Zerberus-Guitars Morpheus II

Got it Feb. 2007 from the company, Zerberus Guitars. Very small company. My Morpheus Mark II was built in Korea. Two humbuckers (passive), 3-way selector. You can switch the Kammerstein custom Zebra humbuckers to single coils pulling the volume controls. Solid body, double cutaway, 24 frets. Body: Korina! + Ash-Burl-Top, fireburst. Guitar looks excellent (my taste) if you like rare, beautiful wood. Finish transparent.
First the worst: forget the hardcase. You get it for free. Get a real hardcase instead of that tiny box made of thin plastic. No 10 because of that so called hardcase!

Sound is excellent. Rich, full, bright, everything I like. That was the reason for me to buy that thing although I already had a US Hamer, 20 years old but better than every Fender I ever tried (for example: Kahler precision bridge) and a Gibson Les Paul Standard. Now I have nearly all varieties in one guitar. At least for me, that means Rock, dance music and sometimes I try to play Jazz. I like the sound of the Les Paul but it is very heavy. I will keep my Hamer as a spare but the sound could be more rich.

No problems. I told Frank (Zerberus` designer) what I wanted - strings, settings, color of top and got it. Settings and adjustment very good just as I wanted it to be. Zerberus is a small company and I think they have to be very careful.

Reliabilty especially playing gigs: no problems. Durability: ask me later. That means in exactly 8 1/2 years from now. I have that Morpheus since 1 1/2 years. A good guitar should last at least 20 years. Most probabely the Zerberus will but I do not know! Spare? I always have spares, even a second cell phone. If a string brakes it is nice to have a spare.

No problems. Warranty in Germany should be 2 years. Never needed any repairs.

Best guitar I ever had. All varieties in one. No need any more to change from the longer neck (Fender style or Hamer) to the shorter (Gibson). Makes it easier to play. Every time I changed the guitar it took me some time to adjust from longer to shorter neck or vice versa. Now I can do the jobs with one guitar and that also means less false notes.. The sound is so good I even bought me a brunetti amp (after 20 years playing Marshal).

Seit zwei Wochen spiele ich nun eine Morpheus II von Zerberus Guitars aus Speyer.
Was soll ich sagen: das Teil ist der HAMMER!
Jede Aussage auf der tollen Homepage von Frank ist wahr. Ich habe in Aussehen und Qualit??t nie eine vergleichbare Gitarre gespielt. Meine Morpheus Mark II in Tobacco-Burst mit Apfel-Birke-Top ist optisch ein Traum. Dabei super leicht (nur drei Kilo) und richtig gut bespielbar.
Schnelle Soli sind ebenso wenig ein Problem wie kraftvolle Power-Chords. Hierbei kommen die Humbacker richtig fett zur Wirkung. Das beschriebene Coil-splitting macht das Spielerherz dann gl??cklich. Zwei Klicks machen aus der Morpheus eine pr??chtige Single-Coil-Gitarre. Der Vielf??ltigkeit sind damit keine Grenzen gesetzt und quasi alle Stilrichtungen werden mit einer Gitarre perfekt abgedeckt.
Besonders gespannt war ich auf das Urteil meines Gitarrenlehrers (Berufsgitarrist): er wahr wirklich hin und weg! Hat meine Zerberus die ganze Stunde nicht mehr aus der Hand gegeben und sich anschlie??end die Internetadresse notiert. Klare Ansage vom Profi: ???die gro??en F..???s und G...???s nehmen f??r Gitarren dieser Qualit??t schnell mal 3000,--???.
Fazit: mit Frank zu handeln macht viel Spa??, er beantwortet je Frage sehr geduldig und das gelieferte Produkte ist von absoluter Spitzenqualit??t. Gerne immer wieder eine Zerberusgitarre! Ich fange an zu sparen auf eine Hydra II.

