Pietjepieter
Contributor
A little delayed NGD, got this thing already in October but was a little busy, and time passes to quickly...
First do some pictures (excuses for the bad quality and the mess in the studio...)
Specs of this thing:
* Scale: 29.4 - 27.4 inch
* black limba body, buckeye burl top, macassar fretboard, wedge maple neck
* Lundgren M8, hipshot hardware, SS frets, dunlop flush mount strap lock things.
* cool glow in the dark inlay
Little back ground:
I was looking for a second eight string, preferably somewhere close to where I live so I could pick it up. Had some bad experience with postal companies, so did not want to go that route again.
Then I saw this guitar for sale this forum. And I thought cool a Red Layer... second thought: way to fancy, scale length is freaky massive, missing a neck pickup; not mine cup of tea. However I was curious about the guitar, I never played on a scale length more than 28" and also Red Layer makes some uber cool guitars. So I asked the seller if I could try it, no problem, tried it, bought it... can happen
So the reason why i bought it is quite simple: it is a freaking great instrument!
It is basically a more fancy and more ergonomic ibby m8(0)m (scale length, Lundgren)
But it would not do the guitar justice to compare it to a ibby, it's a thing on it own!
Some points that I really like about the guitar:
* The scale length! (more about that somewhere below)
* Simple as it can be, one pickup, volume knob and that is it, love it
* It is lightweight for such a big instrument (lighter than my Ibby RG for instance)
* The upper fret access is really great, due to the set neck I suppose, almost same as with my Claas
* It is well balanced, no neck drive.
* It is quite ergonomic. I play a lot in the classic position, and this instrument is very well suited for that. I think because the bridge is quite far to the back of the body. It almost plays like a headless in classic position. And that is one of the reasons why I like headless guitars so much!
* Build quality and hardware is great!
* Sounds really great and somehow unique, very different than my other guitars!
On the other side there are also some points that I don't like that much
* The scale length!
* Only one pickup...
* The the big inlay on the neck is centered around the 11th fret, and not the 12th. Now I am used to it, and no problem at all, but when I first had it confused my hands....
* It is big!
As you might notice there are some points on the guitar that I like and don't like at the same time.
First the scale length: for the low E (I tune my 8 strings as EBEADGBE) the 29'4 inch is great, strings don't need to be so thick for some tension, which results in a nicer sound, anyway you know where I am talking about I suppose. But the scale length is also doing something with how it's played. There are things I cannot play on this, for instance a riff as Periphery's Marigold is almost impossible (why would you whanne play that on a eight anyhow?). On the other side it makes playing above the 12th fret easier. There are some solo/sweep parts that are more easier on this one than on a "normal" scale guitar.
I think all things considered that the scale length has it's pros sound wise in the lows and (for me) playability wise on the highs. And the cons are the opposite, playability on the lows is less and the sound on the highs as well (bends etc.). I think for me personal a 28" to 26.5" inch scale on a eight is best of both worlds.
However really cool thing is that the scale length makes it something different from my other guitars, and used well it is really something special!
Pickup: I really love the simplicity of just one pickup, volume knob and that's it; deal with it!
But also sometimes I really miss a neck pickup, when playing leads. Also I like sometime to split the bridge pickup for some rhythm stuff... I did emaile Red Layer and he told me that they can build in a neck pickup.
I really don't know, at the one hand I love it as it is, on the other hand I would also love some more possibilities sound wise... first world problem
Oh and it has super cool glow in the dark stuff that i tried to put on photo but failed:
And last a family picture with my other eight string:
It is really a great guitar, it is very well built, a beautiful beast, super ergonomic and great sounding. I could not be more happy with it!
Check out Red Layer guitars, if you never heard of them!
EDIT: some typos.....
First do some pictures (excuses for the bad quality and the mess in the studio...)
Specs of this thing:
* Scale: 29.4 - 27.4 inch
* black limba body, buckeye burl top, macassar fretboard, wedge maple neck
* Lundgren M8, hipshot hardware, SS frets, dunlop flush mount strap lock things.
* cool glow in the dark inlay
Little back ground:
I was looking for a second eight string, preferably somewhere close to where I live so I could pick it up. Had some bad experience with postal companies, so did not want to go that route again.
Then I saw this guitar for sale this forum. And I thought cool a Red Layer... second thought: way to fancy, scale length is freaky massive, missing a neck pickup; not mine cup of tea. However I was curious about the guitar, I never played on a scale length more than 28" and also Red Layer makes some uber cool guitars. So I asked the seller if I could try it, no problem, tried it, bought it... can happen
So the reason why i bought it is quite simple: it is a freaking great instrument!
It is basically a more fancy and more ergonomic ibby m8(0)m (scale length, Lundgren)
But it would not do the guitar justice to compare it to a ibby, it's a thing on it own!
Some points that I really like about the guitar:
* The scale length! (more about that somewhere below)
* Simple as it can be, one pickup, volume knob and that is it, love it
* It is lightweight for such a big instrument (lighter than my Ibby RG for instance)
* The upper fret access is really great, due to the set neck I suppose, almost same as with my Claas
* It is well balanced, no neck drive.
* It is quite ergonomic. I play a lot in the classic position, and this instrument is very well suited for that. I think because the bridge is quite far to the back of the body. It almost plays like a headless in classic position. And that is one of the reasons why I like headless guitars so much!
* Build quality and hardware is great!
* Sounds really great and somehow unique, very different than my other guitars!
On the other side there are also some points that I don't like that much
* The scale length!
* Only one pickup...
* The the big inlay on the neck is centered around the 11th fret, and not the 12th. Now I am used to it, and no problem at all, but when I first had it confused my hands....
* It is big!
As you might notice there are some points on the guitar that I like and don't like at the same time.
First the scale length: for the low E (I tune my 8 strings as EBEADGBE) the 29'4 inch is great, strings don't need to be so thick for some tension, which results in a nicer sound, anyway you know where I am talking about I suppose. But the scale length is also doing something with how it's played. There are things I cannot play on this, for instance a riff as Periphery's Marigold is almost impossible (why would you whanne play that on a eight anyhow?). On the other side it makes playing above the 12th fret easier. There are some solo/sweep parts that are more easier on this one than on a "normal" scale guitar.
I think all things considered that the scale length has it's pros sound wise in the lows and (for me) playability wise on the highs. And the cons are the opposite, playability on the lows is less and the sound on the highs as well (bends etc.). I think for me personal a 28" to 26.5" inch scale on a eight is best of both worlds.
However really cool thing is that the scale length makes it something different from my other guitars, and used well it is really something special!
Pickup: I really love the simplicity of just one pickup, volume knob and that's it; deal with it!
But also sometimes I really miss a neck pickup, when playing leads. Also I like sometime to split the bridge pickup for some rhythm stuff... I did emaile Red Layer and he told me that they can build in a neck pickup.
I really don't know, at the one hand I love it as it is, on the other hand I would also love some more possibilities sound wise... first world problem
Oh and it has super cool glow in the dark stuff that i tried to put on photo but failed:
And last a family picture with my other eight string:
It is really a great guitar, it is very well built, a beautiful beast, super ergonomic and great sounding. I could not be more happy with it!
Check out Red Layer guitars, if you never heard of them!
EDIT: some typos.....
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