Ed Roman Pearlcaster

I gig every weekend in cover bands, and do originals. Played for 25 years. I saw Ed's web site, was impressed with his knowledge and his (apparent) commitment to quality. But I'm about 60% happy with the guitar I custom ordered, and would not have him build one for me again.

Mine is actually a "Scepter", but it's basically a Pearlcaster without a pickguard: control cavity access is from the back, so there's more wood on the front to look at.

A picture of my guitar appears on his webpage:
http://www.edromanguitars.com/guitar/pearlcaster/sce_rpc.htm

It's the natural maple topped guitar, down the page a bit, with the selector switch on the left side of the knobs (odd location, but I asked for that mod). French polish finish - looks like tongue oil, feels like wood to the touch; it's soft though, and will scratch easily (I picked it though, no complaint about quality). Considering a urethane treatment to make it tougher.

Bird's-eye neck and fret board, quilt maple over alder. Looks really very beautiful in person. SD pickups: JB Jr and 2 59's.

It has a tension-free neck. Check his web page for a description of what that means. Sperzel tuners. Pearlcaster tremolo. I asked for coil splits on all pickups, no problems here.

One of the best feeling, most responsive necks I've ever played. String tension feels like a Gibson, but the notes are very responsive, very expressive, hard to describe, but it never feels like work to play. Neck is satin-like, no heavy lacquer to get sticky, even at a sweaty gig, feels nice. In the playability aspect, the guitar really shines.

Bridge PUP sounds great; a nice, crunchy dual coil tone, great for EVH tones, maybe a little brighter than a full size HB, but enough mids to make the sound very usable.

Other tones are not very ussable, and this is disappointing. Even with the coil splits, it fails to get good Strat tones. Considering replacements for neck and mid; may Kinmans (which work great on another guitar) or Pete Biltoft singles.

I told them what I wanted, they suggested this setup, and I am somewhat unimpressed with their knowledge here.

The wood itself is beautiful; the bird's eye neck and fretboard are spectacular to look at, and so is the body's quilt maple. So the guitar looks fantastic, but has several significant flaws.

After reading about how his guitars pay so much attention to quality fit, I was disappointed in the neck pocket fit; more gap than I've seen on some factory Strats.

Setup was a nightmare, the neck was visibly bowed, and buzzed badly on many frets. The pickups were screwed directly into the wood of the body with tiny, cheap screws in such a way that the pickups could NOT be adjusted toward or away from the strings (they either fell out since they were so small, or they stripped the wood and wouldn't tighten).

The body routing beneath the pickups was rough and splintered; I could have done a better job. The control cavity routing looked home-made, rough and uneven, and the cavity had paint splattered around, even on the trem springs, like it was done it 10 seconds at the last minute.

The trem arm would just FALL out, nothing to hold it in, and the guitar would NOT stay in tune.

Ed says his guitars use graphtech saddles and nuts - why weren't these included? I also am yet to be convinced that his tremolo bridge is any better than a stock strat; I own both, and his does not out perform the Fender.

After reading so much about quality finish, I really did not expect to find so much to fault.

Necks plays great, wiring and soldering all look solid. Finish is not very durable, but that's what I ordered. No real issues here.
But it won't stay in tune, so it doesn't stay on me for a whole gig, I get too frustrated, can't play through my setlist without pausing between songs.

Most disappointing of all was the response during my service call. Rod, who had been very friendly, helpful, and seemed quite experienced in person, gave me this line of what seemed like total BS, like the climate change was causing the problems (hey I don't live in the tropics, man). Took the guitar to a local tech, who said the neck is so whacked it can't be fixed - I was shocked. Called Rod again, he said he could fix anything, no worries, so I shipped the guitar back (at my cost). Months went by, no word. WTF? So I start emailing them, finally call, Rod tells me the neck issues have been "resolved" (hold this thought) and what else did I want fixed...
what else? I had sent emails, I even sent a printed list of 7 things that need fixing, and you ask me that again? So I go over the TUNING problem, the fit and finish issues, the trem arm, etc, and he says check, I'll get all that taken care of... couple weeks, I call back again, now he says the neck COULD NOT be tweaked, and they had to put a NEW neck on... WTF?

Bottom line: the guitar had arrived in an unacceptable condition, I had to ship it back, and it took over three months to have it in my hands again. The neck is now perfect, the trem arm sticks where it should, the finish is better but far from perfect... BUT IT STILL WON'T STAY IN TUNE !!!

