Pierre
Stratologist
Given the recent theft of my number 1, I've not been exactly guitar-motivated recently. My Kiesel AM6 has been sitting un-sused for the week but not actually due to this... There's two reasons, one being this other blue beauty.
I'll just start by saying this is a FUN guitar. Ordering process, emails with Pascal. Just fantastic. Plays, sounds, looks great. Feels it too.
It's blue. It had to be though, weirdly, I was at first hesitating between DeepSkye and Dutch Orange (I lived in the Netherlands, but in the end, it's just gotta be blue).
She is VERY well built. As with most things, it's easier to comment on what isn't, versus what is. So let me say this again: this is a SOLID instrument. Very, very solidly built. A little on the heavier side compared to my own preferences, BUT I favor and own light guitars and have not had much 'normal' weighted guitars. She's likely on the normal side of things.
There ARE a couple of smudges and marks. But:
1) Nothing that can be seen on the body outside of careful scrutiny
2) The other bits are on the inside of the cavity plate cover. How many reviews/pictures do you ever see of this?
3) A little glue marks very close to the frets on a couple of frets only. 0 impact on playability
This is to point out that, like everything, nothing is perfect; and, like most things, they don't have to be in order to feel extremely enjoyable :headbang:
Otherwise, well you know the deal on these. Hipshot bridge and tuners. By the way I do NOT LIKE THOSE TUNERS. Argh. Seriously. No. Love the exposed gears, but do not like the feel of these. Makes me miss the Schallers. But that's nothing to do with the guitar itself; I'd never even tried the Hipshots so couldn't have asked for anything else. I don't know if they would customize the tuner choice...
... and speaking of customization, the kind fellows at Aristides did three cool things to this baby:
1) Customized inlay pattern
2) Bareknuckle Crawler (bridge) and Cold Sweat (neck)
3) Hipshot O-ring knobs
4) Stainless steel frets
Every.single.position on that 5 way switch sounds amazing. Balanced, clear. No one weak spot. The switch itself has a VERY solid feel, probably the most solid I've ever felt. Nice.
The control knobs were selected by yours truly, and I do love those O-rings. Perfect, and it was kind of Aristides to grant me the request of adding them to the guitars.
The pots are MEC and look amazing; however they turn a little too easily for my tastes. That's just how they're built I guess, and it's certainly not an objectively bad thing, more of a personal thing. They do not rotate on their own, so no actual issues here; only personal preferences.
Speaking of electronics, look at this photograph. LOOK AT IT!
Spotless I tell you. Amazing. Whoever wired this loves their job. And I love them.
Let us open here a parenthesis (here it is, and now closed), where I mention that the pickup tabs are all trimmed the same, and filed to look neat. It's the little things
The richlite fingerboard is jet-black and virtually spotless. Feels pretty much like ebony, really.
Oh also, that nut is amazing. Virtually perfect. And straight string pull... stays in tune perfectly. Frets are fantastic. Friction-less. Buttery. Smooth. Lubed....er... you get the meaning.
What else what else... loving the new logo. Very classy.
The guitar no longer comes in a hardcase, but in a Mono Sleeve gigbag (the transition happened after the order was placed, and the website doesn't yet look to be updated, but do bear with me):
1) The package was perfectly packed. There was enough plastic marshmallows to feed most of Texas with
2) The Sleeve is a great gigbag, and since mine was stolen last week, comes in handy
3) I now have spare hardcases, but not sure whether they'd fit the 060. I'll need to try it
4) Oh, did I mention the sleeve is grey, not black, and Aristides branded? I didn't. Well, the sleeve is grey, not black, and Aristides branded. Sweet.
So that's all fine by me. Aaaaaand the guitar also comes with a definitely solid-feeling and comfortable Mono strap, which is also Aristides branded, and came to me with pre-installed Schaller straplocks. My favorites.
She also came VERY well setup, and in tune. 100% satisfied here.
Oh. Also. There's no heel. I tried to look for it in the gigbag, it wasn't there.
Also, she's got such a shiny metal ass Bender himself would be jealous of it.
Voila. Amazing guitar, and one which made me easily quadruple my average weekly playing time, I am not exaggerating. Fantastic instrument. I love it, you'll likely love it too. And I hope that if you took two things away from this thread, it's this:
1) I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to guitars, and extremely critical equally
2) This is a FINE instrument, built and engineered with love, care, and purpose
I'll just start by saying this is a FUN guitar. Ordering process, emails with Pascal. Just fantastic. Plays, sounds, looks great. Feels it too.