Gitarre / Modell: Zerberus / Morpheus Mark II
Farbe: Fireburst
Herstellungsjahr: 2006
Body: Massiv Korina mit Wood-Binding
Decke: Maserbirke bookmatched
Hals: Eingeleimter Hard Maple Hals mit Rosewood Griffbrett
Fretboardbinding: Einlagig, weis
Zerberus 3HD Perlmut-Inlays (MoP) auf Griffbrett
Zerberus Logo auf Headstock (Abalone Inlay)
Block Inlay ???Morpheus??? am 12. Bund
Hardware: Satin Silver
Mechaniken: Grover Rotomatics Mechaniken
Bridge: Roller-Bridge
Pickups: Kammerstein Custom Zebra-Humbucker
Marvel Straplock Gurtpin System

Da ist sie also. Meine neue. Die neue Zerberus Morpheus ist deutlich erwachsener geworden, im Vergleich zur Morpheus I. Qualit??t an der verbauten Materialien und der Gitarre selbst hat deutlich zugelegt. Rein Optisch unterscheidet sich die neue nur in Details, das Shaping am Body ist extremer, Bindings um Hals und Body und ???kleine??? Mechaniken, eine Rollenbr??cke sind die Markantesten Merkmale, rein Optisch.

Klanglich kann die neue wie die erste schon sehr ??berzeugen. Trocken ist die Gitarre schon wahnsinnig laut, dass Sustainverhalten hat gegen??ber der Morpheus I noch mal ein Qu??ntchen Zugelegt. Die Schaltung ist wie bei der Morpheus I, 2x Volume Potis mit Push/Pull sowie 1x Tone. Die Splitfunktion bzw. die daraus entstehenden Sounds sind nicht mehr so gravierend im Unterschied wie bei der Morpheus I, hier ist es mittlerweile ein sehr Ausgewogenes Klangbild erreicht worden. Nat??rlich h??rt man noch den Unterschied, wenn die Pu`s gesplittet werden z.B. wenn man in der Mittelstellung den Bridge PU als Humi betreibt und den am Neck als Single. Klangliche Variationen hat man hier schon einiges, nur eben nicht mehr so ???extreme??? wie bei der Morpheus I. Die Grundsounds der Kammerstein PU??s sind an den SD SH4 Jeff Beck (Bridge) und an den SD SH2 Jazz (Neck) angelehnt und klingen wirklich Klasse. Die Gitarre scheut von Blues bis Metal eigentlich nichts.

Die Saitenlage ist wirklich flach und der Hals l??sst sich Super bespielen. Hals, Pickups und Saitenlage war von Haus aus schon Optimal eingestellt!

Die Gitarre wird Standardm????ig mit Marvel Straplocks ausgeliefert, die meiner Meinung nach wesentlich sicherer sind als die 08/15 Schaller Sec Locks. Die Gitarre wird ??brigens mit eigens f??r Zerberus angefertigtem Koffer geliefert

Immer wenn irgendwelche Fragen zur Gitarre waren oder ich etwas eingestellt haben wollte, konnte man bei Zerberus immer vorbeischauen und bekommt alles gemacht. Dazu immer einen Kaffee oder Saft :-) Absolut Klasse!

Ich f??r meinen Teil bin absolut begeistert von der Zerberus Morpheus II und bereue den kauf nicht.

The top is a transparent midnight blue over a bookmatched (applewood?) top with a Korina body. String thru roller bridge and Grover tuners. Neck is maple with a wide rosewood fretboard with 24 frets. All hardware is satin silver and includes Marvel straplocks. The pickups are Kammerstein humbuckers with a seperate push/pull control which splits to single coil for each, and a master tone control. There is also a 3-way pickup switch for bridge-both-neck switching. I believe it was manufactured in Korea and in 2006.

I play southern rock & blues through a Mesa Boogie Lonestar amp. My others guitars include a Les Paul, PRS CE-22 and SRV Strat and I have been playing for approx. 37 yrs. The sound of the Morpheus II was very surprising in that it can be as big as my LP, and can also get to a Tele when you learn to use the vollume & master tone controls after getting used to the vollume-tone configuration of each. I can even get the "Chime" #3 position of my Strat even though it's a fixed neck. Other than clean & amp overdrive with a little Visual Sound crunch thrown in, I don't use a lot of effects.

When I first took the guitar out of the box (P.S. it comes in a rather inexpensive hardcase w/Zerberus logo) I thought it was just too lite to be true. I realized I had never held a guitar made with African Limba and didn't realize how lite it was. I have not had to make any adjustments (mabe in the future) to the set-up. Fit and finish was as good as any guitar I have owned and the look is very striking over-all. I have had it for a month and I (and my fellow guitar players) have noticed no visable flaws. Fit and finish over-all is excellent.

