Eric Christman Guitars G6-N

2003. Made by Eric Christman in Pennsylvania.
-3 piece rock maple and walnut medium-C profile neck with two-way adjustable truss rod
-25? scale length, 1.7? nut width
-24 fret, 12? radius ebony fingerboard
-Black/white bound fingerboard with abalone dot inlays and graphite nut
-Hand-cut mother of pearl headstock ?C? inlay
-American walnut top and back with chambered maple core
-Fixed bridge
-Schaller tuners with ebony buttons
-Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB (bridge) and SH-2N Jazz (neck) pickups
-3-way toggle switch, volume knob and push-pull tone knob for coil splitting
-Ebony knobs, headplate, and truss rod cover and walnut control plate
-Hand rubbed semi-gloss oil finish
-Came with TKL case

This is one fine instrument. The sound can be very lively in the "single" mode, great attack in the humbucking. I am using it direct to record, and through both a Les Paul GA-5 and a customized Blues Junior. It verges on strat and Les territories, but has a wonderful character of its own. At first, I didn't hear all of the tones that were possible, but with a few hours of playing, it now gets first position ahead of the Suhr Strat and Les Paul Standard when I grab one for fun. Very clear and ringing in all settings, never muddy or dull. A real joy.

The neck is so beautifully set, with a carved heel relief, that it actually takes some getting used to the fact that you can reach so high. If you are used to working around a neck joint, forget it; you can hit amazing places. Perfect intonation and fit. I love it more and more to play and just look at. Not flamed or quilted; but a really unique "real" wood look and feel.

Don't know. Feels bullet proof.

Great email communication.

I have been at this for 40 years. Had em all and sold em all a couple of times (can't you just kick yourself thinking about that "crummy" paisley tele you sold in 1970? or that 1966 es-330 that fed back too much so you sold it for $200 in 1971? Sheesh.). I love the feel of it in my hands, the proportions fit me perfectly. I would buy another. If you are looking for a unique, well-built piece of art/perfection, try one.

Why a custom guitar?

Does this sound familiar? ? ?man, I really love the tone of this PRS Custom 24, but I wish it had a different scale neck and maybe a Floyd?. Or ?this strat plays great, but even with these humbuckers it just doesn?t have the sustain I?d like?. And so on and so on. If you?re like me (and I suspect many other guitar players who have been around for more than a few years), you?ve had these conversations with yourself many times. And, consequently, I?m sure that, like me, you have more than a couple of ?almost perfect? guitars sitting around the house. So after owning (and modding) dozens of instruments, I finally said to myself ?maybe it?s time to have someone build me a guitar that?s exactly what I want, not someone else?s idea of what the perfect guitar should be?. That?s when I contacted Eric Christman.

The result is a gorgeous one-of ?a-kind, custom designed, hand made ?strat style?, solid body electric.

Features:

Neck-through-body design

24 Frets, 25 Inch scale, 5 piece Maple and African Padouk neck

Chambered Mahogany body (core), with bookmatched African Padouk top and back (Hand rubbed gloss oil finish).

12? radius, Padouk bound, Ebony Fingerboard, with Mother-of ?Pearl inlays (custom Horned Triskele inlay at the 15th fret.)

Ebony headplate, knobs, tremolo cavity cover, truss rod cover, control plate cover and tuner buttons (Schaller Tuners) (no plastic whatsoever on this baby!).

Mother-of Pearl ?C? inlay on headstock

Original Floyd Rose Tremolo, Wagner WCR SRV single coils in the neck and middle position, and a Wagner Goodwood Humbucker in the bridge position. Tone and volume knobs (coil splitter on tone control), 5 way pick-up selector switch.

Not surprisingly, the combination of the various woods used for this instrument provides a very well balanced acoustical platform for the WCR pick-ups to work from. As a result, this guitar goes from Strat spank to Les Paul sustain with the flip of a switch (and maybe a few tone control adjustments). Bottom line: it?s a very versatile instrument which can support a wide variety of musical styles.

When I asked Eric to build this guitar for me, I was looking for three things: An instrument that looked great, played great, and sounded great. I?m happy to say that I wasn?t disappointed in any of these areas.

Visually, this thing is a true work of art! The workmanship is impeccable; easily as good as, or better than any other guitar I?ve owned or played, be it a Fender, Gibson, PRS, or even a McNaught.

But a great looking guitar isn?t worth squat if it doesn?t play as beautifully as it looks (unless you?ve bought it to hang on a wall and impress your friends). Not the case here - The action and intonation on this instrument are amazing.

This guitar came with a lifetime warranty against faulty workmanship; however, considering the way that this guitar is built, I have no concerns in this area.

Eric was wonderful to work with. Although I bombarded him with a thousand questions and changed the design about a million times during the 9 months that this guitar was being built, he was very patient and flexible.

Eric Christman truly puts in the time and effort to make a high quality product. He?s definitely one of the best ?unknown luthiers? in the country (although I suspect he won?t be for long, based on the amazing guitars he creates).

I?ve owned dozens of guitars over the 40 or so odd years I?ve been playing (including a 1964 Statocaster, a 1967 telecaster, and a 1969 Les Paul Custom). I have to say that this is one incredible instrument.

Is it "the Perfect Guitar"? No Is it the Perfect Guitar for me? Definitely!!

This is a beautiful and hand made guitar by Eric Christman. My guitar has a ziricote top, walnut back, chambered mahagony core. The neck is a 5-piece neck thru of maple and purpleheart. Ebony fingerboard, headstock overlay, control knobs. I opted for a wilkinson tremolo. Locking Sperzels. Pickups are custom wound by Jim Wagner of WCR(awesome!) and are S-S-H. The wiring harness is a Torres Engineering Blueskaster Deluxe modified to tap the bridge pickup. Basically, a truely custom guitar--sky's the limit. You can see it pictured on Eric's site--it's the only one with the ziricote top.

I play thru a Fender Twin for now using a Jersey Girl Plusdriver > RMC III wah > other assorted effectors. The guitar is extremely versatile because of the pickup/witing. The guitar sounds amazingly full and complex. On the brighter side. Doesn't really sound like a strat or gibson but has its own unique vibe that I suspect is very much a sum of it's parts rather than dictated by any one component. I play everything from blues to straight ahead rock to dischord ala Sonic Youth. Does it all.

Setup perfectly out of the case. Workmanship is impeccable all around. The neck and fret job are excellent

Haven't played out with it yet but I don't see reliability being an issue as the guitar is built very well

N/A. Haven't had to do the customer support thing, but knowing Eric, I guarantee you'll be treated very, very well.

I've been playing 16 years and have played and owned most of the big players. I currently own a McNaught Tempest and Heritage 335 equivalent. I've become discriminating and will no longer shell out the big bucks for a piece of crap Gibson. Eric Christman created for me not only an amazing sounding, versatile instrument, but also a work of art. Hell, I still find myself just staring at it all the time--front and back! And this for an EXTREMELY reasonable price. The best part, however, is the process. Eric is a standup guy who will work with you and guide you through the whole building process. He kept me appraised of my progress and we discussed all issues as they came up regarding my choices, etc. A very satisfying experience all around.