Thoughts on GOC Guitars?

[LeviathanKiller]

Guitarmory has over promised several times and continually under delivered on that part. One guy (who is a hell of a good guy and fantastic builder) is expected to wind 80+ sets of guitarmory pickups, having to ship them to 80 different locations throughout the world while also working a day job and running his own pickup company with little outside help.

Can't help but think thats a fail on Guitarmorys part.

It's a LOT of work for Adam. He's got at least one person helping him now but it's not full-time and I don't think the helper knows the whole start to finish process. I wish I myself could physically help rather than just respond to emails and messages (which I can only do after I get home from my full-time job as well) but I don't live anywhere near Adam even. I joined on right when the builder transition happened and it's been a painful growing process but I'm glad we put out what I consider to be a very high quality product now. There may be mistakes here and there but we fix things or make it up to our customers. You can't make everyone happy but it's our goal to at least try. Anyone we add on to help wind, has to be taught how to do so which is a time-sucking process itself. And helpers have to be vetted over a period of time as to their quality too. Like I said, it's been a journey with growing pains but things are growing. I'm here if anyone has any questions. We (Guitarmory) don't have a need to not be transparent but at the same time I can only give the information that I have at the given time of inquiry. I was a customer of the brand for a while before becoming involved so I try to make sure everyone has the same level of an experience or even better, than what I did when I was making purchases from Guitarmory.

 

[Mathemagician]

Just bumping this to discuss/hear from others on whether it is worth trying to upgrade/replace the hardware.

 

[gunch]

If its the same stuff on my NK the string locks, probably, but the bridge pieces are decent enough.

 

[Crundles]

So I recently emailed GOC and Guitarmory again, just because I'm a naive optimistic child, and I actually got replies from both!

Guitarmory sent out an email right after i contacted them - the pickups are still being built, we have an option of getting a discount towards a new set if we don't want to wait, and once their new website is done, we will be able to track the orders there.

GOC just emailed me that they are actually sending new hardware to members of the run, they sent several last week, and have ordered more (to presumably send to the remaining members of the run, hopefully me included).

All in all, not bad on paper I guess?? Really hope things work out.

 

[Mathemagician]

I emailed the Guitarmory guy back to ask about getting a discount code. The email was direct to the point and very professional. It’s very clear he wants to resolve this cleanly and is working hard to do so.

Have not heard anything about “new hardware” for the run I was in a year+ ago. So that’s new, or maybe only for more recent runs?

 

[Crundles]

Well, I emailed asking about the GOC/Guitarmory run, since that's the one I took part in. I believe someone mentioned in another thread too, that people from this run will be sent replacement hardware.

To my knowledge, newer runs come with the updated hardware anyway. GOC dude asked me to message them via Facebook, since their mailbox was apparently getting swamped, so you could try there?

 

[Crundles]

Oh hey lookit what I just got today:

I wasn't actually told it was sent, but who cares it's here now lol. Really quickly, too, my conversation with GOC was on 26-Aug.

I'll wait for the guitarmory pickups to arrive and try to find a luthier to install all at once.

 

[diagrammatiks]

nice looking t4m copies.
I kinda want a set to try out.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

nice looking t4m copies.
I kinda want a set to try out.

most of the chinese factories churning out headless parts have been ripping off t4m from what I've seen. I have some tengda and aliexpress bridges that copy them very closely. Fit and finish on them is nowhere near as good as the t4m though.

 

[diagrammatiks]

most of the chinese factories churning out headless parts have been ripping off t4m from what I've seen. I have some tengda and aliexpress bridges that copy them very closely. Fit and finish on them is nowhere near as good as the t4m though.

guyker has bridges that are very similar to these...but they aren't actually very cheap.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

guyker has bridges that are very similar to these...but they aren't actually very cheap.

yeah some of the chinese factories are trying to get like 200$ for an 8 string set..

 

[diagrammatiks]

yeah some of the chinese factories are trying to get like 200$ for an 8 string set..

which is fine I guess. The Apollo stuff that fablo sells is made by tengda.

but the prices aren't so cheap that they'd be a no brainer over something like tan.

 

[unadventurer]

Sry for reviving this thread.

I just picked up a used Materia 2.0 with the older style saddles (red washer) They're near impossible to turn, even with a 1.5mm pick.

I reached out to GOC to ask about lubing them and they said to use petroleum jelly... That made me laugh. I ended up using something similar to what I'd seen in a guitar restoration video and they move more freely now but as soon as they approach full tension, they become impossible to move again without really putting in a ton of effort. Is this just par for the course w headless??

GOC says the diameter of the barrel is larger than other brands so they're harder to turn.

Anyone had success modding them or swapping them recently for something that doesn't cost and arm and a leg? I see a few references earlier in this thread but these saddles are like $45 ea and never in stock.

Aside from that the guitar is decent... aside from some QC issues... 15th fret needs to be leveled and the saddles are far from straight. The D and G string saddle knobs actual rub against each other.

 

[Hollowway]

Sry for reviving this thread.

I just picked up a used Materia 2.0 with the older style saddles (red washer) They're near impossible to turn, even with a 1.5mm pick.

I reached out to GOC to ask about lubing them and they said to use petroleum jelly... That made me laugh. I ended up using something similar to what I'd seen in a guitar restoration video and they move more freely now but as soon as they approach full tension, they become impossible to move again without really putting in a ton of effort. Is this just par for the course w headless??