I play in a Christian contemporary band and have used the Morpheus now on two occasions and will add it to my on-stage list. It provides a very good sound range for the different types of music we do and I don't have to wish for a single coil on a particular song when I'm using my PRS. The guitar seems to be well crafted and you don't have to worry about the thing hitting the stage due to a shaggy strap-hole. As far as how long it will stay together, I haven't had it long enough to know for sure but at this time I have no issues with the durability.

Have'nt had to use customer support so I can't comment. Frank (the designer) so far has always been great in any questions or concerns that I had prior to recieving the guitar. The warranty is two years
and hope I'll never have to use it. (Germany is a long way from Texas)

My overall opinion of this guitar is that I am glad I took the chance and bought a guitar I'd never seen or heard before. (other than a picture on E-Bay) As I said, I've played for 38 yrs and spent a lot of money on these things, and I don't think that I have experienced an instrument with this kind of overall playability. Clean tones are pristine and big sounds are huge. If I lost the Morpheus, I'm afraid I would have to give my wife another excuse as to why I needed to buy another.

My Morpheus has a Korina body with a figured Burl top. The top is one piece laminate. Tobacco burst. 2 Kammerstein pickups, tunomatic type bridge with roller saddles, string through body, 3 way slide pickup selector, 2 push-pull volume pots for single coil taps both pickups, 1 tone control, 24 fret rosewood neck ,25 1/2 scale with custom inlay markers, binding on neck and body, body appears to be one peace of wood but Im unsure,and Grover tuners.

Brilliant. Let me say this right off the bat. When I took the guitar out of the case and began to play it, I was blown away by how brilliant and dynamic it sounded acoustically. It resonated loud almost like an acoustic guitar. Powered up it has Tons of sustain and powerful attack. The Korina wood makes this guitar very lite weight but it does not lack in tone. The tone bites, growls and punches almost like Bass wood but to me its a little more articulate. The pickups are medium high output. The front reminds me of a Seymour Duncan Jazz and the bridge is similar to a Seymour duncan JB with a little more power and a little more attention to the highs,little less mid honk than a JB. Frank at ZERBERUS said they designed the pickups after the Jazz and the JB but had to give them a little more power for when they are in the coil tapped mode. They are not my ideal tone but I think they work really good for there application in this guitar. In tapped mode you can get some pretty good single coil sounds. They may not suit the Stratocaster single coil enthusiasts out there but they definately work for the guys who need a versatile instrument. Cant have it all in one guitar but the Morpheus sure gets you close. This guitar can get you just about any tone you need except maybe twangy. It can do Jazz, Rock, Blues, Fusion, Funk and yes Metal with no problems. It has warm rich sustain with smooth but articulate highs. You wont get lost in the mix.

The action came perfect. Its low and fast with medium jumbo frets. The Morpheus2 has a buttery feel with fast response. It almost changes your playing style. Its very touch sensitive. I have to use a little more finesse when playing it as compared to my Les Pauls. The neck is a medium C shape just right I believe. Not to thin not to thick. The radius is 14 Deg. Perfect. The finish is flawless. Its a very lite weight guitar which took some getting use to after years of Les Paul Customs. It has a very comfortable fit for live playing. No fatigue after a long night.

Its pretty sound. I dont forsee any problems for awhile.

This is where Zerberus shines. These guys are great to deal with. They repeatedly went out of their way to make sure I was satisfied. They treated me like family even with my relentless questionning. They are a small business and are truly concerned with making a good product and pleasing their customers.

Zerberus is on their way to being a great custom guitar manufacturer. I wish them the best. They definately have products worth triing out. For all you guitarists out there who have yet to find your soulmate in a guitar, give Zerberus a try. You wont be disappointed.

