “space racey” good looks. Their adjective seems to hit the nail right on the head, as the guitar looks like nothing so much as a mash-up of the futuristic offset-waisted models Fender rolled out one after another in the early days of the space age. Though the guys at BilT have certainly found inspiration in Leo Fender’s creations, they clearly have not been content to keep to a single line of influence, and their intention is not historical—this guitar is not in any sense a replica, but rather an exercise in taking what those designs provided into new territory.

The Final Mojo No single element of this guitar’s design is what you’d call revolutionary, but the sum total of all these elements, and the thought and care that went into making them work together to be the instrument that this is … well, it certainly raises the bar for partisans of the offset-style solidbody electric. If you’re on the lookout for an exceptionally well-built guitar with huge tonal versatility and sonic utility—and one that will also give you instant street cred with the indie crowd, you won’t find very many reasons to look further than the BilT Relevator ... unless you’re in post-rock, artcore alternative group or a shoegaze outfit, in which case you probably won’t find any.