Now I'm really done with these guys. I'm taking it to another luthier in SF and basically going to ask "can you make a stable guitar out of this?" I still don't know if the problem is the neck, the tremolo, the nut (I later had a graphite nut installed; some improvement but still not satisfied), or the design of the neck, or ... ? But there's no way I'm shipping it back to Las Vegas.

I think the other reviewer is right; Ed sells guitars built by somebody else, because they really didn't seem like they knew the product they had sold me.

A $2200 guitar that I can't play reliably... I'm a genius ... if this very guitar had cost me $1000, I'd be happy, and I'd take it on myself to solve it's issues. So I'm feeling about half screwed on this whole deal. Not completely screwed, really that's the best I can say.

Play through Mesa Mark IV, hand made effects from Analog Man, Keeley, et al. Other guitars: Les Paul; hand made Michael Spalt guitar; Schecter Strat (from 1989, back when they were still decent quality) with Kinman PU's; a Strat that I built from parts purchased at shows with Pete Biltoft (Vintagevibeguitars.com) P-90 pickups; Ibanez s540 w/EMG's (like a Big Mac, always consistent, just not gourmet); others ...

If lost, I would not buy another. If I had my $2k back, I'd get a Baker or an Andersen, or I'd fix my patio door...

The thing looks great, and it plays and feels like a top quality axe. I just wish it sounded better, stayed in tune, had a tougher finish, hadn't been so difficult to get right, and cost less.

Ed's shop is worth a trip to Vegas, he really has an amazing collection of great guitars. But I should have bought something else from the shop, off the shelf, like a Heritage or a hand made guitar from some other builder. It just seemed so cool to be able to specify the wood, the neck, the placement of the controls, have a guitar custom built for ME. And this was delivered, so I won't rate it a zero. But after all the hype about quality, it was hard to accept that I really was not happy (and still am not) with the product.

Described in previous reviews. Fairly basic looking Strat style guitar. Ugly gold hardware and an ugly looking pickguard (my personal feeling). Comfortable feeling neck.

Sounded like a strat should sound.

No apparent flaws.

I asked a salesman a simple question about how much it would cost getting the Buzz Fieten system installed on my Les Paul DC, and he walked off to a computer to find out, but never came back with an answer even though I was in the store another 10 minutes or so. That seemed a little unusual. Especially considering the store was fairly empty.

I saw the website and after seeing the store, I have realized what is really happening here. Ed Roman is not what most critics have claimed here in these other posts. Ed Roman is simply a guy who hires guitar builders to build guitars for his company. He then sells them under a variety of brand names, Pearlcaster, Quicksilver, Baker, etc. Nothing wrong with his guitars, but I question the way he slams the competition, thinking it makes his guitars seem better. He is the main distribution outlet for a lot of small builders that he seems to find at NAMM shows. And so his store is different because there are all these brands. The whole notion that the custom made is better than machine made is debatable. An example of this is the way he used to talk about the quality of Baker guitars before Gene Baker went out of business. After buying the Baker label, he found out the entire operation was CNC. He couldn't even tell the difference between those machine made Baker guitars and other hand made guitars and he is in the business. His guitars don't seem to match the hype on the website, but in his world he must have learned that hype at this level sells. The truth about custom building is that when a company is small human labor is less costly than investing in CNC machines, but a human can't consistently work at the level or speed of a machine. Is one better than the other? There is a market for custom made products, but they are not necessarily better? Maybe if you are just going to hang them on a wall and stare at them. But when you put the pedal to the metal do you want to worry about scratching that finish? My Les Paul, Strat, and Taylor Acoustic have never let me down. And they are all around $1200 each. I can't see paying more for a guitar that is not in my opinion better. As for Ed Roman as a person...I don't understand why he would openly attack other peoples religious beliefs as he had in one of his rants against organized religion which was really an attack on the Catholic church specifically. But he is not unique in this respect. A lot of people are prejudice and maybe because there are people that are critical of his beliefs, he feels the need to strike back and uses his business as the forum to do so. That is sad. I just don't see what it has to do with selling guitars. Despite his guitar shop having some nice gear, I don't think I would feel comfortable doing business with someone who will insult me and then hand me a bill for $2500 or more on a new guitar with no warranty.

