Ed Roman Quicksilver

Not a bad guitar... but does not stand out past any of the major guitar manufacturers.

ABout the same as most other guitars out there... I was expecting some very goods sound and sustain, etc... about the same as other closely manufactured guitars

Fit and finish was pretty good

We'll see...

Horrible... this Ed Roman guy thinks everyone is an idoit who buys guitars except for himself. A Very Good BS artist and I actually found him to be a thief... changing pricing and adding charges that he said weren't there in the first place, which was agreed upon verbally, and then gets kind of insulting when you question his sneaky tacits. Get your attorney to draft up a IRON CLAD business agreement when dealing with guy. If you don't believe me, ask in any of the online guitar forums.

I won't ever you business with this organization again, and I recommend you steer clear of ED ROMAN completely. I think I am going to notify the BBB on this Guy...

My quicksilver has a dark Limba/Korina back, and a great spalted and flamed maple top. It was made in the CT shop during 2001 and 2002. I actually wanted the PRS-style 5-way knob instead of the switch but Alan talked me out of it, and I think he was right that there is more versatility this way. After reading about the SD BlackBack pickups and playing a couple of quicksilvers at his CT shop, I thought they sounded pretty good so I went with them. The TonePros bridge is solid and I went with the LSR tuners, which I'm pretty happy with.

I wanted a versatile guitar and I think this guitar delivered. I still prefer my 79 strat onstage, so I can't give it a 10 but then again, I play alot of SRV stuf and I'm in Texas, so.....

The Bridge pickup with both coils on has a good nasty biting distortion sound that I like, and the clean sounds are different. They don't sound as much like a strat as I had hoped, but they have a refreshingly different sound than I have ever really heard out of a guitar, so I would call that a wash. The neck pickup gets an awesome jazz sound with both coils and the tone turned down, so I would say this guitar does a good LP sound, good Jazz sound and mediocre strat/single-coil sound.

Crazy good. I have heard of people having problems with the QS, but mine is flawless. For a hand-constructed guitar I can't imagine it getting much better than this.

I play this guitar live every weekend and it has held up pretty well. My problems with it are:
1. It's too pretty to be bashing up onstage
2. The electronics/wiring has sort of cut out after sitting for awhile, by moving the knobs, etc, that seems to clean up. Might be related to the slightly higher noise level than I expected. Alan offered to look at it but I didn't want to ship it back, so I'll probably tacke it myself (eventually).
3. E string pops out of the nut, which might be related to using heavy strings and tuning down to E flat ;) I will have a local tech widen/deepen the slot at some point.

So, some minor issues, although one might argue that there shouldn't be any issues for a guitar in this price reange.

Alan (in the CT shop) was absolutely fantastic when I needed help, and Ed spent a good 30 minutes talking with me face-to-face helping me decide what I wanted when I was in his shop, so I can't really say that I had any problem in this area. Ed is an opinionated east-coast kind of guy, and this guitar is definitely a reflection of his opinions. I wanted something unique, made in the US and this guitar delivers. Besides, how good is the customer service at Guitar Center, etc. anyway? If you compare Ed to Guitar Center you're comparing a guy that knows what he likes and what other people like who will be able to help you get what you're after VS. a 16 year old kid who can't wait to get home to play video games. No contest to me. If his shop takes a long time to build a guitar and you can't always get him on the phone, so what? I'll take that over a lack of knowledge and quality any day.

I still prefer my 79 strat to this, maybe I'm just a creature of habit and afraid of change. This guitar works really well onstage and I have played gigs with only this guitar. I think it is a great exotic handmade in the US guitar and worth the money I spent. I was hoping to be able to leave the strat at home but that is probably unrealistic considering that I play 4-8 SRV songs a night and nothing beats my 79 25th anniversary strat for that stuff.

