The guitar thread

The guitar thread


  • Total voters
    83
The original Floyd Rose may not even be worth the upgrade if you don't notice any particular issues with your 1000 series. There are quite a few people who have both who don't really notice an appreciable difference between the two, while there certainly are people who do notice a difference and that's okay too.

Heck, Floyd Rose themselves even use the same photo on their website for both terms.
 
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Just need the guy to come down $200 and then it'll be at the FIRM budget I've set for myself...

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It's the K22CE so it's quite a small body (Grant Concert), but with their special bracing and the relief route, it sounds much much more like a fuller-bodied Grand Auditorium-sized (not quite Grand Symphony).

3rd or 4th best-looking Koa Taylor I've seen. The ones that have in my 4 local Guitar Centers are terrible compared to what they CAN look like.

Crossing my fingers...
 
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I love my Strats! The 2 middle ones were purchased in 2 days, after a promotion and big raise, got them about 2 weeks ago.

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I find it hard enough to find guitars that are just to my liking as a righty, being a lefty would be my nightmare.

Seymour Duncan Hot Rails on the one on the right? I just bought a Duncan loaded pickguard with a Hot Rails, Cool Rails and Little 59, should be in the post.
 
The left one has a Dimarzio humbucker in the bridge, the black on is stock as far as I know, the blond has Bill Lawrence Keystones I put in yesterday (not shown), and the red Squire has a Hot Rails in the bridge.

The White MIM will more than likely get all new electronics in the near future, I'm open for suggestions. I do like the Dimarzio more than the Hot Rails, so the red one will probably get a mix of the both the white Strat and the blond, with black hardware.
 
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^ x1000
Also, I blame Thunderchild for this purchase :p Seeing his 22 fret floyd-ed maple boarded shredder put me in the mood, haha.
Ooops... I'm sending the EVH back:|
It has serious tuning issues when using the Floyd. Life's too short.
 
Ah shit. I don't even know how that happens with locking systems, you'd think it's locked it can't go out of tune. But I had an Ibanez Jem555 with the awful Edge III trem that every Ibanez player hates that kept tune on trem usage worse than a vintage non-locking trem.
 
The price would have been better had I got it for the price I did from a private seller, because of sales tax, but I still feel like I got a bargain (for what it is...ha!).

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Oh, man...I wish my photos didn't suck. :)

I always thought my house just made all of my acoustics sound like butt. It turns out...all of my acoustics just sounded like butt. This thing is magical... :shock:


Koa, quite often, has a definite...umm...gender...to it's bookmatch. Typically, that type of grain pattern is the least appealing to me on a guitar, and I generally prefer ones with straight grains, especially if there is some sapwood/heartwood contrast going on.

This one was so interesting, though, that I forgave it. :) I'm getting a sort of angelic vibe from it.

I've seen a couple tops that were nicer, sure, but I've only seen 1 back (in person) that was nicer, and it was one that was hand-selected for a road show. Sure, I've seen photos of some that looked better, but I firmly believe that I have the best one in the Bay Area, after checking out every store I could find. :)

I know he mentions how much he likes just about every guitar he tests, but something resonated with me on his short review of this guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFSoOfrvsGw

Then when I saw one in person a few months back, I fell for it like I've never fell for a guitar before.

I think I might swap out the tuners' knobs for ebony. I also ordered a Taylor leather strap, which should (hopefully) arrive tomorrow.


Man, this thing is vibrant! I've played several other koa guitars from other makers, and to me, most sounded like a lot of mahogany guitars...which makes sense because they are related, but is also a tone that I just don't care for. My main acoustic for the past 15+ years, a Cort, (I bought it used and it already had a gashed headstock, and it was in the car with my when I had a car accident where I rolled my vehicle...this thing has seen some action, to say the least!) has mahogany back and sides, and it was just too warm/mellow for me. Not enough "life" to it.

