Solar Guitars by Ola Englund

[Kyle Jordan]

Have you ever played a LTD Thin U neck but with a 43mm nut? because it feels just the same. Normally LTD Thin U necks are 42mm nut width even with locking nut but if you can imagine that neck a bit wider feeling... that's it. On the other hand if you have ever played one of their Extra Thin U necks but with the 43mm nut width then just imagine the neck a hair thicker...

I measured my Solar and the thickness is about 20mm for first fret and 22mm for 12th fret so pretty close to LTD Thin U neck BUT the most important thing is that, at least my Solar because that's the only one I have played, have a bit of a rounded fretboard edges that makes it a bit more comfortable than LTD's necks... if you can handle the extra width...

Somedays I prefer my old LTD because of the narrow neck, somedays I prefer the Solar because of the smooth and rounder feeling...

Thanks for sharing this.

Sadly, it puts Solar likely off of my watch list as the main reason I've always preferred Jackson and Ibanez quite strongly over ESP/LTD is because the ESP neck shapes and I are at odds.

This sucks because there are a good amount of Solar models I'd like to experiment with in the future.

 

[AJS]

Have you ever played a LTD Thin U neck but with a 43mm nut? because it feels just the same. Normally LTD Thin U necks are 42mm nut width even with locking nut but if you can imagine that neck a bit wider feeling... that's it. On the other hand if you have ever played one of their Extra Thin U necks but with the 43mm nut width then just imagine the neck a hair thicker...

I measured my Solar and the thickness is about 20mm for first fret and 22mm for 12th fret so pretty close to LTD Thin U neck BUT the most important thing is that, at least my Solar because that's the only one I have played, have a bit of a rounded fretboard edges that makes it a bit more comfortable than LTD's necks... if you can handle the extra width...

Somedays I prefer my old LTD because of the narrow neck, somedays I prefer the Solar because of the smooth and rounder feeling...

Are all the models the same neck shape and thickness?

 

[T00DEEPBLUE]

Are all the models the same neck shape and thickness?

Yup. They're supposed to be all the same for models with the same number of strings.

 

[vilk]

Have you ever played a LTD Thin U neck but with a 43mm nut? because it feels just the same. Normally LTD Thin U necks are 42mm nut width even with locking nut but if you can imagine that neck a bit wider feeling... that's it. On the other hand if you have ever played one of their Extra Thin U necks but with the 43mm nut width then just imagine the neck a hair thicker...

I measured my Solar and the thickness is about 20mm for first fret and 22mm for 12th fret so pretty close to LTD Thin U neck BUT the most important thing is that, at least my Solar because that's the only one I have played, have a bit of a rounded fretboard edges that makes it a bit more comfortable than LTD's necks... if you can handle the extra width...

Somedays I prefer my old LTD because of the narrow neck, somedays I prefer the Solar because of the smooth and rounder feeling...

Thank you very much for the thorough description. I did used to have a viper 400, I thought the neck was great. I also had a Grass Roots (Indo made ESP for Japanese market) Horizon which was pretty similar. I really really regret trading that one...

You're definitely not helping my GAS for a Solar... if they ever make that blonde headstock maple fb V with a Floyd I don't think I'd be able to stop myself from ordering...

 

[Decapitated]

I have a Solar, Jackson Custom Shop SL2H, Ibanez RG550, and an ESP M-II and I have no problem switching from each of them.

 

[danbox]

Man I really like those bolt on roasted maple necks on the black open pore - but don’t want to deal with evertune

 

[T00DEEPBLUE]

Man I really like those bolt on roasted maple necks on the black open pore - but don’t want to deal with evertune

You can use an Evertune just like a normal fixed bridge. Simply set up zone 2 to be way below the tension of the desired tuning (takes 1 minute per string to do) and you're done.

 

[MrBouleDeBowling]

Please Ola, don't ever release a V with that finish. I have bills to pay

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

View attachment 97648
Please Ola, don't ever release a V with that finish. I have bills to pay

Oh fuck, you just made me realize how fucked I am if they did a V or E in that color.

