Winspear
Winspear/Noisemother
Hey guys!
Firstly a bit of backstory behind this guitar. Pics are at the bottom
I owned a cheap RG7321 whilst my ViK 9 was being built. During this time I fell in love with an open tuning after trying David Micics tuning (G# D# G# D# G# A#). I tried this transposed up to C#, turns out it's a transposition of the fairly popular acoustic tuning Csus2 - CGCGCD. I think Devin also uses this but in major (E on top). I prefer having the 2nd as a barre and being able to add the minor or major. I throw a low F# on there just as it seems to fit well into the riffs I write in that tuning.
My friend Mehtab happened to aware me of this Egan run just a week before it was due to close. As it happened, the specs were exactly what I had in mind for a baritone 7 for this tuning. Down to the birdseye maple. With an incredibly reasonable price and build time, it had to be. Joe Egan was kind enough to let me hop in at the last minute, and even accommodated the few things I wanted to change from the specs!
Here's the specs:
Strandberg official hardware
7 strings tuned F# C# G# C# G# C# D#
27.8 - 26.3 scale (14th fret parallel)
Bareknuckle Aftermath bridge and VHII neck (fanned)
Dual volume controls with coiltap pushpull
3way toggle
Dunlop recessed straplocks
Standard neck profile
24 stainless steel extra jumbo frets
Swamp ash body
5 piece birdseye maple/wenge neck
Pale moon ebony fretboard
Triple binding white/black/white
Luminlays (green)
Black stained top
Water based lacquer , satin finish
18" radius
Bolt on construction
The difference from the other guitars in this run is that I did not go with the EndurNeck profile, and whereas the others are I believe 27-26, I went 27.8-26.3 and with BKPs instead of Lace pickups.
So, with that out the way here's a thorough review. I'll approach this bit by bit the same way I did for my ViK. And because I know you'll be wanting them, comparisons where relevant
It arrived in a very nice Gator case which is kinda a soft-hardshell. Very lightweight and fabric exterior but with some kind of armor.
Joe included a strap and some straplocks which is sweet. However I don't need them as I had the strapbuttons positioned similarly (rear of upper horn) to my ViK so I can just use the same strap.
It's unbelievably light. I can't remember the exact weight of the body blank but I think Joe said it was about 2lbs, the lightest he'd found. The entire guitar weighs in at just 4.75lbs!
Hardware:
I'll start with the hardware. As with many others it seems, I'm not entirely sold on it. Set up was a bit of a hassle, having to detune to adjust action and intonation repeatedly. This was a nuisance because the tuners are a little tough to turn to pitch, especially if you like higher tension (which I do). You have to be careful not to adjust string spacing when adjusting intonation. The headpieces are fine. Once setup however it's all good - the bridge is incredibly comfy and the position and angle is perfect. Really easy to get fantastic purry mutes, which was harder on the ViK given how far back the low saddles are (and the ABMs on that aren't quite as comfy).
Truss rod is a dual action, turns out I didn't actually need to use it but if I did I would have had to remove the middle string retainer as the screw goes across the channel. The channel is very deep and I would need to buy a longer allen wrench rather than just using the keys I am used to. No biggy
Nut: Nut is nicely cut for the bigger strings I told Joe I was going to be using (but didn't make him go out and buy for setup, haha). It's not a perfect fit into the channel as Polythoral pointed out on his NGD but it's good enough for me. What's a thorough review if not overly critical about things that would bother some people? Worth noting it's not perfect on the ViK either (it's only flaw )
This guitar has a zero fret which is neat, always wanted to try one. I do think it could have done with more break angle (deeper channel for the string retainers) but it's not too little.
Neck,board,frets:
The neck blows my mind. The birdseye is wonderfully figured and wenge is always nice It's a 20mm uniform profile as far as I can tell but it feels thinner. I recently played .strandberg* #6 formerly of Fred Brum + Rook, which has a Toone Trapezoid Neck Profile (which was incredible).