This review is of a custom Quicksilver, made for me to my specs. Features include an alder body w/ AAAAA quilted maple top, superdark ebony fretboard (no grain showing), wide neck (1 3/4 at the nut), Schaller locking tuners, Floyd Rose (without the locking nut), a Seymour Duncan "single coil" in the middle position (actually has 2 1/2-width coils) and coil taps for both S/D blackback humbuckers. Buzz Feiten Tuning System. The hardware is polished gold and the body finish is transluscent purple. I had a monogram of my (and my wife's) initials set at the 12th fret, other than that the fretboard has no position markers. 1500G neck, 24 frets, etc. & other standard Quicksilver features complete this beauty.

Unplugged, the guitar resonates beautifully. Plugged in to my 5150 4X12 cab powered by a Peavey Ultra head, it screams. I'm a Lynch/ Mustaine rhythm freak and the guitar excels in this arena. Toned down, it's still got punch when tempered by the single and neck pickups. On the clean channel with a little chorus & delay, it tackles everything from flatpicking to creamy blues. The best sounding and most versatile guitar I've ever played. No electronic or action buzzing. Perfect linear tone & volume pots. Outstanding action. Perfect intonation (thanks to Buzz Feiten!)

Cosmetically perfect. No blemishes in the wood, paint, stain or finish. I'll put this AAAAA quilted maple top up against any other custom. A little crowded with the extra single coil in the middle position but I'll get used to it (Vai did, didn't he?)

High quality parts throughout except bridge is misstamped "F OYD ROSE". World Class Guitars missed it but have already offered to replace it at my leisure. I've only had the guitar about a month but it seems solid. No hesitation about showing up to a jam with only this in the road case.

World Class Guitars is a quality outfit with the exception of it's czar, Ed Roman. I've already sent him a letter indicating it's too bad his lack of attentiveness and poor communication skills have cost him any repeat business. Alan Dreher at the custom shop is the best! Nothing but good things to say about him and his staff. However, the guitar took NINE months to be built and delivered! Much longer than the original two to three I was told. And it showed up with the wrong gauge strings and a neck pickup I didn't want. My advice: deal with Ed as little as possible. Unless your picture's been on the cover of Guitar World, he doesn't care about you. If it weren't for Alan, I wouldn't have anything good to say at all in this category.

Been playing 25 years and own about a dozen guitar including a couple of customs. Needed to "retire" my main guitar (a Warmouth custom) and was looking in the $3000 range when I discovered Ed's website. Went to Vegas and fell in love with the Quicksilver line. Too bad Ed's customer service philosophy will keep me from buying more of them. Next time I'll do more research on the company and it's staff before I spend four grand. The guitar is a winner though. Very happy to (finally) have it!!

The quicksilver guitar is available with loads of features although neck thickness wasnt an option available to me (i was under the impression that it was) seymour duncan blackback pickups with black hardware, sperzel tuners which are great, string through the body with the piezo pick up system also blending ability and a coil splitting knob. body is made of korina with a maple neck and ebony fingerboard with a candy apple red finish that i must say is absolutely stunning! (ive had it refinished so more on that later) you can get any combination of woods you want the only thing i can knock here is the lack of options in neck sizes which i feel is critical for a custom guitar especially one sounding this much. Also comes with a great padded gig bag very secure and useful.

I play a Bogner Shiva 112 and the sound of the blackback pickups leaves something to be desired especially in the bridge position...with that said the piezo system sounds great especially when blended with the pickups very clear sound kind of jazzy but pretty well balanced. the guitar itself is not too bright or too dark tonally, but it is not very distinctive in its sound. distorted it sounds ok but the bridge pickup dosent do distortion too well. I like to play some jazz and funk and some rock sometimes too but for that sound my mexican made fender really blew this guitar out of the water with the exception of the piezo system (which probably could be installed on the fender with similair results) In the quest to get every sound out of the quicksilver ed roman has made a fatal error i think it dosent really sound outstanding for that one style of music which is really a shame for a guitar costing this much

