Gmp LE Roxie

Everything you could ever want in an electric guitar. Read the other Roxie reviews & get the picture. The LE has a sculpted heel, and contured belly cut. Makes ripping solos a no-hassle shred fest. Mine has a Mahogany chambered body, maple cap top, Duncan '59 & Custom Custom. Black sparkle finish with blue into purple flames! Medium carve neck, tuneomatic bridge, trapeze tailpiece, 1 vol., 1 tone., 3 way selector, locking sperzels, jumbo frets, abalone diamond inlays, etc. Kills every other guitar out there.

I play heavy-ass rock/metal (NOT weak corporate shill crap . . . you know the deal). I use it with a '69 Marshall Superlead cranked UP!! I run a Rocktron Replifex in the loop, and go guitar - wah - amp. 4x12s & 2x12s - whatever the situation calls for. The LE kicks the living crap out of 99% of the L.Ps and PRSs. Smoother feel, better action, longer scale, chunkier, clearer, fuller, more versatile. I get the most killer cranked gain tones out there with GMP Roxies. Sounds great clean too. And everything in between. Sounds better the louder you turn up your amp. Use that Ibanez for dental floss or toilet paper. Get a Roxie, man!

Incomparable set-up. I had to raise the action a 'lil bit - I like higher action = better tone. No flaws. None. I can't say that about ANY other guitar I've ever owned - and I've owned & played them ALL.

Sherman tank style. Rugged & tough, it takes a lickin' & keeps on tickin'. I never gig w/o a backup. Guess what my backup is? You got it - another Roxie. If I break a string, I bounce right back with an equally killer axe.

The best in the biz. Totally cool cats who care about making ASS-KICKING electric guitars. Not corporate shmoes who are only concerned about how many guitars they can sell to impressionable kids & mindless sheep.

Been playing 25 or so years. Most of 'em professionally. Ended my search for the perfect guitar. Until you play one, you have NO IDEA what you are missing! I love everything about it. That's why I've got 2 and another one on the way this summer. Anyone who I let play my guitars loses their mind (for real) and wants to get one. You do too - you just don't know it yet. GMP Roxies rule the planet! Nuff said!

This is my second review on the Roxie, but this time it's the latest refined version of this model. The current issue is even better than before. If you have played one of these you may think to yourself what else can be done? Two words = sculpted heel!! Yes, GMP has done it again! They have done away with the traditional block heel in favor of a more modern heel like that of a neck thru Jackson. You'd swear it's a neck through, but it is indeed a set neck. Access to the upper frets is a frickin dream. It's no wonder the core group of luthiers at GMP stem from the glory days of Charvel/Jackson and BC Rich. They are even located in San Dimas where Charvel originally began production. Here's a brief rundown on what came standard in case you've been living under a rock....

As with all GMP models (they have a fairly large line-up) it sports a 25.5" strat scale. If you love everything about your Gibson except for the muddy tone and baby sized frets you get with a 24.75" scale, you'll cream. Same goes for you Gretsch Jet fans. Another thing I could never stand about the Les Paul is the dramatic neck angle. You won't feel like Gumby holding a GMP.

Mine has a dark ebony fretboard with REAL Abalone diamond inlays instead of the plastic or MOP cheese still common on $1k + guitars. You can also get it in rosewood, maple or whatever else flips your beanie. This one has a medium sized neck carve. I like variety and have purchased others with baseball bats as well. The finish is a dazzling metal flake sparkle that puts others to shame. Even the flame graphic is metal flake! Btw...it's blue with orange/gold hot rod flames. Body and neck wood are both mahogany. The body has a slight chamber that really shines when you solo. You can get them solid, partially chambered or fully chambered. It came stock with a Duncan Custom Custom in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. They offer others but these are standard. I also have one with a Custom 5 and that kicks. I prefer the tone and look of the tunamatic/stop bar combination, but you can also get it with a trapeze or Bigsby. Oh....and they are Tone Pros!!! To round it out, Sperzel locking tuners are also standard. Lay her in a G&G case and you're ready to march! The only upcharge for the entire guitar was the $150 extra for the flame graphic. They basically run like a custom shop and most are made to order with very few upcharges. Unlike other custom shops such as Jackson, ESP, etc., you won't wait a year to get one either. Average build time is about 5 months!

I play mostly metal but I love jazz and blues and it does it all. I run it through my main setup which is an '80's refrigerator (ADA MP1, yadda yadda yadda) as well as through a series of older Marshalls (JMP, JCM800) an Ampeg V7, Line 6 combo and a 60's Montgomery Ward/Airline head for some great rockabilly tones. BTW...if you're into rockabilly, try a Roxie with Filtertrons (the real ones not the imported crap in the new Gretsch models). One of my first Roxies had them. The sound is FAT! Picture Starr Jones' ass plugged into an amp.

See the first section for more detail, but to summarize... Guitar came setup with very low action out of the box and needed no tweaking at all. If you like higher action, you'll probably need a quick tweak. With any guitar, the change of climate eventually affects your setup, so keep that in mind when buying any guitar. The finish was flawless, the binding perfect on both the neck and body. Jumbo frets 6100's I'd assume. If I could change anything, I guess I'd like to see the binding over the frets like Jackson used to do back in the day on the early San Dimas guitars, but most companies have abandoned that way of doing things.

This guitar would withstand a vacation in Iraq! They should launch a few of these at Saddam, it would certainly crack his head in two. They shoot polyester which accounts for a strong beautiful finish that you'll be proud of. Would I use it on a gig without a backup? No, because I'd want the chance to showcase my others. =)

Dave P is a great asset to this company and the guitar biz in general. It's refreshing to talk to someone who's been around the block and shares the same roots and tastes. I've read reviews on HC about people bashing other companies for not returning a phone call an hour after they call, etc.. Some people are impatient and can't understand that some of these are small companies and do not have a corporate mentallity. They share many responsibilities. I crack up everytime I hear these so-called horror stories. Some of the greatest builders out there work out of their freakin garage people!

I believe GMP gives a 5 year warranty on the outside and 1 year on the inside but don't quote me.

I have been playing over 20 years. I own a dozen or so GMP's, some original Charvels & Jacksons, some old Ibanez Icemans, a few Fenders, and some of this and some of that (really too much to list). I had 5 PRS at one time and sold them all to finance my GMP's. No contest. If you want to learn more about GMP guitars check out: http://www.gmpguitarforum.com