narad
Progressive metal and politics
Man, no puns come to mind for the thread title :-/
NGD #2 for today and probably my last for quiiiite some time. So I've been longing for a hollowbody for quite some time but I'm not so happy with the set of candidates there. I was mostly looking at PRS PS or wood library hollowbodies (my preference, but rare to find with good specs), Collings I-35s, or a Briggs Pandora. If you have any other recommendations that are top rate and look cool too, drop me a line.
But for now, I think I'm set -- I just grabbed this Vik Caprice Hollowbody with a sick redwood top. And the funny thing about this one is that when Vik and I were arguing about my 3 build spots with him, and he decided to cancel 2, and demote my fretboard to IRW instead of BRW, the redwood he set aside for one of my orders wound up on this, and so it seems did the BRW board! Ha!
So it has an IRW neck, BRW board, and BKP mules. Really beautiful top and stain -- I was gawking at it when Vik was building it (not for me -- I bought it used last week, and weirdly now have a strandberg that's going to look very similar...). It seems like he chose a bit more premium woods than my savior -- the binding is noticiably stronger and more uniform flames, and the rosewood is a nicer grade.
I've heard that people with good taste have said Vik's other caprice hollowbodies were really fantastically good sounding guitars. I think it's quite good sounding -- far more hollowbody than I would have thought given such a small perimeter compared to a 355. It can feed back a bit, brash and unruly, but very musical and fun. The neck is also much thicker than other Vik guitars I've played, in a good way (though his 7-string neck is also a fav).
The thing about Viks though is that while I look at these photos and the ones of this Vik posted and they're stunning, as far as craftsmanship goes, it doesn't hold up in the details. There's gaps when the binding goes over sharp angles, the inside of the f-hole is a bit rough, the neck join, while technically fine, just doesn't have the precision of other boutique builders (where the top meets the neck). The same is true of my savior, and other Viks I've seen. Maybe this is because he's still doing it all mostly by hand whereas other guys use CNC, so Vik's handmade is a bit more truly handmade than a lot of other boutique shops. But ultimately to think that some people are paying $6k-8k for some Viks, I think you'd expect a better executed build.
But I'm quite happy with it -- Vik's wins are with good design and crazy woods, and he delivered on this one as much as my savior, which I also dig. And it scratches my hollowbody itch. But I think this is my last one. In contrast, Collings *kills* it with quality, and I-35s are ~$4k, and they're outstanding people. PRS PS, a bit more expensive, but still great people and superb quality. Meanwhile on Vik's facebook I see the same guy posting on every one of his posts asking for an update of his build, paid in full, from a few years ago. I think it's hard to support and basically enable Vik to continue to ignore guys like that.
This thing's a smudge magnet though -- didn't realize the extent until I had the photos on the computer:
NGD #2 for today and probably my last for quiiiite some time. So I've been longing for a hollowbody for quite some time but I'm not so happy with the set of candidates there. I was mostly looking at PRS PS or wood library hollowbodies (my preference, but rare to find with good specs), Collings I-35s, or a Briggs Pandora. If you have any other recommendations that are top rate and look cool too, drop me a line.
But for now, I think I'm set -- I just grabbed this Vik Caprice Hollowbody with a sick redwood top. And the funny thing about this one is that when Vik and I were arguing about my 3 build spots with him, and he decided to cancel 2, and demote my fretboard to IRW instead of BRW, the redwood he set aside for one of my orders wound up on this, and so it seems did the BRW board! Ha!
So it has an IRW neck, BRW board, and BKP mules. Really beautiful top and stain -- I was gawking at it when Vik was building it (not for me -- I bought it used last week, and weirdly now have a strandberg that's going to look very similar...). It seems like he chose a bit more premium woods than my savior -- the binding is noticiably stronger and more uniform flames, and the rosewood is a nicer grade.
I've heard that people with good taste have said Vik's other caprice hollowbodies were really fantastically good sounding guitars. I think it's quite good sounding -- far more hollowbody than I would have thought given such a small perimeter compared to a 355. It can feed back a bit, brash and unruly, but very musical and fun. The neck is also much thicker than other Vik guitars I've played, in a good way (though his 7-string neck is also a fav).
The thing about Viks though is that while I look at these photos and the ones of this Vik posted and they're stunning, as far as craftsmanship goes, it doesn't hold up in the details. There's gaps when the binding goes over sharp angles, the inside of the f-hole is a bit rough, the neck join, while technically fine, just doesn't have the precision of other boutique builders (where the top meets the neck). The same is true of my savior, and other Viks I've seen. Maybe this is because he's still doing it all mostly by hand whereas other guys use CNC, so Vik's handmade is a bit more truly handmade than a lot of other boutique shops. But ultimately to think that some people are paying $6k-8k for some Viks, I think you'd expect a better executed build.
But I'm quite happy with it -- Vik's wins are with good design and crazy woods, and he delivered on this one as much as my savior, which I also dig. And it scratches my hollowbody itch. But I think this is my last one. In contrast, Collings *kills* it with quality, and I-35s are ~$4k, and they're outstanding people. PRS PS, a bit more expensive, but still great people and superb quality. Meanwhile on Vik's facebook I see the same guy posting on every one of his posts asking for an update of his build, paid in full, from a few years ago. I think it's hard to support and basically enable Vik to continue to ignore guys like that.
This thing's a smudge magnet though -- didn't realize the extent until I had the photos on the computer:
