Grosh Guitars Retro Classic

Custom color ("Bittersweet Chocolate") lacquer on Strat-style body. Bridge is Grosh modified vintage tremolo installed flush with full springs, so as to render it non-tremolo. Tuners are Gotoh vintage locking. Neck is 22-fret soft V profile, highly-figured Birdseye maple with vintage toner and satin lacquer. Pickups are Lindy Fralin: Blues Special (neck, middle) and Steel Pole 43 (bridge) single coils with volume, tone and blend control. Hard not to rate this category a "10", as I was able to specifiy all of the features myself!

Sound quality is extremely lush and warm with a great voice-like presence. Blend control adds flexibility and is particularly helpful for darkening up some of the "twanginess" of the bridge pickup. It is extremely resonant, as evidenced by its almost acoustic sound when played without an amp (a great indicator of the quality of tonewoods and assembly in a solid-body guitar). Sounds perfect for blues. I was expecting the bridge pickup to be a little louder and darker, but I was previously accustomed to playing a Fender Clapton Model with 25 dB of active boost.

The guitar was set up exactly as I had specified for my style of playing. Assembly was rock-solid and without discernible flaws of any kind. Most surprising was the feel of the neck, which was simply spectacular. Perhaps the highest praise I can heap is to say that it felt like a guitar I had been playing for 20 years, rather than a brand new model. Fret finish is a good as any I have played.

I have only had this guitar for about 6 weeks, but it seems built to last a lifetime and then some.

Don Grosh was wonderful to deal with. He returned telephone calls and e-mails promptly, and interactions with him were very fruitful. I wanted a particular dark chocolate brown for the body color of the guitar, but the only sample I could find was a candy wrapper. Mr. Grosh matched the color to the wrapper exactly! Also of note is Mr. Stu Carter, owner of Fat Sound Guitars, who facilitated the order for me. He was extremely knowledgable and willing to go the extra mile when helping me obtain the guitar that most perfectly matched my requirements.

I have been playing blues and blues-inspired rock for about 25 years. During that time I have owned a variety of high-end intruments from all of the major makers. Without question, this is the finest Strat-style guitar I have ever owned or played. I love the fact that - while it is brand new - it feels like an old familiar friend, and it inspires me to play better than I believe my own capabilities allow.

Grosh Retro Classic in Fiesta Red, bought used but in pristine condition. Alder body, Braz. rosewood fretboard, jumbo frets, trem, blend knob, etc. Pickups are Fralin Blues Specials with the SP43 in the bridge. Pretty standard Strat features with the addition of the blend knob. Gets an 8 just because I'm sure it could have more bells and whistles - but for me it's perfect. Too many knobs and switches drive me crazy.....

First, let me say that I'm going to try to be as fair and critical as I can. A review with all "10s" really doesn't tell me much - I want people to be tough on the gear so that I can get a real picture of what I'm getting into. SO, with that in mind, I really like this guitar. It is light and the body resonates freely. This will sound weird I'm sure, but I like to put my ear on the upper horn of the guitar and strum a chord to see how much the body rings. Yes, I probably need more medication... But, the Retro Classic is really a joy to play. The Fralins give it a slightly darker and rounder tone than my Fender American Std with Custom Shop 69's, but they sound good. Crystal clear and strong - not as chimey as a lower output pickup, but a very good single coil sound. The neck is not muddy, which is a pet peeve of mine, and the bridge is very useful with some OD. The bridge is a little sterile for clean playing, but doesn't seem to be what that particular pickup is designed for. So overall I think the guitar sounds very good clean and great with OD. This setup will really do that Texas Blues thing if that is what you are looking for, but I play a lot of Hendrix with it as well and even some bad renditions of Johnny A stuff. Again, gets an 8 because I think it's great, but no guitar is perfect.

Set up very well. Fit and finish are as good as the Fender Custom Shop pieces I've owned. I've played Suhrs, Andersons, etc and while they are very nice, they all had this sort of slick, modern feel to them. That's fine if you like it, but the Grosh guitars seem to have this indefineable organic feel to them. Almost vintage feel straight out of the box. I'm not sure how to describe it any other way, but this guitar felt "played in" from the first time I handled it. Fretwork is outstanding. Trem abuse can knock it out of tune every now and then, but some setup work should cure that. I just haven't had the time to work on it. Getting a 9 for workmanship and great fretwork.

