I ordered this guitar essentially as a vanity piece. Loving the music of Jerry and the Grateful Dead I wanted something inspiring to look at and play when I was playing that music or had Jer in mind. I had seen positive reviews online in terms of playability and build so I thought it would be about on level with an Ibanez Artcore or similar Chinese import guitar (...which of course it is.) However, when the guitar arrived I was totally floored. I could not put it down for days. There were some minor finish irregularities as Fred had clearly shown and described. But the setup was so amazing, and the playability was so right on. The basic ingredients of a guitar like this are all there; The 25.5 in scale, the ebony fretboard. The high mass in the body and headstock. The neck joint, which is totally solid. All this got me much closer to the actual Jerry guitar sounds than I expected. So clear and with real pop if you dig in. (I got the Swamp Ash body option) And a very consistent sound and volume up and down the 24 frets, with lots of natural sustain. No dead spots. Not only that, so far I love the pickups. And the pots, switches and hardware are all totally solid. I'm not making any mods or changes for a while. I know I can't say this will be true of all of them, but for me this is a guitar that just sings. It's more than the sum of it's parts. I've spent a lot more on guitars that should have been better, but just didn't have ""IT."" For me this guitar has ""IT"" in spades. I'm not trying to say Jerry would come back from the dead and pick this guitar over Rosebud. But this is a dang good guitar in it's own right I personally like mine a LOT. Also importantly Fred is totally chill to do business with. No funny business, hidden costs or other weirdness. Which is easy to forget when it's not there. So I don't know how you did it, Fred but keep doing it!
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