this is where im pretty upset i first received this guitar two years ago after waiting about a year to get it. Right out of the box i noticed some major problems. First of all, it buzzed all over the place on a lot of the different frets this is quite obviously unacceptable on a guitar like this. The next problem was that the finish had scratches in it and there were actually a couple of small dings in this brand new guitar! I called Ed Roman and he said that i could send it back to him or i could have it fixed myself. well with the prospect of another year long wait i decided to take it to the local guitar shop (world of strings) which have a reputation for solid workmanship. they did a set up for me but they also told me that the guitar would need a fret dressing and recommended that i send it back to ed since he made it. about a year or so later i did this (i also sent it back to have it refinished in another color) when i received the guitar back this time the finish was flawless much to my delight but the buzzing was still there and this time they set it up with 11's to try to mask it! ed told me that 009's are the best strings for the quicksilvers but perhaps not in my case. it still buzzed quite a bit unfortunately and right now i realize i will have to have the action raised quite a bit to compensate for this (it will feel more like an acoustic). It's really too bad too because the overall feel of this guitar is really good the unfinished neck feels great the size and shape is perfect and its really easy to play if you can ignore the buzzing. people are always complementing me on the guitar

i cant really be sure there but it seems like it can hold up

Good and bad. I dont think Ed is an asshole like some people do but they did make some mistakes and they never fixed my original problem with the guitar

for the money i think that one can do better although you can get this guitar pretty much any way you want it. I think my experience with the buzzing may be an abberation but nevertheless i must factor that into my reveiw of the guitar. i wouldnt replace it if i lost it there are simply too many fine guitars out there that are better for less money. if youre thinking of buying one look around there are loads of luthiers out there and if you still want to buy one consider asking for different pickups

I picked up my Quicksilver (#143) a year ago. Ed Roman gave me so many options in regards to features that there is no way to fairly rank this category other than giving it a 10.

To be specific, I asked for a top of the line, highly figured, Flame Maple top, Dark Korina back, Ebony fretboard (24 Frets), bolt-on Maple neck, custom color, matching headstock, Sperzel tuners and a French Rub finish. I went as far as to request a color that Ed Roman and his crew had never done before, they went out of their way to do test samples for me until I was satisfied with what they achieved.

I was very pleased with the standard pickups and the stock Tune-O-Matic bridge when I tested the guitar out at Ed Roman's compound so I decided to stay with those. The two Seymour Duncan Black Back humbuckers can be split and there is a 3-way selector switch as well as a tone knob.

When you combine these features and all of the choices made available to you, there are so many combinations to work with, if you can't find what you like, you probably don't like anything.

I play mostly rock and this guitar fits the bill perfectly. I run through a Digitech GSP-2101 Tube Preamp, a Mesa-Boogie 50/50 Tube Power Amp and a 2/12 Mesa Speaker with Celestion Vintage 30's. When I need to palm mute and pull out all of the deep rhythmic nuances to my riffs this guitar delivers. When I go into my clean channel for some lighter strumming parts it rings beautifully. The guitar screams on leads and does everything I want it to do in every situation imaginable. The stock Seymour Duncan Black Back pickups (passive) provide tons of sustain and they are strong but not noisy at all. I'm extremely pleased with this guitar's versatility.

I have not needed to take this guitar for a set-up since I got it. There was never a trace of annoying buzz or dead notes. The action is perfect for me. I've been playing the guitar for a year and I've experienced no major issues. The pickups, nut, bridge were all adjusted / routed properly. The guitar is extremely reliable.

The highly figured Flame Maple top on this guitar is unbelievable. It is truly jaw dropping and that is despite the fact that I went for the less spectacular (but still amazing) French Rub finish. To be clear, I prefer the French Rub finish because it feels better to me, sounds better to me (a Poly finish inhibits your tone) and while some might disagree it even looks better to me. A Poly finish would probably make this guitar look like more of a jewel, but my intention was to have a more organic look and feel to my instrument. That said, I cannot take this guitar anywhere without being asked about it. Once again, the wood was top notch as I requested.

After a year: no problems. The Quicksilver can definitely handle live performance. The hardware, finish, strap buttons, etc. are all holding up incredibly well. I would never go to gig without a backup, but if I had to, I'd feel more than confident with this guitar.

Ed Roman was extremely professional to work with. He is a hard-working and very busy man so he won't have time for idle chit-chat. I suggest if you are interested in dealing with him that you approach him after you are well-read, informed and you know what you want. I've had no reasons to get this guitar repaired so I cannot comment on that aspect of customer support.