It's a bolt-on strat style guitar, so I'd think that you could play frisbee with it in the park and go play a show. That's just one of the advantages to this kind of guitar. I've had this one for a while and it's been rock solid. Getting a 9 here just because I play it a lot and haven't had any issues.

Haven't used.

Been playing a long time and would be embarrassed to list all the guitars I've owned. Recently however, I've been on a quest to pare the gear down to just a few great pieces. After owning this Grosh for a while I sold off a beautiful Custom Shop one-off Fender, as it looked great but just didn't play as well as this Grosh. Honestly, and I feel this way about a lot of guitars really, if you can't get a good sound out of this guitar, it's not the guitar's fault if you know what I mean. After selling off a bunch of stuff I didn't play much, I ordered another guitar from Grosh built exactly to my specs. Can't wait for that one to come in.... If you are a collector, or you buy guitars with a constant eye towards resale, this probably isn't your guitar. Resale on these is not good - I have no idea why, but it worked to my advantage as I got a great guitar for a very fair price. Getting an 8 here because it's a fabulous guitar, but resale and basic simplicity of this style of guitar could leave some people wishing for more.

Custom built Left handed 06 model, deep honey burst finish, one piece maple neck finished in aged satin laquer with medium roundback shape, 1 and 5/8ths nut width, bookmatched 2 piece alder body, abalone inlays, fralin blues special pickups S/S/S-with antique white pickguard and controls, also has locking gotoh tuners(klusons were not available in lefties)and the blend pot allows more combiinations of pickups for more sounds. huge 6100 frets too. weighs in at just over 7 pounds!

It is a very versaitle guitar and covers a broad range of classic and modern tones. I use it on a kendrick roughneck 6 watt and a swart space tone 5 watt amp. both amps are class "A" tube boutique amps and this guitar sounds great on both of them. I also use electro harmonix effects and they all sound great on this guitar. I seem to get the best tone when used on an el34 type output tube. (my kendrick can use many different types so it is easy to tailor a sound)

I have been playing for 12 years and been on many other lefties but there is no other like this. I own a les paul custom that sounds like absolute crap compared to this guitar. I also traded in a deluxe american strat to get this guitar and while the fender was better than the gibson I still have, it never was close to the sound of this grosh.

I am very into pink floyd and this guitar nails most all of the tones (Newer floyd uses those battery powered pickups for mid boost) I do boost the mids with my eh graphic fuzz and it is so close to gilmours newer sounds it is close enough.

It does what a maple necked strat type guitar is susposed to do, only with a quality of tone rarely found, I can go from bright and thinner to dark and fuller very easily, every pickup position has a very distinctive bold sound as it should, usually this is where other guitars fall short. I would give it a ten but nothing is ever perfect, Although you can't get much closer than this. I am very happy with the sound.

Set up great, I have played for 12 years and may I say never, ever, has any other guitar come even close to being as playable as this grosh. I feel spoiled playing this thing. They did a great job and the guitar was set up EXACTLY as I asked for it to be.

The frets are so well finished and the neck is just awesome in general. So playable, so fast I swear it almost feels like it beats you to the punch. best neck in existence I believe, I don't think you could make it any easier to play. I can play 4 times as long as I used to without any discomfort, Really. Effortless to rock out on.

As for the fret buzz issue- know what you are getting, I requested a low action and was surprised how low the nut was cut. It only takes about half the pick attack of many other guitars to get the tone you seek. I was overplaying the crap out of it when I first got it but quickly learned the feel of it and could not be happier, I only get a very small amount buzz if I pick harder than I really need to, So if you are heavy handed take this into consideration- you probablly need a higher action,
Also only use the sit strings that come on it or at least the same gauge if you must switch brands, this is where other people have had problems- see, the depth of the nut cut requires the right size string or it could bind if it was too big, I don't see harm in going smaller though, Again use common sense and order the guitar with the gauge of string you want to use and it will be fine. This is not a store guitar and was set up to be used a certain way not just for anyone to pick up and start making changes to it. I just see these other reviews where people mess with the guitar's setup up and then blame Don. Use some common sense man! A custom built one costs no more than one sitting on the shelf- so think about what you want first, it is well worth the 6 month wait.

It should last me the rest of my life, It is very well built Only time will really tell about durability though, I have had mine a few weeks now and it seems very solid.

Has warranty, however I am unsure how long, no need for repairs yet and hopefully never! Don Grosh is very nice person and very honest. I spoke with him and his staff a couple times and a few emails, they always were very friendly and helped me every way they could. I mean I wouldn't expect to call and talk bs with the guy, but he will definitley talk to you if there is a need.