Made at Ed Roman Guitars in the USA,Solid alder body,22frets,Seymour Duncan single coil pickups,ebony fingerboard.Price $1400.

This is a mail order from ED Romans Co, upon opening the guitar it looked very good,so I plugged It in my Mesa Heartbreaker and It was apparent very quickly that something was amiss! Their was a large amount of hiss and noise in the movement of the five way switch I then proceded to make the first of many unsatisified calls to my salesman Mr /Rich Klein and also ED Roman.

This guitar is a copy of the Fender Strat, the neck was set up good,but then I looked again at the body and counted 5 inperfections in the finish! To be fair I was told before It was shipped that their was one and they did take off 100 dollors but five? plus the pickup selector was noisy.

when I first talked to Ed on the phone he said that these guitars were like high end cars sometimes they needed a little tuning up,he even said that maybe I could work on it! That maybe a wire had come loose in shiping? Then he told that this guitar was (3)years old(I had payed a new price for what I thought was a new guitar! When I told this to my salesman he asked if I would be happy getting a few hundred dollors back and fixing the switch and I said maybe since by this time I had had the switch cleaned and the guitar was playing pretty good,so he said he would call me back and I never heard from him,this went on for days,I would all him and though he was nice and frendly he said he would talk to Ed and get back to me,he never called back! I finally had enough and got Ed on the phone and it was like talking to fifty bad car salesmen at one time all I heard is he could't do this, or that and he didn't make that much money on these guitars and blah blah blah, I never knew their were so many excuses in the English Lan.I heard Ed Roman was bad news before and in my openion it is one hundred percent true! ED Roman also makes a lot of different high end guitars like the Jet and Quicksilver and Im sure if everything goes alright things are fine,but when they don't LOOK OUT FOR THIS GUY!

Ed said he would give me a couple hundred dollors off on a quick silver model that cost $2400, so I could get it for $2200 ,so I said I would think about it,and an hour later I called my salesmen back and asked unknowingly to Ed what the price on the same guitar was and he said $1850! I then told him that Ed said I could get $200 off of that,he said he would check, after several minutes,he came back on the phone sounding real shaken up, and started back pedeling! (oh! I didn't figure this in and that in and Ed will call you back? After about an hour Ed calls and says his man was tired and made a mistake and blah,blah,blah , as far as I am concerned I was lied to,too many times to keep track of! oh yes their's one more, a mister Rod Miller, who is the service man their,told me he inspected this guitar before it was mailed,and whatever happened to it happened in the mail,right Rod, switches get dirty in the mail! In my openion Ed Roman is a cheap two bit hustler!

Made in April 2003 in the USA. 22 frets, one volume and two tone controls with a 5-way selector. Three Kinman passive pickups in Strat configuration. Solid korina body. Solid birdseye maple neck. Candy apple red finish. Pearlcaster tremelo bridge. Tuners are Sperzel locking tuners. Thin neck with jumbo frets, fingerboard is birds eye maple. Case was included.

Great professional clean sound. I am using the guitar with Soldano Decatones and Boogie MKIIB or C+. The guitar is extremely clean. It can get classic strat sounds. It sounds like a Strat. The tremelo is pretty much useless. I Had the Buzz Feiten system installed.

The guitar was set up by Rod over at Ed Roman's, and is first rate. I had to change a capcitor in the tone controls, the on stalled didn't work. The finish is gorgeous and the neck wood is stunning. The korina body is a bit heavy but sounds great.

The guitar appears to be very durable in all areas. I cannot foresee any problems with this guitar.

Rod, the guitar tech at Ed Roman's was helpful and friendly. I have had no problems with the guitar. Rod sent me the capcitor the same day I called him. It took four months for the guitar to arrive after ordering it.

I have been playing the guitar for 35 years and I own vintage strats. I had this guitar pretty much loaded with top quality wood and parts and it shows. This is a beautiful sounding and looking intrument. The guitar plays like a dream. My only regret is getting the tremolo bridge. I should have gotten a fixed bridge or a Kahler tremelo with a locking nut.

2002 made in the USA, by Ed Romans World Class Guitars. The body is tele shaped, but has Roman pearlcaster on the headstock. 3 color gloss sunburst with no pickguard. Controls are 1 volume 1 tone with a 3 way switch. The pickups are Seymore Duncan. ! humbucker in the neck position 1 single coil in the bridge. It has the tele style bridge, but with strat style string saddles. Swamp ash body, Flamed maple neck, African Gaboon Ebony fingerboard. Has the Ed Roman trademarked neck modifications: 1500G and the all access neck joint. 22 frets, dot inlays. Chrome hardware.

