Atlas Star Sapphire

I picked my Star Sapphire directly from the Atlas Guitars workshop in Bangkok. I spent an hour playing different guitars and getting the specs I wanted. Mr Rinton was very perceptive and after watching and listening for 15 minutes put the (unfinished) guitar into my hands that I ended up buying. Basically a handmade in Thailand, 2008 guitar with 2 Atlas R-Supersonic passive humbuckers (XS1 and XS2), 3-way toggle, 1 volume, 2 tones for each PU (both push/pull for coilsplit), Ebony fret board, 24 frets, wide/fat neck profile, Falcon style tremolo, Schaller locking tuners with ebony board, Mahogany neck and body. It is basically a PRS copy but a slightly bigger body. Beautiful finish (I wanted the green that they do but if I wanted this guitar it was all ready for the black flame finish). The only thing that disappointed me was that the hardcase was not made for this style of guitar - it got it back to Australia in one piece but I plan to get a road case made for it.

Essentially I bought the guitar for it's unbelievable sustain. You can get mellow jazz tones out of it or find that perfect extended Santana sustain. The coil splits are very usable and produce a very bright, clear, single coil sound. Not chimey or with 'quack' like a Fender, but a very usable sound just the same. No noises whatsoever.
I was planning to do a pup swap, but I am really getting to like these pups, and they sound better than current stock PRS pups I have tried.
I still need my Strat as there are no sounds available in that category, but this guitar covers a fair bit of sonic territory.
The body resonates well, even acoustically. The guitar has great sustain, and all sounds are harmonically rich. This guitar has perfect intonation and felt fantastic straight from the factory.

The quality and finish of this guitar are excellent! No flaws in the finish or anywhere else that I have found. Even though it isn't the 'top of the range' book matching it still gets comments from people about how beautiful it is. The bridge and the trem were very well set up from the factory and the ebony fret board is the best I have ever played on - I wasn't a huge fan of ebony boards until now (I preferred the 'feel' of maple).

Possibly the best all-round guitar I have ever owned and I have had my share of very expensive name brands (LPs, 335, SG, Strats, Teles Levinson Blade R4, Ibanez etc). I couldn't fault the guitar as delivered. To borrow someone else's comment, "except that it is a no-name.(but) That may change once these guys get a few more instruments appearing on stages around the world".

I have had the guitar 6 months now. While I haven't gigged with it that much it is only because I need to get used to the 24 frets and scale (I keep finding myself too far up the neck!). It is a very easy guitar to play and pull good sounds from. I have had some squeals (not sure if the bridge pickup is stereophonic). I will be putting strap locks on it before I gig it seriously, but the standard strap buttons are larger than normal and do a seriously good job of holding the strap on (I just need all my stage guitars to have the same fitting). The finish shows no sign of deterioration or wear. The hardware looks quality, but I guess only time will tell.

Mr Rinton and Andrew were very helpful and gave me pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. No problems to date but I may need to get the bridge pickup looked at.

I've been playing for 30 years on and off, and pretty seriously for the last 10. I mainly use a Mesa Boogie Lone Star Special 2 >< 12 amp and this lends itself well to Santana type tones. The guitar produces a very 'fat' humbucker sound or clean crisp clean tones with the coil tap. It is a very heavy guitar so you know it is hanging on your shoulder after a while, but it looks great and produces great tone. Not the most versatile instrument, but what it does, it does really well. I have American Strats and Teles, Levinson Blade, Gibson ES335 and LP, and Ibanez - this compliments these guitars and has a sound similar to (or that can 'replace') some of them, but really it has it's own voice. I love having this guitar in my hands and I would definitely replace it if stolen. I am seriously thinking of getting them to make me another guitar to a different spec (for the money they are undeniably great value!).

22 frets

Good... i mreally mean good sound

Mr. Rintr set it up at the factory, both him and Andrew were very helful.Asking what action would i like the guitar to have.

Everybody who own USA, Canada, Japan made guitar MUST at least own an ATLAS guitar.

Andrew ask to call or mail him if theres problem with the guitar.

I've been playing for 17 years own Ibanez FP(Vai),Schecter (Japan) and Washburn N4 (Nuno). Believe me this is a MUST own one guitar. Quality and sound are comparable to branded manufacturer with half the price.