I've been playing for 11 years. I've had the opportunity to play a variety of custom guitars (Hamer, Schecter, Charvel, PRS, Anderson, etc.). This guitar is by far the most versatile. It is also the most beautiful. I've had the good fortune of owning some very reliable instruments and this guitar is on par with all of them. Since I ordered it completely custom, I have no regrets, Ed Roman provided everything that I asked for. If this guitar were stolen, I'd buy another one in a heartbeat, I would also hunt down the thief and make him eat his own large intestines. My favorite feature is its versatility and extremely comfortable neck. Finally, I'd like to say that as far as I'm concerned, this guitar comes highly recommended.

Well first off I'd like to say I've been playing guitar for 37 years of my life. I've palyed every type of music imagineable. Also palyed 13 years in a pro rock band on the East Coast called Avalanche. aI have to say after eading some of these reviews on the Quicksilver Guitars that are all hand made by Ed Roman there are alot of people out there that cannot know what there talking about. Being a professional for 13 years I have to say anyone that has any bad things to say about the Quicksilver line of guitars don't know jack shit about guitars in the first place. I give the complete guitar an overall rating of 11. It blows away any Gibsons or Paul Reed Smith guitars by a landslide in every way. Now for my review of the Quicksilver I own.

The Quicksilver guitar I bought suits every music style I use which range from my own personal Rock sounds to anything else I want to sound like. Overall this guitar can sound like anyone or anything out there. I use a Roland JC-120 with rack mounted effects. There is absolutly no noise with any settings I use mostly distortion and clean with some delay. The guitar has endless Sustain due to the Seymour Duncan Blackback pickups that Ed developed to be SOLID MOUNTED to the neck of the guitar on the neck pickup and also SOLID MOUNTED to the body of the guitar on the bridge pickup. The neck has absolutly no heel and is a very major improvment then any PRS or Gibson being sold today. I was a very big Gibson Les Paul fan. I own 5 of them at the present time and have retired all of them due to the fact that the Quicksilver is a much lighter and better feeling and sounding guitar. You can get very rich and full sounds when playing it clean or very bright sounds also. The overall sound of the guitar is an 11 on a scale of 1to10which is over the 10 because I feel its well deserved. I still can't figure out why there are people out there knocking Ed Roman because since I live in Vegas and have a fairly good relashonship with him he will make you happy in any way he can when you buy a Quicksilver. There is never a problem and he will set up the guitar for free for as long as you own it. The man happens to be one of the busiest men I've ever met and has his bad days but he is under a very HUGE amount of stress trying to keep up with all his orders and keeping people happy. He will go out of his way to make you happy when you make the switch to the Quicksilvers bad mood or not. Anyone that gets a Quicksilver must have patience and be extra nice to Ed even if he is in a bad mood. He will come around sooner or later. He is the most knowledgeable man I've ever met when it comes to guitar building or repairs or upgrades and will never steer you wrong. So if your one of those guys that are bashing him you have to be a real jerk. He will go out of his way to make you happy but not if your gonna treat him like a peice of dirt. The man is very proud of every guitar he builds and will stand behind his work no matter what it takes to make you happy. So if it has a flaww give it to him to fix and he will fix it until you feel it is flawless. I have absolutly no dislikes in my Quicksilver at this time.

The guitar was setup after I owned it for about 6 months. I would suggest anyone else that buys one does the same thing. This way it has some time to break in. When I first got it home the intonation was perfect. Action was just the way I like it. Beautifully done with a Splatered Maple Top and an Alder back that were both perfectly finished in every way. The wood quality was the best I have ever seen in 37 years of playing. The Tone Pro Bridge was set in just perfect. The pickups were perfect. It has Sperzel locking tuners and never goes out of tune. After about 6 months as I said I brought it in for a setup and just the D string intonation was off ever so slightly and when it was returned to me was perfect and Rod the head tech even lowered the action a tiny bit so it was better. The frets are all perfect. Controls with push pull pots perfect and gives you an increadable variation of sounds from a Les Paul to a Telecaster whichever you may prefer. There was not one flaw in this instrument and its my main guitar at this time. I use it % to 6 nights a week and its just fantastic in everyway. I also get alot of people commenting on it and the way its played. I also take very good care of all my instruments even the Gibson Les Pauls that are now retired. I sold the 2 PRS guitars I had because I just had no use for them anymore since I bought my Quicksilver. The Quicksilver just blows the PRS out of the water in everyway. The no heel concept on the neck is truly amazing. Makes playing in the higher registers an ease compared to a PRS or Gibson.

