DeTemple 56

Neck timber:One piece, quater sawn, flamed maple . Michael made it exactly the way I asked him to.
Neck finish: Suntanned Water White, Shape: Large and big soft V
Skunk Stripe: Bocote
Tuner:Waverly open type
Finger board radius: 9.5"
Fret size: .055 x .095 The smoothness of this fret job is unbeleivable.
Truss rod type: DeTemple IV Stainless steel. you may now order a titanium one.
Nut and String tree and switch tip type: Fossilized Mastodont Ivory
Width at nut: 1 11/16
Relief: .005"
Action: .060 at the 17th fret
Dot type: Black mother of pearl
12th fret Signature Marker: New Zealand Paua Abalone
Body: One piece, straight-grained, lightweight swamp Ash
Body finish: Light butterscotch (Neck and body finishes are micro-coated with multiple layers of hand rubbed nitro lacker, the process requiers months and curing is assured by the southern California sun)
trem block type: Detemple titanium (TTB-1)
Trem arm: Modified Callaham
Saddles: Detemple titanium (FS-11)
Pickguard: Tortoise shell italian celluloid with full copper foil underneath . beautiful job.
Strap buttons: Vintage type with leather cushioning washers
Knobs and pick-ups cover: aged white
Pick-ups: DTG SweetSpot . excellent and quiet pick-ups: rich and clear.
Volume and tone pot: 250Kohms with 2nd tone as a puch-push
5 way switch: CLR
Capacitor: Sprague "orange drop" .1 microfarad
Stereo jack: Switchcraft
Wiring: Cloth covered

The sound of this guitar is extremely clear, each strings are focused and the sound of complicated cords is cristal clear. That is the first impression that jumps at you once you strike the strings for the first time. The tone is very warm and almost fruity and the entire body resonates. it produces a full palette of harmonics that you would not know a strat could have, almost like a good acoustic guitar. This is true when the guitar is plugged or unplugged. It is difficult for me to say which element in particular is making that wonderfull sound, but I beleive that Michael went through a certain amount of tests and comparaisons and chose the best association of pick ups, wood, metalic parts and ivory combine with his talent to create an amazing piece of art that is not only gorgeous at the look but rings like a beautiful bell.

This is a tool made by a master luthier with an impressive Curiculum Vitae, the set up is something that you can not have from a regular guitar picked up in a store to my experience.The action is low, the curvature of the neck is minimal, everything is perfect, the adjustment of each detail is absolutely astonishingly precise. Best intonation I ever had. the finish is also something you can not expect from an factory made instrument. Michael says everything is made by hand and the different coats of lacker that give a thin smooth surface is never seen before for me. The beautiful grain of the selected piece of ash is terrific. The shape of the body is an ergonomic improvement of the original. it is the most comfortable guitar I had in hand so far. the neck is exactly what I was dreaming about and the beauty of the flame is exeptional without beeing tacky (I think too much is tacky)

I can not answer to this question. It seems like the quality is outstanding but I never talked to anyone who had a DeTemple for 10 or 20 years.

I ordered my guitar june 2nd 2004 and it was delivered at the begining of October 2006, so about 28 months to get it finished. Michael warned me it would be a long wait but I do not recall he said it will be almost 2 years and a half long. I can not forecast how long it would take if you order it today, perhaps less as the last time I was at Michael's, I met with his team of 3 persons working on guitars with him. He always responds promptly to emails and call when he needs to clarify something quickly. It is a very pleasant team Micheal work with, Paul and John are always very kind and do not count their time to give you any explanation you need.
One thing I would like to tell is that Michael and his team are obviousely passionate by what they do and want to place the barre super high. It shows in the final results. This guitar is just outside of competition for me and I regularely play the finest american custom made start copies. The instrument has limited warranty for its life, I am not sure what it means but I have the feeling Michael is proud of his work and should probably fix anything that does not feel right.

I ordered a set of guitars - a 52 and a 56. all what I say here is valid for both instruments. it is a real treat to get a set the same day, these guitars are different and complete each other well
You will also receive a booklet full of interesting tips to tune and set your instrument professionaly. These booklets are personalised, an other touch that shows the commitment and dedication of Michael for his customers, no one else to my knowledge gives you a booklet that instructive. there are high resolution pictures of your guitars and the CD ROM at the back of the booklet contain the PDF files of all the info you need and more. I would recomand to take all the options possible, Michael will guide you without rush through the process of choosing all the parameters. It is a lot of money but you will not regret it. I am not a pro player but live for music and have a good ear. When you plug these instruments with a good cable into a good Bandmaster 1962, you realy can tell this is most likely the ultimate guitar you may need.