Atlas Star Sapphire 24 frets, made in 2007 by Rinton, Thailand. This is one of the most beautiful instruments I've ever seen in my life, and here is the good thing, it's mine. Nearly perfectly bookmatched quilted 5A grade maple top in amber finish, black ebony fretboard with colorful ablone inlays, all gold high quality hardware.

This guitar has the X1 and X2 pickups and they are simply teriffic, you can get so may sounds out of it.

The guitar came setup from the factory.

I'm even consider buying another one, even if I don't have to because I think I've found my perfect guitar. But you all know how it is, if you get hooked on something you get hooked. There is no way out!

Andrew always replied my emails, we had a little "relationship" the time my guitar was getting build. These guys know their stuff and they can build top quality guitars, that's for sure.

If it were stolen, I would break down and cry. You can't replace a instrument like that.

Basically an excellent, handmade in Thailand, 2008.
2 Atlas R-Supersonic humbuckers (XS1 and XS2), 3-way toggle, 1 volume, 2 tones for each PU (both push/pull for coilsplit).
Ebony fretboard, 24 frets, wide/fat neck profile, vintage tremolo, Schaller tuners with ebony pegs. Mahogany neck and body with an AAA green maple top.
My guitar has upgrades: gold hardware and a VERY nice looking large abalone Dragon on the fretboard, which is why it's called a Star Sapphire Green Dragon. ONE OF THE BEST LOOKING GUITARS I'VE EVER SEEN!

I play all kinds of music, rock, heavy, blues, fusion & jazz and this tone monster can do them ALL. The bridge PU can SCREAM if I want and the neck PU can produce a nice, rich, warm jazz sound with a little tone adjustment. Coilsplits produce a very bright, clear, colorful singlecoil sound. No noises whatsoever.
I love these PU's, they sound better than e.g. stock PRS PU's.
But I still need my Strat, no sounds available in that category, but that's obvious, of course.
The body resonates well. The guitar has a looong sustain, and all sounds are harmonically rich. Truly a Super Axe with an awesome variety of sounds!

The factory set-up was ok, but I had to do a few slight adjustments. I like a low action set-up, and the strings were a little higher than I want. Also the intonation was not quite correct. But these are minor things and easily corrected.
The quality and finish: excellent! No flaws in the finish or anywhere else.
Absolutely the BEST price/quality ratio EVER!

I bought this new and I've had it for over a month now. No problems so far and none expected. Looks rock solid.

I bought this Green Dragon from the British dealer Paul Cummings and I must say that he's a VERY nice & helpful guy indeed! Absolutely top class customer service in every respect!

I've been playing for over 30 years. I've had top models from many guitar makers: Gibson, PRS, Brian Moore, Tom Anderson, Ibanez, Fender, Carvin, Charvel, Jackson.
This is one of the BEST guitars I've ever played. And considering the price...WOW!!!!!
High quality workmanship, excellent materials (wood, hardware). What else can I ask?
This is NOT Asian/Chinese/Korean cheapo crap, this is a top class quality guitar that easily ranks among the best models made by major manufacturers!
Special thanks for the superb sounding hand-wound custom humbuckers.

This is easily the most beautiful guitar I've played. I'm pysched I own it.

I had my Star Sapphire built for me directly from Atlas Guitar. After having visited them when I was out in Bangkok, we spent an hour playing different guitars and getting the specs I wanted.

The guitar has a 5A top, 24 frets, 5-way tone selector and came with Atlas' Supersonic pickups (which are fantastic). The ebony fretboard and inlay mother of pearl both looks and feels fantastic.

After about 8 weeks, Atlas finished the guitar and shiped it out to me back in the States. Straight from the case, the instrument sounded perfectly.

This guitar is as clean as any $4-$5K PRS. It has perfect intonation and feels fantastic. You can get mellow jazz tones out of it or find that perfect extended Santana sustain.

I've primarily played it (for the last month) through my PODXT Live and on every setting it picks up the sound perfectly.

Straignt from the case, having traveled from Thailand to the US, this guitar sounded perfectly.

The set neck and action make for an absolutely fantastic feel. I haven't had to touch a thing.

In addition, this is the most beautiful guitar I've every seen, let alone play. The craftsmanship is first rate. Atlas guitars takes absolute pride in their work. Throughout the building of the guitar, the folks at Atlas kept sending me pictures of their progress. As they were almost complete they found something in the finish that they didn't like and so asked to take the extra time to make it perfect. These guys are perfectionists and it shows.