This thin D neck almost reminds me of that very slightly if I play with my thumb over (which I sometimes do on 6/7 strings). The feel on my thumb gives the impression of a very very soft trapezoid, but you really can't see it at all and I'm sure that wasn't an intention. It just struck me as a very unique feel and it's certainly the nicest standard neck I've played I chose not to go with the EndurNeck as I'd never tried it and don't like the idea of different positions favouring upper/lower strings. Toone TNP makes more sense to me.
The binding job is very neat with very few flaws, and the luminlays are a really nice touch. They are installed perfectly with no visible gaps - just one of the ones at fret 24 is slightly off center. Again, whatever, this is a handmade guitar
The fretboard is amazing. First time I've seen PME in person and the figure is pretty incredible. There seems to be a very small chip where some of the black figure has come out just underneath the 20th or so fret. Doesn't affect anything.
I wanted a slightly bigger fan than the initial spec here, to allow me to use a 76 F# string at 20lbs with clear tone, whilst not going too long on the treble. The parallel is at 14 to fit the 10 degree BKPs perfectly, which on a fan this small of course does not give any issue with nut angle. It's perfectly comfortable at both ends, good choice
The frets are the only thing I'd perhaps change. They have quite flat tops which I am not used to and seem to be the breaking point when it comes to setup. Luckily I am not big on super low action and this guitar is intended for little other than riffing/cleans. The lowest action I was able to achieve is 3mm on the bass and 2mm on the treble before the highest and lowest string start to become troublesome above fret 19. I'm perfectly ok with this but it's worth pointing out as I know that's too high for some. My ViK I run at 1.5-2.5mm and it can go a huge amount lower before notes actually die (you can infact remove the action screws entirely.) However I checked the fretjob and see no issues. It's great. I can only think the reason for not being able to go lower is the fret shape, but it's not necessary for me at all.
Heel/joint:
I'm a bit spoiled by the setneck with no heel of the ViK, but this bolt on is lovely. Some of the thickness is taken off which feels and looks awesome, but a bit of a carve would be nice. It's not too obstructive however and I'm not going to be shredding around up there, so it gets a thumbs up from me Seems to impart a very nice snappy attack acoustically. The treble side of the joint isn't the neatest thing and is perhaps the only flaw on this guitar I'd consider significant.
Body:
The Strandberg body design is perfect. Great for any position and the carves sit very well on the torso. Along with the weight, this guitar is just ridiculously comfy strapped on.
Pickups/tone:
Acoustically it's incredibly loud and resonant. Perhaps moreso than the ViK. My first time using BKPs and I am very happy with my choice. The VHII is the best neck pickup I've ever used, incredibly smooth. The Aftermath had a lot more body than I expected/wanted but after backing it off it has a huge thick clear tone. Thicker than I planned but I'm glad, really digging it This guitar has the best cleans I've had the pleasure to play. Similar to a Tele I think. Absolutely gorgeous attack and so incredibly intricate and dynamic. On distortion the purr of that bridge pickup with a good mute is just phenomenal. The coil tap is great and I think I'm going to swap the parallel on the ViK for a coiltap now
Controls:
Great. The blade switch certainly looks great on the .strandberg* design even if it is only a 3way and it's very smooth to use. The ebony knobs were a lovely touch.
Finish:
Perfect. Gotta love textured stained swamp ash. Not much more to say about that!
All in all I am incredibly happy with this guitar and would give it 8.5/10. It's exactly what I was looking for in a modern ballsy metal guitar, and the clean tone is just the best surprise ever. I want that on my ViK now
It's an absolute breeze to play and the size/weight continues to blow me away. This is #2 in the 'guitars for life' collection. Thanks Joe
I highly recommend Egan Guitars, very talented and accommodating luthier.
I'll be working on a 2 min video clip for you guys over this week so stay tuned! Here are some very quick picks, gotta dash!