A friend of mine owns a Morpheus I and, frankly speeking, I allways have been a little bit jealous of that wonderfull guitar.
In 2006 Zerberus-Guitars released the Morpheus II as an upgrade and successor of the Morpheus I.
I could not resist any longer - this guitar was a must have for me.
And she??s even better than the Morpheus I.
Now my friend is jealous on my guitar and guess what he is planing to buy soon :)
Features:
I love burl woods and so I have choosen a Morpheus II with a one piece Ash burl top in Tobacco-Burst.
The look of that guitar is just incredible and since Zerberus-Guitars has used selected veneers for the top, that guitar is very unique.
The body was made of solid Korina wood and you can feel how well balanced the composition of woods is as soon as you play a note on that guitar.
The neck is made of hard Maple with Rosewood fredboard and has a creme white binding.
The neck scale is 64,8 millimeters (Strat-scale)
There are very cool mother of pearl inlays that show a three-headed dog on the fretboard and black side dots on the binding.
The Morpheus has 24 medium jumbo frets that are set up very accurate and polished very nicely.
The guitar is a set neck construction.
The body has some very beautyfull arched top and a natural wood binding.
The guitar is equipped with two Kammertein humbuckers.
Even as the humbuckers provide lots of output they sound very well ballanced and warm.
The electronics: 2 volume potis and 1 master-tone poti plus a 3-way switch.
Each humbucker can be spliited into a sinclecoil by pulling it??s volume poti.
The hardware: Grover Rotomatics machines, a roller bridge, dome speed knobs and all of that in satin silver finish.
String-thru body (sounds incredible together with the roller bridge and the Korina body).
The guitar comes with a very cool straplock system.
That straplock is the best system I ever have seen.
The guitar was engineered by the guy who has designed and developed the Morpheus I and all the other Zerberus-Guitars like the Hydra before, too.
The guitar was made in Korea but it is very different to the guitars that usually come from Korea.
But more about that later....

The Morpheus II offers an incredible bunch of sounds and for me she offers every sound I might want to get.
Thanks to the clever electronics that guitar is impressing versatile with fat and warm humbucker-sounds up to crunchy and tw??ngy Strat-like sounds.
By and by it has replaced most of my other guitars.
The basic sound played im humbucker mode is very rich and fat, but as soon as you pull one poti and turn a humbucker into a singlecoil, everything changes.
The Morpheus II provides 8 basic sounds at hand of it??s switch and push-pull-potis. But you can get tonns of sounds when having the switch in the middle position because you sensitively can blend from one pickup to the other.
I use to play it on a VOX AC30 and some Orange stack.
I have played it on my friends Engl stack and on some Fender and Boogi amps. Hell I even have played it through some crappy cheap transistor bullshit mini amps.
The Morpheus II sounds great and all guitarists I know are deeply impressed by my new guitar (except you play it on the crappy cheap transistor bullshit mini amps - but NO GUITAR sounds great on that trash :)
I play allmost everything - Heavy, Blues, Punk, Commercial stuff and so on.
I can do it all with only one guitar and I guess, that??s why I love my Morpheus so much.

The setup was perfect from the first second.
Frank asked me for my favours and he just set up the guitar perfectly to my likings.
Nothing to tweak around anymore and it was a pure pleasure to play as soon as I took the guitar out of the case and tuned it.
The finish is breathtaking.
The guitar feels, sounds and looks like it costs double the price.
My Morpheus has some very minimal flaw on the top right behind the bridge. The high-glossy finish has some small dent because of an extreme burl in the top veneer.
You will only find the dent if you take a very, very close look.
It??s is nothing worth to talk about, but I am a guitar perfectionist and so I will subtract one point.
But again, compared to my other guitars the Morpheus II still is on top.

The guitar is very well built.
The neck is set in perfectly and with it??s medium necksize it surely will not break.
The strap system is perfect and the guitar realy is sturdy and reliable.
Of course I never play a gig without a backup but the only adequate backup for my Morpheus II is another Morpheus II :)
I would buy one but I am waiting for Zerberus-Guitars newest strike - The Hydra II.
The Morpheus II never let me down and I totally rely on that guitar.
Even though it looks filigrane - it is solid as a rock.

No need to get it repaired yet.
The waranty is two years but Frank (who designed and developed the guitars) told me that he will care for his guitars even after much more than the 2 years.
I have been in contact with Frank by phone and mail and he realy is very helpfull and supportive.
My friend Martin personaly visited Zerberus-Guitars to pick up his Morpheus I and he took his old SG with him.
Frank perfomed a great setup on Martins old SG while they sat in his kitchen, drinking some coffee and talking about guitars, guitarists, music and tonewoods. And Frank charged no Cent for the setup and Coffee. Martin was impressed by Franks know-how and they phone and mail time by time.
Frank (40 years old) has been working as a guitarist in several bands on stage in studios and so on for a long time.
I know: If I ever have a problem with my guitar - I can count on Frank . Friendly, helpfull and very supportive.