I've only had the guitar a month or so, but it is absolutely solid. I do not anticipate anything falling apart with this. The guitar is similar to any high-end instrument and I expect it will retain it's beauty far into the future.

I call this guitar a work of art that can actually get used.

Atlas is in Thailand, but Andrew and team do a fantastic job of keeping in touch. Throughout the building of the guitar they continued to send through pictures and keep me abreast of progress.

Though there is obviously some time delay working with folks on the other side of the world, these guys pride themselves with their quality and so are not likely to skimp on customer service.

I would highly recommend this guitar to anyone who wants an absolutely top notch instrument at an affordable price and can be patient enough to wait a little. The wait is well worth it.

You could go down to your local Guitar Center and lay down $4,000 for a beautiful PRS, or you can contact Atlas, give them your specs, pay them about $1500-$2000 and get the exact guitar you're looking for.

Ok, I waited a month before writing this, just to be fare.
Transparent Red. Fantsatic Color.
Maghogany Body
1 piece Maghogany Neck
Ebony Fretboard
Abalone Fret markers
24 frets
3A Maple top/Flame top finish.
Carved Body
Set neck
Grover Style Tuners
Vinage Tremolo
Hand wound pickups
Hard Case Included.
Made in Tailand.

I would have to say this is now my Favourite Guitar to play.

Tone, I requested XS1 and XS2. Power Plus Pickups, that have lots of Sustain. You get a choice of 5 different models that you can mix and match.

Now unlike mass produced Guitars, I had a say in what I wanted.

I also had 2 Push Pull pots installed after reading the reviews here.

Classic Rock sounds, plenty of Sustain. Neck pickup is very Woody.

I can not put this Guitar down, it screams, it's sweet, it has tone for days. Unlike any Guitar I have, you can hear the warmth in the Timber.

Straight from Factory to a Gig, no problem.

They even asked what guage of string i wanted.

I asked for a 400mm Radius, as I love the Ibanez wizzard neck.

That's exactly what I got.

Now the tremolo did take me a little time to get used to, as i was over bending, it was so light and easy to bend. It's sits above the body of the guitar and alows lots of play. I even tried some wild dive bombs, wow excellent, stays in tune.

It has been a long time snice I have had the pleasure of playing a Ebony Fingerboard, man talk about smooth.

The action was perfect, I mean perfect. Big saving getting the Guitar setup after you buy it.

So far excellent.

Remember people it's a guitar, not a mantle piece.

So play it, live it, enjoy it.

No back up required, this is the best made Guitar I own.

Now being new, i don't expect any problems.

But i have contacted them and asked a few questions.

No problems, if you have any concerns, they will help you.

Very Impressed, for sure.

30 years experience.

I have played them all. big Name ones, no name ones.

This is the best Guitar i have ever played.

I have put this guitar against a $7000.00 big name Guitar, hands down my guitar was better, the expensive guitar was not even setup properly.

The quality and the workmanship that went into this Guitar is amazing.

People have been asking me what is it, where did you get it.

I wanted a Guitar that suited me, not the other way around.

This is customed hand made, not mass produced.

You have your say and get it finished the way you want.

I believe no other Company offers that service, that alone is worth the price.

Think about the cost to replace crappy pickups, the cost for a Propper setup, a hard case. This has it all.

Plug and play, no adjusting, play it.

If stolen, I would buy a new one in a heatbeat.

Left handed PRS style guitar with a 5A quilted maple top in emerald green and 24 frets. Body and neck are made of mahogany and the fretboard is made of ebony with 24 frets. The neck is thin but not as thin as an Ibanez JEM neck seems to be more similar to an Ibanez J-Custom neck but with a C shape. Hardware is gold and includes Planet Wave locking tuners and a Hipshot US Contour Tremolo (ball-bearing). I provided the tremolo. The frets are medium jumbo frets. Inlays are the standard bird inlays. Features 2 R-Supersonic hand wounded pickups (H-H configuration) X1 (neck) and X2 (bridge). There is a 3-way switch, a volume control and 2 tone controls one for each pickup. Each tone control has a push-pull possibility so a large variety of sounds are possible with guitar. The guitar was handmade in Thailand by Rinton Music in just 6 weeks (from the end of October 2006 to the beginning of December 2006). They also make the pickups themselves.

