Micheal Pope

This has been one of my main guitars for everything ever since I got it a few years ago. I love the Portlander model because it feels like a Telecaster in your hands and a Les Paul under your fingers. This one had Lollar El Reyo pickups, but I recently swapped them out for Veritas BearCat pickups. It’s made me love this guitar even more - super punchy and clear.

This is the latest model from Veritas and it’s probably my new favorite. It has BearCat pickups in it which they wind in house. They sound stellar! Even though this particular one wasn’t originally built for me, I love the way it feels and sounds. If you’re in the market for a Veritas, these are definitely worth a look.

This was the first guitar Casey ever built for me. It’s from a time before they used CNC machines. That said, this one was built by hand. That’s not to say it’s better than his current guitars, because honestly the CNC guitars are just as good, if not better. I’m proud to have a guitar as early in the Veritas existence as this one. I asked for a 56 Goldtop style guitar and he DELIVERED. I recently put a firebird pickup in the bridge and now it’s literally perfect. I always take this guitar with me when we tour because it is such a dream to play live. It has all the right feels for me.

The Texas Miracle is probably my best looking guitar. We did a milky white color that is light enough for you to see the woodgrain thru the finish. I had a bit of a Mary Kaye strat obsession one week so we did something similar, minus the gold hardware. I went with a maple neck too which honestly hasn’t been my favorite tonally but gives the guitar this snappy quality that's kinda cool. It’s got Lollar T-52 pickups so that helps balance the top end from the neck. Sometimes I open tune it and play like Keith Richards.

I got connected with Gretsch mid-2016. One of their reps came out to a show and brought some great guitars. This one I just connected with instantly. Honestly, I was pretty skeptical and didn’t think it’d be that good. Boy was I wrong. It has since become a main guitar in my live rig and will probably stay there for a long while. It is completely different than the Veritas stuff and compliments them very well. I hope to get more in the future.

Michael Pope is currently using a Rickenbacker 360 Electric Guitar, which he borrowed from his friend Josh. He has been utilizing it extensively in the studio, as mentioned on the Saintpope website under the "GUITARS" section.

… my first vintage guitar. I got it in Nashville at Gruhn Guitars. I was 15 at the time and they took me upstairs to their private showroom so I could play it. Needless to say I lost my mind. I wanted one of these ever since I saw Greg Hill (ex Mutemath) play one live. I thought it was the coolest looking guitar and he made it sound so good. I’ve been using it in Nashville tuning (hi-strung) for some time now, however, I recently put normal strings back on it and have been quite enjoying it.

Micheal Pope discusses his experience with the 1970 Univox Strat on the Saintpope website. He purchased this vintage guitar on Reverb for $300 as a more affordable alternative to the high-priced vintage Strats. To improve its performance, Micheal upgraded it with Lollar Special S pickups, crafted a new bone nut, refretted it with guidance from Jim at Veritas, and installed better tuners. Despite its initial condition, he now enjoys playing this unique Strat copy, which delivers an impressive sound.