 

[soul_lip_mike]

Solar tops are just thin veneers right?

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Solar tops are just thin veneers right?

Yep. I wish more companies would do like PRS SE does and put plain maple under the veneers.

 

[Emperoff]

Yep. I wish more companies would do like PRS SE does and put plain maple under the veneers.

I used to think that way, but I'm not so sure anymore. Let's be honest, we all want those tops for the pretty looks. I have an archtop Jackson with a one inch thick maple top and the thing is friggin' heavy and super bright. OTOH, my Jackson B7 with a maple veneer is light as a feather and much more tonally balanced.

I think that setup works best for the old Gibson/PRS vibe (full mahogany guitars + maple cap). On other combinations I don't see the appeal anymore.

 

[Amenthea]

Calling me butthurt when you're the one attempting to characterise me because my opinion is different to yours is extremely childish dude.

Mate, that's exactly what you are doing. Continuously rolling a 1 on self awareness isn't doing you any favours.
Tbh if you hadn't cried so hard about them making something you didn't like bad enough it could of had it's own thread and then talking down to anyone who disagreed I wouldn't have bothered with you. Also, your complete unwillingness to admit that people just like things you don't and utter dedication to having the last word is what's dragging this out lol

You're just a random triggered person on a forum, get over it and go play some guitar or something lol

 

[Amenthea]

Has anyone heard about the cracked boards of late? That seemed to have been a big thing suddenly and then died down?

I quite like the look of the AB as maple is my thing, what are the SC's like in those? I would usually role the tone down for a rounder sound but can't really do that if it's one with only a volume pot.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Has anyone heard about the cracked boards of late? That seemed to have been a big thing suddenly and then died down?.

Either the factories got a better load of ebony

or as some of us was saying in other thread; click bait youtubers and influencers trying to ride the drama for more attention.

 

[Amenthea]

Either the factories got a better load of ebony

or as some of us was saying in other thread; click bait youtubers and influencers trying to ride the drama for more attention.

Thanks, I thought that might have been the case but it's hard to know, and it felt like YouTube had the knives out for him for a hot minute and it put me off getting anything.
As it was I'd just moved and it's a lot more humid here and I didn't want to become a statistic..

 

[Emperoff]

Has anyone heard about the cracked boards of late? That seemed to have been a big thing suddenly and then died down?

Well, it makes sense that if your reputation is being tarnished, you do something about it and fix it. Ola probably reinforced (put more dollars) the QC after that.

Ebony can crack even on high end instruments anyway (even if well taken care off) under extreme climates. Too much time inside a hot car of a truck, sudden climatic differences while shipping, etc. Which is why I always loved rosewood despite internet's hate (very forgiving to mantain).

 

[drb]

It wasn't just Youtubers, the Facebook group was inundated with awful QC flaws, people even had cracks in roasted maple fretboards.

Ola did do something about it, they changed the QC process drastically and they flooded hundreds of guitars onto their B-stock 'outlet' on the website. Since that change, the complaints have died down almost completely, other than people buying older stock from 3rd party shops.

I've had a 6 and 7 for about a year now, which bought in the height of the QC issues. The only problem I have had is a slight crack in the 7's fretboard which was fixed by GuitarGuitar in the UK, where I bought it. Otherwise they're fantastic instruments to play.

 

[drb]

Trying to talk about Solar guitars in the Solar guitars thread:

 

[NoodleFace]

It wasn't just Youtubers, the Facebook group was inundated with awful QC flaws, people even had cracks in roasted maple fretboards.

Ola did do something about it, they changed the QC process drastically and they flooded hundreds of guitars onto their B-stock 'outlet' on the website. Since that change, the complaints have died down almost completely, other than people buying older stock from 3rd party shops.

I've had a 6 and 7 for about a year now, which bought in the height of the QC issues. The only problem I have had is a slight crack in the 7's fretboard which was fixed by GuitarGuitar in the UK, where I bought it. Otherwise they're fantastic instruments to play.

Good to hear. I think Solar is my next guitar and came to this thread to ask about this.

I couldn't care less about the peeling logo, but the cracked fret boards worried me.