I play anything from jazz to blues to heavy metal. I was looking for a guitar would cover the jazz to blues region well but that could also be used for heavier stuff plus I wanted something with a carved top like a PRS. To give you an example of how it sounds check out these test mp3's I made with a clean tone and distorted tone.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=639479

The pickups are very beefy and rich in sound. The bridge pickup (X2) is similar to the Tone Zone from Dimarzio. So these are quality pickups IMHO. With the tone controls and push-pull option one has a very wide spectra of sounds.

The guitar very well setup and the action was nice a low and the pickups were well-adjusted. I had to raise the action a bit after few days because of the climate change between Thailand and Denmark. The bookmatching isn't that good but the quilt is so lovely that this doesn't matter at all. The guitar is stunning to look at and it plays as well. I never had a guitar where didn't need time to get used to the neck. This guitar was simply made for me. The only flaw that this guitar has are the inlays they are upside down ;-).

Everything on this guitar is build to last. It has the best hardware and good wood etc.

Customer support is very good I usually get an answer regarding my e-mails within 24 hours. They were also very good to send me pictures of the progress etc. They even called my house to tell me when they would ship my guitar. This is service that you don't get from western companies. I have had this guitar for a week so I can't comment on the warranty.

I've been playing guitar for 15 years almost and I have two other custom guitars made by very skilled luthiers in Canada and this guitar is just as well build as those. The carved top makes this guitar so comfortable to play. Once you start playing it's very hard to stop. The tremolo is very stable so the guitar can handle some whammy bar abuse. If I lost it would definitely replace it.

Nice flame maple top on mahogany body, mahogany neck and ebony fretboard. Finished in transparent black with PRS style bird inlays on fretboard. Twin handwound R-supersonic humbuckers and spring tremolo bridge.

Beautifully finished and perfectly setup.

My musical tastes are fairly diverse - from jazz to hard rock. I needed a single guitar that could fill the role. Before this guitar, I would alternate between a 335 and a tele depening on the gig, now I don't have to. The neck pickup is very warm, the bridge pickup is an animal. The inbetween setting in what I use the most except when I want to bite people, I switch onto the bridge.

The setup would be improved by a coil tap - I may add one later.

This is the first guitar I have owned that stays in tune and has very accurate intonation right up the fretboard.

Lovely to play and even lovelier to look at. My friend has a PRS CE-24 that takes second place to this one.

Has stood up very well for the first 3 months of life and shows no visible signs of wear. Has done maybe 15-20 gigs during that time. I have no issues with any of the equipment except maybe the case could be higher quality, but that would be reflected in the price.

The guys in Thailand seem very friendly and assured me that they would fix any problems and pay the freight back if I was happy to pay the freight to their workshop. Seemed a fair deal to me, so unlike one of the other reviewers, I will give them a good rating until they prove otherwise.

Possibly the best all-round guitar I have ever owned and I have had my share of very expensive name brands (LPs, 335, SG, custom shop strats, gretsch, guild etc). I can't fault the guitar as delivered except that it is a no-name. That may change once these guys get a few more instruments appearing on stages around the world.

Maple top and neck, mahogany body with 24 fret ebony board and strat style trem. Beautifully finished in transparent blue gloss with custom inlays on the body and the frets. Two hand wound humbuckers, jazz spec on the neck, rock spec on the bridge. Non-locking trem that is so well setup that you can even divebomb without tuning problems.

Hand-wound pickups make this baby sound like its on steriods. Huge gain for great shredding, but can be dialled back for rich and creamy jazz and blues tones. The R-supersonic bridge pickup is a snarling beast that can be tamed with reduced tone and volume.

Perfect action and intonation straight from the case. The 24 fret ebony fingerboard has jumbo frets and and awesome tremolo bridge that actually stays in tune. The quality of finish us stunning.

Have gigged without a backup since I got it. Although it is only new, it feels solid and tough and ready to handle the road.

Hard to grade. My guitar was a custom and everything was done according to my specific request. Because they are a thai company, warranty could be difficult.

My muscial prefences range from semi classical to hard rock and jazz. I have owned most prestige brands over the years and regard the Atlas as being right up there with the best.