The Vulcan Deluxe...

was Steve Helgeson’s Les Paul Killer.  By the mid 1970s, Steve had made a name for himself building boutique electric guitars & basses.  The world had never seen such beautifully crafted guitars before.  Only about 160 of these original Vulcans were made.  There was also a Vulcan Standard model and I do not know of the 160 how many were Deluxes vs. Standards.  It is probably safe to assume that more Standards were made due to the extremely high 1970s era base price of $2000.

Steve used rare and difficult to obtain wood such as Burl Maple.  Burl Maple grows only on steep  cliffs in California and is difficult both to harvest and mill.  It is extremely dense and beautiful and has unique sonic properties.  Some say that it looks like marble. 

The Vulcan Deluxe had no plastic on it except for the pickups (which Steve did not manufacture).  Pickups were made by Bartolini and were expensive like everything else on this guitar.  All cavity covers were made of wood - a first in the industry.  The downside was the weight of the guitar which I’d estimate was at least 13 pounds. 

Moonstone headstocks were also very ornate. They usually featured Ebony or Walnut overlays and Walnut truss rod covers as well as Abalone and Mother of Pearl inlays.

The electronics were unusual as well.  The Vulcan Deluxe featured Les Paul style controls with the addition of a master volume knob.  The small toggle switch engaged a pre-amp that would actually add distortion to the guitar signal for taking creamy leads.  Steve topped it off with a phase variance knob that allowed you to choose 5 different phase relationships between the pickups.  It can truly be said that this guitar can sound like a Strat and a Les Paul because of this.

Some of the biggest players in the world were starting to use Moonstone guitars in the late 1970s to early 1980s.  Moonstone had gained much positive press.  Steve had bought a larger factory, stockpiled lots of select wood and secured national distribution for his guitars.  He may well have been the Paul Reed Smith of our time has arsonists not burned down his factory.   It took Steve another 10 years to open his factory again.  He now builds world class acoustics and electrics.

Build materials & Quality = 10

Sound = 9.2

Playability = 9

Appearance = 10

Overall design = 9