suhr guitars

tone4days

Heel Whacker
oh man .. did i have a treat on vacation ... went to Virginia Beach, VA and got to spend a few hours in Alpha Music ... VERY helpful and knowledgable staff .. played a very nice fender lite ash tele (korean) .. i know i kinda slagged them after playing one at my local GC, but the one at this place had a nice neck, little chunkier and was reasonably light weight as well ...

but then the guy put a suhr tele in my hands ... OMG .... played like a dream ... belly cut and forearm cut .. very light weight body of gorgeous ash ... nice sized neck (not too flimsy) and nice frets (not too tiny) ... but the PICKUPS were AMAZING ... from what i gathered, suhr winds them each by hand ... had all the snap and twang i hoped for, yet an incredible fullness & openness ... very responsive to finger/pick dynamics, and the tone control ... uniform tone up and down the volume knob ... three very distinctive tones from the pickup selector ... i think they are available aftermarket for about $90 (street) each ...

was the first buzz feiten guitar i ever played ... i guess it was pearls before swine because a) i didnt realize it was feitenized until he told me and b) even when i concentrated i couldnt tell a difference ...

i had every reason in the world to take it home with me and only 2150 reasons to leave it in the shop :-(

but those guys were great in there and i totally recommend the store and the suhr

any one else ever play one? thoughts?

cheers
t4d
 
Re: suhr guitars

I only know the reputation of these guitars, which is good and more or less the best Strat and Tele copies made. Suhr used to be a masterbuilder for Fender.
 
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Re: suhr guitars

bloodswords said:
Suhr & Anderson are overlooked gems in the bolt-on industry...

and my Grosh (check out the thread about my new guitar for pics and specs), respectfully ;)

Welcome to the world of handmade top of the line guitars. Better craftsmanship, better woods and much better tone.

Grosh, Suhr and Anderson are three bad boys that will destroy every concept of what you thought an awesome guitar was trying out Guitar Center stores. Melancon also makes good stuff. Check into those companies, they will blow your mind!

I should mention that they blow away every PRS I've ever tried. Just simply more dedication to detail and not as mass produced. With that said, I still love some PRS guitars :)
 
Re: suhr guitars

It seems hard to look at a bolt on strat copy, and think that it's worth $1800, but some of those companies like Chris mentioned become your favorite guitars, quick, if you buy one. There's something that gets lost in mass production. You realize that, when you buy a Suhr. I'd love to have Classic Suhr strat, but I'm waiting till a guy is willing to 'give it away."
 
Re: suhr guitars

actually anderson doesn't make them by hand anymore

or at least the body making, but the painting and other stuff might still be done. i dont know if grosh or surh are though.
 
Re: suhr guitars

Anderson uses CNC machines but most of the work is hand done and the quality is first-rate. I played a Suhr guitar last week for the first time and it was killer! The pickups are the best sounding strat pickups I've ever heard and the workmanship was excellent.
 
Re: suhr guitars

With these high end companies the differences are only very slight and its all down to personal taste - I have played Anderson,. Suhrs, Sadowsky and Grosh but not as yet tried Melancon or Tylers.

They are all excellent guitars and all have to offer something a little different but one thing is paramount they are high class quality. A friend of my mine has got some Andersons and Suhrs recently (he came back from a trip to the US and brought back 4 of these guitars) and I am determined to get my hands on them when I next see him.
 
Re: suhr guitars

It would seem to me that whether or not something was cut out by hand, or by a CNC machine might have some relevance to the quality of the sawdust laying on the floor, but not to the piece of wood left behind. (The body.) In fact, cutting by hand would leave the possibility for human error, and thus, create the chance that some of your customers got a tad lower quality than others.

I'ld always prefer a CNC cut guitar. ;)

BTW - Just added Suhr, Sadowsky, Grosh, and Melancon to my links page.
 
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I know Suhr and Anderson use CNC to cut necks and bodies. They like it because it makes for a consistent and tight construction. Where the mojo comes in is after they are cut. All of the hand finishing and attention to minute details are where these guitars shine. Cutting wood by hand or CNC is not where the magic is.
 
Re: suhr guitars

ArtieToo said:
It would seem to me that whether or not something was cut out by hand, or by a CNC machine might have some relevance to the quality of the sawdust laying on the floor, but not to the piece of wood left behind. (The body.) In fact, cutting by hand would leave the possibility for human error, and thus, create the chance that some of your customers got a tad lower quality than others.

I'ld always prefer a CNC cut guitar. ;)

BTW - Just added Suhr, Sadowsky, Grosh, and Melancon to my links page.

I'm starting to think this way too. Sometimes I pick up a handmade guitar, even a good one, and notice file marks or some flaw, due to human error.
It seems to me that a CNC cut guitar, then handfinished, and setup perfect is the reason Asian quality has jumped up. So it makes sense that CNC & handfinished Custom guitars would jump up in quality as well.
 
Re: suhr guitars

Shhh, don't say that. I own one of the last purely handmade PRS's made. You'll be messing with the resale!

-I agree, actually. Let the machine cut the wood. Let a human select, finish and assemble the wood.
 
Re: suhr guitars

One of my mid-long term ambitions is to own one of those brands...most likely a Suhr, Grosch, or Melancon...

I'd sell a few of my guitars to get one of those...would be kind of an ultimate 'Keeper' for me...
 
Re: suhr guitars

my guitar teacher has a handmade Suhr Classic T signed by Scott Henderson.
its definatly one of the best guitars i've ever played (that Brian Moore custom shop is still my favorite)
it plays sooo damn nice you can almost forgot it is a tele
 
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