I play on the average 5 to 6 nights a week and do not bring a backup guitar with me anymore. I have owned my Quicksilver for about 10 months now and it hasn't let me down yet. the hardware has absolutly no wear on it. I have Schaller Strap Locks on it so they are set and never give way. I very highly recommend these guitars to anyone who needs a very reliable guitar thats doing nightly gigs and cannot afford to have a guitar let him or her down. When I first purchased it I would bring a Double Cutaway Gibson Les Paul with me with the 24 frets but it was just collecting dust so I leave it home now. I have a guitar collection if 14 guitars at this time and the Quicksilver is my main guitar. There is nothing else that can come close to it.

The Quicksilver has a lifetime warranty on any manufacters defects and also gets free setups whenever it may need one. I had it setup once in the 10 months I owned it and it has stayed in perfect intonation, neck is perfectly straight, never broke a string yet, and overall the guitar is just flawless plus beautiful. Every night I'm out playing I get comments on it from other musicians and just regular people because of the Splatered Maple Top and the different sonds I get with it. The variations are endless. It gets an 11 in my book as a professional Musican. Ed Roman is the best at what he does and backs up his guitars 150% always. I feel like part of a very special family when I go to the shop and I am always treated with the utmost respect and feel like I'm at home with the complete staff there. Ed is a very moody guy but for some reason when he sees me he gets very happy. The rest of his staff are very friendly and helpful in everyway and never let me down yet. The Quicksilver guitar is the best out of 14 guitars I own and I have also had a very huge amount of guitars and retired all of them to the Quicksilver. I am also in the process of having Ed build me an LSR which is another amazing instrument. Check them out to if you want a good bang for your buck.

I have been playing guitar for 37 years and 13 of those years as a professional. There is nothing I would have rather had and I played 4 Quicksilvers before picking the one I wanted. If it was ever lost of stolen I would get a new one right away with no doubts. I love the way it sounds feels plays the sustain is endless because of the inovations Ed has made with the SOLID MOUNTED PICKUPS. I chose it because of the sound looks feel and for the money was just an overall excellent value. PRS does not come close and are overpriced machine made guitars now. The Quicksilvers have upgrades in every way they are built and designed. I would not play anything else except an LSR which is another line of guitars that Ed Roman developed. For anyone out there that has anything bad to say about Ed Roman or his guitars you can't have the experiance or knowledge that you should. He is one of the best builders in the world and I have had alot of guitar techs in the past 37 years. He is the only man I would trust with any of my 14 guitars. He is honest and trustworthy and makes you feel like a part of a very unique family.

Yours Truly,
Charlie
Anyone wanting to contact me on the Quicksilvers my e mail address is
Charlieroxs247@aol.com. I do not work for Ed Roman and am not related to him in anyway other then having him do the work on my 14 guitars in my collection. Feel free to contact me anytime with questions about the Quicksilvers.

I bought this used at Guitar Center. Not sure of the year it was made. But I do know that it was made in the U.S. and that it was a custom order. My Quicksilver has a beautiful dark walnut figured top, very nice Australian Lacewood back, 24 fret Maple Neck, Two Seymour Duncan custom zebra humbuckers, 3-way switch, bolt on neck, Tune o matic Tone Pros Bridge, LSR tuners (very cool), and Rosewood fretboard. The volume, tone, and selector switch knobs have dark orange jewel inserts that match well with the walnut top. The bridge and sides of the volume, tone and selector switches are gold plated. The LSR tuners are a flat colored copper finish. This guitar looks very cool and attracts attention wherever I go. I bought this guitar used and it didn't have a case. The body shape is similar to a PRS so I was able to purchase a PRS case which fits it perfectly. You can order cases, gig bags from Ed Roman in Las Vegas. Guitar Center gave a good deal on the case/guitar so I went with the PRS case. I was originally looking for a good used amp and this was the guitar the guys at G.C. let me use. I liked the guitar so much I decided to buy it.

