Keiper Guitars 109RDS

This is a 109 hollow body Les Paul copy in vintage sunburst, bought brand new via eBay in February 2006. Made in China. 22 medium jumbo frets, well finished, although they will require stoning and crowning to suit my required action. But don't ALL guitars? How many people actually keep a guitar 'as is' straight out of the box?

Solid mahogany sides & back, laminated mahogany top. 2 volume, 2 tone controls, 3-way pickup selector switch. 2 humbuckers (generic manufacture). One piece mahogany set neck, rosewood fingerboard. The double bound body is beautifully finished - other than a little glue around the 'f' holes, the finish is flawless; it took 2 minutes with some fine sandpaper to remove the glue. The finish is as good as I've seen on ANY guitar - amazing.

Floating rosewood jazz bridge base with tune-o-matic bridge (fully adjustable). Trapeze tailpiece. Non-locking Grover-style tuners. 24.75 inch scale length (as Les Paul), 43mm nut width.

I bought this guitar to compliment my other Jazz guitars; although the stock pickups were not to my taste (I replaced them with P-90s), they are perfectly functional and sound full with ample tone range accross all the settings. The tone controls are excellent. I play jazz professionally, and with a decent set of jazz strings, the sound that this little guitar makes is not too dissimilar to my full-bodied Emperor Regent. It has more 'bite', which makes it suitable for other styles of music - very useful.

So far, I've used this with a Traynor amp with no effects - it sounds just fine played clean. There are no odd noises - plays well on all settings.

I've given this an 8 for sound, based on the stock pickups. With the addition of the P-90s, I would give this a '10'.

The factory set-up was, as with all 'budget' guitars, pretty poor - but then again, with a basic set-up (as you would do with ANY guitar!) it is a nice, playable instrument.

Other than the tiny bit of glue round the 'f' holes, this guitar was flawless. The nut was cut perfectly for the height of the frets. The controls work perfectly.

I will have no qualms about playing this guitar live - it is very well constructed, and stays in tune. I have changed the tailpiece and tuners, simply because I had some top quality stuff lying around, but there is nothing wrong with the stock hardware.

The finish, to me, is superb. I cannot understand other comments here about "sticky necks" - these buyers must either have acidic sweat, or have been very unlucky. The finish is as good as I've seen anywhere.

I would definitely gig this guitar without a back-up - I'm that confident about it. The neck is absolutely rock-solid, and the construction of the whole guitar is very good.

Not applicable.

I have been playing for 52 years (42 professionally). At this moment, my other guitars are a Gibson ES-175, an Epiphone Emperor Regent, and a Fender Strat.

If it were stolen or lost, I would definitely buy another one. In fact, I am considering buying another just to keep as a spare!

This guitar is light, and has a great sound and superb playability.

For anyone who has a basic knowledge of guitar set-ups, this guitar represents great value. Don't expect to play it 'out-of-the-box' - like any new guitar, it DOES need a decent set-up.

Chinese imported via Germany Les paul Jazz style hollow body guitar.
You get what you pay for (btw this is a friends guitar, but I will be buying one). For the price you cant go wrong really, even if quality control is a bit rocky as I have heard. Looks like a guitar worth a lot more.

I am mostly a folky acoustic guy, so when I do go electric I like a hollowbody sound. I'd rather spend my cash on a half decent acoustic than pay a fortune for a crap semi. I can get the electric jazzy sounds I need no problem. Pickups are fine. pots are noiseless, less earth buzz than many other 'budjet' guitars. Could be a touch brighter for me but I am 45 and half deaf!

setup was ok for a cheapie, fine for a novice. A touch high ? maybe, but I like a higher action on a semi. was nothing to complain about. Easily adapted anyway. Finish was OK , looked good, seems solid body & neckwise. Cheap metalware but adequate. Fretboard was fine despite other people complaining. TO THE GUY THAT COMPLAINED ABOUT HIS BRIDGE FALLING OFF! Ever tried a mandolin or any other instrument with that type of bridge? They do that :-) Just leave a string on next time so you don't lose where it lies. Pain in the arse setting up after that !

Metalware a bit weak as I said. But otherwise look to be a solidish guitar.

I always fancied a semi for the odd occasions I will use it. This will do for the price.

Les Paul shaped hollow bodied MOVABLE BRIDGE guitar with usual 2 x vol and tone pots and 3 pos pup switch.

A bit of a stunner to look at actually.

A floating bridge is just that, it is not meant to be glued to the body! That's for the first reviewer who obviously doesn't know much about guitars and should retract his ignorant and negative comments.