Firstly a bit of backstory behind this guitar. Pics are at the bottom
I owned a cheap RG7321 whilst my ViK 9 was being built. During this time I fell in love with an open tuning after trying David Micics tuning (G# D# G# D# G# A#). I tried this transposed up to C#, turns out it's a transposition of the fairly popular acoustic tuning Csus2 - CGCGCD. I think Devin also uses this but in major (E on top). I prefer having the 2nd as a barre and being able to add the minor or major. I throw a low F# on there just as it seems to fit well into the riffs I write in that tuning.
My friend Mehtab happened to aware me of this Egan run just a week before it was due to close. As it happened, the specs were exactly what I had in mind for a baritone 7 for this tuning. Down to the birdseye maple. With an incredibly reasonable price and build time, it had to be. Joe Egan was kind enough to let me hop in at the last minute, and even accommodated the few things I wanted to change from the specs!
Here's the specs:
Strandberg official hardware
7 strings tuned F# C# G# C# G# C# D#
27.8 - 26.3 scale (14th fret parallel)
Bareknuckle Aftermath bridge and VHII neck (fanned)
Dual volume controls with coiltap pushpull
3way toggle
Dunlop recessed straplocks
Standard neck profile
24 stainless steel extra jumbo frets
Swamp ash body
5 piece birdseye maple/wenge neck
Pale moon ebony fretboard
Triple binding white/black/white
Luminlays (green)
Black stained top
Water based lacquer , satin finish
18" radius
Bolt on construction
The difference from the other guitars in this run is that I did not go with the EndurNeck profile, and whereas the others are I believe 27-26, I went 27.8-26.3 and with BKPs instead of Lace pickups.
So, with that out the way here's a thorough review. I'll approach this bit by bit the same way I did for my ViK. And because I know you'll be wanting them, comparisons where relevant
It arrived in a very nice Gator case which is kinda a soft-hardshell. Very lightweight and fabric exterior but with some kind of armor.
Joe included a strap and some straplocks which is sweet. However I don't need them as I had the strapbuttons positioned similarly (rear of upper horn) to my ViK so I can just use the same strap.
It's unbelievably light. I can't remember the exact weight of the body blank but I think Joe said it was about 2lbs, the lightest he'd found. The entire guitar weighs in at just 4.75lbs!
Hardware:
I'll start with the hardware. As with many others it seems, I'm not entirely sold on it. Set up was a bit of a hassle, having to detune to adjust action and intonation repeatedly. This was a nuisance because the tuners are a little tough to turn to pitch, especially if you like higher tension (which I do). You have to be careful not to adjust string spacing when adjusting intonation. The headpieces are fine. Once setup however it's all good - the bridge is incredibly comfy and the position and angle is perfect. Really easy to get fantastic purry mutes, which was harder on the ViK given how far back the low saddles are (and the ABMs on that aren't quite as comfy).
Truss rod is a dual action, turns out I didn't actually need to use it but if I did I would have had to remove the middle string retainer as the screw goes across the channel. The channel is very deep and I would need to buy a longer allen wrench rather than just using the keys I am used to. No biggy
Nut: Nut is nicely cut for the bigger strings I told Joe I was going to be using (but didn't make him go out and buy for setup, haha). It's not a perfect fit into the channel as Polythoral pointed out on his NGD but it's good enough for me. What's a thorough review if not overly critical about things that would bother some people? Worth noting it's not perfect on the ViK either (it's only flaw
)This guitar has a zero fret which is neat, always wanted to try one. I do think it could have done with more break angle (deeper channel for the string retainers) but it's not too little.
