Meet Shevlin Guitars And Their McKenzie Offset Model

With a stunning red finish over a resonant slab JM-style body, there’s lots of beauty in simplicity here.

My love of simple guitars is well documented at this point. I love single pickup guitars, like the RWM Guitars RWDCT we’re giving away, or the Tom DeLonge Strat. Ironically I do have a relatively complex signature guitar of my own, but that was designed to be an all-in-one studio weapon, not necessarily a punk rock guitar. But in my various Instagram browsing sessions, I once came upon Shevlin Guitars, based in Bend Oregon on the West Coast of the US. We became friends online and months later, I was lucky enough for them to loan me this McKenzie guitar to review.

Why am I so interested in this guitar? Well, it’s simple, with a stunning offset slab body that uses water-based wood dye (more on that in another article) to allow the natural grain and appearance of the Alder wood to shine through.

When it comes to electronics it isn’t too complex either, with a pair of Lollar El Rayo humbuckers that are voiced similar to single coils. There’s a volume knob for each pickup, and one master tone knob. Under the hood there’s treble bleed circuits that do wonders at low volume, but those are the type of hidden, non-complicated features I prefer to see in a guitar. Take a lot of the work and thought out of my hands, and let me just plug in and play.

Before we get to playing, here’s some neck and playability specs to know: The McKenzie has a D-shaped Maple neck with a Kotolox fretboard. It’s a 25.5″ scale length, with 21 frets, a 9.5″ radius, and the fret thickness flattens and widens across the neck as you move up frets. Those frets are made of Jescar, and there’s also a Tusq XL nut.

Sound Check

I plugged the McKenzie into my trusty dual amp rig (UAudio Dream and Ruby amp sims in stereo) and ran it through some delays (EHX MM Deluxe Nano, UAudio DelVerb), and gain stages (Shotmaker Heroine Deluxe).

Overall, the McKenzie sounded great to my ears, and those Lollar’s definitely do have a good amount of chime to them. They’re supposed to be bringing a higher, single coil-like sound to the table and they definitely delivered. The McKenzie is a remarkably solid guitar, that was comfortable to play and easy to coax sounds out of.

My only complaint was that for a guitar that has two volume knobs, I couldn’t blend the two pickups together when using the middle mode (both humbuckers together). Both volume knobs had to be fully rolled up to get any sound of it, and I love having the ability to mix and match both pickups at will.

Otherwise, it delivered everything I could have hoped for from a dual humbucker offset. The McKenzie was crunchy, and had a very full sounding sonic footprint. I especially loved the distorted sounds, as those Lollars really came to life with a bit more volume and bite from my gain pedals.

This McKenzie is available from Shevlin right now for $2190 USD, which seems like a fair price considering the skyrocketing gear prices all around us. If you’re looking for something stripped down, but still premium in appearance and build quality. You want this guitar if you’re not looking for innovative sounds, but instead a really high quality canvas to then paint with your own playing style, pedals, or gear. It allows you to do the innovating yourself, and I have always gravitated towards guitars like that.

They also get bonus points for using water-based wood dye instead of traditional lacquer finishes that can do a number on the environment. Stay tuned for a more detailed look into that processes and why Shevlin is making a great aesthetic and moral decision with their beautifully dyed guitars!

Go visit their site and follow them on Instagram, Shevlin Guitars is a great small builder to support!