Guitars- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Good:
PRS McCarty Spruce Hollowbody: I expected it to play well but have a “too big” neck and feedback issues at stage volume. It did, indeed, play great but the neck, while fuller, felt great! Due to the way the top is carved, there is no feedback issue until you get to volumes that make solidbody guitars squeal. The spruce top really adds to the tone. And it is sooooo light; a joy to hold for longer periods. It was so good, I bought a second one!

Bad:
Carvin DC200-12 String Electric: A very well made guitar that, for unknown reasons, I simply couldn’t play well. I’ve played 12s before, but I couldn’t hold barred or widely spaced chords well on this one. I believe it is due to the wide/thin neck, which I love on my DC200 6-string. Weird, I know. I’m sure it’s just my way of playing as the guy who bought it has no issues with it.

Ugly:
I‘m sure I’ll get flamed, but reliced guitars are a no-go for me. Genuine wear is not an issue, but I would feel like a total poser if I strapped on a bunch of fake wear. If you like it, by all means, buy it. Just not for me.
 
Good:
PRS McCarty Spruce Hollowbody: I expected it to play well but have a “too big” neck and feedback issues at stage volume. It did, indeed, play great but the neck, while fuller, felt great! Due to the way the top is carved, there is no feedback issue until you get to volumes that make solidbody guitars squeal. The spruce top really adds to the tone. And it is sooooo light; a joy to hold for longer periods. It was so good, I bought a second one!

Bad:
Carvin DC200-12 String Electric: A very well made guitar that, for unknown reasons, I simply couldn’t play well. I’ve played 12s before, but I couldn’t hold barred or widely spaced chords well on this one. I believe it is due to the wide/thin neck, which I love on my DC200 6-string. Weird, I know. I’m sure it’s just my way of playing as the guy who bought it has no issues with it.

Ugly:
I‘m sure I’ll get flamed, but reliced guitars are a no-go for me. Genuine wear is not an issue, but I would feel like a total poser if I strapped on a bunch of fake wear. If you like it, by all means, buy it. Just not for me.
Ditto on no-relic.
 
Taylor 714CE It was surprising to me how much I didn't like the sound of the Cedar-top version. But the Spruce top sounds beautiful both plugged in and acoustically.
Sweet guitars! I have a 2018 with the Lutz Spruce top. Since I bought the FM3 it doesn't get out of the case enough.
 
Good - The Epiphone Special with P90s. It was a $90 GC pickup that I thought I'd gut for the pickups. It's a MIC bolt on neck LP Special for goodness sake - it has to suck right? Instead it blew me away with fantastic tone and excellent playability. It sounds great - I pick it up before I touch my real Gibson LP Special.

Bad - Carvin / Kiesel neck thru guitars. I Love their bolt on designs but there's something about the compression of their neck-thru models that sounds super flat and uninspiring to me. I got sucked into the catalog and have owned and sold 3 of them now - they just aren't my cup of tea.

Ugly - People who don't like headless guitars without trying one out 🤣😘🤓 My custom Aristides H/06r is the finest guitar I've ever had the privilege to pick up and play. Seriously - it's like cheat mode. It's the only guitar that I can literally play all day without even noticing it on my shoulder or any hand/wrist pain. It's worth every single cent of cost and month of wait. I like it so much that I have another one cooking.

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Good - The Epiphone Special with P90s. It was a $90 GC pickup that I thought I'd gut for the pickups. It's a MIC bolt on neck LP Special for goodness sake - it has to suck right? Instead it blew me away with fantastic tone and excellent playability. It sounds great - I pick it up before I touch my real Gibson LP Special.

Bad - Carvin / Kiesel neck thru guitars. I Love their bolt on designs but there's something about the compression of their neck-thru models that sounds super flat and uninspiring to me. I got sucked into the catalog and have owned and sold 3 of them now - they just aren't my cup of tea.

Ugly - People who don't like headless guitars without trying one out 🤣😘🤓 My custom Aristides H/06r is the finest guitar I've ever had the privilege to pick up and play. Seriously - it's like cheat mode. It's the only guitar that I can literally play all day without even noticing it on my shoulder or any hand/wrist pain. It's worth every single cent of cost and month of wait. I like it so much that I have another one cooking.

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Really like that 2112 inlay. Is that a custom?
 
