Product: Koll Custom Strat
Price Paid: US N/A
Submitted
08/22/2004
at
09:04pm
by
Kevin
Features
:
10
I ordered this guitar in 2002 as a set neck strat style guitar with a one piece mahogany body, one piece mahogany neck with ebony fretboard, one piece carved, quilted maple top. The inlay on the neck is a the best "tree of life" I have ever seen. Pics of this guitar are on the Koll website labeled "Big Blue". The pickup configuration is H/S/H. The humbuckers are Gold Harmonic
Design and the single is a AVN '69 made by Kinman with gold poles. the gold single cover was custom added by Koll. The top has a single volume pot that when pulled turns on the bridge pickup in all of the 5 way selector positions. in the tremelo spring cavity is where the 3 mini tone pots are located. The pots are 15 turn pots, so you can really fine tune the treble cut on each of the pickups. The finish is a great stain and nitro blueburst over a quilted maple single piece top. The bridge is a gold strat style tremelo with roller saddles. The tuners are gold sperzels. The neck is slightly angled back, matching the slight contour of the body. the headstock is angled just enough to avoid string trees. The neck is perfect, not too fat, not too thin, and perfectly tapered. The lower cutaway is extended slightly to allow access to higher frets without looking like an extended cutaway. The pickups are rear loaded and attached right to the body.
Sound
:
10
I play Rock and blusey Fusion through a Voodoo modified Marshall TSL100. I use lots of effect pedals, all analog. There is very little noise or hum, even with lots of drive. The noisless Kinman single coil is just as quiet as the humbuckers. The sound is a perfect blend of Les Paul and Strat, all of the warmth of a vintage paul and the great articulation of a classic strat. I have never played a better axe and I have played LP customs, Custom shop Strats, PRS etc...
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
When I ordered this guitar one of my stipulations was it had to be perfect in sound, appearance, and playability no matter the cost. I got exactly what I wanted and more!!! Saul Koll had some great ideas that really enhanced the final guitar. The finish turned out exactly as I had wanted, a subtle but deep blueburst. I expected this guitar to cost a lot more than it did. It was a great value for a better than top quality instrument.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
This is a very solid guitar with very pure, balanced tone. The finish is excellent and beautiful. It is a very dependable guitar, the best I have ever played and I have been playing for over 20 years. I always have a backup guitar at a gig, but I will order a second one just like it when I can get enough money for it.
Customer Support
:
10
Saul is great to deal with, I sent him tons of email, asked lots of questions, and tweaked the design throughout the process. Saul Koll never lost patience and was always happy to answer any question or solve any problem.
Overall Rating
:
10
In my 20 plus years of playing I have never played a better guitar. Saul rewired the whole guitar because I did not like the initial pickups and coil taps. He also passed along some of the cost savings on parts. I plan on ordering another guitar from Saul in the future, they are incredible instruments and a better value than a PRS or a Gibson. I had tried to get Fender Custom shop to build this guitar, but they could not give me exactly what I wanted. Saul Koll could do just wjhat I wanted and at less than half the price of Fender Custom shop. I am sure I got better service from Saul than I would have from Fender. I have no desire to order a Fender Custom shop guitar any more, but I have a great desire to order another Koll.