I play mostly rock and blues with a band on weekends. I like mellower sounds when playing at home. This guitar is great for all types of music. This is probably one of the most versatile guitars I own and I own a wide variety of guitars from different makers. The 5 way selector gives you a variety of pickup/tone selections. I haven't found any real dislikes with this guitar. The selector switch is somewhat similar to a PRS. I find myself enjoying position 5 when jamming with friends. This guitar sounds great playing jazzy rhythms and can really rip it up when playing rock. This guitar has great sounding Seymour Duncan custom pickups. I play through Matchless Chieftain, Mesa/Boogie Rec-to-verb, orig. Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb and Soldano Atomic amps. This guitar sounds great with all of these amps.

The action on this guitar is just right for me. Pickups appear to be adjusted correctly. Whoever owned this guitar before me took good care of it. Only flaws are few minor spots around the bridge pickup cutout on the finish. The back of the neck is a more raw (no glossy finish) than I was initially use to but I found that I actually prefer it this way.

I think if I bought this guitar new and paid over $2500 for it I would probably be hesitant to take it anywhere. But since I got a good deal on it used and it has it's first scratch that I don't mind traveling with it. It's built very well and suspect it will last a very long time with normal care. I would only gig backup just in case.

Never dealt with Ed Roman. I don't have a warranty since it was bought used. There are plenty of qualified guitar techs in the area I live. I'm not that concerned.

I've been playing off and on for several years. More in recent years. I own a polished chrome James Trussart Deville (Les Paul style), Gibson Flying V limited, Custom shop Fender Strat, 1961 Gretsch Tennessean, Gibson 335, Brian Moore, Danelectros, etc. I use to collect them but now I prefer to play them. I sold my PRS CE 24 which is similar in body shape to the Quicksilver but that's where the comparison ends as far as I'm concerned. I didn't like the way that the PRS sounded. Found myself messing with the selector too much. The Quicksilver selector sounds great on all settings. This guitar is my first pick when choosing a guitar to take with me for weekend jams with friends. My other guitars sit at home. What would make it perfect would be a MIDI/Piezo RMC system. Later I'll order a Quicksilver with the RMC system along with several other options that Ed offers. But for now I feel very fortunate, happy and pleased with my Quicksilver guitar.

Ed roman's made in USA quicksilver, Solid Swamp Ash body, Black Opaque finish, 24 fret Maple Neck, Two Seymour Duncan BlackBack humbuckers with Coil tap, 3-way switch, No neck heel, bolted in, Tune o matic Tone Pros Bridge, Locking Sperzel Tuners, Ebony Fretboard with medium jumbo frets, wide thin profile. Came well packaged with a hardshell case. Was going to purchase one with a nice quilt top, but went for a simpler look for less dough. This guitar has many nice options for sound, playability, looks and tuning stability.

I normally play rock, and this guitar is made to be versatile. It is not too bluesy, not too metal, not too jazzy. Just as in the PRS fashion, it has the clarity of single coils, and the bite of humbuckers, plus the dark warm sound of a les paul. I am using it through a fender hot rod deluxe, which really brings out the clean tones, and a few pedals which let the distortion shine. It can be bright, dark, crisp, and thick and cutting with the controls. I just got it, so i'll leave a follow up report in a couple months, but so far it beats my PRS CE 24, another really versatile instrument.

Action is nice and low, really solid not too loose, pickups are not adjustable in terms of height, but they came perfectly set, and the acoustic tones are very nice because the pickups are pressed in the wood. After looking at the guitar for a long time, no flaws were found in finish or quality. Its handmade, and more prone to these flaws, but ed is a pro and nothing was found. The freakin strap buttons were even deep into the guitar with felt inside. Nice!! There was a nice abalone truss rodd cover and inlaid headstock too.

This guitar will definitly stand live playing, its more solid than anything else I have played. Its very light, around 5 pounds, and the straplocks are sturdy. Gold Hardware wont rust, electronics are really solid, and I would gig this with no backup. Unless I had another one, then I would bring both!!

Ed roman is a very busy man. He gets 45 emails an hour, and calls constantly. I have read all of the other reviews before buying his guitar, and although he has a temper for people who bug him about their guitars-in-progress, he is extremely knowledgeable, helpful and funny. I started out with a pricey top and an alder body, but I was a little skeptical of the price at the time, so I called, and he helped me the whole way. Has a lifetime warranty for setups yearly and any flaws. I hate it when people give this guy bad reviews even though they didnt simply ask ed to fix a problem. Stop being annoying and get practical. Just ask the guy to fix a flaw. He would do it gladly.

I have been playing for 5 years, but have been in music for over 14. I have built two of my own guitars, and have owned strats, prs's, les pauls, and many others, and this guitar is superior. It doesnt combine the sound of a strat and a les paul, it definitly beats both! The design is really nice and comfortable with contours everywhere. There is no heel, and the neck is so smooth! The tuners really keep the guitar stable even after minor third and fourht bends, and I would definitly buy a new one if it were stolen (God forbid). I disagree with some of the people who gave ed a bad rap, I see no flaws in his work, and he is not an asshole, just as long as you are not an idiot. I will one day either get another one with a quilt top, and have complete confidence in ed's products and his work. He is a top builder who simply wants his guitars to be the best. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

most the same features as the others: tone-pros stop-tailpiece, 2 zebra custom Seymour Duncan humbuckers, PRS style (rotary) 5 way switch, walnut top, rosewood board, LRS tuners, satin neck finish, bolt on neck, that's about it.

too bright sounding, not the most resonant guitar I've heard. I have Ibanezes that have more vibe than this guitar. these pickups aren't right either. I like super warm neck tones and cutting bridge pickups, and these aren't right. to buzzy sounding. sounded like it had no bottom through the Mesa Road King (several settings).

I did like pickup selector position #2, better clean tones than any other selection. Couldn't get a great distorted tone out of it.

It sounds okay. But not for the money I spent

It's definetly and art piece...you know: form before function. I love the heel-less neck joint though. Action is okay. The pickups should be angled forward a tad. when playing in the high registers (12 fret or higher), the string angle towards the one side of the pickup only, and the spacing is way off. In Ed "xenophobic troll" Roman's defense, this may have been originally ordered this way (I didn't!)

well, the walnut cap and finish is coming up around the bridge pickup. not what you like to see in a $2K+ guitar....

Ed knows a lot about guitars and such, but has his head up his ass about somethings. Won't listen to reason, hates imports (I thinks he's compensating for something!). His senior tech dude (forget his name) is pretty cool though, nice guy there.

a nice looker, but this one isn't right. get an approval period if you're thinking about buying one. I didn't order this one so it's not totally up to my specs.

I have serial # 11 and i ordered it pre production. Once again I was also told it would take 4 months and it ended up taking over 9 just like many of the reviews I have read. More about that later. The color is razberry red with a quilted maple top solid alder back and I requested a Floyd rose trem system on it. I also requested the neck to be the exact shape of an Ibanez JMP-1 petrucci model but ended up with something completely different, more on that as well later. madagasscar Rosewood fretboard, Grover mini's, 24 fret 5 way rotary.