I have been playing guitar since I was 12 years old and meanwhile I play guitar for more than 30 years.
Have owned a lot of gear.
Ibanez guitars like the Iceman, Paula copies and so on.
Several Strats, Gibsons, D??senbergs, Rickenbakers and so on....
Some very expensive PRS and some low priced Korea Parkers.
A lot of amps amd effectors....
I have sold most of them and I hold only a very exclusive selection of my most valuable and most loved guitars.
Since I own my highly praised Morpheus II my other guitars get bored and jealous :)
As soon as I play some notes on the Morpheus, I don??t want to put it away anymore.
If the guitar was stolen, I would go and buy another one the same day but I would never have the chance to get my old Morpheus ii again since they are built in a small batch of only 100 pieces and each guitar has it??s very unique top.
But I am sure I would find another Morpheus II to love ;)
Actually I am waiting for Zerberus-Guitars new strike - the Hydra II.
Frank told me that he hopes to launch that guitar October 2007.
I have pre ordered one because that guitar will have a Gotoh Wilkinson VS100 tremolo.
The Morpheus II is one of the best built and best sounding guitars I ever had and I don??t think that I ever will give that beauty away anymore (except to buy a Morpheus III ?) Time will tell. The Morpheus I surely is a great guitar but Frank has improved so much to develop the Morpheus II and he did a great job.
I am so pleased with my Morpheus II and it allways is big fun to watch the other guitarists reaction as soon as I take my Morpheus II on stage. After each gig, guitarists come and ask me for my Morpheus.
That??s pretty cool :)

A friend of mine owns a Morpheus I and, frankly speeking, I allways have been a little bit jealous of that wonderfull guitar.
In 2006 Zerberus-Guitars released the Morpheus II as an upgrade and successor of the Morpheus I.
I could not resist any longer - this guitar was a must have for me.
And she??s even better than the Morpheus I.
Now my friend is jealous on my guitar and guess what he is planing to buy soon :)
Features:
I love burl woods and so I have choosen a Morpheus II with a one piece Ash burl top in Tobacco-Burst.
The look of that guitar is just incredible and since Zerberus-Guitars has used selected veneers for the top, that guitar is very unique.
The body was made of solid Korina wood and you can feel how well balanced the composition of woods is as soon as you play a note on that guitar.
The neck is made of hard Maple with Rosewood fredboard and has a creme white binding.
The neck scale is 64,8 millimeters (Strat-scale)
There are very cool mother of pearl inlays that show a three-headed dog on the fretboard and black side dots on the binding.
The Morpheus has 24 medium jumbo frets that are set up very accurate and polished very nicely.
The guitar is a set neck construction.
The body has some very beautyfull arched top and a natural wood binding.
The guitar is equipped with two Kammertein humbuckers.
Even as the humbuckers provide lots of output they sound very well ballanced and warm.
The electronics: 2 volume potis and 1 master-tone poti plus a 3-way switch.
Each humbucker can be spliited into a sinclecoil by pulling it??s volume poti.
The hardware: Grover Rotomatics machines, a roller bridge, dome speed knobs and all of that in satin silver finish.
String-thru body (sounds incredible together with the roller bridge and the Korina body).
The guitar comes with a very cool straplock system.
That straplock is the best system I ever have seen.
The guitar was engineered by the guy who has designed and developed the Morpheus I and all the other Zerberus-Guitars like the Hydra before, too.
The guitar was made in Korea but it is very different to the guitars that usually come from Korea.
But more about that later....

The Morpheus II offers an incredible bunch of sounds and for me she offers every sound I might want to get.
Thanks to the clever electronics that guitar is impressing versatile with fat and warm humbucker-sounds up to crunchy and tw??ngy Strat-like sounds.
By and by it has replaced most of my other guitars.
The basic sound played im humbucker mode is very rich and fat, but as soon as you pull one poti and turn a humbucker into a singlecoil, everything changes.
The Morpheus II provides 8 basic sounds at hand of it??s switch and push-pull-potis. But you can get tonns of sounds when having the switch in the middle position because you sensitively can blend from one pickup to the other.
I use to play it on a VOX AC30 and some Orange stack.
I have played it on my friends Engl stack and on some Fender and Boogi amps. Hell I even have played it through some crappy cheap transistor bullshit mini amps.
The Morpheus II sounds great and all guitarists I know are deeply impressed by my new guitar (except you play it on the crappy cheap transistor bullshit mini amps - but NO GUITAR sounds great on that trash :)
I play allmost everything - Heavy, Blues, Punk, Commercial stuff and so on.
I can do it all with only one guitar and I guess, that??s why I love my Morpheus so much.

The setup was perfect from the first second.
Frank asked me for my favours and he just set up the guitar perfectly to my likings.
Nothing to tweak around anymore and it was a pure pleasure to play as soon as I took the guitar out of the case and tuned it.
The finish is breathtaking.
The guitar feels, sounds and looks like it costs double the price.
My Morpheus has some very minimal flaw on the top right behind the bridge. The high-glossy finish has some small dent because of an extreme burl in the top veneer.
You will only find the dent if you take a very, very close look.
It??s is nothing worth to talk about, but I am a guitar perfectionist and so I will subtract one point.
But again, compared to my other guitars the Morpheus II still is on top.

The guitar is very well built.
The neck is set in perfectly and with it??s medium necksize it surely will not break.
The strap system is perfect and the guitar realy is sturdy and reliable.
Of course I never play a gig without a backup but the only adequate backup for my Morpheus II is another Morpheus II :)
I would buy one but I am waiting for Zerberus-Guitars newest strike - The Hydra II.
The Morpheus II never let me down and I totally rely on that guitar.
Even though it looks filigrane - it is solid as a rock.

No need to get it repaired yet.
The waranty is two years but Frank (who designed and developed the guitars) told me that he will care for his guitars even after much more than the 2 years.
I have been in contact with Frank by phone and mail and he realy is very helpfull and supportive.
My friend Martin personaly visited Zerberus-Guitars to pick up his Morpheus I and he took his old SG with him.
Frank perfomed a great setup on Martins old SG while they sat in his kitchen, drinking some coffee and talking about guitars, guitarists, music and tonewoods. And Frank charged no Cent for the setup and Coffee. Martin was impressed by Franks know-how and they phone and mail time by time.
Frank (40 years old) has been working as a guitarist in several bands on stage in studios and so on for a long time.
I know: If I ever have a problem with my guitar - I can count on Frank . Friendly, helpfull and very supportive.

I have been playing guitar since I was 12 years old and meanwhile I play guitar for more than 30 years.
Have owned a lot of gear.
Ibanez guitars like the Iceman, Paula copies and so on.
Several Strats, Gibsons, D??senbergs, Rickenbakers and so on....
Some very expensive PRS and some low priced Korea Parkers.
A lot of amps amd effectors....
I have sold most of them and I hold only a very exclusive selection of my most valuable and most loved guitars.
Since I own my highly praised Morpheus II my other guitars get bored and jealous :)
As soon as I play some notes on the Morpheus, I don??t want to put it away anymore.
If the guitar was stolen, I would go and buy another one the same day but I would never have the chance to get my old Morpheus ii again since they are built in a small batch of only 100 pieces and each guitar has it??s very unique top.
But I am sure I would find another Morpheus II to love ;)
Actually I am waiting for Zerberus-Guitars new strike - the Hydra II.
Frank told me that he hopes to launch that guitar October 2007.
I have pre ordered one because that guitar will have a Gotoh Wilkinson VS100 tremolo.
The Morpheus II is one of the best built and best sounding guitars I ever had and I don??t think that I ever will give that beauty away anymore (except to buy a Morpheus III ?) Time will tell. The Morpheus I surely is a great guitar but Frank has improved so much to develop the Morpheus II and he did a great job.
I am so pleased with my Morpheus II and it allways is big fun to watch the other guitarists reaction as soon as I take my Morpheus II on stage. After each gig, guitarists come and ask me for my Morpheus.
That??s pretty cool :)