Atlas Eternity

The Eternity model is my second Atlas. The first was a Star Sapphire I bought second hand. I got a very good impression of the Star Sapphire model and when I did find out that I could have one done for me with the specs I did prefer I contacted Atlas guitars and ordered the Eternity.

The finish is hi-gloss quilted solid maple top stained in medium blue with a marlin inlay in stunning abalone shell. The body is a double cut with a contour on the back side. The body and neck are out of single piece of mahogany, very solid nice grain and relatively light I would say. I have a Wilkinson tremolo and on the other end there are abalone buttoned Gotoh tuners in a Atlas-styled headstock.

24-frets and PRS compatible scale, the neck is between wide-thin and regular neck of the same factory, the frets are medium+ and the freatboard is very dark ebony.

The guitar comes in a brown luxury case with the code lock and 5 clasps. Tools, documentation, tags and some bonus picks complete the delivery.

Pickups are Rinton zebras and there is a coil-split by lifting the tone knob. The controls are wher they should be and include Volume, Tone and three-way PU-selector controlling the traditional passive electronics.

The guitar is produced in Thailand this year(2007).

I'll give full points since every part and detail is absolutely flawless, I want to point out specially the quality of the timber - mine is not even the 5A top just from the middle of the scale and still it does make an impact. The mahogany is really as it used to be, very nice grain and the best part of all is the ebony fretboard that is second to none. Optional coil split is handy, but the PU's have really great definition so perhaps there is not so much need for that feature after all.

This guitar fits perfectly to me. I play old time rock'n roll and something I would very much like to describe "progressive blues". I want to have a guitar that has a very good precision and definition of the sound. Even with hi-drive I want to hear every note. I use stone, copper or bone pics to achieve the precision in playing and therefore I'm specially picky with this. The Atlas Star Sapphire was the first guitar to challenge my favourite "best-definition" guitar of all times(BC.Rich Eagle built by Bernie Rich with active electronics)and now this Eternity model sets the new standard. The combination of the wood and specially the fretboard combined to these PU's produce really crisp, clear and precise sound even with hi-drive.

I use Johnson 150 Millenium Amp in clean mode and have some pedals in front of it(Crybaby, Akai Variwah, Boss CE-3 Chorus, Boss HR-2 Harmonist, Marshall Jackhammer and H&K Warp).

The electronics have been well protected and there are no disturbing noises. Even the Warp that has a tendency to produce some noise stays quite silent.

The sound is clear and as expected the sustain is there, middle range is very rich and guitar responses to picking with precision and dynamics is very good. Fingerpicking produces very nice soft round sounds that are very useful. I wouldn't play rock-a-billy with this guitar but fits to everything else very well.

Hard to give anything but 10 because the guitar is very good on the topics I want the guitar to be.

The action and setup was ok and normally I do want to keep the guitar for 3-6 weeks before I'll make any changes(I have a regulated room for instruments where the RH% is kept between 45-50%). The action was a bit on the low side, but I know that the younger musicians prefer the low strings. Perhaps I'll make some slight adjustment there after I see how the guitar adapts the circumstances.

I did make some adjustment changes with the PU's but noticed that even the position looked to be guite low it suits to these less known PU's very well. It would be interesting to test these PU's in some other guitar as well, but they are not sold here in Finland.

What comes to the build quality and finishing there is nothing to complain. I must say that if this really is the standard quality Mr. Paul Cummings will be in big trouble of getting enough guitars to the musicians. I have and have had the guitars from all major brands + I have had a lot of guitars made by individual lutheriers from Europe and of course Finland. This Atlas Eternity rivals easily with the best, the quality of craftmanship combined with the quality of timber is really stunning and to the price almost unbelieveable.

It might be wrong to give only 9 of this topic because almos all the musicians prefer their own setup in the guitar.

This guitar is built for serious pro's so no doubt that the guitar will be a perfect tool on the stage. All the hardware comes from the known and respected manufacturers so there is no reason to expect problems on that either.

The finish is not specially thick but modern coatings are durable. I'm from that century that guitars used to show the signs of wear and I don't see any problem with that.

Starp buttons are large and fit well to a bit wider strap. I might change to Schaller strap locks, but that is a bit open thing at the moment.

I could easily go to gig with only this guitar, but it's never wise - there is one "let me show you how to play guitar in every crowd..."

