Grosh Guitars Bent Top Custom

This guitar has a mohogany body, quilted maple top, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, abalone dot inlays, tiger eye nitro lacquer finsh, chrome harware, Kluson locking tuners, Gotoh 1088 tremolo bridge (with Callaham steel block), and S/S/H pickup configuration with two Fralin Vintage Hots and a Barden Two-Tone. It was originally loaded with Fralin Blues Specials and a Fralin Unbucker, but the Vintage Hots and the Barden were better suited to the tonality of the mohogany and maple (more on this below). The electronics are wired with a master volume, master tone, push/pull to split the humbucker, and a blend knob. I did change the tone cap to make the tone knob more usable, but other than that, who couldn't ask more features...honestly?!

When I originally got this guitar the tone was good, but not great (compared to a other hand built guitars that is). It was too dark and "midrangey" for my taste. The first thing I did to combat this was to change the tremolo block to a Callaham steel block, which noticably improved the resonance and high end shimmer. I then changed the pickups from Blues Specials to Vintage Hots, which got rid of the overpowering midrange and opened up the tone quite a bit.

After these changes, all the pickup positions became usable -- something that is hard to find in a guitar. I was actually surprised at how well the pickups reacted to the strat-style scale length and mohogany/maple body. It runs the gamut from strat to tele to Les Paul to hollow ES-335 tones when blending. This broad range of tones makes this truly the most versatile and incredibly sounding guitar I have ever played.

I can't praise Don Grosh and staff enough for the quality of their guitars. I have never played a Grosh guitar that didn't impress me. And although I didn't buy this guitar new, with a few quick tweaks to the action, truss rod, and intonation, I was in business. Everything else (e.g. neck joint, finish, fretwork, etc.) was flawless!

Considering the quality construction of this guitar, a can't forsee having any problems with it. And although nitro lacquer finish isn't known for it's durability, I think it's a fair trade off for the improvement in overall resonance and tone that the finish provides.

I haven't dealt with Don Grosh Guitars, though I have heard good things. Usually the smaller the company, the more pride they take in their instruments, and the better service.

I have been playing for a long time, and have owned and/or played a lot of instruments, both vintage and new. I am very educated when it comes to gear and my goal with this guitar was simple: to find an instrument that would provide me with the tone and feel of a tradional strat, in addition to the ability to create some very unique and and usable tones that are entirely unlike a strat. After a few tweaks, this guitar has surpassed my expectations. I really couldn't ask for any improvements. It truly is the most versatile and incredibly tonal guitar I have ever played! I wish everyone could try it out!

This is a Mahogany/flame top maple body, maple/rosewood neck (round back med +.010) 6105 frets, 1088 trem, fralin s/s, morse hb. Locking Kluson tuners (best I have ever used).

Best looking flame top I have ever seen in any guitar period.

Strat style body.

I traded a McCarty soapbar for this guitar and couldn't be happier. The guitar does a great job of both the quacky strat tones as well as a great overdriven sound with the morse in the bridge. It is interesting to me that the bridge doesn't over power the two singles but really just gives some great versatility. The Mahog/maple body gives the fralins more depth. The neck and middle positions are thicker than my alder body strat with the same pu's in it. It is truly a joy to play. The action and the feel of the neck is like an old friend right off the bat. I would buy another in a heartbeat.

The guitar build quality is second to none. I have never felt a better neck. It is different than the andersons, prs, and other high end guitars that I have owned. It feels like an old strat neck where the andersons and the prs feel more sleek and modern. I don't think that one is better than another as a rule but I love when I change guitars it feels like a different guitar.

My only gripe is that the guitar came shipped with a strap button on the neck plate. That might be ok for some of you skinny guys but I found that I kept popping the strap off. YIKES.

No Idea, but I imagine that it is better than fenders.

I have been playing forever and still suck. I have had some of the best gear known to man or beast. I would rate the grosh as the best guitar I have ever owned for a strat vibe multipurpose tone monster. It has a great vintage vibe and feel but is also capable of modern tones. I think that players looking for a super fast neck for speed metal and neo classical sweep patterns should look elsewhere though.

Guitar is brand new, produced in 2000. Made in So. California. The neck has 22 frets (6105's). Control complement consists of a 5-way pickup selector switch, master volume, master tone, and "blend" controls. The pickup configuration is s/s/h, consisting of two Lindy Fralin "Blues Specials" in the neck and middle and a Tom Holmes humbucker in the bridge. Electronics are passive. The neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard. The body is mahogany with a highly figured maple "quilt" top and has no pickguard. The guitar is finished in a transparent Amber burst with "masked" binding around the top of the body. This is a strat style off-set double cut-away body. The bridge is a two post tremolo system. The tuners are Gotoh locking "kluson" style. The neck is "medium roundback" profile and a 10" fingerboard radius. The guitar comes with a hardshell form-fit case.

