Highend Gear Review

That90'sGuy

DyzaBoyzologist
GJ, you would be proud :)

I went to Gguitars today (www.gguitars.com). Small little shop that has some very elite and highend gear.

The guitar I have been drooling over, the Grosh Bent Top Custom... IS the finest guitar I have ever played in my life. It WILL be in my arsenal eventually. I will sell my other guitars to fund it if need be (even my beloved LP Std.). It looked great (had a Tiger Eye finish flamed), had two Lindy Fralins single coils and a Fralin Unbucker. The strat tone was amazing. Very clear, crisp, articulate, and chimey. The LP tone was a bit less than I expected. It could use a different humbucker, I'm thinking Tom Holmes. The humbucking tone wasn't that pronounced paired with the other two, but I'm sure if I experiment, it will be. The neck felt divine, a perfect chunky C... LPs eat your heart out.

I played a PRS McCarty w/ 10 top blue "swimming pool" flame and birds. This is without a doubt the second best guitar I have played. It had great humbucking tone, and split it had a bit of chime, just nothing like a Strat. The neck was second only to the Grosh... absolutely wonderful. Looks wise I prefer this over the Grosh.

I never thought there was any quality stores in my area, until I looked up this guitar by a company called Infeld. When I did and looked up dealers, I found gguitars in new haven, ct where i was born. The Infeld axe I played was very unique and very futuristic. It had pretty good tones, but nothing like the McCarty or Grosh. However, it's look alone would turn probably everyone's head ;) The feel of the guitar was good and I like the feeling of raw maple. Great overall guitar.

Hamer Monoco Super Pro. Looked great with a wonderful flame top. Sounded pretty decent. Was a solid guitar. Not my top pick, but I will admit they are built very well. If you like singlecut style guitars, you will like them.

I played a H-S-H configured McInturff that had good versatility and tone. Looked great and played great, but I still had that Grosh on my mind.

Taylor 315CE.... now I see what people are talking about. This store takes care of their acoustics with humidifiers in the room. HUGE difference. The Taylor was bright, but had a great balance, great attack, richness, and resonance. This was probably the best sounding acoustic I've played... I think even topping out that one really great Gibson J-150 (haven't played one that was like it since :p)
 
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Now for amps.

This store had some great boutique stuff.

Tophat Emplexador. Probably my favorite out of all of them. Great plexi tone. Rich and bluesy. Let those nice guitars I was using shine through. Every nuance is brought out. The clean channel was great too... so it had two great channels on it that sounded beautiful at low volumes or cranked.

Tophat Club Deluxe. My second favorite. Sounds as good or better than the Fender Blackface Deluxe it's modeled after. Very chimey and full of life. Made my chords and passages really light up... smile from end to end. :)

Tophat Club Royal. Vox like amp. Sounds a bit warmer and a bit grittier than the Club Deluxe. Digging in was fun with this amp. Not a lot of options, but did offer a different tonal palette.

Victoria amps. I tried two of them and both of them were phenomenal. These guys really know how to model vintage Fenders. One was a Tweed, which was really wonderful for some gritty blues. The other was a Bassman... you know the rest.
 
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Koch amps. These were the most disappointing amps there. The cleans were decent, but the overdrives didn't seem to work on them (tried just about everything). Pretty bland tone.

Gibson GA-30 Goldtone amp. GREAT blues amp. It had a full, rich tone to it with a little sparkle. Little different than its Tophat friends, but still a great flavor. This amp does kick and I'm sure it would work wonders in clubs. Didn't think Gibson could make amps this good.

Demeter TGA-50. A two channel combo amp that really kicks. Great distortion and lead tones (the solo section kicks). The cleans are pretty good too (got spoiled by that Tophat Deluxe). The lead was very nice to my ears... I got great harmonics and it was inspiring.

Two Rock Reverb Custom. Wow... expensive! This isn't exactly a toy. The cleans were pretty good and the distortion channel is different from anything I have ever played. It's a very raw, gritty type distortion. It's articulate and rich, but the low end really had some grit to it. It would be a blues players dream come true... I know I was able to coax some great tones. All in all, good amp, but 3gs+ worth, it's definitely not ;)
 
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If anybody's in the area, this place is well worth checking out. I was talking with a guy from Boston there and he was trying out some great custom basses. The owner Chris was a standup classy guy. He doesn't take **** from anyone, but if I had a store that sold what he sold, I wouldn't either. Every guitar I played was polished, and absolutely pristine. The amps were as well. Everything was well organized and in true "showcase" fashion. Wasn't sure when I first entered if there was going to be any problems because I was a kid, but he encouraged me to try out a lot of stuff (once he saw how careful I was with his stuff, I think I was more respectful than most of the people that walk in there ;) ). Very cool to see so many highend Hamers, PRS', Breedloves, Taylors, Takamine, McInturff etc.
 