DeTemple spirit ?56, finished in Mary Kay white, white pick guard and nickel hardware. The body is an extremely lightweight 1 piece of swamp ash, with very elegant contours. DeTemple sweet spot pickups, with 5 way selector, 1 volume and two tones controls. The second tone control is a push/push affair which engages the neck pick up, allowing the neck/bridge and neck/middle/neck combinations to switched into circuit in conjunction with the 5 way switch. Titanium saddles and bridge block. According to Michael, this was the first guitar to feature the titanium block as part of the original build.

The neck itself is a beautiful 1 piece of flame maple with a 10? radius. The profile was to my exact specifications, large but with a pronounced V, very much like the Clapton profile but with a lot more meat and feels wonderful to me, which is whom the guitar was built for. Everyone that has played the guitar has said how nice the neck feels and could not believe how comfortable it was considering the size.

The guitar comes in a wonderful faux crocodile skin C&G case, along with a bound personalised owners manual which is very detailed about every aspect of construction and how to look after the guitar. The owners manual used pictures of my actual guitar, nice touch. Also, a CD ROM was included which has an electronic copy of the owners manual along with over 40 pictures cataloguing the construction of the my guitar from raw planks of wood to the finished article and everything in-between. Finally, the guitar is electronically tagged to assist in recovery should it ever be stolen.

Extremely light weight and perfectly balanced, there is absolutely nothing I would change on this guitar. It is the perfect example of a 50?s style strat with a neck made to my exact specification. The guitar had everything I asked and if I wanted anything more Michael would have accommodated this. As such I can only give it a 10.

Acoustically the guitar resonates really well and is very tuneful, something I have never experienced to this degree from a solid body guitar before. It actually reminds me a little of a 60?s Gibson 330 that my friend has when unplugged. Hooked up to a quality amplifier this guitar just sings. The Sweetspot pickups are calibrated to Michaels specifications, 4.7 (neck), 6.2 (middle) and 8.1 (bridge) and just nails that perfect strat sound that I have in my head. The second tone control is a push/push variety which, when engaged, brings the neck pick-up into circuit. These combinations have turned out to be a lot more useful than I initially thought they would be, especially the all three pick up combination which has a wonderful acoustic quality with the volume backed off to around 7.

I play it through a number of amps, Victoria Low Powered Twin, Badcat Cub II and Carr Rambler and the guitar sounds superb through each of these, with each amp/guitar combination bringing the best, with a different nuance, from each other. I have a Kingsley Deluxe 30 on order and can?t wait to team this up with my DeTemple.

Well, the guitar plays like a dream. The action is extremely low and totally buzz/choke free. I actually raised it a little as I was not used to such a low action and wanted a little more fight. The fret work is immaculate and the whole guitar feels as if I have been playing her for 25 years.

The fit is absolutely perfect. The finish, a wonderful Mary Kaye type blond, is a very thin nitro cellulose and is beautiful. There is some very minor lacquer sinking around the bottom horn which loses a point in this category, but in a way does remind me of the hand made nature of the guitar.

Coming up to two years of ownership and continued playing and the guitar looks, plays and sounds as good as the day I got her. The design is proven one which has stood the test of time and with the way the DeTemple is constructed, it will stand up to the rigours of playing and gigging with the best of them.

OK, so this review is for my DeTemple Sprit ?56 which was ordered in December 2002 and delivered September 2004. Let me say that the wait was an arduous one and really made worse by the initial quote of 6 to 8 months, followed by ?it?s almost ready, just a few things left? every two months thereafter. My disappointment with this whole process is that if I were told it was going to take ?n? months and, then if not ready, given a more realistic time to complete date it would not have been so frustrating. At all times Michael was helpful and polite, and always answered my questions promptly. However, he really does need to learn how to set peoples expectations better.

Been playing for 30 years and I have a number of very high quality guitars; PRS Signature, PRS 10th Anniversary, PRS Singlecut with solid Brazilian Rosewood neck, PRS Santana II, Fender Telecaster Deluxe, Telecaster custom made by Bernie Goodfellow, Rickenbacker 381/12V69 and Martin D45. The DeTemple is the best of the bunch and if it were ever stolen I would be looking to replace it with another, but the wait?..Therefore, I need to ensure that this guitar is going nowhere. If you want the highest quality strat and can tolerate the wait, there is none better than a DeTemple.

