New Soloist

[Budman68]

Re: New Soloist

<font color="aqua">How cool is that!?! I love the neck but I can definitely see why you'd like a brighter finish. It still looks amazing though! [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img] </font>

[shreddermon]

Re: New Soloist

[ QUOTE ]
So if any of you are tempted to pony up for a custom shop lacwood in the future, choose your finish color carefully.

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Interesting you should say this. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] And I was thinking of doing a trans red, too. Darker than that one, though. So I wonder if the wood grain would show better or worse with a darker finish? [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

BTW, trans red finishes never show well in pics, so I'm sure that looks much more killer in person. It's a cool one for sure. [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: New Soloist

I finally got around to changing strings, pulling the hardware, &amp; cleaning this one up last night and made an interesting observation: the finish on this one is just red tinted clear sprayed over the wood. Thus the pigment in the clear is just sitting there on top of the grain; the more coats applied, the less the grain is visible.

I'd guess (and hopefully one of our resident folks who does this sort of thing regularly will comment) that you could get a much better trans-red finish by dyeing the wood red then shooting clear. If you order one like that post pics, if it turns out well I'll send this one to GMW for a refin. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: New Soloist

Brad, how does it sound?
I used to have a Lacewood body guitar but it was bolt on and Maple neck.

They look killer and I would love to order a Lacewood Dinky like Phil's(oil finished over lace wood).

[fuel0707]

Re: New Soloist

Lacewood has such a different grain pattern to it. I love the neck on your guitar - looks fantastic!

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: New Soloist

Toru - I took a shot at describing it a bit above but I never really get much out of verbal/written descriptions of tone so I'm always worried that mine will be off so I wasn't overly specific.

Maybe this will help: I've probably gone through an average of 5-10 guitars/year during the 20+ years I've been playing. With that in mind:

Articulation: This one is articulate, not as articulate as my '95 PRS Custom 24 which is easily the most articulate guitar I've ever owned, but still very good. Probably in the top 10-20% of anything I've had long enough to form an impression. If I keep it I'll probably swap out the Custom for a Custom Custom that I have in the drawer as I think that would be a better match with the already-articulate properties of the wood (something a little less aggressive and with more clairty). Better yet I'll probably coil-tap the bridge hum as I think this one might be capable of producing some nice Strat-style tones with that setup.

Tone - If I drew a tonal spectrum with mahogany on one end (warm but dark and sometimes indistinct) and maple (for example) on the other (bright and clear but sometimes harsh) this would fall somewhere in the middle. Right now, having not spent a ton of time with it and having not pulled out a bunch of others to do A/B comparisons, I'd say it would fall just a little closer to the warm end of the spectrum, but *just* a little. And I reserve the right to change that opinion. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Resonance - Definitely above average, this one doesn't feel flat and dead (I've had some very expensive guitars that just felt dead when played). Certainly well into the top half of everything I've had, probably in the top 25%, and maybe a little better than that.

Sustain - Not really totally a property of the wood but I'd say it's par for the course for Soloists. Neither particularly good nor particularly bad.

Feel - The neck is raw (probably an oil finish that deteriorated over the years or was worn away) and feels very open-grained. So much so in fact that I too some 1000 grit sandpaper and knocked the raised grain back a little then cleaned the whole thing wish naptha and re-oiled it. Much better. Feels closer to mahogany than maple.

Overall - If I were assigning a grade to the guitar as a player I'd give it an 8.5/10. If I can find the right pup to complement the inherent properties of the instrument I think there's the potential for maybe a 9.5/10. And I'm a harsh reviewer.

I like it a lot but that's because it falls into an area that seems to be between some of the more common woods. I was tempted to refer to is as a potentially great jack-of-all-trades but it's better than that implies. Very good? Certainly. Excellent? Possibly. The holy graille? Probably not.

Of course all of the usual disclaimers apply: caveat emptor, your mileage may vary, I'm a moron/idiot/tone deaf/etc., I could be just making all this shit up, etc. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] And Paddok will be along shortly to inform you which of these is closest to the truth while letting you in on the fact that this one is really a dog and that's the only reason he sold it....
[img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Brooks has some comments on his site regarding his thoughts on his lacewood PC-1. It must be pretty cool as it looks like Phil hooked it for a few dates after playing it. I'd take that as a good sign.

When you're ready to do a limited run of neck-through PC-1s with lacewood necks &amp; bodies dyed emerald green, caramel flamed maple fingerboards, &amp; gold hardware - give me a call. [img]/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif[/img]

[xenophobe]

Re: New Soloist

[ QUOTE ]
Of course all of the usual disclaimers apply: caveat emptor, your mileage may vary, I'm a moron/idiot/tone deaf/etc., I could be just making all this shit up, etc. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

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[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

LMFAO!!! That's the funniest thing I've read in weeks.

Great review! [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: New Soloist

Thank you for the review Brad!

I was about to order my Lacewood Dinky early this year but ended up with something else.
I would love to have one with Lacewood but I would probably go with Bolt on...