Meet the new Kiesel Jason Becker guitar

Here’s Kiesel’s latest collaboration with Jason Becker: the Yin Yang Tribute Guitar. Unlike other Kiesel Jason Becker guitars, which are all made based on instruments Jason played, the Yin Yang guitar is a new design, for which Jason took colour inspiration from Eric Clapton’s ‘Blackie’ Strat while developing a very modern shred-friendly instrument.
“Although I love the meaning of unity/duality in the yin yang symbol, my desire to design a guitar like this came from my love of Eric Clapton’s ‘Blackie’ guitar,” Jason says. “When I was 9, I saw The Band’s movie, The Last Waltz. Clapton and Robbie Robertson made me want to become a lead guitarist. I eventually got a black and white Strat in junior high and used it on Cacophony’s first album, Speed Metal Symphony.
“This yin yang design of mine was meant to capture the look of Clapton’s Blackie. To me, every line and curve is beautiful. I worked really hard on getting the perfect balance of black and white and artistic movement. My caregivers followed my picky requests. Without copying a Strat, it feels just as cool or cooler. The neck is the same size as my original Bluey, so I know it feels good. I am so grateful to Kiesel Guitars for bringing my design to life.”
From the Kiesel website:
The Jason Becker Yin Yang Tribute guitar has an mahogany body with a black/white Yin Yang finish on the front, and black back and sides with a clear gloss top coat. Mahogany is a medium weight high-quality tone wood used for its fine resonating warm tone. The bolt-on Eastern hard rock maple neck has a tung-oil finish and thinner neck profile ideal for fast playing. All of our necks and fingerboards undergo a long conditioning process in our de-humidification chambers to remove any stress in the wood and prevent future warping or twisting. Additionally, the dual-action, fully adjustable truss rod helps keep the neck straight and true, and allows you to set the action just the way you like it. Dual carbon-fiber rods further strengthen the neck.
The JBYY has a reverse inline angled pointed headstock, with black finish and white Kiesel headstock logo. Jason’s exclusive multilaminate Jason Becker truss rod cover, in white, is installed. A locking nut for the Floyd Rose tremolo is standard.
The standard roasted flamed maple fingerboard features a 24.75″ scale length, with exclusive matching Yin Yang dot inlays. Luminlay SuperBlue glow-in-the-dark side dots are also a standard feature. Stainless steel jumbo frets are standard equipment.
Kiesel Guitars new M12SD humbucker with black polepieces is installed in the bridge position. This pickup is similar in tone to the original M22SD pickup found in Jason’s original guitars from the 1990s. The coils are black and white zebra, to match the aesthetic of the rest of the instrument. Our new Mark’s Single pickup, with white coil, is installed in the neck position. Electronics are passive, with a 5-way pickup selector switch and master volume and tone controls with white knobs.