I play in a variety of situations, and require at least a few really good sounds from one guitar. This guitar shows emense flexability in it's tonal range. I play it through a small class A tube combo and/ or a floor processor/preamp. The guitar is shielded where it needs to be and presents no unexpected noise (remember kids, a single-coil by it's nature hums. If you think it shouldn't you're setting yourself up for the big "let down"). The guitar is rich in both sustain and sparkle. I was impressed with how the mahogany/maple didn't have a negative effect on the single-coils. And when using the "blend" control. That's where things got really "sonically interesting". It created a whole new dimension to the instrument.

Perfection. I know, Iknow..... But it's as close to it as I've ever seen a guitar get and I worked in music retail for ten years. An electric guitar doesn't get any better than this. Honestly.

I own two of Don's guitars and while I love to bring both to gigs I feel I would rarely "need" both of them from a reliability standpoint. These guitars will last. There isn't a "cheap" component on this guitar at all. Everything is top notch.

I've been on the phone with Don Grosh and members of his staff. These a re fantastic people. I would never hesitate to just call him. He's always been helpful to me.

I've played Don's guitars for the better part of two years now. I can see no reason to ever own a solid body electric that isn't made by his company. The guitars have put to shame any Fender, Anderson, PRS, or Gibson I've tried. Sometimes I find it hard to believe, but the truth is in the quality. I used to love the thought of building a collection of high end electrics. I'll have my collection, but I'll let Don "build" it.

The guitar is # 587 and was hand built on 1998 by Don in his shop, Los Angeles, CA, USA. The body is a solid strat type in mahogany with a quilted maple top finished in transparent emerald green. The neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard featuring 22 Dunlop 6105 frets. The neck finish is satin. The hardawre is gold and the pickguard is white pearl. Pickups are two Fralin single coils on neck and middle and a custom Grosh/DiMarzio humbucker at the bridge. The bridge is a modified Gotoh 1088 that stays really in tune. Tuners are locking vintage style Kluson. Controls are a five way switch, a volume, a tone and a blend knob that allows to mix the bridge and the neck pickup together for 4 additional sounds depending on the position of the switch. Neck and fingerboard measures are custom: Neck scale 25.5"; Fingerboard radius 12"; Nut width 1 5/8; Neck shape rounback large; Neck thickness .900 at 1st and .990 at 12th. It comes in a black tolex hardshell case featuring all the wrenches and the necessary stuff. The care for details is incredible and the overall look is simply amazing. I give it a ten because I think that this is the best quality for an electric guitar.

I play mostly fusion, rock, r&b, and jazz stuff. I use a Mesa Studio Preamp, a Rocktron Repiflex controlled by a Rolls MIDI foot controller, a Peavey 50/50 Power amp, a Marshall 4x12 featuring Celestion Vintage 30 and a ton of pedals as Jim Dunlop Wah & Univibe, Boss chorus & compressor, Ibanez Tubescreamer, etc... My sound spaces from Steve Lukather to SRV depending on the musical style I'm playing. Well, this guitar is simply the best musical tool I've ever owned. The sound is really rich and full in all the pickup configurations. It has the best vintage sound I've ever heard and also the best modern one. The different woods give all the right frequencies you need and you can have great results plugging it any amp. The Fralins are the best single coils I know, much better than the Duncans that are really considered. The custom humbucker is something I've never heard in terms of sound balance and you can use it both with distorted and clean sounds. The blended pickup configurations are really usefull, especially for rhythms, as they reminds me a fat Tele or a "335". I'm planning to add a Marshall Plexi to my set up for some crunchy things. It will be gorgeous!

The guitar was set up directly by Don and it stays always ( I repeat: always!) in tune even with heavy dives or bendings. It never breaks strings even with light gauges (I use 09/042). The frets are outstanding! The fretboard has been vintagized by Don to be more playable. The action is low but with no buzz. Everything is perfect.

I play regularly live in 3 groups and have some occasional gigs with other bands. I use always the Grosh except for straight ahead jazz where I use an Ibanez George Benson. After a year everything is still OK. I never use a backup guitar but I will to when I'll have another Grosh!

I've spoken with Don many times and he has suggested me the right specs to put on. He has been very nice and he has always get back in a reasonable time when I've e-mail him.

I've been playing for about 10 years and I've attended some professional music schools as well as I've been always playing in live bands. I'm not a professional at the moment. If it were stolen I'd certainly buy it again. I have preferred it to Anderson, Zion and PRS because it was perfect for me. My favourite feature in this instrument is that I can have many different tones and they are all great so I don't need anything else. It's really my one and only guitar! I don't want to say that it would fit anybody and that is the only guitar with this quality (also the others that I mentioned are top quality) but this has been my choice and I'm really happy with it.