I figure this is as good a place as any to put a review of the above guitar that I just got today. At least a first hands on review. This guitar was used, but to my knowledge nothing has been done to it.
I guess the model is a C-1 Elite. It has a mahogany back, what looks to me like an eastern maple top, and a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. As I looked at this guitar I statred thinking that if I were to design and build a guitar myself, it would be built exactly like this. That's a big thing for me to say, but it's true. It is a great design combination of a Strat, Les Paul, SG, and a Telecaster.
Let me try to explain that. The set neck and body woods are Les Paul, the body general shape is Strat, the string thru body is Tele, and (my favorite part) the neck joint and neck are totally SG...only with 24 frets.
The neck heel and joint to body are as smooth as I have felt on any guitar at any price available. As I move my hand along the neck extending into the body, there is no feel at all where the two meet. Neck access it easy all the way up to the 24th fret. I like the design better than my PRS because I always thought the PRS lower horn needed to be cut deeper for better access. This does it how I would have. There is also a nice tapered carve on the back of the body to make a smooth transition to the neck. Just beautiful, really. The neck itself is slim and comfortable, and it is built very much like my 1973 Gibson SG, including the famed volute at the headstock. The frets are the big frets that Gibson uses and I like so much, they are nicely finished on the sides for a smooth feel running your hand down the neck.
The finish on this guitar is extremely close to perfect. The finish is very even, even in corners and edges. It feels like a hard poly finish, which I'm sure it is, but I think it's thinner than other finishes I have seen on other import guitars. The binding and inlays are detailed and fit perfectly, no gaps I can find or places that stick out. The tuners are nice Grovers and the bridge is a Tone Pros, both top quality and according to the website, both stock on this guitar.
I plugged it in and tried it out. The tone is pretty good. The guitar is capable of a wide range of tones. This guitar has a coil tap on the tone knob. It can do a wide array of tones both Strat and Gibson. The strings are tight because of the long scale and more difficult than a Gibson to bend. But they hold good tuning and sustain well. It holds its own when playing heavily distorted power rock, and it does a good blues clean sound as well. The 24 fret neck takes some getting used to for me. The sound of the guitar is close to a PRS sound, nothing bad about it, but a bit sterile. It doesn't quite have the character I enjoy in the vintage Gibsons I am used to playing, or of a real Strat in tapped mode. But it's good for one guitar to get close to both.
Overall I put this guitar as the best import I have played ever. I also put it on par or slightly ahead of the PRS guitars I have owned and played. The neck joint and smooth heel makes it a better guitar in my eyes than a PRS, with it's large heel and uncomfortable neck joint. I still choose my SG over it, and most small luthier builders are better, but then again they are 4-10 times the price also. I have to say that I am overall pretty impressed with the build quality of this guitar. I think it's a great value for around $500-600. And if the cheaper ones are built as well, I'd say they are an even better value and well worth it. If I was buying new, I would probably not pay extra for all the mother of pearl binding and quilted top.
Though that's what my gf likes the most. She said "Ooh, thats a pretty guitar. I like it". And, well, that's what being a rock star is about, right?
H2H
or packing five different amps into one chassis. There doesn't seem to have been much new since the Boogie Mk IV, as I see it, and that was still just more, not different.
