Product: Guild Brian May Standard
Price Paid: US $700
Submitted
07/09/1999
at
12:06pm
by
Kevin Donaker-Ring
Email: kevin at theshambles<dot>net
Features
:
4
This is a '95 Brian May "Standard" model guitar. A cheaper version of the "Special" model, this guitar has a longer scale neck with a much more angled headstock. There is no zero fret as on the Signature and Special models. Instead of the three on/off and three in/out of phase (one each for each pickup), there is a simple Strat-style 5-way switch. The body is thinner, and lacks the "sound chambers" that resonate and provide sustain and harmonious feedback.
However, it does have the right body shape... and much more importantly, it comes with those great Seymour Duncan-made copies of the Burns Tri-Sonic pickups, for a tone you will be hard pressed to find anywhere else.
Sound
:
7
Having only the 5-way switch limits the range of sounds available on this guitar. That said, the pickups have a sound unlike any Strat. For one thing, they're wider than Strat pickups (though not as wide as a p-90, for instance), so they interact differently with the strings as the magnetic field is shaped differently. For the pickups alone, this guitar gets good marks. But for the lack of flexibility, it gets penalized...
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
Everything was put together very well, although the components are inferior to the Signature and Special (cheaper knobs, cheaper tuners, etc.). No complaints about the finish at all.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
No problems, but I've only played this guitar on a few occasions. It's currently being heavily modified to a 12-string.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Once again, no problems, so no need for support.
Overall Rating
:
7
For the tone alone, I'd definately take this guitar over a cheap Strat any day of the week. If it were to be stolen, I'd buy another just to have the pickups (the current reissue Burns Tri-Sonics by Kent Armstrong do not sound nearly as good to my ears).
