New Gordon Smith Offset

EricTheWeary

Philly_Q said:

EricTheWeary said:

Their strat style is from £999, tele from £899 so I guess this is going to be in that ball park plus options. If the base model is a lot more than that I don't think I'd understand why.

That's one thing I have noticed, their prices are creeping up... which is fine if the guitars justify the price, but I do like the idea of a (relatively) cheap-and-cheerful British brand.  That's what made them unique.

A basic spec GS is £800. I suppose if you went to a U.K.builder and asked for something similar it would be a lot more. And I get the impression that the consistency is there now which the earlier ones didn’t have. 

ThePrettyDamned

Looks quite nice, hope it's available in fun colours too.

Teyeplayer

I like that. Definitely adding that to the list of things to try when normality returns.

Philly_Q

EricTheWeary said:

Philly_Q said:

EricTheWeary said:

Their strat style is from £999, tele from £899 so I guess this is going to be in that ball park plus options. If the base model is a lot more than that I don't think I'd understand why.

That's one thing I have noticed, their prices are creeping up... which is fine if the guitars justify the price, but I do like the idea of a (relatively) cheap-and-cheerful British brand.  That's what made them unique.

A basic spec GS is £800. I suppose if you went to a U.K.builder and asked for something similar it would be a lot more. And I get the impression that the consistency is there now which the earlier ones didn’t have. 

I think it is - certainly the build quality is much improved.  That said, I have a GS2 and a GS1, both of which are meant to have the "thick" neck profile, but the necks feel completely different... I'll measure them some time, to try to get to the bottom of it.

MtB

Thinking BilT guitars - Zaftig

DB1

I like that!

pedalo

I think it looks good. 

 

I bought a 1.6 from the new factory and I own two older 2nd hand models - a gypsy and a graduate. 

In terms of finish, the newer models are in a different league. They did everything I asked for and were great to deal with and it played well and sounded good but it didn’t have any magic about it so I let it go. 

The graduate I have is unbelievably special. The best playing guitar I own. The gypsy is ok but the 1.6 was no worse than it. I will probably sell it too. 

So I have a small sample size to draw from but I would love it if they can make something that plays as special as that graduate. 

Will try one of these but don’t think I’ll buy one sight unseen again because I need to know it will be magic!

JD50

Hopefully the trem unit isn't one of the cheap OEM jobs....

Jeremiah

Something interesting I've noticed about Gordon Smith is that they use poplar for necks, which I've never seen any other manufacturer doing; it seems to be mostly used for bodies on cheaper guitars.

grungebob

My favourite guitars are made from poplar. 

Jeremiah

grungebob said:

My favourite guitars are made from poplar. 

Body or neck?

I've heard of plenty of guitars with poplar bodies, including my Squier P-bass, but not really heard of it being used for necks elsewhere, I would have thought it was too soft or not stiff enough.

meltedbuzzbox

Jeremiah said:

grungebob said:

My favourite guitars are made from poplar. 

Body or neck?

I've heard of plenty of guitars with poplar bodies, including my Squier P-bass, but not really heard of it being used for necks elsewhere, I would have thought it was too soft or not stiff enough.

Used a lot in parker flys ( was wrapped in carbon fibre though)

Schnozz

I've never had a poplar neck - Grover Jackson was using basswood for necks on his GJ2 / Friedman guitars, which I avoided as I think both of those timbers are too soft as Jeremiah says (I think Grover was going 3 piece but still...).

Poplar bodies have quite a tight sound, which I love for rhythm but I think you need hotter pickups for leads. I tend to associate poplar with the Gibson ES-335 and Jackson/Charvel RRs and Dinkys.

Back on topic...I think the new Gordon Smith stuff looks great and I hope the forum gets behind them.

Whitecat

Harmony and Danelectro guitars had poplar necks back in the day, no? A few have even survived to the present day...

Philly_Q

I feel uncomfortable challenging the collective knowledge of the last few posts, but I'm pretty sure Gordon Smith's set neck guitars usually have mahogany necks, and their bolt-ons have maple.  They do use poplar for some bodies.

EricTheWeary

If you order direct from GS there is a choice of poplar, mahogany, maple, korina, flame maple and roasted flame maple. Also a choice of body woods, fingerboard woods, hardware,etc. 

I think historically they used a lot of poplar ( they say as much on the website) but a quick look at some guitars built for stock and none had poplar necks so I think just an option these days. 

meltedbuzzbox

Looks like they all generally come with alpha pots and associated cheap parts as all guitars seems to come with a £70/£90 cts upgrade option.

I am surprised at the prices that the copies come out at.
I spec'd up a strat for fun and it came in at £1700+
At that money I can't see why you would ever buy a GS over a fender

mudslide73

Some interesting GS bits on the 9-42 podcast this month. Interestingly they do factory tour events.. maybe an idea for a group outing when we're all allowed out

SteveRobinson

I visited the old workshop many times but I expect the new one looks very different.

I wonder how many of John's old contraptions they still use?

dazzajl

meltedbuzzbox said:

Looks like they all generally come with alpha pots and associated cheap parts as all guitars seems to come with a £70/£90 cts upgrade option.

I am surprised at the prices that the copies come out at.
I spec'd up a strat for fun and it came in at £1700+
At that money I can't see why you would ever buy a GS over a fender

Spec up your own Strat with Fender and it’s going to get over £4K though, so quite a different proposition. I’ve never played one of their bolt on guitars and I’m not sure they’d be more first call for a Strat but I’d like to try one.