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Old 09-20-2008, 05:56 PM
Jeff M Jeff M is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Not where I thought I was going, but probably where I need to be.
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I will say this.
The history of the company, (a vacationer in Indonesia with no experience building guitars saw some local craftsmen carving Balinese designs in wood and said "Hey!! I got an idea!!"), sudden "burst onto the scene" marketing, eBay store, Video NAMM interview with the company owner ( when asked to play one to show how it sounds, he strummed a C chord that it looked like he had a hard time fingering. At least Estaban can play...and Zager kind of knows "Starway to heaven" ), overseas production by people with NO experience actually building guitars, much less high end custom built instruments.
And then there is the design.
Thousands of grooves carved into the top? It looks like somebody took a cheese grater to it.
(And WHY DO THE GROOVES HAVE TO GO ON THE TOP ??!! )
All added up, these do not shout out "This is a quality guitar company that knows what we are doing."

If anybody is interested in these, I suggest that you talk with luthiers who had a chance to see these at the last NAMM. I've heard some of their feedback.
Their reports are quite...interesting.

Along the lines of what Kevin has said...
there are many excellent builders out there who have spent years and years perfecting their craft. Their combintion of workmanship and tone is a thing of beauty.
There are several large guitar companies who have been producting quality instruments for decades and decades, whose guitars are played by thousands of knowledgeable professional players, and have contributed to the "Holy Grail" guitar lore.

I want a guitar that has quality in fit and finish. That has guitar tone. That plays well. I want it all.
There are too many other fantastic builders out there to tempt me for me to be enticed by a "Blueberry".
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