Need to find my holy grail guitar

[toneseeker911]

I’m for the most part a one guitar person. I previously bought a bunch, but have sold almost all of them as they usually gather dust.
Left with a strandberg boden NX6, with Suhr pups. I like almost everything about it, except that it feels like a toy sometimes and chording near the nut isn’t very comfortable.

Looking for another daily driver guitar. 24 frets, 16 or higher radius, HH with a good split sound. 50-60% of the time, I’m playing clean and the rest is a cranked Marshall / Mesa mark type sound. Some technical / fast playing thrown in, but a lot of comping chords too.

I was thinking about the EBMM JP majesty or maybe an Ibanez prestige or maybe a Suhr modern. I don’t like the super thin wizard neck, nor do I want a chunky one. A slim C type I guess.

Any suggestions from the hive mind ?

 

[deepskyone]

I was looking for something with the exact same specs in the past few weeks and ended up with a PRS SE Mark Holcomb which is significantly cheaper than the options you mentioned (also tried some Strandbergs but was disappointed by the fit and finish).

This review convinced me to give it a try even though I hadn't considered PRS before:



The neck feels similar to the Strandbergs I've tried and more comfortable for chords than the Wizard neck on my Ibanez RG. Fit and finish was great out-of-the-box and I am only going to exchange the tuners to locking ones from Gotoh at some point.

EDIT: some more split tones...

 

[Eagle]

I was looking for something with the exact same specs in the past few weeks and ended up with a PRS SE Mark Holcomb which is significantly cheaper than the options you mentioned (also tried some Strandbergs but was disappointed by the fit and finish).

This review convinced me to give it a try even though I hadn't considered PRS before:



The neck feels similar to the Strandbergs I've tried and more comfortable for chords than the Wizard neck on my Ibanez RG. Fit and finish was great out-of-the-box and I am only going to exchange the tuners to locking ones from Gotoh at some point.

EDIT: some more split tones...

Not sure in what way other than playing in oven gloves the neck is in any way similar to the Strandberg.

 

[Eagle]

Go and try a Pro Series Suhr Modern or a Mayones Duvell Elite. Aristides are great but your going to find it hard to try one first.

 

[deepskyone]

Not sure in what way other than playing in oven gloves the neck is in any way similar to the Strandberg.

Should have been more specific: Similar thickness.

 

[laxu]

except that it feels like a toy sometimes and chording near the nut isn’t very comfortable.

So these feel like your main complaints about the Strandberg. "Feels like a toy sometimes" probably means it's light and small? I'd consider this to be a non-issue.

"Chording near the nut isn’t very comfortable." I experienced the same with the Boden OS 8 LE. The neck was too thick at the first 4 frets or so, to the point my hands would cramp, and I generally like beefy necks! To get around that, you could probably have the neck shaved down a bit and refinished.

The rest of your specs apply to an absolute ton of guitars so it's impossible to recommend something without just making guesses if you will like it or not.

 

[ragingplatypi]

Sounds like you just need to try a bunch of guitars. I spent 5 or 6 years searching and saving for my number one. I traded up and held onto one that’s a close second.

 

[toneseeker911]

The rest of your specs apply to an absolute ton of guitars so it's impossible to recommend something without just making guesses if you will like it or not.

Your top choices with that broad spec?

 

[toneseeker911]

Go and try a Pro Series Suhr Modern or a Mayones Duvell Elite. Aristides are great but you’re going to find it hard to try one first.

Wow, those Aristides have great reviews. Have heard of them in passing, never really looked into it.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

Carvin/Keisel

 

[laxu]

Your top choices with that broad spec?

If you're in the US, I'd probably look at Suhr as well.

Carvin or Kiesel too if their body styles work for you.

 

[TubeStack]

This is going to sound a little Bruce Lee/Zen, and maybe not as much fun, but the best guitars I've owned - including my current #1- have always come to me when I wasn’t looking for one.

 

[Eagle]

Wow, those Aristides have great reviews. Have heard of them in passing, never really looked into it.

I have 2

Batman and yellow.
They are as close to flawless as possible.

 

[la szum]

That's a lot of pressure to put on a guitar.

 

[toneseeker911]

They are as close to flawless as possible.

This statement from a guitar tech combined with my 24 hours of looking for anything negative on the inter-webs and coming up mostly empty, sealed it for me.

Maybe a Suhr in the future, but for now, I’m likely placing an order for a new Aristides.

 

[Eagle]

This statement from a guitar tech combined with my 24 hours of looking for anything negative on the inter-webs and coming up mostly empty, sealed it for me.

Maybe a Suhr in the future, but for now, I’m likely placing an order for a new Aristides.

What spec?

 

[toneseeker911]

What spec?

060R with a floyd rose, everything else is just standard electronics (vol , tone , 5 way). Still deciding on the pickups, likely BKP polymath to keep it in the same territory as Suhr SSH+ and SSV (in my strandberg) that I really like.

 

[Eagle]

060R with a floyd rose, everything else is just standard electronics (vol , tone , 5 way). Still deciding on the pickups, likely BKP polymath to keep it in the same territory as Suhr SSH+ and SSV (in my strandberg) that I really like.

I really like the feel of the Raw .

Don’t forget that they don’t sound like wood acoustically. They have even response and very sensitive dynamics particularly with a light touch. They are also loud acoustically.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I'd almost say a PRS Custom 24 or CE24 ticks all the boxes but the radius is only 10"

 

[timbuck3]

Good luck with that holy grail