New Spalt Apex

[Cliff]

Hey folks - I've just taken delivery of my Spalt Apex guitar. I've been waiting for this since November last year, but it's well worth the wait. Body is burled maple on an aluminium frame, neck is birdseye maple and wenge; fretboard is birdseye maple. 20" radius neck, Floyd Rose Lo Pro trem, Bare Knuckle Painkiller in the bridge and Nailbomb in the neck.

You'll forgive my crappy playing I hope (yep, still can't play...), but the tone is not at all what you might expect - it's very full and rich:

Here's some pics:

[Dog Boy]

Dang, that's pretty bad ass. I like it! Don't hurt yourself!

[Cliff]

Thanks. At this point, I'm worried about me hurting it .

[straycat]

Very nice Cliff its different I'll say that.Nothing wrong with different IMO.
Nice sounding guitar.HNGD!

[toejam]

Cool! Sounded pretty clear and bright. Cute cat, too.

[ulijdavid]

Not something I would buy, BUT........Shit!!!!! That is definitely thinking out of the box and is one wicked looking guitar. Thank God a new guitar that does not look like a variation of a Strat or Les Paul. Sick guitar. HNGD!!!

[MetalDaze]

That is sick! I would totally rock that. I didn't see a good reference for price on their website. What was the first number in the price?

[dvscool]

Wow. I don't know what to even say..LOL...I'm not sure...if I love it...or hate it....very different... and good on ya for that !!

[Cliff]

Thanks guys all for the comments. Normally when I pick up a guitar for the first time, it takes me a good while to get used to it before it feels comfortable. This one feels just right straight away. It plays fantastically well (obviously I myself have some way to go on that score...). Speccing it out was a bit of a crap-shoot (I've never ordered a custom guitar) - trying to figure out what I liked best about each of my other guitars - fret size, scale length, nick thickness etc - but it turned out exactly right. Not sure if it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it certainly feels good.

I don't want to reveal the price publicly, but it's less than you'd expect - certainly competitive with other custom builders. The base price is in euros, and I paid an upcharge for some of the options - scalloping, bare knuckle pickups, the thigh rest. When I asked for a quote, I was pleasantly surprised. (The builder was recommended to me by a guy on the forum here.)

[javert]

Wow, what a guitar. It does sound warmer and fuller than you'd expect. How are thouse Bare Knuckles compared to Duncans? I've been thinking about trying them out... Congrats on the new guitar. That sure is something special.

[charvelsteen]

Holy incredible ponies man thats RAD!

[Cliff]

Hey Javert, it's difficult to say. For one thing, the guitar itself is so different from the others, for another, I only have one Duncan in the neck of one of my guitars (which I do like, incidentally). My initial impression is there's more clarity - maybe more highs without being shrill. I can get it to sound really sweet, but it's a bit less forgiving of mistakes (maybe more dynamic range). I think I may be prepared to believe the hype too that there's more definition of individual notes when playing chords. One thing that's a bit surprising is they're not as 'hot' as I was expecting. No big deal, that's what the gain dial is for.

[MetalDaze]

What kind of case did it come in?

[Cliff]

None, which is a shame. At the moment I just have a gig back. I know a guy with a 3-d printer, so I might speak to him about what can be done.

[MetalDaze]

I was checking out the site and I see you also get a custom stand? Seems pretty thoughtful considering the odd shape.