This thing, though, is sooooo resonant. Taylor has recently updated both the 800 and 600 series guitars with features that make the guitars more responsive: thinner finishes, and thinner bracing that doesn't even extend all the way to the sides. These changes do make the guitars sing a bit sweeter, but I've always had this nagging fear that by minimizing all of that support to allow the guitar to "move" more...that it's not going to be as durable long term. I have no actual facts to back up my, likely irrational, fear...even though they really do work well as far as the tone of the guitars. This guitar is from just before these updates, so it let my mind rest a bit easier knowing that it has the "old" level of structural support which may very well be over-engineered...but it helps me sleep a bit easier. :)

It has the same bracing that Taylor uses on the 800 and 900 series ("CV" bracing, which is more deeply scalloped in comparison to their other bracing patterns), In addition it also has what they call the "relief route." Basically, for the sake of easy math, imagine that the top is 5MM thick. Around the perimeter, they actually route out a thin channel under the top of the guitar to, say, about 3mm thick. An entire 3mm top would be too thin, but by making a thin channel around the top, it let's the whole top vibrate more. From what I can tell, it's only done to the top, and not the back.

I'm terrible at describing tone, and note that I'm only hearing it as the player, not as someone listening to it...but it sounds incredibly loud compared to by other acoustics. My Cort is a "jumbo"...so while this Taylor is louder, the Cort has a more pronounced low-end in it's mix. I don't know yet if I prefer that balance, but I will say I always found myself having to EQ out "boomy" bass from my Cort when I plugged in.
 
Daaamn I don't know shit about acoustics but the wood and inlay on that look amazing.
Is that a wood inlay? I always wanted proper wood inlays instead of shitty plastic blocks like everyone does.
 
Yes, the inlay is laser cut maple and koa. I, too, dislike plastic, but I'm also OK with real mother of pearl and abalone.
 
With the EVH return to sender, I'm now considering a Jason Becker sig.
I wasn't too pleased with my V3 amp, but the guitars are simply killer.
 
That's a bumer. :( Were you able to try another guitar from the same model? Maybe that one just had an issue.
 
No, I didn't get the chance. I bought it online from a German retailer. I could have it exchanged for another one, but I didn't feel like it.
The Carvin will be a better guitar in just about every way, so I'm not too heartbroken about it.
 
Rumor has it that starting 4/1 they will sell directly (instead of using dealers like they have for the past couple years). Also, that they may be switching to a new freight carrier, which would likely reduce customs fees compared to UPS.

The neck-through, or the bolt-on "Numbers" guitar?
 
I adore bare ash+maple, it's what I'd get if I was ordering a pure custom guitar. But the pickup colours and numbers would put me right off :p

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Mmm, Japanese box, my favourite box
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I also like packages that contain guitars from Japan. badoom-tsch.
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I adore this thing, if this is ESP's lowest quality made-in-Japan brand (Edwards) then I can't imagine what a full-blown ESP must feel like. It's super versatile too - no matter how extreme a tone you have set up, rolling down the volume brings the gain down but retains the high end so well you can play any little plinky-plonky soft stuff that needs a responsive tone.
I've also found I'm keeping the tone pot pulled out all the time for full single coils.

Only thing about it (it's used) was the hardware was tarnished - looks like it's been sitting unplayed for years. So I taped it all off and machine polished the frets with some Meguiars metal polish I use for my Lexus' stainless steel exhaust, and they came up nice.
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This is guitar #11 for me, and tbh I'm tempted to buy the other Edwards Snapper the guy has for sale and sell most of my other guitars, down-size to 2 Snappers and maybe 1 or 2 other guitars.
 
I would most likely go for the natural bolt on. It's quirky and I really like it.
Yes, Carvin is going direct starting next month. I'm curious to see how it will impact the prices. I have contacted them for a quote as they request on their FB page.

That Edwards is really nice looking. I have two Edwards and two "real" ESPs.
The differences to me : Edwards has fairly small frets, the necks feel a bit generic and hardware quality isn't top notch (though nothing to complain about).
ESP (or E-II) : big frets, more character and everything feels like a million bucks.
If I don't go for a Becker, an E-II is next on the list.
 
Cool! I believe there has been at least one "NGD" on the Carvin forum already.

edit: I think it's been two.
 
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