Custom 7 - Invictus vs. ET

[j_opiate]

Hey guys, hope some of you have experience with any of these luthiers!

I'm thinking of investing in a custom 7 stringer during 2012 and I'm kinda torn between two luthiers. As the headline said it's Invictur Guitars and ET Guitars. You can check them out here:

http://www.invictusguitars.co.uk/
http://www.etguitars.com

I really like the designs from Invictus, but I've also been looking a lot at the Katana Prototype that ET has made for one of the guys from Northlane.

You can check it here:
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/lu...4183-et-guitars-katana-7-prototype-build.html

So any experience you can share? Because a potential custom guitar from any of these shops would be fitted to my needs, this shouldn't be a discussion about specs, but quality, service, etc.

Hope you can help me out!

Check my band Opiate: www.facebook.com/opiateband

 

[Fillifax]

You're from Copenhagen = get a Jens H.

(Also, Opiate kicks all kinds of ass)

 

[Fillifax]

Also, can't check out Invictus as their page isn't open yet.

Personally, I WOULD NOT go with ET guitars. Beautiful guitars, but as they're not it Europe, you'll have to spend a ton of money on moms, gebyrer and so on. Money you could have spend on sweet,sweet upgrades if you'd gone with Invictus.

 

[vampiregenocide]

Barely anyone has experience with Invictus, as they've only just started up. They've made literally a handful of customs, however I believe Vildhjarta and Browne from Monuments are endorsed by them, so we shall see.

 

[j_opiate]

Thanks for the replies!

Well Fillifax, I don't really like the JEH guitar.. at least not the once I have seen on his webpage..

 

[Fillifax]

Thanks for the replies!

Well Fillifax, I don't really like the JEH guitar.. at least not the once I have seen on his webpage..

Agreed, he doesn't usually make them "mædl" but the Icarus guitar he made...

Anyways, the wise men says that if you buy from outside EU you have to multiply your total cost with about 1,4. That's a lot of "extra" you could've spend those money on. Just my 2 cents.

 

[j_opiate]

Thanks for the advice

 

[IkarusOnFire]

from the owner of said "Icarus" guitar (me, that is)
..Jens' handywork is great. Mine was built 3 years ago, and have some minor issues, that I myself overlooked. That his guitars don't look metal - means his customers usually don't play metal.

He takes 6-9 months to build your guitar - and you get to spec everything - woods, dimensions, pickups, hardware...His inlays are great - I realize he uses a CNCmachine. That, however, makes everything fit just perfectly IMO. I am planning my next build with him, and my friend - guitarist extraordinaire from Kolera, Lasse, is having a red 7 string built at Jens.

The only downside - no cases. So you'll need to dish out cash for a custom case - unless you use standard dimensions.

I realize there are many great luthiers out there - I for one, find it invaluable, to have him 30 mins away - I can check up on the build, I can bring the guitar to him with no problems if something should be amiss. And no extra taxes added - no fear of shipping breaking your precious guitar.

Want an extreme body style? Don't worry - he can make it like you want it

// Marcus

 

[Nautilus]

Im currently part way through an Invictus build myself, not only have I been talking with Invictus a LOT but I've been down and spent a day at Gareth's workshop.

In short-they are a great lot. I got to try out some of their guitars and had a look at a few of the Invictus builds. I've been talking with Invictus on pretty much a daily basis as the build progresses and everything has been really great.

Apart from the customer relations bit, the guitars I've demo'd are brilliant. There is certainly a blend of different influences in Gareth's builds, and although it's not radically different in any way (like, Strandberg/Decibel different) it's excecuted very well.

I think Invictus have a few set shapes you may chose from. From then on it's basically up to you. Right now the workshop is really pushing to buid a reputation. That means if you do get in on the action you'll most likely be able to take advantage of lower prices and waiting times...

I appreciate it sounds like a bit of a sales pitch. Haha, the crux of it is that I'm a paying customer and I'm extremely impressed with what I've seen.

 

[Fillifax]

from the owner of said "Icarus" guitar (me, that is)
..Jens' handywork is great. Mine was built 3 years ago, and have some minor issues, that I myself overlooked. That his guitars don't look metal - means his customers usually don't play metal.

He takes 6-9 months to build your guitar - and you get to spec everything - woods, dimensions, pickups, hardware...His inlays are great - I realize he uses a CNCmachine. That, however, makes everything fit just perfectly IMO. I am planning my next build with him, and my friend - guitarist extraordinaire from Kolera, Lasse, is having a red 7 string built at Jens.

The only downside - no cases. So you'll need to dish out cash for a custom case - unless you use standard dimensions.

I realize there are many great luthiers out there - I for one, find it invaluable, to have him 30 mins away - I can check up on the build, I can bring the guitar to him with no problems if something should be amiss. And no extra taxes added - no fear of shipping breaking your precious guitar.

Want an extreme body style? Don't worry - he can make it like you want it

// Marcus

That guitar is extremely awesome. By the way, I think he started doing molded cases now

 

[Pengu]

I recently bought a new 7. ET made the neck on the guitar... wow just wow...

As for speaking and ordering directly from Ernie I haven't had much experience with him. Although all the people I have spoken to that have ordered from Ernie, say that he has pretty short build times. And the quality is just superb!