G&L Jerry Cantrell Rampage Sig. Quick in Store Review!

Reverend

New member
So I finally found a local guitar shop thats as big as any of the local Guitar Centers, not naming the shop as Im not 100% on the forum rules yet but its in Northern Virginia. Took hours for me to get there(Im in DC) but the trip was more than worth it! Im on the lookout for a new axe and have really caught Silverburst fever and was plain heartbroken to discover that the said new shop didnt even carry Gibson. But the other option Im strongly considering is the USA G&L Cantrell Sig. as Im new to G&L-I didnt even know they exist until the GW with Cantrell on the cover and having done a good bit of research on them am very impressed by the nearly 0% complaint rate on their products and possibly the most high praise Ive ever seen given to any guitar manufacturer and that its a reputation thats always been that way from what Ive seen. Have no idea how I missed them till now.....

AAAAAnyways....to my total shock this guitar shop had an ivory Cantrell sig hanging right behind me when I asked about it. The Korean Tribute yes but the only time I thought Id see those would be beaten to death hanging in a Guitar Center with hopefully at least two strings that werent broken and for FULL msrp of course...

This thing was awesome! What started out as checking out a new ax shop for a little while turned into me jamming out on this cheap(600 bucks)gorgeous guitar for over two hours. Plugging it into different amps etc...

The smoothest ebony fretboard Ive ever laid my hands on. I dont know how they do it, its so smooth its almost like its got somekind of permanent oil on it. Bends and position changes esp. fast ones were effortless. NOT Jumbo frets for once too! They are one size down I believe yet fretting was effortless.

I played Les Pauls for years and just recently got rid of my last one(fully dressed ebony Studio w/KFK EMGs)cause it had the thickest freaking neck Ive ever played on anything making progressive styles reaaally difficult and its the heaviest of the Pauls and late into 8 hour marathon jam sessions it felt like it was about to take my arm off at the shoulder.

But....it had the most godlike tone and sustain Ive ever heard out of anything even LP Customs and Ive been tryin to get as close to that level of tone/sustain since, I know that bein a honkin big piece of mahogany is what did it but didnt want to go back to bein slowed down by it either....

The cheap Korean made Cantrell sig sounds 99% just like my old monster LP. Tone is excellent, sustain was BETTER than the ol LP! The 18:1 tuners are incredibly accurate and didnt even begin to slip or move(I know ..its new but)...

To cut this short and to summarize. The Tribute G&L Cantrell I played for a solid couple hours straight through 9 different amps ranks among the top 3 best guitars Ive ever played in my life and Im including high end classical guitars Ive had, amazing bass guitars Ive had the whole lot....

Now Im torn pretty hard cause Ive always been a Gibson junky. The new Silverbursts look to be just as well done or near it as the G&Ls. Gotta get em in my hands first to really tell....as much as I wanted to walk out with the Sig today Im not rich and after going over everything, options etc. then the USA version(in whiskey if I pull it)promises to be ....biblical...

Cannot get over the neck....beyond perfection for someone with perfectly average size hands such as myself....first time in many years I picked up a guitar so well set up and built that "it just played itself".

end
 
Re: G&L Jerry Cantrell Rampage Sig. Quick in Store Review!

Welcome to the forum, Rev!

Now Im torn pretty hard cause Ive always been a Gibson junky.

It sounds like you need a new drug:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_BVYgA-ZnM

then the USA version promises to be ....biblical...

Ah yes ..... crossing the Jordan into the promised toneland.



Cannot get over the neck....beyond perfection for someone with perfectly average size hands such as myself....first time in many years I picked up a guitar so well set up and built that "it just played itself".


I need a guitar that plays itself .... one that will make me sound like I have some skills.

There is an abundance of G&L love here and, in my case, a lot of G.A.S.
 
Re: G&L Jerry Cantrell Rampage Sig. Quick in Store Review!

Those have a 13.75" neck radius. Maybe you prefer a flatter neck radius than a Les Paul and just didn't know it.

I think I read the U.S.A. made ones come out in December. I definitely want to play one. I don't think I've ever played a G&L that I didn't like.
 
Re: G&L Jerry Cantrell Rampage Sig. Quick in Store Review!

And they're Indonesian, not Korean. I've seen the New JC Tributes on eBay where the sellers make the same mistake. Tribute series G&Ls haven't been made in Korea for a while now.
It got a very good review in Guitar World - then again, I ahven't really ever seen a bad review in GW......
 
Re: G&L Jerry Cantrell Rampage Sig. Quick in Store Review!

Glad you liked it! I have yet to try one out, and I'm a big fan of both G&L and Jerry Cantrell. Thanks for the great review!
 
Re: G&L Jerry Cantrell Rampage Sig. Quick in Store Review!

working really hard to keep telling myself no on one of these. I dont have anything with a Kahler...
 
Re: G&L Jerry Cantrell Rampage Sig. Quick in Store Review!

Welcome! I'm in NoVA - and there is no reason you can't post the name if the store - and I'm curious!

Glad you found an axe you can dig!

-Hunter
 
Re: G&L Jerry Cantrell Rampage Sig. Quick in Store Review!

Arise ye oh thread of ancient days......

Now that some time has passed.. Anyone else laid hands on these?? They are starting to show up really cheap..
 
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