Very nice guitar, does exactly what it is susposed to and then some, 12 years of searching for "the one" is over. I finally broke the curse of the lefties in big fashion.

I will definitley order another grosh from fat sound, when I am ready (that means can afford) a humbucker loaded replacement for my gibson.

If it was stolen or destroyed I would be heartbroken and would simply have to get another.

I would like to share one other thing by the way, The review below by puffstraty does not sound quite right to me, He is a little off on some of his claims,
First off, Lindy fralin IS a hand wound pickup- I know this for fact because I live 45 minutes from lindy's shop, have been there on more than one occasion and have seen the guys making the pickups, in fact mine were custom wound lefties blues specials and they sound great.

Second I have been dealing with stu at fat sound for 5 years now and in his defense he is a very nice and honest gentleman as are mike, mike G. and mark- his employees , puff's claim that he is somewhat a jerk seems ridiculous- who the hell that has played for 30 years needs a week to tell if a guitar is any good or not? If you knew you only had a couple days to try the guitar out and could send it back if you did not like it- why would you wait till you got back from a trip to try to send it back? You should have played it more the day you got it if you had to go out of town the next day, What an idiot! Maybe if you had called Stu before you left and told him you'd send it back when you got back home he would have let you do that! I know him personally and trust him to have my best interest in mind. I don't like it when someone badmouth's a good honest store.

Yeah there could be one or 2 grosh's out there that aren't as good as they could be but don't tell people they are all junk especially when you are making speculations and claiming them to be fact based on your opinion alone. Idiot. Do your homework first especially on the pickups dude. just look at lindy's site.

Sounds like a fender employee to me! Although I am sorry his grosh was not as nice as the rest of ours. Don't blame other's for your own mistakes man! If I had a guitar that cost this much coming to me again you better bet your ass I am gonna play it for 6 hours the minute I get my hands on it just like I did with this one!

2006 model Grosh Retro classic. I had this custom built through Fat Sound Guitars. Strat style solidbody electric. Swamp ash body with ultra thin mary kaye seafoam green nitro finish, vinatge hardtail bridge, 22 fret one piece flamed and birdseye maple neck. Ten inch radius, large sharp v neck,6100 frets, abalone inlays, aged satin nitro finish. Locking tuners, Dimarzio area 58 single coils in neck and middle, area 61 bridge pickups. Volume, master tone and blend control with 5 way switch. Strap locks and hardshell case. Added titanium saddles after purchase. I give it a ten because I got exactly what I wanted down to every last detail.

I play mostley blues, classic style rock and some jazz. Useing it with a Victoria 5112 with a Klon. Suits my style perfectly. Very bright, in a good way with plenty of sustain in all positions. Pickups are dead quite as advertised, very classic strat sounding axe. Would not change a thing about it.

I own or have owned four different PRS models, two Clapton strats, two Fender custom shop one off strats, a Les Paul, and two homemade strat style guitars. I can honestly say the Grosh was the nicest set up, best feeling and sounding of the bunch.The fret work is perfect, the finish unbeleaveable. This neck is simpley incredable. I basically took all the things I loved about my favorite guitars and asked Don to incorporate them into one masterpiece. And he did .

Have only had it a few weeks. But considering the quality of materials, the exceptional build, and the history of Grosh as well as strat style guitars I have no worries.

Corresponded with Don and Stu several times while hammering out all the details. I had a few small things I wanted that Don does not normally due. Like the brand of bridge, and thickness of neck. He came through with no hassels. I've dealt with Stu at Fat Sound on some amp purchaes and a Fender one off custom shop strat. This time was by far the most pleasant purchase. Took less than 6 months to build from order, the Fender took a year and a half and did not turn out near as nice.

Been playing since 1993. All custom built or boutique gear. I ordered this without having ever seen or played a Grosh in person. Just on word of mouth and photos and reviews. A bit scary to drop 2500.00 without knowing for sure what you'll end up with. I know I made the right choice. Could not be happier.

This guitar looks fantastic on paper. Nice locking tuners , blend switch, nitro paint job, Great two point tremelo bridge. The neck was the medium large. Light alder body with brazilian rosewood fingerboard. Lindy Fralin vintage hot pickups with the baseplate in the bridge posn. I purchased this guitar from Fat Sound. I made the mistake of believing the hype on this guitar and based on the specs and reputation I felt comfortable ordering one without even trying it. Shame on me. I wasn't particular on the colour and asked the salesman to send me the best sounding piece.