I ordered my DeTemple in January of '03. Received it a little over a year later. The waiting was difficult, but I must say it was worth it. This is a classic Strat styled guitar. Highly figured, one piece swamp ash body is lightweight and finished in a subtle see-through blonde. The neck is one piece of flamed maple, no fingerboard. The neck and fingerboard are the same piece of wood. The 21 frets are medium wire (6150) and perfect for me. Mike, I think, would prefer to stay with classic specs all the way, but did include a few non-classic features that I wanted besides the fretwire. The neck he built for me is much bigger than anything he said he has built before mine. It is Fender scale, but 12" radius and 1 11/16ths at the nut. These sizes fit my hands and style much better than standard vintage specs. The tuners are Gotoh Kluson style locking which Mike said don't pull the strings down on the nut as much as he would normally like, but in conjunction with the neck size worked out very nicely on this guitar. He uses Callaham bridges and I ordered the titanium saddles. More on that later. Mike made my neck the Suntanned Water White color, which is a very suble softening of the natural grain and a perfect match to the blonde color. The flame shows through beautifully as well as the vertical grain of the wood. Included in the case is the Owner's Manual which is a high resolution photo/information book on the making of my guitar. My name is on the cover, in fact. Nice C&G case in psuedo alligator w/red poodle lining, solid latches and a truss rod adjustment wrench which has a flamed maple grip made from the same piece of wood as the neck. Mike shapes the neck and body by hand and uses nitrocellulose laquer in several coats, all hand rubbed. I bought the Italian tortoise shell pickguard. Mike put copper foil on the back for shielding and the way it shows through the guard when the light hits it is truly gorgeous. No static when your right hand touches the gaurd, either. He made my '56 Spirit with a push/push tone knob on the lower tone to add the neck pickup. This gives me 7 different pickup selections. Mike uses a stereo input jack on all of his guitars, I guess because they are sturdier than the mono jacks. I ordered mine with Mike's Sweetspot 2 pickups. It has the standard 3 pup Strat set up. I give this category a 10 because I was able to order my Strat with all of the features I wanted, unlike some other boutique luthiers who shall remain unnamed here.

I play rock, blues, light jazz and R&B in a six piece band. This guitar is the best Strat I've ever held in my hands. It works beautifully for any of these styles. I play through a Gutron GT-100 and a Gutron cab with mismatched Celestions, a Barber compressor, Fulltone Wah and a Hotcake for overdrive. I only use the Hotcake because I will switch guitars during the set to a two humbucker guitar for which I use the amp's overdrive channel. The '56 Spirit is lush and deep sounding clean at medium volume on all of the pickup settings. It rings with sustain as long as you want it to. I am still finding which settings I prefer for different songs because they all sound so classic Strat and good that it's difficult to settle on just one. I've had the guitar for about two months. The band's other guitar player lately has been listening more to what I play than anything else. It will definitely cut through the mix the way you would expect a Strat should. The volume controls are set so that on about 7 1/2 you have a good volume for rhythm but turn it up to 10 and there is a nice kick so that it is a quick flick of the little finger to get to solo volume. I'm so glad I chose the Sweetspot pickups. They give you classic Strat, but also a real "alive" tone. The guitar can be played quiet and ripping on the same volume setting. It reacts to your picking style. There is a bit of 60 cycle hum, but only in high gain situations. The settings I use it is negligible and we are pretty loud. This guitar give me everything a classic Strat would give me and more. I've played lots and lots of Strats and this is the best I've ever heard, hands down.

Straight out of the box this guitar played great. Mike sets them up and then plays them for some time so they have time to react to string tension, etc. The volume is very even across the entire pickup selection. Mike prides himself on that and it is true. No peaks and valleys. That is nice when onstage. The finsh work is perfect. The fence post I call a neck is comfortable and slick. The fretwork, intonation and relief is flawless. I had a problem with the input jack not making connection properly, but I pulled it out and spread the wire to make room for the cord end and it's fine now.

I have gigged 6-7 time with this guitar already. It is solid. The gold hardware will wear off eventually, but that's inherent with the color. It stays in tune when you use the whammy bar. I always have a backup guitar with me. String breaks on a trem bridge mean a total tune up and that takes longer than my band would wait. This guitar will go with me to the grave and I feel confident that it will last at least that long.

