Thoughts on GOC Guitars?

[Marv Attaxx]

Well, my Materia 2.0 had fucked up neck holes because they drilled it too large. And instead of rebuilding the neck or at least properly filling the holes and redrilling them, what did they do? Literally cut up guitar strings, stuff those inside the drillholes and tighten the neckscrews like that. Also I wasn't able to tune the 7th and 8th string without causing damage because the tuners were mounted crooked, which tells a lot about QC or the setup. How many strandbergs have these kinds of faults?
My guitar felt great in the beginning and, as mentioned, the fretwork was truly amazing. But the rest was firewood at best. If the 3.0 are great: fair enough! But I'm out and I can't encourage anyone to put their money on GOC either. Also Guitarmory, still no pickups after almost 2 1/2 years and I even got a new confrmation mail about 2 months ago....

 

[olejason]

They seem like garbage tier Chinese guitars. Better to save pennies and get something from a reputable company.

 

[mbardu]

They seem like garbage tier Chinese guitars. Better to save pennies and get something from a reputable company.

Yeah, and to think Strandberg is charging more than premium prices for those too...

 

[Marv Attaxx]

Yeah, and to think Strandberg is charging more than premium prices for those too...

Strandberg charges more for a guitar that's made in some Indonesian sweatshop than many Europe-based Custom Shops, at least in regards to the base models
While I do admire the ideas behind the Strandberg design (without overhyping it, it's still just a guitar) I'd rather get a headless guitar by Hapas, Aviator guitars or pay like 300 bucks more and get an Aristides.

 

[mbardu]

Strandberg charges more for a guitar that's made in some Indonesian sweatshop than many Europe-based Custom Shops, at least in regards to the base models
While I do admire the ideas behind the Strandberg design (without overhyping it, it's still just a guitar) I'd rather get a headless guitar by Hapas, Aviator guitars or pay like 300 bucks more and get an Aristides.

I don't even fault them for thinking they innovated a bunch in a niche market, and should thus benefit from good margins now as a result. Even though the R&D costs are probably recouped ten times over now, Ola is an inventor who deserves success.

And you can get quality work in overseas factories too.

But couldn't they at least invest in some QC? Even if it means their margin goes down to, say only 60% instead of 65% on what they sell, wouldn't it still be worth it?

 

[Masoo2]

Just throwing my 2 cents here not on GOC, but on NK.
I had zero interest in them but through no fault of my own, I'm now the owner of one.
My in-hand sample size is one, so not going to generalize but my impression is very very good and most of the downsides I heard or read about are unfounded.

Still in the early honeymoon stages but duuuude.....
View media item 4022
(apologies for the crappy phone pic, better pics coming sometime)

Did not think it would have a zero fret, come pre-installed with a battery tray, or have this flamed of a fretboard...

I prefer the lighter blue and a larger fade section like on your NK, but I'm not complaining for the price one bit.

 

[mbardu]

Still in the early honeymoon stages but duuuude.....
View media item 4022
(apologies for the crappy phone pic, better pics coming sometime)

Did not think it would have a zero fret, come pre-installed with a battery tray, or have this flamed of a fretboard...

I prefer the lighter blue and a larger fade section like on your NK, but I'm not complaining for the price one bit.

Wow, no reason to complain...nice veneer, and nice flamed fretboard!
Also arrived super quick, I'm impressed. Mine took ~5/6 weeks for the West Coast.

Looking forward to your impressions.

Oh and yeah the empty/unwired battery box surprised me too.
But eeeh...why not. if I need it, one day it's there, and if it saves a few minutes of work and a few $$$ to have just one template for the various models...no big deal!

 

[Wolfhorsky]

Oh and yeah the empty/unwired battery box surprised me too.
But eeeh...why not. if I need it, one day it's there, and if it saves a few minutes of work and a few $$$ to have just one template for the various models...no big deal!

Poorman’s chambering
To be precise - i got it too in my NK...

 

[Wolfhorsky]

Still in the early honeymoon stages but duuuude.....
View media item 4022
(apologies for the crappy phone pic, better pics coming sometime)

Did not think it would have a zero fret, come pre-installed with a battery tray, or have this flamed of a fretboard...

I prefer the lighter blue and a larger fade section like on your NK, but I'm not complaining for the price one bit.

Dude, that looks so cool. Now i am GASing for another NK to my collection. The one I got turned out to have ugly yellowish discoloration of the blue. Sun and time did their job... Now I modded the body shape here and there a bit and painted it. When i finnish the mods, i will post the thread about it.

 

[bassplayer8]

Jumping on the NK train here - got this delivered a few hours ago. Pretty excited for my first 7 and to see if it’s any good.

 

[Wolfhorsky]

Jumping on the NK train here - got this delivered a few hours ago. Pretty excited for my first 7 and to see if it’s any good. View attachment 95086 View attachment 95087

Mate, that back looks so badass. It should be on the front

 

[John]

Not my cup of tea, personally. But I don't really mind them in the sense of having more options regarding guitars (ie- brands, products at different price points, etc). The more the merrier, as far as I care.

 

[MisterCirKus]

Hi, I messaged GOC on Twitter to know the weight of their guitars but no reply.

Do someone here have those info ? (the 8 strings are what i'm looking for)

Also if anyone also had chance to play GOC and Strandberg can you tell us about the ergonomics of those guitar ?

I must say that i'm wondering go with GOC because had a first experience with strandberg not even clause to what i excpected.

 

[bzhang9]

The newest iteration of every cheaper headless company has gotten better, goc is decent but the neck is fat, if you like thinner ibanez types try legator

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

Hi, I messaged GOC on Twitter to know the weight of their guitars but no reply.

Do someone here have those info ? (the 8 strings are what i'm looking for)

Also if anyone also had chance to play GOC and Strandberg can you tell us about the ergonomics of those guitar ?

I must say that i'm wondering go with GOC because had a first experience with strandberg not even clause to what i excpected.

GOC is SUPER responsive on their Facebook page.
I don't have any experience with their guitars though so can't help there.