Feline Guitars Custom Explorer

This guitar was made over the course of this year by Jonathan Law of Feline guitars, and is inspired by the 'black era' explorers used by James Hetfield of Metallica. It has a mahogany body and neck(set neck), with a beautiful dark ebony fretboard. Believe me the woods he uses are way above what you would find on a production instrument. After trying another of his explorers at the London Guitar show I settled For Dunlop 6105 Fret wire, the biggest, and a more rounded deeper profile to the neck, a big difference to the superstrats I am used to. Pickups are an EMG 81 at the bridge and an EMG 60 at the neck, with one volume and tone control. As with Hetfields guitars, the 3-way toggle has been moved to be with the volume and tone, rather than on the bottom point. Sperzel locking tuners, a graphtech graphite nut and tune-o-matic bridge peice complete the guitar and give great tuning stability. Its finished in gloss black paint, and all the hardware is black, so in a word, this guitar is black, and is the most stunning guitar I have ever seen. Whats more, the guitar is a comfortable weight despite its size, and is perfectly balanced, thanks to the addition of an extra strap button on the heel. Dunlop straplocks ensure the guitar doesn't go awol, a must for a guitar like this.

This is where a scale that went above 10 would be handy. Despite its image, its really versatile, and through my Mesa Tremoverb combo it does any thing you want of it. Through the clean channel, using the neck pickup, it gives a sparkly , bright but deep tone similar to the sound on Nothing Else Matters, push it harder and it gives a great ACDC like bark that hints at the chaos to come. Hit the modern red channel, and stand back. Its ideally suited to the metal I play, the sound is incredibly tight and focused, but it is extremely clear, even in the highest gain setting, you can hear every note, as you turn up the master, it only gets more responsive and really reacts to your playing style. Turn down the volume on the guitar, and you can get a rich bluesy lead tone similar to Gary Moore. Best of all, NO FEEDBACK!!, I've used at two gigs so far in my metal band, and when my previous guitar would have howled whenever I stopped playing, this is totally silent, not even any hum! Its unlike any thing I have ever heard and this guitar improved not just my sound but of the whole band. You can't say that of many guitars.

As a custom instrument, the only word that describe it is immaculate. It was set up to perfection and played like a dream. I got to see the guitar before it went to the paint shop to check it was all OK and the neck join was perfect. The dot inlays are perfectly set into the ebony and I was amazed at the accuracy of the cats eyes at the 12th fret. The frets are perfectly done and the neck has been rounded of to give that great 'played in' feel. The finish is flawless and everything feels secure and solid.

As i've said, this guitar feels solid, and has been built to play gigs, not to sit pretty on my wall gathering dust. It would certainly act as a good weapon should there be an after gig fight, and could withstand the punishment a world tour would give it.

Jonathan is happy to give virtually a life warranty on his instruments, and mine will go back in around 6 months for a service. Although he recently serviced a guitar he had built 7 years ago. Thats customer service! Its a great reassurance, just incase the impossible happens and something does go wrong. When I got it home, the bridge pickup did not work properly, and kept cutting out, but a quick phonecall and Jonathan was able to diagnose it as the clip on connector for the EMG. A very easy task to correct.

Although I have only had it a short time, it is clear that it is the best guitar I will I ever play. If it was stolen I would hunt down the culprit and make sure he would die a horrible, slow death. Having to concentrate on starting to drive would prevent me from having another guitar but who knows? Jonathan is very passionate about guitars and was very helpful at every stage of the process and certainly knows his guitars. The flexible payment scheme means that I could afford it on a Saturday job, and gives everyone the oppertunity to own a great guitar. Consider this. To those who are considering paying out stupid money for a 'pre lawsuit' ESP, for less you can get this with a set neck, better quality woods and the playability, compared to the ESP's bolt on neck and rosewood fingerboard.