I live in Orlando and Mike's shop is in LA, so I won't be sending it back to him for any tweaks. He has been very responsive to my needs since he shipped the guitar. He sent me some saddle set screws when I had one on the high E string that crept through the saddle. I have no doubts that he will be there if and when I need him for anything concerning his product.

I'm a 30 year player and have owned my share of Strats in the past. I would hope that this guitar wouldn't get stolen. . . I couldn't afford another. Mike made my neck for me. That does it. It is perfect and adds spank to the tone. It fits me to a "T". If you want the best that any Strat has to offer including the incredibly inconsistent 50's specimens that still exist, but don't want to plunk down 3 or 4 times what I paid, you need to check out the DeTemple. In the last few years I have given up GAS and tried to find the guitars that will last me a lifetime. My McInturffs are keepers, my Melancons also, my Heritage models are better built than any production Gibsons and my DeTemple leads the pack. The fact that Mike will make a "vintage" instrument to my specs sealed the deal for me. This is better than vintage because it fits my hands and style. I looked at Grosh (wouldn't make my neck), Lentz (great tone, but wouldn't make to my specs), Suhr (wouldn't make my neck), etc. You see where I'm going here. Mike made "my" guitar and it is the Strat of my dreams.

Detemple "56 Spirit Series". Based on an original 56 strat. Made by hand. After selling my original 1957 Strat, I played one of Michael Detemple's guitars, and immediately placed my order. I don't miss the 57 strat at all, and am very happy with the profit I made off of it.
This guitar is based on the best features of the original 50's strat, but with much better detail, and construction. It is the lightest strat I have ever picked up. Many hours of labor are involved in the building and nitro finishing process. A step above all other "Strat" clones. If you want a 50's style strat (but better) get a Detemple. If you are looking for a modern style strat, get an Anderson/Suhr, Tyler. Those guitars are excellent, but Michael Detemple takes guitar construction a step further. He has a passion for his guitars, and he is a true artisan. Also a genuine, extremely nice guy. I live near his shop, and was lucky enough to see my guitar though all it's construction phases. I have owned hundreds of guitars, and this is the finest instrument I have ever played. I have played, or owned some "legendary" guitars, so my reference point of quality is very high.
All reviews are subjective, hold one of his guitars in your own hands, and you will see what I mean.

Sound is fantastic. Pickups sound just like original 50's, but are more even, and have a smoother sound with more clarity.

Finish is incredible. The neck flame is magnificent. The finish is a translucent blonde, and the grain shows through very nicely.

The original 50's strats are still around, and I am sure this guitar will outlive me.

Customer support is excellent. Michael is always helpful and kind to me.

I had been looking for the right Strat for some time. Over the years, I had owned and played my share of them. For the last 10 years of so I had been playing mostly Tele?s. I wanted that Strat tone on my sonic palette. I did some serious shopping at the stores in my area and cruised the Internet. As you may know, the pick of the litter vintage stuff is out of control, price wise, and even the top end new stuff just doesn?t get it. The Internet has really opened up this world of custom craftsmanship and that?s the route I decided to take. If I were getting another guitar, it was going to have all the elements I wanted, and be made for me! I did some research and narrowed it down to a small handful of custom builders that I would speak to and consider to make this instrument. All the folks I talked to obviously knew what they were doing and had the credentials. I chose DeTemple Guitars primarily because I could feel how much this guy cared for his craft. From the get go, I felt this was going to be a shared experience and that he would enjoy making this guitar as much as I was going to love getting it. Enough said. Let me get to the guitar.

The model I chose was the DeTemple? 56 ?Spirit Series?. The guitarist has a lot of choices when ordering from DeTemple. Just about every aspect of the guitar, from wood choices and fret size to pick-up configuration was discussed with me. Here were my choices.

The body is one piece, lightweight swamp ash. Michael almost called these guitars ?Wooden Feathers? because of their lightness. The standard for ?lightweight ash? is 2.7 lbs. per board foot. Michael uses ash that is 2.3 lbs. per board foot as the maximum. The completed guitar truly is a wooden feather! If some of this information seems like something a customer would not be privy to, it?s because I recently spent an hour talking with him about this stuff and held off reviewing this guitar until I had played it about 8 months!

