Nelsonic Rock Steady Atomic Series

2005 model made in Korea. This is, I think, basically similar to the LP clones Nelsonic sold with "Lester" in the names BEFORE the cease and desist from Gibson.

The Atomic Series Rock Steady is a single cutaway mahogany body with 1/2" flamed maple cap. That's right...a half inch as opposed to the much thinner caps on Epiphones or other clones like Agiles. Two alnico humbuckers (non-branded, but I haven't dissected the guitar to see). Mine is the tobacco sunburst (they only offer two colors, the other being wine red sunburst)finish. Solid mahogany neck with medium jumbo frets, ebony fingerboard and bone nut. Other features include mother of pearl inlays, Grover Roto-Matic tuners and a Tune-o-matic bridge. Two tone and two volume controls. The pictures on the Nelsonic site don't do this gem justice. Absolutely beautiful finish.

I played some as a teenager in a couple of garage bands and then gave up the guitar for 35+ years, picking it up again last year...so I'm still learning. My favorite music styles are blues and Southern rock...ABB, Skynyrd, etc., and I love Clapton, SRV, Walter Trout and a host of others which led me to try several Strats over the past year and a half. I'll probably get another Strat, but I really always liked the LP into a Marshall sound and wanted to try another humbucker guitar. I'm on a budget as a basement player with the occasional jam, so I looked at a host of the LP clones including the Epiphone Les Pauls. This Nelsonic beats every clone I tried.

I have a Peavey Classic 30 and Roland Microcube and a host of pedals, but this thing sounds so good straight into the amp with a little gain that I really haven't felt the need to use the pedals much...yet. I'm fickle enough that I probably will replace the pups at some time in the future, but these pups really sound full...both the neck and bridge pups. It sounds like a Les Paul.

This guitar was setup before shipping and arrived virtually in tune. They call the Rock Steady the "flag ship" of the Nelsonic line, and it's obvious that they take great pride in delivering a good product. The flamed maple cap is not perfectly matched, but it is very, very close and looks absolutely fantastic. I have given this guitar a very thorough inspection and I can find no finish flaws, glue runs, etc. The frets were even well finished, and the bone nut seems well done. All controls work, no gaps in the switches, pups, etc. No noise when shifting through the pickup settings.

It's too early to gauge the durability, but given the apparent quality, I anticipate that this guitar would last very well. I'm not a gigging musician and try to be careful with my gear, so I expect it to last a long time. The finish looks to be very solid, and the strap buttons seem very secure, but I'll probably add strap locks in the future. I'll be trying it a some jams very soon, so we'll see how it performs "in action". If I was gigging regularly, I'd probably have a backup, but more to have another guitar with a different sound (like single coils).

These guitars are only available online direct from Nelsonic. They don't have a phone number listed on their website, so you have to rely on e-mails to communicate. But, so far, they've been pretty responsive. The products don't come with manuals or spec sheets, but probably should add these features.

You really should wait a while before writing reviews here or elsewhere, but I'm really blown away by the quality, features and value. This guitar looks and plays like a far more expensive guitar. Little details like a thicker maple cap (1/2"), Grover tuners, bone nut, etc., are really more than what you would normally expect in this price range. I'll come back and update my review after I've played it for a while longer, but on first blush I'm extremely impressed and extremely pleased. I have to give this guitar an overall 10...I probably should add "for the money". But time will tell if this is a genuine "10" at any price.