The tuners are reasonable sealed units.

The finish is thin but very attractive. I have the sort of brown burst which is especially attractive.

It has a good jazzy sound when set up properly with nice strings. It's not the best but then it didn't cost hundreds of pounds. It isn't noisy.

Set up could be better. But set up is personal. I put a better set of strings on it and got the action how I liked it and it's fine.

Seems perfectly solid in construction to me. The finish is thin though. Some people like a thin finish, they say it's good for the tone. So I wouldn't go throwing it around on stage, cos the finish will get damaged.

I have spoken to them before and have no complaints.

I've been playing for 30 years. I own, and have owned, masses of gear from top price guitars to stuff found in skips.

I don't play it that much because I bought a very nice expensive jazz box shortly after I purchased the Keiper so I would not go searching for another Keiper if mine were stolen. But the Keiper is perfect for a cheaper, reasonable quality jazz type guitar.

It's looks are a very strong feature. It's very unusual.

I bought this guitar as a backup for ? 125,-.

The statements above need some comments.

At first: Keiper-guitars are pretty cheap. So, what do you expect? It is usual for hollowbody-guitars, not to stick the bridge onto the body. So it's no wonder, that the bridge fell down after cutting the strings.

At the second and third statement: I think they are written by Keiper. It is not believeable, that a guitar-professional loves a guitar like this.

Now my experiences with this Guitar:
The Guitar is made and labeled in China. "Keiper-Guitars are the same like "JJ"-Guitars. If your name is "Smith", you can order 5000 guitars in China, and they put your name on the head of the guitars.

The Keiper 109 Series have all two Humbuckers. I don't know about the make or model, but they give not to much feedbacks, as expected in a hollowbody. I counted 22 frets.

The body is laminated, so it's not easy to say what kind of wood is used. If you put a finger into the f-holes, you will feel, the wood is extremly dry. Don't hurt yourself!

The bridge is a tune-o-matic style. Controls are as usual. Three-way switch, two volume- and two tonepoties.

The sound is O.K. for blues. I wonder about a good sustain. How did they make it in combination of this wood and plastic?
The bridge rattles. If this happens, you have to fasten the screws for the intonation. After five minutes playing you have to fasten them again.

The sound of the HBs is boring. I use a compressor and distorion. But it stays boring.

It's a lot of fun to play it unplugged. Because of this it stays in my livingroom. The rattle-noises give you a little bit the feel of distortion while jamming unplugged.
This will cause some points for my rating.

The factory default set-up was bad. But I think everybody owns some tools, or not?
The nut for the E-string is cut to deep. So it rattles, if you play it open.

I think this guitar will last forever, because it stays always in my livingroom.
The Body will not break, cause there are tons of glue inside of it.

The warranty is two years.
I called already two times, cause the delivery took some weeks. People on the phone were extremly unfriendly.

I play since 25 years. I own a stratocaster, an ibanez doubleneck st1200, ibanez 12-string ps-70, aria pro-II cs250.

The Keiper is O.K. if you want to keep your good guitars in shape and need something to play if you are drunk or something for your children to play without worry.

109 RDS, I've got the same model but the burst color is green.
Keiper is a German company which has the guitars made in China.
It's a Les Paul hollow body with 2 F-holes, 2 (made in china)humbuckers, 2 tone and 2 volume knobs and a 3-way selector switch. it has 6 grover style tuners and a plastic nut. It also has a tune-o-matic brige and a floating tail-piece. It has standard 22 (small/medium) frets, plastic (mother of pearl-like) inlays and a glued-on fat neck.
What kind wood the guitar is made of, i don't have a clou but is wise to clip your fingernails before you start playing, otherwise it's like scratching a blackboard.
Eitherway, the guitar LOOKS great. Has all the freature of the great gibson les pauls. But, the comparison stops right there.

