Product: Stevenson Custom Flame Top
Price Paid: Canadian $2495.00
Submitted
03/10/2000
at
11:43am
by
Steve DiAngelo
Features
:
10
My guitar is called a Stevenson Custom flame top. It is basically their regular custom series with the maple bent top option. These guitars are made in Canada by hand and from what I saw in their showroom, I would have to say that very few instruments are in the same league. The undersized strat style body is made of alder and is capped off with a 3/16" bookmatched, figured maple bent top. The neck is made of maple and sports an amazon rosewood fretboard with 22 Dunlop 6100 frets. This guitar is made for shreddin'. You get the picture. In the electronics department it has an H-S-H pickup configuration (Duncans) and active electronics by Stevenson. The body is finished to perfection and looks like it's still wet. WOW! The finish is so perfect that I am still afraid to scratch it. Hardware consists of a Floyd Rose trem, GRAPHITE NUT, and Sperzel locking gears. Yeah, you heard me, NO LOCKING NUT. And you know what, it freaking stays perfectly in tune, all the freaking time.
Sound
:
10
My main amp is a Bogner ecstacy head and my style is more rock/metal than anything else and this guitar delivers the goods. The on board preamp really makes this thing smoke. Unbelievable! This guitar excels in the styles I like, but I'm sure it would sound great in just about any situation. The preamp is fully adjustable and it sounds amazing. Quiet too.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
The guitar was perfectly set up when I picked it up. They installed my favorite brand of strings and set the action exactly to my liking. No tweaking was necessary whatsoever. I have played many guitars and looked at them thoroughly and the only ones that are in the same league as the Stevensons are the Andersons and Suhrs. They are just perfect without being clinical like Schecter. I could not find one flaw on the entire instrument. I love it.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
I haven't gigged with it yet, but it does look like it was built to last. All the hardware is top notch, the finish looks like it could take a beating (although I would never want to witness this!) and the only reason I would have a backup is in case of a broken string.
Customer Support
:
10
I bought the guitar directly from Stevenson Guitars in Montreal, and they were extremely helpful, answering every question I had patiently. They really love what they do and it shows. I have not needed servicing yet, but the guitar comes with a lifetime warranty and I am sure there will never be a problem with customer support.
Overall Rating
:
10
I compared it with Anderson, Tyler, Sadowsky, and Suhr. This guitar is at least as good as any of these and priced a little more competitively (no dealer markups). I know I took a chance buying from a company which is relatively unknown but I just love this guitar and I am certain they will be around for many years to come.