I have been playing for 23 years and I play everything from grunge to 80's shred. I have a Carvin Legacy and a rack setup the heart of which is an ADA MP-1. This is definitely NOT an "all purpose" guitar. This guitar shines best in the clean channel. The great wood selection contribute greatly to this, and the you can get a wide range of different clean tones from it when you play with the pickup switch and the tone knob. Fat warm & jazzy to country chickin pickin tones. Heavy distortion doesnt really suit this guitar, but just a little through the neck humbucker you can get a decent blues Eric Johnson like tone.

Everything was adjusted perfectly. It came with 10 gauge strings with the action set high, like they should be for this type of guitar. Keep in mind this is not a shredders setup, but I could set it up to be. Without a doubt the neck is the best feature of this guitar, what I expected from custom handmade instrument. The fretwork is flawless. Easy access to the 22nd fret thanks to the "All access neck joint". The back of the neck has a very natural feel to it (1500G mod).
The finish of the body is also flawless. Glossy 3 tone sunburst with the grain showing through. I noticed I could see part of the route for the bridge pickup extending past the metal plate of the bridge(Barely 1/16th of an inch). It looks like it was routed to be able to fit some kind of humbucking pickup if the coustomer ordered it that way.

I have no doubt that it could withstand years of live playing, and with the transferable lifetime warranty and free annual inspections(according to the website) I'm sure it will.

I have never had to use their customer support reguarding this guitar.

I have a Carvin 7 string, a 78 Fender stratocaster, and a Carvin DC127, which is may Floyd Rose equiped guitar. I also will have a Quicksilver from the Ed Roman custom shop soon. If my pearlcaster was stolen I would get another one without a doubt. These guitars are only $1000 new and the surpass all other "Fender" like guitars in value and craftsmanship.

Made by Roman. 22 frets, basic Strat copy with better aesthetic appointments, Duncan pickups, ash body with maple neck, special design tremolo, Schaller tuners. Overall, nothing special or unique when you get down to the bare basics (I'll rate looks in a different category).

First, the negatives: It's not bad, but it doesn't blow me away. I own a Strat and several other Fenders (telecasters) and this guitar doesn't particularly stand out from the pack. I've relegated it to back-up status. I wouldn't say that it's excessivley bright, but I find myself dialing in more lows and mids with this guitar, and I even like twangy sounds. It's too brittle to be nice and twangy though. Maybe it doesn't balance very well tonally, I dunno. But for what I paid (a significant amount more than most of my guitars), it shouldn't be a back-up guitar. The lack of tonal versatility is a big negative with me, though it will get the job done.

The positives: It's an extremely attractive guitar. It feels good and broken in for a new guitar. Fairly decent imitation of that classic Strat "quack".

Set-up was perfect, I haven't had to touch a thing. The pick-ups were also adjusted very nicely. One of the major benefits of having a guitar that is pretty much a custom job. The color, a deep metallic blue, is stunning and finished very well. The pickup selector is a little noisy, but tolerable (I still think that this should not occur on a guitar of this price). One of the knobs doesn't quite rotate on it's pot straight. One of the strap pins seemed loose, but a quick turn of a screwdriver fixed that, and I've had no problems since. The nut was also pinching the G and B strings, but I graphited them up and have had no problems.

This thing will last, I have little doubt. It's given me no indications of being easily destructable, even with some of the niggles I've had. I would use it as a main guitar in a pinch. I've not used it live, though plan to cart it to gigs a a backup.

I have been playing for about 20 years, and own a myriad of Fenders and I have owned a few Gibsons at one point. Looking back, I'm satisfied with the guitar, but I could've gotten something just the same in a Fender (which sometimes I think I should've done anyway). Face it, I'm stuck on Fenders, and in trying to find something different, realized I'm just attached to that good ol' design. I wouldn't not recommend this guitar, I just feel rather indifferent to it. I would be ticked if it were stolen, but only because I paid what I did for it. It seems to be more about looks than anything, and if I were concerned about looks, I would've traded my old banged-up (well, it was made in 1993...but looks old and banged up) Strat a long time ago. However, some like aesthetically-pleasing guitars. This would fill that bill.