Re: Highend Gear Review

Chris -

Thanks for the great reviews. Sounds like you had a blast!
 
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I'm glad people liked the reviews. It's nice to review something other than the usual. :) The trip was a blast and the guitars I was playing were so high quality I almost pissed my pants. I have a major jonesing for a Grosh Bent Top Custom. No doubt in my mind, after my Alvarez jumbo purchase, it will be mine ;)

Boutique amps are really where it's at. The tone is just superior to these mass produced amps. The PTP wiring, vintage parts and cosmetic issues all make them stand out. I'm still holding onto my H&K Triamp (if I want better tone, I think I'll get it modded by Trace). I can't imagine what some of these Marshall plexi clones are like... I'm sure the Blockhead is killer. The Tophat Emplexador was an amazing amp and I'm sure a true blast to play live :)
 
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I checked out their website. I dpn't know what I think about this place. They have a pre-owned '57 reissue strat (never played?) that has Best Price $1200. I'm sure that some kid will go there and be impressed with how the place looks and end up over paying on it.

That being said, the store looks like it is very well organized, clean , and stocks a lot of quality equipment. Whether or not this translates into any good buys for the customer remains to be heard. I'd like to hear about any success (or failure) stories that anyone has with gguitars.
 
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You raise a good point. The price for that Grosh I was playing was 2500. eBay had one store selling it for 2000 BIN. I have seen Bent Top Customs go on sale for 1300, so guess where I'm apt to shop ;)

In fact, I find most stores just don't offer good enough prices to warrant a purchase. I'd rather get something used with a few scratches for $700 less ;)
 
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Chris,
I spent last Sunday with a friend, and we went through his nice collection of guitars and amps.
his new pride and joy is a grosh tele he had made through Wildwood Guitars.

with his collection, the fact that this guitar is his first pick says a lot.

as far as the Taylor, the model I always look at now is the 714CE - rosewood with a cedar top that gives it a warm tone. I'm always impressed by their mahogany-bodied guitars as well.
 
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Awesome Curly :) Now I'm kinda crossing my fingers more people don't know about them so I can get one for a good price :D

Taylor makes awesome stuff, IF the store knows how to take care of it ;) I do like cedar top guitars as well, so I'd imagine that that particular Taylor model is sweet :)
 
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Chris,
I've seen Groshes before but really never paid a lot of attention. I do remember looking at electrics in my local store one time when someone picked up a classic strat that had a very good vintage tone.
I don't think a lot of folks are familiar with the Groshes, but they are a pro player level instrument, and like many of those brands, they'll remain expensive.

BTW, my local store has the best prices I've seen on Taylors, and they sell quite a few, even though they don't even advertise Taylors on their site.

Peace
 
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Thanks dude, nice review. I kind of have the same feeling you do about the Monaco....only I feel that way about most Hamers. Killer guitars but something about them just doesn't do it for me. I would always reach for something else over it.

The McCarty is something I am insterested in someday. I just wish PRS offered something other than the 10" radius fretboard.
 
Re: Highend Gear Review

Two years ago I bought sight unseen a McNaught Phoenix guitar. In 40 years of playing high end guitars including Fenders and Gibsons from the 50's and 60's, it is one of the finest guitars I've ever played. The workmanship and wood are incredible and the tone and playability absolutely first rate.
 
Re: Highend Gear Review

Whoa! 5-7 grand? Some of the reviews said the pups weren't the greatest in the world. I'm not sure if it's worth that kind of cash, but it sure looks aesthetically more pleasing than 99.9% of the guitars I've seen out there.

I think Grosh has just won his way into my heart. My next purchase will be one of the last guitar purchases I will ever make (honestly). I have every intention of buying my dream amp after it as well (Bogner Ecstasy 100B... if I can find it for the right price).

It sucks playing great gear and then having to play stuff that just doesn't cut it. My Gibson LP Std. is the only thing that feels, sounds and plays high quality like the rest of the stuff I was trying out. I think I'm gonna save myself lots of years of gear searching and just get one amazing guitar and one amazing amp... seems smarter in the long run to me. After all, I know what I like ;)
 
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