It's blue. It had to be though, weirdly, I was at first hesitating between DeepSkye and Dutch Orange (I lived in the Netherlands, but in the end, it's just gotta be blue).
She is VERY well built. As with most things, it's easier to comment on what isn't, versus what is. So let me say this again: this is a SOLID instrument. Very, very solidly built. A little on the heavier side compared to my own preferences, BUT I favor and own light guitars and have not had much 'normal' weighted guitars. She's likely on the normal side of things.
There ARE a couple of smudges and marks. But:
1) Nothing that can be seen on the body outside of careful scrutiny
2) The other bits are on the inside of the cavity plate cover. How many reviews/pictures do you ever see of this?
3) A little glue marks very close to the frets on a couple of frets only. 0 impact on playability
This is to point out that, like everything, nothing is perfect; and, like most things, they don't have to be in order to feel extremely enjoyable :headbang:
Otherwise, well you know the deal on these. Hipshot bridge and tuners. By the way I do NOT LIKE THOSE TUNERS. Argh. Seriously. No. Love the exposed gears, but do not like the feel of these. Makes me miss the Schallers. But that's nothing to do with the guitar itself; I'd never even tried the Hipshots so couldn't have asked for anything else. I don't know if they would customize the tuner choice...
... and speaking of customization, the kind fellows at Aristides did three cool things to this baby:
1) Customized inlay pattern
2) Bareknuckle Crawler (bridge) and Cold Sweat (neck)
3) Hipshot O-ring knobs
4) Stainless steel frets
Every.single.position on that 5 way switch sounds amazing. Balanced, clear. No one weak spot. The switch itself has a VERY solid feel, probably the most solid I've ever felt. Nice.
The control knobs were selected by yours truly, and I do love those O-rings. Perfect, and it was kind of Aristides to grant me the request of adding them to the guitars.
The pots are MEC and look amazing; however they turn a little too easily for my tastes. That's just how they're built I guess, and it's certainly not an objectively bad thing, more of a personal thing. They do not rotate on their own, so no actual issues here; only personal preferences.
Speaking of electronics, look at this photograph. LOOK AT IT!
Spotless I tell you. Amazing. Whoever wired this loves their job. And I love them.
Let us open here a parenthesis (here it is, and now closed), where I mention that the pickup tabs are all trimmed the same, and filed to look neat. It's the little things
The richlite fingerboard is jet-black and virtually spotless. Feels pretty much like ebony, really.
Oh also, that nut is amazing. Virtually perfect. And straight string pull... stays in tune perfectly. Frets are fantastic. Friction-less. Buttery. Smooth. Lubed....er... you get the meaning.
What else what else... loving the new logo. Very classy.
The guitar no longer comes in a hardcase, but in a Mono Sleeve gigbag (the transition happened after the order was placed, and the website doesn't yet look to be updated, but do bear with me):
1) The package was perfectly packed. There was enough plastic marshmallows to feed most of Texas with
2) The Sleeve is a great gigbag, and since mine was stolen last week, comes in handy
3) I now have spare hardcases, but not sure whether they'd fit the 060. I'll need to try it
4) Oh, did I mention the sleeve is grey, not black, and Aristides branded? I didn't. Well, the sleeve is grey, not black, and Aristides branded. Sweet.
So that's all fine by me. Aaaaaand the guitar also comes with a definitely solid-feeling and comfortable Mono strap, which is also Aristides branded, and came to me with pre-installed Schaller straplocks. My favorites.
She also came VERY well setup, and in tune. 100% satisfied here.
Oh. Also. There's no heel. I tried to look for it in the gigbag, it wasn't there.
Also, she's got such a shiny metal ass Bender himself would be jealous of it.
Voila. Amazing guitar, and one which made me easily quadruple my average weekly playing time, I am not exaggerating. Fantastic instrument. I love it, you'll likely love it too. And I hope that if you took two things away from this thread, it's this:
1) I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to guitars, and extremely critical equally
2) This is a FINE instrument, built and engineered with love, care, and purpose
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...but otherwise...very nice!
a work of art.