My style is all over the place but I mainly use a strat for the Jimi/Stevie sounds. I used this axe mainly with a Rivera Suprema and a Victoria 35210. I mainly used an analogman tube screamer. It had the usual single coil hum but seemed queter than most strats in this respect.
I'm afraid when I think about the sound of this guitar I can't get the words sterile and generic out of my mind. It really was deadly bland. I couldn't find a sound I liked in any position. The bridge pickup definitly had some power to it and didnt have that brittle high end that many strats have in that posn but it just didnt have an appealing sound. The quack sounds were mediocre as well. I don't think I ever played more than 2 tunes in a row on this guitar. The only inspiration I found was to put it back down and use one of my other strats. Not a very stratty piece at all.

Some fret buzz on bent notes above the 12th fret otherwise everthing seemed OK. I'm not a very finicky person in this department.

It seems well made and I would guess it will last a long time.

I didn't keep it long enough to ever need customer support.

I've been playing over 40 yrs. My other strats are an early Fender Custom Shop with Van Zandt vintage hot pickups, A 1996 Anderson Classic and an early nineties USA Hamer Daytona. I would like to mention as an aside that I recently puchased an old Made In Japan Squire Strat for $300 and guess what? Its so much more lively and fun to play than the Grosh that its almost funny. Be careful how you spend those hard earned dollars people. This guitar never got the chance to be stolen or lost, after trying to let it grow on me for a while I realised it would sit in its case for the rest of its life, therefore I took the financial hit and let it go . Let me tell you these things are not an investment, the best I could get for it was 50 cents on the dollar and it was still in brand new unplayed condition. Fat Sound does have a 48hr return policy but unfortunately I had to leave on a trip the day after I received the guitar and didn't get a chance to really try it out. When I returned and had a chance to play it for a day I realized what a dud I had. This was about a week after receiveing it. Needless to say Fat sound wouldn't take it back. I'm not speakin g from any deep research here but I suspect the reason for the poor sonic qualities of this guitar is that the body is slightly smaller than a Fender and it does not have individual routings for the pickups, this is what makes it so light.
but is also the reason why it doesn't have a nice full resonant sound. Just a hunch. I have also been experimenting with different pickups since I sold this guitar and can definitely say that Fralin's are bland sterile generic sounding pickups, so maybe that added to the poor sound. I don't believe that Fralins are hand wound. Look for a small manufacturer that really does hand wind them himself. The difference is very noticeable. I'm giving a 1 for overall rating because if it sounds like crap who cares about the rest of the bells and whistes. I hope this review saves someone some money.

Nitro finish. Lake Placid Blue Strat style alder body. Maple neck with rosewood fretboard. medium jumbo frets (22). Grosh's customized Gotoh two point fulcrum trem'. 5 way switch. Volume, Tone and Blender knob. Fralin Blues Specials (S/S/S). Face of headstock is painted to match body. Made in the good old USA.

This guitar fits my work like a glove - a custom tailored glove. I had a McCarty as my main guitar, but it was too strong for most of the music I was called on to play. I needed a guitar that could give punch, but then soften up to an almost acoustic sound. I use the Retro with a Rivera Chubster 40. My effects are a Maxon Compressor, Fulltone OCD, Fulltone Choralflange, Boss DD-3 and DD-6. Single coils can be noisy on the 1,3 and 5 settings - but I find that when standing up or turned away from the amp - there's no annoying 60 cycle hum. This Retro delivers all the classic Strat tones fro every style of rock, jazz, blues and country. My oh my - what a diverse wrok of craftsmanship. No disclikes at all. It can play clean and bell-like, chimes with ease - and then it can push hard to deliver the heart and soul of SRV. I like the Eric Johnson sounds it can produce and so much so, I'm glad I passed on buying the Fender EJ.

Everything is perfect and flawless. Hardware - flawless. Bridge and trem set to my idea of perfection. Frets are amazing and dressed in a way I've never seen on any other high dollar guitar I've owned - but I really, really like what Don has done.

It's based on the Stratocaster, so it should hold up as a working man's guitar, although I have no intention of being abusive to it. I've never "punished" my equipment. The finish is nitro, so you have to remember it can be fragile compared to a poly finish, however - nitro brings out that wood tone just like the critics say. The finish does have a quality and depth that even my PRS 10 top did not have. The strap buttons are a locking type - not sure who made them or if they are Don's own design. I'm not a rich man, so there's no back up. I don't expect it to go down, but a string might break. However with the locking tuners, changing a string is a breeze.