I asked that my guitar have some character in the grain, not a pristine, uniform piece, but one with perhaps some dark grain in it. Michael found the perfect piece for my guitar. My guitar body is ?White Blonde? (think, Mary Kaye) and the grain can just be seen through the finish. Beautiful! The contours are very dramatic and comfortable. The pick guard on mine is single layer white. Like everything else, these are hand cut for your guitar.
The jack is a stereo jack. The guitar is not wired for stereo but this jack holds the lead more stable. Nice touch.
I opted for titanium saddles on my bridge, they are beautifully made and really make a difference in the tone. DeTemple Guitars has its own brand and I would strongly recommend these to anyone who plays a Strat.
I was going to go with Fralin P/U?s but went with DeTemple?s own ?SweetSspot? pick-ups instead.
The nut and string tree are fossilized Mastodon Ivory! Really. My guitar is part Woolly Mammoth! How cool is that!
The neck is one piece, Quarter sawn flame maple. More on this when I get to the sound.
The neck is amber shaded, with a Bocote skunk stripe.
Tuners are Kluson. I chose a 9.5 radius. This radius gives a good balance for bending and chording.
The dot-markers are black mother of pearl. This is pretty cool. When you look at the guitar head-on, like the audience, the markers are somewhat shimmering and a shiny gray. From the player?s position, looking down at the neck, the markers are jet black! The neck on mine is 1 11/16 wide at the nut. The taper is a Soft-V reverse taper. In first position the V is more pronounced and it softens as you go up the neck for lead work.
The total body weight of this guitar is 7 lbs and 2 ozs! The body weight before applied finish is 1,540 grams!
The case is a gorgeous, brown faux -alligator with a deep red plush interior. Classy!

This guitar is so alive with tone, it makes anything else I play sound flat. It has a vibrant tone you can feel right through your belly. At low to moderate volumes it has that airiness or ping you associate with this style guitar. When opened up it can growl, howl and scream with the best of them. What I notice is that the neck PU still retains the guitars character without getting too bassy and the bridge P/U does not get the ?Ice Pick in the Ear? syndrome. I ordered mine with the blender pot. The lowest tone control was a push pull pot, allowing the bridge and neck PU to be used together. Actually, it introduces the neck P/U into whatever you?re using. I didn?t care for this and a few months ago had it put back to a stock arrangement. To my ear, the blended configuration of the outside P/Us sounded so close to the sound of the middle P/U that it wasn?t worth the trouble. I thought the blender pot didn?t allow the whammy bar to be screwed in as much as I like. DeTemple has changed that since I got my guitar and uses a Callaham Bridge now with a shorter trem arm that does screw in further and clears the tone pot. I?m sure the blender pot is something some players couldn?t do without. The guitar stays in tune wonderfully. Even with radical use of the whammy. I play this primarily through a black face Princeton Reverb and a Kendrick Black Gold 35.
I?m not big on pedals. A guitar that sounds as sweet as this is effect enough.

The action is set for .005 relief, and the action, 4/64s at the 17th fret. The fretwork is amazing. The neck is very chunky. This reminds me of the first time I drove a BMW motorcycle. The handlebars feel different at first, and the rider position is something you would not expect or understand until you drive 300 miles at a stretch and realize the engineering that went into it. The same is true with this neck. At first I thought it was a bit chunkier than I would prefer, but I quickly realized that this was not only comfortable, but a huge source of the guitars tone! I can?t say enough about the neck and fretwork. The flame maple is stunning to see and the taper fits the hand in playing position perfectly. The finish is all hand rubbed nitro-cellulose.

This guitar was crafted to last. The truss rod is actually tuned. If a guitar could go without a truss rod, this might be it. I can?t imagine any problems with its durability.

First let me mention that each guitar comes with an owner?s manual. The book shows the evolution of your guitar from 2 pieces of wood to the finished product. The photos are very good quality. And it?s cool to see your guitar being made! The body of my guitar is so distinctive. Whenever I show this manual to someone, you can always see the look they get when they realize that the guitar on the cover is MY guitar!
The manual covers all aspects of construction and maintenance. The book also comes as a disk on a CD. Guess what?s on the cover of the CD. My guitar! Oh yea. The owner?s name goes into the neck pocket and is discretely written on the back of the headstock. There are 2 copies of the manual, one for the owner and one for Michael?s records.

In a nutshell, I would recommend a DeTemple guitar to anyone who would appreciate a custom made instrument. I waited almost a year to write this. I feel there?s an objectivity that comes over time. I like this guitar that much, and I hope I?ve conveyed that as my opinion.