The guitar has been tested on a fender and a crate amp. the pickups sound kinda oke but there is a lot of difference between the neck and the brige pickup. the brigde sounds very rich and full and in comparison to this pickup the neck pickup is way to bright. You can do a lot about it with a good amp.
Anyway, the variaty is very wide with on this guitar, you can go from Hendrix and Clapton to Black sabbath and Metallica but mostly it suits blues the best.
But still... there is way to much difference between the pickups. they simply don't fit together in this guitar (same goes for the solidbodied 107 BK)

The factory has it setup for high action, this is simply done like this because of the rattling in the strings if you lower the brigde a little. The string have to be change right away! I don't know what it was but it sure were no strings that were on the guitar. I got a little scared when changing the strings cause i alway clip the old ones but after i clipped the last string... the brigde fell off... just fell off... IT WASN'T GLUED ON!!! and when it fell, it fell apart to.. the tune-o-matic fell off the studs.
And i had to screw the tailpiece to the body too.
The plastic nut is centre alright, but there is some difference in stringheight at that very point. makes it a little more difficult to get it all adjusted. As for the frets, they are all nicely rounded but fret nr 5 to 17 are kinda floating above the fretboard?!?!? so if you're trying to get some low action, you will some run into heavy string buzz.
My other Keiper (107 BK) came with a "twisted neck" and there is no way to get that straight ever again.

This is a subject i rather don't get into....but i have to, for your sake....
basically, it SUCKS. the finish is soft and sticky (if you have sweaty palms you'll have to stay in one place on the neck simply because you're stuck there, it also damages easily. the fingerboard feels like a blackboard (but without the chalk). The tuners last about 2 song if you don't push-up the strings to much.
The nut wears of like tires on a formula 1 car. Everything resonates.
the pickups don't feedback but you can use them as a microphone if you like karaoke. The bridge could use some glue as well, I play in somewaht of a Slash (GnR) style so i rest my righthand on the bridge... DON'T DO THAT... The bridge will move all over the place.... The tailpiece is a worthless, it rattles like hell.
basically, this baby needs a whole lot of work if it want's to compete with names like Epiphone (as keiper want's you to believe on there site)

I haven't dealt with these guys yet, but i'm going to real soon.
I also bought a Les Paul copy (107 BK, the one with the twisted neck) where even the studs fell out when changing strings. There lack of using some glue in "missdrilled"place makes me wonder how long it will take for the neck to fall of. I think i'll give it a month ( i'll let you know when it happens ;))

btw, the warranty on these pieces of crap is two years. I'm afraid there gonna get a lot to do in a few months...

anyway, I hope the quality of the service and support is better than the quality of there product.

What it all comes down to is that the keiper guitars look real nice but that's all... i'm sorry to say, but THAT really is all...
there almost unplayable in the factory setup and for it to play and sound somewhat like an Epiphone, it needs a lot of work and money.

My advice... save your money and buy an Epi

Gibson Les Paul copy EXACTLY but with a hollow body - about 2.5 inches thick with twin f holes and tailpice as seen in the birdland gibson.

Amazing through a Marshall Stack - dirty and the resonance you get from the hollow body really makes it stand out. Killer, killer tone - especially if you like blues - makes Pete Green look squeaky.

It's a cheap guitar. This is not a Gibson substitue - Glue smears can be seen indside the hollowbody and a couple of frets have buzz but this will be sorted with a little fettling. Overall much better than a synic like me could possibly of hoped for.

It looks very solid indeed - proof is in the pudding and I've only had it a week so we'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

took 24 hrs to answer and email about delivery.

This guitar is by far the best value for money instrument I have (9 guitars and counting . . . I was intrigued to find out what a hollow body les paul sounded like and put a silly bid onto ebay. I won and I am never parting with it - it's unusal, easy to play straight out of the box and has a killer tone - think les paul but even dirtier, suits me right down to the ground. I was worried about feedback and excessive noise being a hollow body but it is quiet as a mouse when muted even at REALLY high volume. If you are having doubts, don't think, just buy. I would say that this guitar with Epiphone on the headstock would cost #600+

New, China made semi-acoustic Les Paul Model. 22 frets. 2 HB pickups, nomal LP contol. Glossy finish, good fretwork. Locking tuners.59 Gibson neck.
All seems to be manufactred in China. Just bought as "try-out"- guitar because it was so cheap, but WOW is this value for money !!!
This is not cheap stuff. As an collector of top brands I can say this. This guitar openend my eyes again that if you want a player and not a collector you can buy fantastic things today.

Does everything what I want, sound a bit George Benson Ibanez.
Also overdrive sound is OK

Gibson and Fender can learn from this !!!

Everything well constructed, I foresee no problems.
Had the idea to buy this guitar and replace the pickups for some old Gibson and Lawrence PU's, but after plugging in I saw no reason

Don't know, it's brand new

I'm a semi-pro since 1963, if this guitar was stolen I'd buy a new one. I'm even considering to buy a second one as backup, you can use this guitar from rock to Jazz or Indie, maybe not metal, but for the rest it's the best buy I had the last years