GOC says the diameter of the barrel is larger than other brands so they're harder to turn.

Anyone had success modding them or swapping them recently for something that doesn't cost and arm and a leg? I see a few references earlier in this thread but these saddles are like $45 ea and never in stock.

Aside from that the guitar is decent... aside from some QC issues... 15th fret needs to be leveled and the saddles are far from straight. The D and G string saddle knobs actual rub against each other.

The 2.0 hardware isn’t very good. I have one, and most of us had to get the 3.0 hardware and swap it out. The problem is that you’ll be either tuning up or bending a note and it’ll “ping” and the string goes slack. So see if you can get some of their 3.0 hardware. It’s not too expensive, and should be a direct replacement.

 

[btbg]

Just got my materia, brand new from GOC. The pickups were set so high that the action had to be 6mm up and off the 12th fret in order to clear the pickups.

Easy solution, right? Wrong. The screws they used were so long that they were already bottomed out. Lowering the pickups caused the screws to go through the body. When I inquired with them about this, they played dumb. Seems the norm for them.

A quick fill and it seems decent enough, but it seems to me that GOC is constantly fucking up the most minor of details. That and the 2.0 fiasco annoyed me to no end and has definitely put me off the brand.

 

[Infini]

Man, I picked up the Materia 8 up the other day because I was setting up all my guitars (I have a lot of free time) and I don't think I've ever seen a neck shift as much as this it was just standing in my living room rack for a few months and the strings are fleeing from the fretboard like it was a homeless guy with a broken bottle and a frothy mouth

Nothing works on this guitar, it's amazing; the frets lengths are off, the neck pocket doesn't fit, the finish isn't applied properly, the hardware can't keep tune or hold the strings properly and isn't the correct size for 7/8 strings, the pickups are completely devoid of high end or mid growl, it's like playing with a blanket over your speakers. 14 months later the promised and paid for pickups are nowhere to be seen at all and the only communique about it is 'eventually we will send out the pickups you paid for while we continue to sell and produce for other costumers'. And the truss rod might as well be cardboard. It is cardboard, isn't it?

GOC's decision to shift to aliexpress or whatever perfectly cements my thoughts about their brand.

I can't even sell this abortion of a guitar to anyone in good conscience, and I'll be twice buggered if I spend more time trying to repair this heap of haphazardly glued together junk. So now it just sits there. Silently mocking my hubris from the rack with it's stupid headless not-face.

Perhaps I will keep it, a warning to future generations of unconventional guitar players. I will show it to my pods and say 'hark; my accursed shitplank, a monument to all the things you can do wrong even if you let a CNC robot do 85% of the work for you.'

All of this is only to give my anecdotal views on the question of whether anyone should buy a GOC guitar for themselves. Maybe you have a penchant for misery or maybe you enjoy the thought of having a vastly inferior guitar sit inbetween its betters, like an encephalitic court jester, soiling itself for the bemusement of others.

In that case, do buy on.

 

[olejason]

Does your Materia have a wood neck or the synthetic stuff they've been touting for awhile?

 

[sym30l1c]

Man, I picked up the Materia 8 up the other day because I was setting up all my guitars (I have a lot of free time) and I don't think I've ever seen a neck shift as much as this it was just standing in my living room rack for a few months and the strings are fleeing from the fretboard like it was a homeless guy with a broken bottle and a frothy mouth

Nothing works on this guitar, it's amazing; the frets lengths are off, the neck pocket doesn't fit, the finish isn't applied properly, the hardware can't keep tune or hold the strings properly and isn't the correct size for 7/8 strings, the pickups are completely devoid of high end or mid growl, it's like playing with a blanket over your speakers. 14 months later the promised and paid for pickups are nowhere to be seen at all and the only communique about it is 'eventually we will send out the pickups you paid for while we continue to sell and produce for other costumers'. And the truss rod might as well be cardboard. It is cardboard, isn't it?

GOC's decision to shift to aliexpress or whatever perfectly cements my thoughts about their brand.

I can't even sell this abortion of a guitar to anyone in good conscience, and I'll be twice buggered if I spend more time trying to repair this heap of haphazardly glued together junk. So now it just sits there. Silently mocking my hubris from the rack with it's stupid headless not-face.

Perhaps I will keep it, a warning to future generations of unconventional guitar players. I will show it to my pods and say 'hark; my accursed shitplank, a monument to all the things you can do wrong even if you let a CNC robot do 85% of the work for you.'

All of this is only to give my anecdotal views on the question of whether anyone should buy a GOC guitar for themselves. Maybe you have a penchant for misery or maybe you enjoy the thought of having a vastly inferior guitar sit inbetween its betters, like an encephalitic court jester, soiling itself for the bemusement of others.

In that case, do buy on.

I was actually considering buying one of the newer models. I didn't because I wanted a 6 and I don't like they way their 6 strings look. After reading some stories and yours, I'm really glad I didn't. No way I'm gonna buy one now. I honestly would rather spend twice as much on an indo Strandberg knowing that at least they have excellent customer service.

 

[Wolfhorsky]

NK is better imho - just plan swapping the pickups.

 

[Infini]

Does your Materia have a wood neck or the synthetic stuff they've been touting for awhile?

maple/wenge neck, IIRC the other neck is 'atlas wood' which is supposedly made of wood fiber soup that's been treated in some way to make it dense.

Makes sense they'd make a neck out of literal compost, I'm not surprised in the least