Whats the word with these? Seen them once or twice advertised in guitar mags, but didnt pay much attention. seen some amazing (yet expensive) specimens on ebay.. Just wondered why no one ever chats em up here?
Ed Roman didn't buy the name, like he did with Baker. For a while Ed Roman would recommend guitars he believed were the best on the market- Driskill, JET, Melanchon, G&L, etc... Then they would have disagreements over their buisness agreement, Ed Roman would then proceed to bad mouth the company, and the cycle would begin with another brand.
With Warrior, they were fine, handcrafted instruments of exceptional quality. Ed Roman attempted to become the exclusive dealer and promoted them. Then I saw they decided to go with Sam Ash, and Ed Roman started to bash them.
I played one at a Sam Ash- they are very nice, had some unique wood combinations for the neck
I like this one. The contours, the texture of the wood grain, the almost steam punk aesthetic, it's a nicer-looking and more original way to convey a sense of ruggedness than a relic job usually comes out.
I'm a big fan of Warrior. I have a 1998 Warrior bass that is absolutely amazing! I also had a new guitar built a couple years ago that's my number one. They're definitely high-end instruments, though I favor the more straight-forward designs over their ornate ones. I also love their anointed oil finish as it lets the guitar breath and feels very natural in your hand.
But in full disclosure, someone asked the same question on The Gear Page in 2010 and got 14 pages of response. See below. To summarize, they have a revolving door of luthiers with the only constant being JD (the owner) who takes credit but doesn't actually build anything. http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=754703