Ed Roman Custom GS Steinberger

Made in 1999 at Ed's shop. I think a guy named Allen did most of the work. It uses a Steinberger GS neck, 24 frets, Steinberger gearless tuners, graphite nut. Body is made of Korina with an awesome quilted maple top. Stained a red-purplish. The korina was left natural. The clear finish was professionally done by David Thomas McNaught. 3 Joe Barden Strat Deluxe pickups with a pickup switching system I got from the Suhr Reb Beach model. L.R. Baggs X-bridge, one volume and that's pretty much it. If you look on Ed's site you can find pictures of it. I give it a 10 since I designed it and it's what I wanted.

I love the power and punch of the Bardens. That's where all the tone of this guitar come from. The L.R. Baggs bridge sounds great too but I haven't messed with it too much. Play it mainly through a Mesa Triaxis preamp with a few effects in a mildly complex rack system. The guitar is a little bright due to the graphite neck but nothing a little eq tweaking can't fix. The sound is very clean and punchy. I can get all 7 pickup combinations plus the piezo so it's very versatile. I play mainly heavy music which is typically done with humbuckers but I wanted something different from the old, tired, thick, honky humbucker sound. This guitar plays as heavy as I need it to. It is also versatile enough to play country or jazz. Does anything a Strat can do and better.

The guitar itself is as light as a Parker Fly so no slump back after a long night of jamming.

As I said earlier, the finish is top notch. No complaints. Everything is put together very well. Clean routes and the neck pocket is very tight. The fretwork was minimal but what was done is very good with no problems with buzzing. My action is fairly low. It plays just how I want it to. The only complaint in this department is on the lead pickup. It is not quite under the high E string and could have been a little better, although I can't hear any volume drop between that and the rest of the strings. The neck heel is very small and comfortable unlike a Fender. I give it an 8 because of the pickup alignment. Especially on a guitar I paid this much for.

One other problem: the front pickup had a bad buzz and volume drop in it. I took the thing out and sent it to Joe Barden and the ground wire was broken upon installation. They fixed it for free. I didn't want to deal with Ed anymore after my experience with him.

I've not had a problem since with this guitar. I feel very comfortable with it without a backup but always use a backup.

Here's where I start having problems. I commissioned Ed to build this in March, 1999. I personally drove to his shop with lifesize drawings and everything to explain what I wanted. He was very cool and spent 2 hours with me late at night at the shop. He showed me all around and all the guitars he has. Very impressive. We talked about guitars and he has a lot of insight. He told me that Kramer was going to make a comeback by 2000 and be a big manufacturer again. I told him it'll never happen. Friendly conversation. I gave him about 1/3 the price up front to start and it took about 2 months to get on it. He called me a few times to ask about some things he wasn't clear on over the next couple months and it seemed to be going smoothly. I went a few months without hearing from him so I called to see how it was going. He said they were having problems with the paint dept. and said to call him back in a couple weeks. I waited 3 weeks and this time he was a little rude. So I backed off a bit. I waited another month and called and he didn't even want to talk to me. I told him I understand his problems but I would also like some answers to how long it might be. He became a lunatic and started yelling and hungup on me. I called back and talked to Allen and he was very helpful and cool. After that I only dealt with Allen and things went smoothly. When the guitar was done, Ed called me to tell me and also apologized for what had happened. I thought that was very admirable of him. He told me how much he liked the guitar and told me to call him when I got it and tell him what I thought. We did just that and as far as I know, we are still on good terms. He's a bear to deal with sometimes and I recommend he gets someone else to handle his calls.

The guitar is awesome and does just what I want it to do. It took 9 months to get it but was worth it. I only regret that I had some problems with communication on the phone. If it were stolen I would definitely have another one built. I designed it and it's great for that reason, but what really sets it off are the Joe Barden pickups. I can't rave enough about them.