Play skillfully, with a loud noise!

I think this stuff is pretty much covered in my review. Strongly considering ordering a Tele style guitar from Michael.

2003 56 DeTemple, made in Sherman Oaks, California. This is a custom built guitar modeled after a 56' Stratocaster From 20 ft away, it looks like a Strat, and that's where any similarities end. A highly flamed quarter-sawn maple neck, tap tuned swamp ash body, Italian celluloid tortoise shell pickguard, titanium saddles, prehistoric mastedon tusk for the nut and string tree. Standard 5 way pickup selector, with the second tone knob working as a push-push, to either turn the neck pickup on or off. Multiple coats of real nitro cellulose lacquer. DeTemple's own Sweet Spot hand wound pickups. Another neat feature is a small "trap door" that can be removed from the pickguard to get at the truss rod for neck adjustments, without removing the pickguard. When it's attached, you can barely notice it. Beautiful fake alligator, red poodle lined case. A completely unique, individualized owners manual, showing photos of the building of my guitar from start to finish, over 70 pages. This guitar has as many unique features as you can possibly put onto a Strat-type guitar.

I've been playing for over 30 years. I've played just about everything over the years, but my current style is blues / blues rock, a lot of Stevie Ray, Kenny Wayne kind of stuff. Grew up listening and playing all the "Guitar God" tunes, from Beck, Trower, Hendrix, Clapton, Page, West, etc. Been a Strat player most of my life, although I've also got Gibsons (L5S, and 59 Historic LP), PRS Standard, MC28 Martin, a couple of Ric's, and 3 other Strats (72, 69, and a MIJ 62 RI). Currently playing through a 65 Super Reverb, Matchless Chieftain w/2x12's, and a Bogner Shiva w/2x12's. I sometimes use a FullTone FullDrive2 stomp box, and a Snarlin Dog Wah-Wah, but that's about it.

This 56 DeTemple absolutely nails the "vintage" Strat sound, and then some. It has that "bell like" ring, and resonance/sustain, even unplugged, that only the best of the best vintage guitars seem to have. The 5 way switch, with the on/off for the neck pick-up, allows me to create a variety of sounds, and the bridge pickup is usable, instead of sounding like "broken glass". All of the pickups are well balanced relative to each other, sound and volumes are consistent across all three pickups. Although they're among the best Strat type pickups I've ever heard, my very small complaint is that they're not as "hot" as the Joe Barden pickups in my other Strats, although they do sound better, more "vintage" like. I'm sure Michael could wind them to be a little hotter if I asked him to.

The fit and finish of this guitar is 100% dead on perfect. Michael does some things that really set this guitar apart from other hand built models, or original "vintage" guitars. The neck pocket is cut just slightly thinner than the neck itself, so the neck fits completely snug into the body. The fit is so tight, that you can actually string up the guitar and play it without putting the neck plate and screws into place. This is done to create a "one piece" effect between the body and the neck, and it makes the guitar incredibly resonant. The fossilized mastedon tusk for the string tree and nut, and the titanium saddles, also contribute greatly to the tone.

The fretwork is flawless, because the frets are added after the neck is completely finished. The frets are then covered, and then he lacquer seals the fret ends only. This tiny little detail creates that "rounded, worn in" feel on the edge of the fretboard/neck/frets that was very important to me. I don't like the feeling of a "brand new" guitar, and wanted a guitar with a worn but not relic'd feeling on the neck. Michael only currently produces about 4 guitars per month (although that number should be increasing a little bit). I hate to be giving out 10's, but the set-up and finish really is flawless.

I can't imagine any problems with this guitar (or any other one, for that matter) and the only reason I have ever brought a back-up guitar to any gig is in case of string breakage, or needed a different sound for certain songs. It's usually the PA, sometimes an amp, that blows up, never had a guitar related issue. Even a lousy guitar would rate an 8 or 9 in this category. When was the last time you had a guitar fail on you?

The personal attention from Michael during the process of making this guitar was unbelievable. I needed help with many design choices, as I'm a player, and have little guitar tech experience. The warranty is a limited lifetime one. I doubt I'll ever need more than an occasional set-up done to this guitar

This guitar will never be stolen, because they'll have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers, and that ain't happening! This is the first time that I've bought a custom made guitar. The greatest thing about this guitar is that it's EXACTLY what I wanted. The tone is right, the look is right, the neck is right, the weight is right. What else is there? This is truly a "rest of my life" guitar.