I haven't needed repair and don't expect to. I bought it from a dealer/employee who had several in his collection, so the warranty doesn't apply to me. I wrote Don a letter to tell him how much I appreciated his work and got a quick note back. I think if I need him, he'll be there for me. For things like a fret dressing or tough setup issues, I send my guitars to Larry Miletich at Music One Workshop in Kalispel, MT. He's amazing.

41 ones years of addiction to guitar. With one kid in college and another about to start I've cut back on my "collection". I have the Grosh, a Larrivee LV-05E and an early 60's Gretsch lapsteel. I read lots of reviews and tormented a guitar buddy who owns several about why I should consider a Grosh. I have no regrets. If the Eric Johnson would have felt and sounded as good - I'd had bought it, but this guitar has a warmth and vintage feel from the get go. I did own a Rowan Journeyman for awhile. It was fantastic, but I missed the overall classic looks and I think I've decided I'm more comfortable with a blue jeans kind of guitar instead of a flame topped luxury model.

Swamp Ash -- solid two pieces of book matched good-looking, lightweight, toneful Swamp Ash. Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood F'board. Huge Frets. Round back, "vintage-ized" finish on neck. Laquer applied, then removed, it looks like. Nice feel. "Mary Kay" fiesta red laquer body finish is glossy and perfect. You can see the grain through the finish, and at certain angles, you can see how the nitrocellulose finish is snuggling into the Swamp Ash grain patters. I guess it's settling into the wood a bit -- though still very shiny and totally smooth and sweet. Fralin vintage hot neck and middle. Fralin 43 Steel Pole in bridge. Blend control between neck and bridge. Case is custom fitted, poodley red lined G&G -- incredibly nice case. Non-vintage Gotoh tremolo sounds really nice. I don't use tremolos, but they sound better than thru-body in my mind.

Mother of G*d. This thing is perfect. Multiple good tones available. I'm in heaven.

Not only perfect -- gorgeous. Frets are shiny and perfect, never seen nicer fret job before. Woods and laquer all done to perfection. This thing feels like it is all together, a solid unit. Many Strats feel like the various parts aren't together. This thing is as one.

It's a solid body, Strat type. This baby is solid. I'm sure the nitro finish won't be as indestructable as a polyurethane finish -- but -- that's the price you pay for the better sound you get from a thin nitro finish masterfully applied to quality woods.

Don't know.

The best guitar I've ever played. I've owned: 2000 PRS McCarty Rosewood, Gibson Les Pauls from 70's and early 80's; 1982, 1983, 1991 Fender USA Stratocasters; Yamaha Japan: SG2000, SA2000, and Japanese Pacifica 1511 Mike Stern; G&L Legacy '02 and Nighthawk '82, Ibanez Prestige '89; '72 Gibson SG. This guitar is generally a finer piece of work than all of those. It sounds better than all the Strats -- though the G&L Legacy and the '82 Nighthawk sounded almost perfect too. It is far nicer made than the Fenders or the Gibsons. Of all the newer guitars I have owned, only the Yamaha Japan made Mike Stern tele-type comes close -- and only after fitting it with Fralin pickups. The Grosh is not a "good value" but it is worth the huge price tag. Once you own this guitar, you'll never be happy with a lesser one.

One-piece swamp ash body. "Mary Kay" -- transparent Fiesta Red nitro-cellulose laquer finish. Maple neck with nitro finish applied, then removed for worn-in feel. Brazilian Rosewood very dark fingerboard. Jumbo frets. Locking Kluson Vintage style tuners. Truss rod adjustable without removing pickguard. Two-post modern Gotoh tremolo bridge unit -- not six screw vintage style. Volume, Tone, Neck/Bridge blend pot. Five-way. Fat neck. Fralin vintage hot neck and middle -- Fralin Steel Pole 43 in bridge.

Holy Cow. Perfect sound. This is it. Neck is fat and warm, but clear. Middle is loud and spany, with Fralin vibe and magic. Bridge is loud and rocking, without ear-splitting shrillness. Acoustic unplugged town is clearly wear the good tones are coming from. Warm tone unplugged, but clear. Sweet sounds.

Perfect finish. Unbelievably smooth and uniform. Neck treatment is really nice -- it just feels like your old vintage guitar. No gloppy shiny finish on this neck. Silky perfect frets and fingerboard. Set up dead on.

Seems as solid as a Strat can be.

