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Long story, but I wound up changing/cancelling my custom order MCS guitar and decided to take this guitar. It was in stock and ready to ship, and was also at NAMM 2007.
It's a Moser 10 with the following specs:
Two piece laminated Maple neck, Ebony finger board with pearl diamond inlays, Pau Ferro head plate, Grover Super Rotomatics with the Imperial head, Ebony stringers, solid "black Limba" wings, TonePros bridge, DiMarzio Super II bridge, DiMarzio PAF neck, chrome bezels, full MCS custom electronics, Qparts knobs.
I gotta admit, I would have never ordered a guitar with these specs. I'm not a fan of natural finishes, I really like DiMarzio Super Distorion pickups, and black hardware. I've always wanted a Bich guitar (Neal designed the Bich but his are called Moser 10 or Moser 6 depending on the amount of strings) and figured, why not, I'll take a chance.
The guitar isn't light, I'm going to guess it's probably 8 pounds or so. The neck is thick; I've grown to like thick necks because thin necks make my hand hurt. It's got medium frets; I prefer jumbo. The finish is flawless and so is the overall build. The action is super low with very little buzz; it's very consistent all over the neck. The fingerboard is very thick and the inlays are super tight. I can't see any filler around them. This is a very resonant guitar; it sounds great unplugged. The bridge feels very soild and doesn't dig into my hand like a BCR Quad bridge can sometimes do. The pictures really don't do it any justice; it's super glossy and so much more "alive" in person.
I've had people ask what's up with the 10 strings and all the knobs. It's just like a 12 string, but the 2 lowest strings don't have strings next to them. The D and G extra strings are tuned at octaves, and the B and E extra strings are tuned in unision. It's very easy to play but not easy to bend. The extra strings can be removed; the string spacing on the main 6 strings is just like that on any 1 11/16 nut guitar. When I play thru my amp with a lot of gain, the extra strings don't add mudd or fuss; everything is just a little thicker and almost chorus-y.
As far as the electronics go, here's a diagram:
I played thru my clean channel, fired up both boosters, and got a super saturated sound. It actually wasn't very noisy at all. Tone wise, it wasn't what I'd normally use, but it wasn't bad. When I play through the gain channels and play with the boosters, they seem to add a lot of sustain for leads and don't muddy my lead tones. The varitone is pretty cool. You get 6 distinct mid sounds; some are wah-like, some are deep and bubbly. It's not a wah replacement but it's pretty damn cool.
The Super 2 pickup in the bridge is brighter and crisper than my Super D's. The mids sound scooped in comparison, but without a Super D reference, they don't sound mid scooped at all. I think pick harmonics are a little more noticeable with the Super D; however, I haven't been able to crank my amp with this guitar yet. Also, my arm is still healing, so I can't give it a workout like I normally would.
I'm currently pretty damn happy with this guitar. It just feels flawless and sounds great. Every detail is perfect. The fact that it was handcrafted is a plus. I'm not a Les Paul or Strat guy. I like unique shapes and I don't go searching for a guitar to give me a certain tone. I know how my amp sounds, I know the pickups I like. This guitar plays and sounds a certain way, which I like.
Would I recommend MCS guitars? If you want top notch quality, and pretty much every things spec'd to your liking, then yes. You will have a long wait time and a hefty price tag. You will get a truly one of a kind instrument with incredible attention to detail.
What would I chage if I had custom ordered it? I'd put a Super D in the bridge, maybe a PAF Pro in the neck. I'd probably go for solid flamed or quilted maple body wings, a stained finish (probably black cherry or blood red with black underneath) and all black hardware.
Here's some pics that Neal shot when it was built. I haven't had a chance to take any pics myself:
Here's a closeup of the body:
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It's a Moser 10 with the following specs:
Two piece laminated Maple neck, Ebony finger board with pearl diamond inlays, Pau Ferro head plate, Grover Super Rotomatics with the Imperial head, Ebony stringers, solid "black Limba" wings, TonePros bridge, DiMarzio Super II bridge, DiMarzio PAF neck, chrome bezels, full MCS custom electronics, Qparts knobs.
I gotta admit, I would have never ordered a guitar with these specs. I'm not a fan of natural finishes, I really like DiMarzio Super Distorion pickups, and black hardware. I've always wanted a Bich guitar (Neal designed the Bich but his are called Moser 10 or Moser 6 depending on the amount of strings) and figured, why not, I'll take a chance.
The guitar isn't light, I'm going to guess it's probably 8 pounds or so. The neck is thick; I've grown to like thick necks because thin necks make my hand hurt. It's got medium frets; I prefer jumbo. The finish is flawless and so is the overall build. The action is super low with very little buzz; it's very consistent all over the neck. The fingerboard is very thick and the inlays are super tight. I can't see any filler around them. This is a very resonant guitar; it sounds great unplugged. The bridge feels very soild and doesn't dig into my hand like a BCR Quad bridge can sometimes do. The pictures really don't do it any justice; it's super glossy and so much more "alive" in person.
I've had people ask what's up with the 10 strings and all the knobs. It's just like a 12 string, but the 2 lowest strings don't have strings next to them. The D and G extra strings are tuned at octaves, and the B and E extra strings are tuned in unision. It's very easy to play but not easy to bend. The extra strings can be removed; the string spacing on the main 6 strings is just like that on any 1 11/16 nut guitar. When I play thru my amp with a lot of gain, the extra strings don't add mudd or fuss; everything is just a little thicker and almost chorus-y.
As far as the electronics go, here's a diagram:
I played thru my clean channel, fired up both boosters, and got a super saturated sound. It actually wasn't very noisy at all. Tone wise, it wasn't what I'd normally use, but it wasn't bad. When I play through the gain channels and play with the boosters, they seem to add a lot of sustain for leads and don't muddy my lead tones. The varitone is pretty cool. You get 6 distinct mid sounds; some are wah-like, some are deep and bubbly. It's not a wah replacement but it's pretty damn cool.
The Super 2 pickup in the bridge is brighter and crisper than my Super D's. The mids sound scooped in comparison, but without a Super D reference, they don't sound mid scooped at all. I think pick harmonics are a little more noticeable with the Super D; however, I haven't been able to crank my amp with this guitar yet. Also, my arm is still healing, so I can't give it a workout like I normally would.
I'm currently pretty damn happy with this guitar. It just feels flawless and sounds great. Every detail is perfect. The fact that it was handcrafted is a plus. I'm not a Les Paul or Strat guy. I like unique shapes and I don't go searching for a guitar to give me a certain tone. I know how my amp sounds, I know the pickups I like. This guitar plays and sounds a certain way, which I like.
Would I recommend MCS guitars? If you want top notch quality, and pretty much every things spec'd to your liking, then yes. You will have a long wait time and a hefty price tag. You will get a truly one of a kind instrument with incredible attention to detail.
What would I chage if I had custom ordered it? I'd put a Super D in the bridge, maybe a PAF Pro in the neck. I'd probably go for solid flamed or quilted maple body wings, a stained finish (probably black cherry or blood red with black underneath) and all black hardware.
Here's some pics that Neal shot when it was built. I haven't had a chance to take any pics myself:
Here's a closeup of the body:
Damn, that's sweet! Congrats. 
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