I have been playing for 20 years or so and I gig regularly in a rock metal band. I play live through a Rocktron voodu valve and a velocity 120 power amp and Marshall Silver jubalee cabs. When I first plugged in the guitar, turned on my amp and played the first chord...it sounded like ASS!! It squeeled like a dying pig...I was SO pissed ! even more so cause I had him overnight the thing to me cause I got so sick of waiting. The pickups in it were the zebra b&W color and I noticed that they looked like they were upside down! well they were..and not only that I was told that they put some kind of "experimental" pickups in it when I called. Baloney !! How could you not notice that? They must have not even plugged the thing in and played it. I sent it back, their tech guy Alan was extremely helpfull. Ed was useless and almost did not apologize in the least bit. Once I finally got it back, the sound was great....not quite metal as I had hoped, but had a great all around tone. Versatility? where is that? I was told that because I had a Floyd ordered on it....it would affect the versatility of the tone....Maybe that is true, I have several other wonderfull guitars and I did not seem to get any more versatility out of the quicksilver then I did any other guitar. I have a 76 explorer, a Malmsteen signature strat, 2 Ibanez USA customs with the tension free necks on them if you remember those and a Jackson PC-1 model so I have been fortunate to have some very great sounding\ playing guitars to compare it to. That is actually ok for me cause all I really need is a distorted tone and a clean tone and for me it is kinda like those preamps with 1000 effects in it....neat to play around with but I will never use all of them. I broke the 5 way swich right before a gig...remember those backups!! and had it replaced with a 3 way toggle which I feel is much more practical for Live use. You know exactly what setting you are on just by looking at it. The 5 way I kept on grabbing and torking it to make sure the bridge was full on and ended up breaking it. Other than that, I really like the sound, nice and full, not muddy at all.

I know everyone is picky about their setup and so am I. Right out of the case the action was a little bit high, but I was able to lower it down to where i was happy with it. No buzz, perfect intonation. One problem is that they did not install a string tree, so you almost cannot play the thing if you do not tighten the locking nuts all the way down case the headstock angle is not enough to keep the strings pressed down hard enough over the nut. I have since added one and it is fine now. Like I said before when I first got it, the wrong pickups were in it and it sucked, after I got it back it was fine.
I was not too happy with the color as it was not what I expected. The guitar is a shade of red and Ed mentioned that the quilt in the top will not shine through as well on a red guitar. Well he was right, you can look at it in the light just right and see how beautifull the top is but the color takes away from it quite a bit. I also noticed some spots onthe body that the stain didn't seem to take well. I was told by Ed in one of many phone calls that the guitar had to be painted twice because of whatever. Everything else was very solid, great neck joint, tight neck pocket, quiet pots and switches. The guitar plays just as good if not better than anything else I have ever played even though I would have preferred a thinner neck.

I have had this guitar for over a year and a half and I have played probably 30 gigs with it and drag it to practice 2 times a week. I use it as my main guitar and never had a problem with it except when I broke the 5 way switch and that was my fault. I usually do not take a backup only because my other guitarist does but I still think you should no matter how good the guitar is, you never know what can happen. I baby my guitars so I feel it will last just as long as I do. Very solid, very dependable.

Well here is where I get even more critical. Ed Roman is a great person for his knowledge and passion for guitars, but on a customer service level he gets a big ZERO. Look, I don't care who you are but if I am spending well over 2000 for anything half way across the US you better show me some freaking comapasion and respect. Then when I pay the extra $100 to have you over night me somthing you said would take 4 months and after countless calls and excuses it ends up taking over 9 and it is f-d up you better start kissing ass. The bastard just acted like it was a big hassle for him and said send it back. Well send it back on YOUR dime and re emburse me for the overnight charge and then overnight it back to me after you fix it!!! To make a long story short, I ended up paying for shipping it back, and he knocked $100 bucks off of it.....which only covered for the Overnight!! I had a local guy put in the 3 way switch for me, there is no way I would send it back to them to do it unless they guaranteed me a turn around date. I will have to say that the rest of the crew there is very helpfull. Alan is an extremely cool guy and must have the patience of a sait to deal with ED and all the clean up calls.

All and all I do love the guitar. The neck though it is a liitle thick for me but now that I am used to it, it is perfect in every way. The color I have grown to like it and I get lots of compliments everywhere I play. It has held up to every single guitar I have compared it to and I even took it to the local Guitar center and they did not have anything close to this guitar for the price. I would probaly never get another custom job ordered from Ed unless I lived close to the shop and I could personally visit him if I had a problem and not have to deal with him being a dick on the phone. It's just bad business and I demand customer service with that pricetag. I would love to get another one but would not want to wait or go through the ordeal it took. If you have the time and patience, go for it....in the end it was everything I wanted.