My first Atlas was a second hand instrument and Paul (Mr. Cummings) from Atlas guitar responded to my questions pretty quickly.


He was also very helpful when selecting the features of Eternity. In general very nice and warm experience and I got a lot of information about the production of the guitar.

I must say that Atlas guitar is a very interesting concept; a family business in Thailand that is producing top of the range guitars tailored to each customer. I do not know the history how Paul has run into this factory and come up with the idea of distributing the guitars to Europe but I'm certain that with this quality and features Atlas will challenge seriously the market of hi-quality guitars. The next questiion will be that how long they can meet the demand of the market and can they keep up the exceptional quality of the instruments, when the production expands. Another worry is that will the Atlas be able to maintain the quality of timber they are using in the guitars when production soars. There have been a lot of sad examples of what happens when the production goes up and the timber is bought by price not the sound.

I do sincerely hope that Paul and the factory keep their heads cool when they expand the production. At the moment Atlas is a musicians wet dream that has suddenly become real; normal musician can afford an instrument that is made for him/her upon the individual specifications and from the best timbers there are available.

I have been playing over 40 years and I have had and played them "all". At the moment my main guitars are naturally this Atlas Eternity, Moore MC/1, Moore C90, Dommenget, Ibanez GB30, Gibson Chet Atkins and Flying Finn Thinline

Transparant kind of ocean blue quilted top. Body style is PRS. Termeloe bridge. Grover tuners with ebony knobs. Gold hardware. Case included. Mahagony neck with ebony board. Mahagony body with maple top. Build 2007 in Thailand. 24 frets. 1 volume, 1 tone knob with coilsplitting and a 3 way pickup switch . Two passive HB pickups from their won factory.
Abalone Marlin inlay on the body and little fish inlays on teh fretboard and the headstock. Almost everything can be changed according to specs.
I rate it 10 because it has all I expected from the guitar.

My main guitar is a Gibson R9 and I use the Atlas as a companion. It's a very versatile guitar with very defined clean sound and nice cruncgy OD when played on my Bogner Shiva or Koch Studiotone.
This guitar had a brighter sound themy LP with a lot of mids.
The stock pickups are very good and match fine the guitar. I swapped in a set of Bareknuckle Crawlers and maybe I will retrurn to the stock pups.

Factory setup was perfect, I could play it right out of the box. I am used to bring new guitars to my tech to set them up correct. Not with this one :) It plays like a dream.
Craftmanship is awesome. Finish is perfect. Very nice natural binding. Inlays (especialy on the body) is beautifull.

The guitar is kind of heavy, I prefer lighter mahagony. Maybe that's way the guitar has a lot a mids. I think lighter wood would improve the tone. Also the low E string sounds a bit dull when played unplugged. These are minor issues and when playing the guitar through a good amp that's adjusted to fit the guitar everything is allright.

I wouldn't hesitate to play live with it. Everything is of good quality. Wood from Canada and Africa. Great hardware.
I changed the strapbuttons to staplocks.
I would play it without a backup.

I own the guitar for a few months now. Didn't have to consult the builder in that time. During the building process Atlas sends pics of the guitar in progress. The company is very friendly and helpfull. Sometimes it takes some time though before mails are answered due to "busy production activities". This might become an issue when the company is becomming more and more succesfull. I hope they will keep the interaction with the customers at a high standard. I think that's a great selling point for them and very rewarding for the custommers because they can have influence on the production of their guitar.

I have been playing for about 35 years. I own 3 Gibsons (R9, ES335 and a '56 LP Jr) and some replica Teles and Strats.
You can ask everything you want about the guitar, they will build it according to your specs. If it were lost or stolen I would ask them to build me another one with some other specs (I think a rosewood fretboard and a fixed bridge f.i.). In fact I am sure I will ask them to build me another guitar even when this one is'nt lost.
I love the playability and the exceptional inlay desing. I let them make me a guitar with all the features I normaly don't like just to get a totally different guitar then the guitars a normally use (Gold Hardware, blue body, quilted top, tremeloe, fancy inlays, coilsplitting, etc.) and I got a beautifull and professional instrument that's looks rather tastefull.
When I compare it to my main axe (R9) it's imo in the same league. Not the same quality, but close.

In a nutshell it is a great guitar, the real thing, not a toy.
It's not cheap, but has great value for the money.