No clue. It's hard to imagine getting bad service from a company this small and personal. These guys take their guitars personally.

I've had every kind of Stratocaster -- mostly Fenders and G&L's. This one is by FAR -- the most perfect. It does it all. Looks good. Feels incredible. And nails the perfect Stratocaster tone.

This review is for a 2003 Don Grosh Retro Classic in Vintage White. It features a one piece Strat-shaped alder body; 10" radius, 22 fret, round back large, "oiled" maple neck w/ Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard; HUGE Dunlop 6100 frets; Vintage style Kluson tuners; three Lindy Fralin Blues Special single coil pickups; clay dot inlays; mint green pickguard and knobs, standard electronics package w/ 5-way switch; vintage steel block Gotoh 6 point tremolo.

This guitar sounds fat, clear, and crisp thanks in large part to the Lindy Fralin Blues Special pickups, and large roundback maple/Braz neck w/ HUGE Dunlop 6100 frets. It sounds like a vintage stratocaster on steroids. The guitar does not have much single coil hum at all, which is very welcome. The one piece alder body resonates very well; however the volume of the open B string seems a little weak compared to the other open strings. I discovered an excessive amount of play in the Kluson tuner/bushing for the B string and I may have it replaced. Or it could just be a "dead" spot in the frequency of the B note. I play it through a Dr. Z Route 66 and a Marshall 1936 two-twelve cabinet w/ Vintage 30's. Big round tone hear folks.

With just two exceptions, the guitar was just about perfect. The biggest disapointment was the lack of adequate beveling of the 22 fret ends all along the the edge of the fingerboard. They were practically squared all the way to the edge. Given the HUGE Dunlop 6100 frets, it was a very uncomfortable neck the way I received it. Sort of like body surfing on a railroad track (- 2 points here). Ugh. I spent over two hours with a Dremel tool polishing and beveling the fret ends in my basement before the neck was "playable". I have no idea why DG left the fret ends un-beveled. It's not like the E strings passed real close to the fretboard (like a vintage Strat). On the contrary, there was plenty of fingerboard outside of the two E strings. Come on Don, if you are going to use HUGE fretwire, at least bevel the fret ends! The other issue is the excessively deep slots cut into the string nut. The slots are so low that the strings almost contact the first fret (-1 point here). Again, very uncharacterisic for a high end guitar. I'm going to replace the nut with a new one soon. Other than these two issues, the guitar is a masterpiece.

Built like a tank. Beautiful Vintage white nitro lacquer finish on select alder body! Almost noise free w/ very little single coil hum. Killer pickups and vintage hardware. Again, like a Strat on steroids. Nuff said.

No experience here so I'm leaving it blank.

Overall I would give the guitar an 8, just because the HUGE Dunlop frets were poorly dressed when the guitar shipped. Otherwise a fine instrument.

Brazilian rosewood fretboard, ash body, Dunlop 6105 frets, Lindy Fralin Blues Special Pickups, Blend Control.

This guitar had nearly every available option on it.

All I can say is that there are some sounds that only this kind of guitar will make. Everyone who's trying to find this sound with a current strat, it's not going to happen. You can struggle for years trying to get that booming, nasal midrange punch, and those full, rich chords, but believe me, it's in the wood, it's in the construction, and all those pieces have to be in place or that sound won't happen. Buy a Grosh, save yourself years of frustration with your tone. I'd rate the tone a 12 if that was allowed.

Bought it used, they set it up perfectly for my desired string gauges. The 'vintage' fret dressing that Don gives these guitars is wonderful. This guitar just plays beautifully. There are literally some notes that I just could not hit in some riffs on my strat that now I hit by accident because the guitar is setup so well.

I have only had it for a few weeks. I have no idea how it will hold up over the years, but unlike collectors' guitars, this thing is going to take a beating. I love it too much to let it sit. Overall, the guitar feels incredibly solid, and well crafted. It literally feels like it's one piece of wood. Much more balanced than a strat too.

Don's a nice guy, emailed me personally. Don't know that I'd ever need support, but I'm sure I'll deal with him again when I buy my next one straight from the shop.

I cannot tell you what a difference this guitar has made for my playing. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who's not played long enough to know what they like. I knew exactly what I wanted, so even though I wasn't planning on buying it before I played it, that all changed because I could tell immediately that it had the sound I had tried to get with amps, pedals, even pickups. The finest guitar I've ever played. Expensive stuff, but man, for that tone....I'd spend quite a bit more.