Educate me about Suhr guitars...

[roodyrocker]

Played an 80's shred at my regular guitar shop and was blown away with it. I'm sure the Soldano SLO I was playing it through had something to do with it. It played great, made want one but I can't afford too.

Not knocking the Suhr in any way, but if I could only have one of those I'd be walking out of the store with the Soldano SLO 100 not the Suhr

[vector]

Here's my issue- if I'm gonna pay that kinda scratch for an ax, I want it to be pretty damned close to what I want-Gimme an OFR, gimme a three way TOGGLE switch (not that bullshit Strat style shit) and maybe some better pickups that don't scoop the mids. OH. You mean I don't want a Suhr, I want something else?

Okay.

[neilli]

Then order one how you want it (OFR aside)..

[vector]

Then order one how you want it (OFR aside)..

I did. I have a custom Hamer Cali in my possession and a custom shop Jackson Star on the way...

[vector]

Lookee here, folks: I gotta be get this out- for between 3800 and 4400 bucks I am NOT gonna be buying a bolt-on, limited series. I don't fucking care how wonderful they're built. For that kinda scratch I better be getting something more preferable than tiger stripes, Gotohs and Doug Aldriches. Don't get me wrong, I really like what Suhr has done and I certainly applaud their build quality and I even LOVE tiger fucking stripes. But for that amount, there better be a lady's hand coming outta the control cavity to jerk me off, in addition to sounding and playing badass. I know, I know: then don't buy one. I won't. Just wish I could get me a sweet Suhr without having to sell one of the kids into slavery...

[neilli]

Oh absolutely, at that sort of money if they don't tick all the boxes it's time to walk away. It took me a long time to find the right (looking) Reb Beach at the right price - i.e. a price I could just about justify. But as with most guitars, generally you can get better than published pricing depending on the guitar in question and the dealer. And by comparison in pricing, we're seeing PC1s listing for 3k. Sure, they have the Sustainer, but if my Suhr and previous PC1s are anything to go by, the Suhr is better built..

Oh, don't the superstrat Hamers pretty much all have a strat-style blade selector switch?

[vector]

Oh absolutely, at that sort of money if they don't tick all the boxes it's time to walk away. It took me a long time to find the right (looking) Reb Beach at the right price - i.e. a price I could just about justify. But as with most guitars, generally you can get better than published pricing depending on the guitar in question and the dealer. And by comparison in pricing, we're seeing PC1s listing for 3k. Sure, they have the Sustainer, but if my Suhr and previous PC1s are anything to go by, the Suhr is better built..Oh, don't the superstrat Hamers pretty much all have a strat-style blade selector switch?

Yup. Can't stand them but I've never paid over $1600 for a used one and then I mod and refinish. My custom Cali was ordered with a toggle and is THE shiznitz.

[killerburst]

OFR won't just drop in to a Gotoh route (on a Suhr), according to the guys at Suhr.

[Shawn Lutz]

They are great guitars and have somewhat of a fanboy following who'll believe any word that comes out of John Suhr's mouth whether true or not lol . I think they are a bit overpriced new and don't have good resale values (sort of like GMW's). Snag one used and you'll see how good they are. I don't care for the modern body style but their regular super strats are kickass.

As far as gotho vs OFR. Suhr fanboys will tell you is s superior trem over ew OFR's becuase JS told them that. I say they use Gotoh trems because they get a better price per unit than they do from Floyd

[neilli]

Good points - I'm perfectly happy with the Gotoh (I've had an Axis with one for years), but agree that the motivation is probably cost not 'tonal'. Having said that, the one on my Suhr does feel pretty damn good, and I like the way the arm locates.

Resale is tough to point a finger at any one company though. I don't follow PRS / Gibson / Fender enough, but everything else seems to take a bath right now.

[shreddermon]

OFR won't just drop in to a Gotoh route (on a Suhr), according to the guys at Suhr.

Very helpful, thank you again.

They are great guitars and have somewhat of a fanboy following who'll believe any word that comes out of John Suhr's mouth whether true or not lol . I think they are a bit overpriced new and don't have good resale values (sort of like GMW's). Snag one used and you'll see how good they are. I don't care for the modern body style but their regular super strats are kickass.

As far as gotho vs OFR. Suhr fanboys will tell you is s superior trem over ew OFR's becuase JS told them that. I say they use Gotoh trems because they get a better price per unit than they do from Floyd

Shawn, I've got to tell you that thought has crossed my mind, too. I mean, again, I'm sure it's a cool unit. But as to the decision to switch to Gotoh vs Floyd, I wonder if that was more motivated by cost control than quality control. There is the "appearance" of a pattern there with Suhr - basswood bodies, in-house pickups, adding an import line, Sperzels switched to Hipshots, OFR switched to Gotoh. It is perhaps reminiscent of Jackson back in the late 80s, the early Ontario period. JT6s, J/C PUs, imports, etc. That doesn't mean there weren't a lot of great Jacksons in the late 80s. But, in terms of explaining their hardware and other spec changes, much of the justification was BS hype. It was largely motivated by cost control, not necessarily a better product.

I guess that's a long way of saying I'm sure that Suhr is still building some great guitars. But experience gives me some pause, so I take the hype and spec differences all with a grain of salt.

[P I K A]

I got a few moderns as well as 1 Jackson . I used to have all Jacksons but after my 1st modern I sold off just about all of them. To me its a perfect guitar ,built to last and sounds and plays better then anything I've had before. I'm no fan boy ( if I am I am a Jackson one) so my opinion may hold a little more weight. You can get an alder body for the same price as basswood and I like his pickups better then the jb which is in every Jackson I had. I have a few moderns but none that are stunning to the eye . These are just drip and metallic ones so they are to me Custom Shop Charvels. I like the fact that you can get any kind of fretboard any neck shape (or you can send him a neck to digitize it ). I also like the SS frets and plek job . I paid the same as a new Jackson USA select so the high prices must be for the extra maple cap if you want those nice looking pieces. I also like the 4 to 5 month wait time . The resale value is quite good actually I bought a pro series first to see if I would like Suhr and then sold it and ordered a modern. Didn;t lose a penny. Anyway just saying to do some research on options and dealers because they aren't all 3 and 4 thousand .

[charvelsteen]

OFR won't just drop in to a Gotoh route (on a Suhr), according to the guys at Suhr.

Hey i think it does its the opposite which doesnt work. A gotoh sometimes will not fit into a ofr route. Thats just my experience.

[xenophobe]

I think it's true. Floyd Rose is charging more money for an inferior unit. Nothing on them has changed in the past 20+ years, yet they're still selling them for more than they should.

[ulijdavid]

The other problem with the OFRs is delivery. They do not adhere to delivery dates like Gotoh does. Schaller believes that since they have "German quality" you can wait and get it when you get it (kind of like the Jackson/Charvel custom shop deliveries - Doh!!!). I don't know if this is still true, but a while ago there were delivery schedule problems.