Neck,board,frets:
The neck blows my mind. The birdseye is wonderfully figured and wenge is always nice
It's a 20mm uniform profile as far as I can tell but it feels thinner. I recently played .strandberg* #6 formerly of Fred Brum + Rook, which has a Toone Trapezoid Neck Profile (which was incredible). This thin D neck almost reminds me of that very slightly if I play with my thumb over (which I sometimes do on 6/7 strings). The feel on my thumb gives the impression of a very very soft trapezoid, but you really can't see it at all and I'm sure that wasn't an intention. It just struck me as a very unique feel and it's certainly the nicest standard neck I've played
I chose not to go with the EndurNeck as I'd never tried it and don't like the idea of different positions favouring upper/lower strings. Toone TNP makes more sense to me. The binding job is very neat with very few flaws, and the luminlays are a really nice touch. They are installed perfectly with no visible gaps - just one of the ones at fret 24 is slightly off center. Again, whatever, this is a handmade guitar
The fretboard is amazing. First time I've seen PME in person and the figure is pretty incredible. There seems to be a very small chip where some of the black figure has come out just underneath the 20th or so fret. Doesn't affect anything.
I wanted a slightly bigger fan than the initial spec here, to allow me to use a 76 F# string at 20lbs with clear tone, whilst not going too long on the treble. The parallel is at 14 to fit the 10 degree BKPs perfectly, which on a fan this small of course does not give any issue with nut angle. It's perfectly comfortable at both ends, good choice
The frets are the only thing I'd perhaps change. They have quite flat tops which I am not used to and seem to be the breaking point when it comes to setup. Luckily I am not big on super low action and this guitar is intended for little other than riffing/cleans. The lowest action I was able to achieve is 3mm on the bass and 2mm on the treble before the highest and lowest string start to become troublesome above fret 19. I'm perfectly ok with this but it's worth pointing out as I know that's too high for some. My ViK I run at 1.5-2.5mm and it can go a huge amount lower before notes actually die (you can infact remove the action screws entirely.) However I checked the fretjob and see no issues. It's great. I can only think the reason for not being able to go lower is the fret shape, but it's not necessary for me at all.
Heel/joint:
I'm a bit spoiled by the setneck with no heel of the ViK, but this bolt on is lovely. Some of the thickness is taken off which feels and looks awesome, but a bit of a carve would be nice. It's not too obstructive however and I'm not going to be shredding around up there, so it gets a thumbs up from me
Seems to impart a very nice snappy attack acoustically. The treble side of the joint isn't the neatest thing and is perhaps the only flaw on this guitar I'd consider significant. Body:
The Strandberg body design is perfect. Great for any position and the carves sit very well on the torso. Along with the weight, this guitar is just ridiculously comfy strapped on.
Pickups/tone:
Acoustically it's incredibly loud and resonant. Perhaps moreso than the ViK. My first time using BKPs and I am very happy with my choice. The VHII is the best neck pickup I've ever used, incredibly smooth. The Aftermath had a lot more body than I expected/wanted but after backing it off it has a huge thick clear tone. Thicker than I planned but I'm glad, really digging it
This guitar has the best cleans I've had the pleasure to play. Similar to a Tele I think. Absolutely gorgeous attack and so incredibly intricate and dynamic. On distortion the purr of that bridge pickup with a good mute is just phenomenal. The coil tap is great and I think I'm going to swap the parallel on the ViK for a coiltap now Controls:
Great. The blade switch certainly looks great on the .strandberg* design even if it is only a 3way and it's very smooth to use. The ebony knobs were a lovely touch.
Finish:
Perfect. Gotta love textured stained swamp ash. Not much more to say about that!
All in all I am incredibly happy with this guitar and would give it 8.5/10. It's exactly what I was looking for in a modern ballsy metal guitar, and the clean tone is just the best surprise ever. I want that on my ViK now
It's an absolute breeze to play and the size/weight continues to blow me away. This is #2 in the 'guitars for life' collection. Thanks Joe I highly recommend Egan Guitars, very talented and accommodating luthier.
I'll be working on a 2 min video clip for you guys over this week so stay tuned! Here are some very quick picks, gotta dash!