Really like that 2112 inlay. Is that a custom?
Yep. The Aristides guys do insane work. This was a simple Rush / Neil Peart tribute. White like Alex's ES355 with switching to try to duplicate as many of his sounds as possible. 2112 was written partly as a reaction to Peart's reading of Anthem . . . the word "EGO" is the last word in the book. Love it so much!
 
Good - The Epiphone Special with P90s. It was a $90 GC pickup that I thought I'd gut for the pickups. It's a MIC bolt on neck LP Special for goodness sake - it has to suck right? Instead it blew me away with fantastic tone and excellent playability. It sounds great - I pick it up before I touch my real Gibson LP Special.

Bad - Carvin / Kiesel neck thru guitars. I Love their bolt on designs but there's something about the compression of their neck-thru models that sounds super flat and uninspiring to me. I got sucked into the catalog and have owned and sold 3 of them now - they just aren't my cup of tea.

Ugly - People who don't like headless guitars without trying one out 🤣😘🤓 My custom Aristides H/06r is the finest guitar I've ever had the privilege to pick up and play. Seriously - it's like cheat mode. It's the only guitar that I can literally play all day without even noticing it on my shoulder or any hand/wrist pain. It's worth every single cent of cost and month of wait. I like it so much that I have another one cooking.

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Gonna need a video of you playing with those gloves on. :)
 
I wasn't a fan of the Majesty looks, but I bought one about a year ago. Great guitar, but i HATE the pickups and they're a total pain or expense to replace. I need to just sell it to someone who will enjoy it.

I too was never into headless guitars, but I love my Steinberger that I took in on trade. I definitely agree with the folks who said, "don't knock it till you try it". I just need to track down someone with the old school transtrem arm for sale :(
 
I wasn't a fan of the Majesty looks, but I bought one about a year ago. Great guitar, but i HATE the pickups
Why? What is it about them you don't like? I like how they sound (kinda knew what to expect), but I had no idea how rich in harmonics they'd be. I always thought when the notes JP played would catch a higher harmonic, it was his amp on the edge of feedback. I effin love how the pickups do this.
 
Why? What is it about them you don't like? I like how they sound (kinda knew what to expect), but I had no idea how rich in harmonics they'd be. I always thought when the notes JP played would catch a higher harmonic, it was his amp on the edge of feedback. I effin love how the pickups do this.
I have the Illuminator pickups (since he changes pickups like most people change underwear). To me they are very thin and shrill. Although I've played through a huge amount of pickups over the years, I always go back to my old Dimarzio Super Distortion for the Bridge pickup. I guess the joy of the universe is that we all have different ideas of what "good" is...NOT including behavior or morals here, but likes and dislikes.
 
Ditto on no-relic.
As somebody who does quite a bit of relic work I know what you mean. I hate relic guitars that look like relic guitars. It should just look real, vintage but play better. The reason they are a hit is because it makes for an affordable alternative to serious vintage without the worry of being ripped off. Then they almost always play better than the originals with modern fit and finish. And finally a certificate to prove it is the real thing. For the price of one really bad refinish 30% of it missing 60s strat (swapped) you can get 2 or even 3 standard CS Relics. My thread of making a relic should make anyone wary of getting in to the vintage market without a lot of prior work. Imagin if I added all the tooling marks and used clone hardware and I can easily get necks and bodies without branding that can be made to fool all but the most experienced.
 
There is a fine line between Good and Bad...

... and between Ugly and Beauty :D

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7 string Jackson Dinky with Evertune OMG Sick for recording and looks Sexy
Tried the Shawbucker HH Tele but never felt it and dumped it in two weeks
Ugly Schecter Sinister gates, sold after sitting under my bed for a couple years, but got most of the money back lol
 
1. The Good: A guitar you have played that was a pleasant surprise.

A Frankenstein I've made with a $48 poplar body and a $77 scalloped neck from AliExpress.

A seriously pleasant surprise. It has a great resonance. As a matter of fact, it has more resonance than the F@c'in Suhr (pictured below) that has a dead note!! It plays flawlessly, and I love the scalloped neck

Bridge: Floyd Rose Original
Neck Pickup: Harmonic Design Z90
Bridge Pickup: Dimarzio Gravity Storm
Middle Pickup: OriPure Alnico V - Another pleasant surprise from AliExpress that can compete with the most expensive boutique pickups

Full story here: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...nded-building-a-new-guitar-from-parts.175412/

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Now it is almost finished. Only pending to fill these useless tone control holes:
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p.s.: the ugly cat sticker will go out, although I find it more tasteful than bird inlays
 
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