Shelton SkyFlite IV Swamp Ash w/ Porter Pickups, Flame Maple & RW – Shell Pink

Information

Brand New w/ Warranty. We are an authorized Shelton Dealer.

Like what you see? All photos are of the actual instrument you will receive.

The Shelton SkyFlite IV brings a classic into a new age. Without losing the soul of its traditional brethren, this guitar packs some extra heat with twenty-one voicing options from its souped-up HSS configuration. Incredible tones in a variety of flavors. Still not the exact Shelton you’re looking for? Contact us and we can help you spec out a custom order to your exact liking!

What Do We Think?

The Shelton SkyFlite IV is a very deceptive instrument. At first glance, it looks like a traditional ‘Super-S’ style guitar. Familiar shape and curves, 3 pickups, trem, etc… But under the hood, you have some truly incredible sonic versatility. More on that later. The roasted maple neck and swamp ash body are a match made in heaven for the bountiful tones that lie within. And boy, do the aesthetics look nice. Shell pink paint, flame maple neck, mint guard, gold hardware, block inlays, it’s a looker for sure. So what of the plentiful tonal options I had mentioned earlier? Shop owner Josh said it best. See below…

The Porter ‘50s single coil in the neck is naturally big and scooped, while the ‘60s wind in the middle is a little more mid-forward. The in-between position is spanky without being hollowed out, really a best-of-both-worlds Strat tone. And so far we’ve just covered the tip of the iceberg; there are a total of twenty-one pickup and wiring combinations to be had!

Let’s move to the humbucker. It is a combination of a Porter S90 on the outer coil and Vintage Custom on the inside. The blend is thick, harmonically-rich and delivers a good bark up top. The coils can also be individually selected via push/pull pots (second and third knobs) to give you access to either the more traditional voicing of the Vintage Custom or the thicker, hot-rodded snarl of the S90.

You can have your rig set to get a grinding breakup out of the humbucker and quickly flip the 5-way blade to the neck position for a big chimey tone that cleans up and responds beautifully to pick dynamics. And while it’s really nice having that extra “oomph” of the full humbucker on tap, it is equally nice to solo the S90 coil at times for a crisper rhythm tone with a little more cut.

Another highlight is a wiring modification hiding in plain sight in the 2^nd “tone” knob. Roll it back to bring in the middle pickup in series with the neck or bridge position. This gives you fatter in-between tones than the standard pickups-in-parallel arrangement available on the 5-way switch. They have thick, juicy vowels and compress the amp a little quicker.

Lastly, the neck position can be added to any pickup position via the push/pull volume knob. Combining neck and bridge à la a Telecaster gives you some wonderful snap and snarl that you can’t usually access on a Strat, further accentuated by the various split options on the humbucker. You can even run all three pickups together for colossal funk tones.

The trem system is a Kluson vintage style 6-screw steel block. The bar action is smooth without being too sensitive, and the steel block helps in the sustain department. But with Shelton’s premium construction and components, sustain didn’t need help to begin with. This SkyFlite IV is truly a force of tone to be reckoned with.

How Does It Play?

We have the action set at just over 4/64” at the 12th fret on the low E string, and right at 4/64” at the 12^th fret on the high E string. The neck is a medium oval C, which is thick but deceptively fast. With regard to fit and finish, Shelton’s roasted maple is second to none. The neck is velvety smooth and flawlessly playable.  

Weight: 7lb 10.1oz

The Custom Shelton G&G Hard Case is included!

Specifications

Body

Body Wood: Swamp Ash

Body Finish: Shell Pink

Neck

Neck Wood: Master Grade Flame Roasted Maple

Neck Finish: Shell Pink Gloss Swoosh w/ Natural Satin Back

Neck Shape: Medium Oval C

Scale Length: 25.5”

Fingerboard Material: Bound Indian Rosewood with Block Inlays

Fingerboard Radius: 9.5”

Number of Frets: 21

Fret Size: JESCAR FW47095

Nut Material: Tusq XL

Nut Width: 1.687”

Shape Dimensions: Med C 1^st FRET = .845” / 12^th FRET .925”

Electronics

Bridge Pickup 1: Porter S90

Bridge Pickup 2: Porter Vintage Custom

Middle Pickup: Porter 1960’s S

Neck Pickup: Porter 1950’s S

Controls:

Volume (Push/Pull activates neck pickup),

Master Tone, (Push/Pull splits humbucker to S90 single coil only)

Series Blend Pot (Push/Pull splits humbucker to vintage custom single coil only)

Note: Series mode runs bridge and middle pickups or middle and neck pickups in series

Switching: 5-Position Blade:

Position 1: Bridge VC90 Humbucker (S90 and vintage custom in series)

Position 2: Bridge & Middle Pickups

Position 3: Middle Pickup

Position 4: Middle & Neck Pickups

Position 5: Neck Pickup

Pots: (3) CTS Push/Pull Potentiometers

Switch: (1) Oak Grisby 5-Way Switch

Jack: Switchcraft ¼” Mono

Capacitor: (1) Sprague Orange Drop

Hardware

Bridge: Kluson Steel Block Vintage Trem

Tuning Machines: Gotoh SD91 Magnum Staggard Locking

Pickguard: Mint Plastic Laminated

Knobs: White w/ Gold Cap

Finish: Gold

Other

Strings: 10-46

Case: G&G Deluxe Hardshell Case