Hi everyone,
This arrived in the mail on Friday - I’ve had around 3 hours on it so far so these are my initial thoughts rather than a long term review.
TL
R - I love it so far.
Long version.
I got this in one of their pre-Black Friday things. Generally, these seem to go for around 1500-1600 Euros with a gig bag but it very much depends when you look! I was looking at them at this price and trying to decide between a couple of the colours when the white ones came up including a hard case and a pair of their headphones which will apparently be selling for 400 Euros when they’re out…. Got the whole lot for £1120 which is around 1280 Euros. Although the white wasn’t my first colour choice I pulled the trigger and IMO it looks fantastic.
The company are a small builder who make guitars in Denmark - this one is actually made in Indonesia and is then shipped to Baum in Denmark for QC and setup. Mine shipped from Denmark last Monday and reached me in the U.K. on Friday. As stated by the company, all taxes were taken care of and the shipping (about £25) was included in the overall price I stated above. The headphones don’t arrive until February - there are (at the time I’m writing this) no independent reviews of the headphones so I have zero clue how they’re going to be…. They look the part from the pictures and I’m hopeful of great things based in them pricing them at 400 Euros! I’ve had Senheisser HD650 for years which I love but, being open backed, they’re no good for tracking vocals etc. I’m keen to get these and will post back how they do vs some well-regarded phones.
As far as the guitar goes - Fit and finish wise I haven’t been able to see any flaws at all…. I’ve never had a white guitar before - it has a nice gloss to it and looking carefully I can find nothing other than a really well put together guitar with a perfect paint job. Nice switches and pots (although they’re a little stiff). The strap pins are Schaler strap lock pins - you don’t get the other end for your strap if you don’t already use this system - I do use these on my straps anyway so I’m all good but not ideal for some. The hard case is really nice - I’d have been ok with a gig bag but this was included in my bottom line price so it’s very welcome.
The setup is excellent - it plays perfectly all over the neck. The intonation (according the strobe tuner on the Helix Stadium) is spot on. It’s really comfortable to play - it’s a very thin body as they go and the neck joint, jf you see the pictures below, is therefore nice and comfy if you’re going to that end of the neck….. it’s actually about 1.2cm less chunky than my American Deluxe Tele at that point. I’ve heard some complaints that the neck is too thin - I haven’t found that but I do seem to be unfussy about neck shape in general….. I have a Tokai LP Goldtop that a friend described as ‘like a bloody baseball bat’. My hands seem to not notice - I honestly haven’t found a neck shape that has upset me yet so please keep in mind that the ‘too thin’ comments might be true for you if you’re more sensitive to these things than my unfussy hands!
It’s a really lively, resonant guitar when played acoustically - bags of energy come through the body and neck and it rings on impressively. Plugged in, it’s weird but a good weird….. I was hoping for something a little different to my other guitars. Although these look a little like P90’s, they are apparently fat single coils (but then in a way so is a P90 depending how you think of it!). They’re fairly hot for single coils but they lack the rawness of P90’s and they don’t approach ice pick territory. They’re just really nicely balanced and I love all three positions.
I’ve never had a guitar with a Bigsby before and I’ve always been told they can be tricky to keep in tune. These things have a roller bridge (see photos) and so far, so good…. Once the strings were stretched in, it’s seemed to stay in tune really well. I’ll update the review with time and see if this continues. I hope so as poor tuning stability is one thing that does upset me. Speaking of tuning - the tuners feel lovely but they are not locking.
Only things I’m less keen on?
There’s a bit of neck dive going - it’s not horrific but it’s there so if you like a guitar to balance on your knee unaided if you’re playing sitting down, this isn’t for you. Personally I’m not fussed but I know some people are sensitive to this. I would imagine that the non-Bigsby Wingman would would be even worse in this regard due to the lack of metalwork at that end of fhe see-saw. Stood up, I use straps with a grippy suede side and it’s not an issue - if you like smooth leather straps and wear silk shirts I think the headstock is going to droop whenever it feels like it.
Another thing - the Bigsby arm gets in the way of the volume and tone pots. I’m not a constant volume adjuster mid-song unless I’m playing with fuzz but, if you are, this will get in your way IMO. I’d imagine that’s the case with any Bigsby equipped guitar but again, these are new to me.
Overall, a lovely guitar….. looks great, plays great, sounds great. They give a 45 day window to send it back - I can’t see that happening :)
Apologies for the picture quality - it’s pretty dark here today. Much easier to get a nice shot in the sunshine!
This arrived in the mail on Friday - I’ve had around 3 hours on it so far so these are my initial thoughts rather than a long term review.
TL
R - I love it so far.Long version.
I got this in one of their pre-Black Friday things. Generally, these seem to go for around 1500-1600 Euros with a gig bag but it very much depends when you look! I was looking at them at this price and trying to decide between a couple of the colours when the white ones came up including a hard case and a pair of their headphones which will apparently be selling for 400 Euros when they’re out…. Got the whole lot for £1120 which is around 1280 Euros. Although the white wasn’t my first colour choice I pulled the trigger and IMO it looks fantastic.
The company are a small builder who make guitars in Denmark - this one is actually made in Indonesia and is then shipped to Baum in Denmark for QC and setup. Mine shipped from Denmark last Monday and reached me in the U.K. on Friday. As stated by the company, all taxes were taken care of and the shipping (about £25) was included in the overall price I stated above. The headphones don’t arrive until February - there are (at the time I’m writing this) no independent reviews of the headphones so I have zero clue how they’re going to be…. They look the part from the pictures and I’m hopeful of great things based in them pricing them at 400 Euros! I’ve had Senheisser HD650 for years which I love but, being open backed, they’re no good for tracking vocals etc. I’m keen to get these and will post back how they do vs some well-regarded phones.
As far as the guitar goes - Fit and finish wise I haven’t been able to see any flaws at all…. I’ve never had a white guitar before - it has a nice gloss to it and looking carefully I can find nothing other than a really well put together guitar with a perfect paint job. Nice switches and pots (although they’re a little stiff). The strap pins are Schaler strap lock pins - you don’t get the other end for your strap if you don’t already use this system - I do use these on my straps anyway so I’m all good but not ideal for some. The hard case is really nice - I’d have been ok with a gig bag but this was included in my bottom line price so it’s very welcome.
The setup is excellent - it plays perfectly all over the neck. The intonation (according the strobe tuner on the Helix Stadium) is spot on. It’s really comfortable to play - it’s a very thin body as they go and the neck joint, jf you see the pictures below, is therefore nice and comfy if you’re going to that end of the neck….. it’s actually about 1.2cm less chunky than my American Deluxe Tele at that point. I’ve heard some complaints that the neck is too thin - I haven’t found that but I do seem to be unfussy about neck shape in general….. I have a Tokai LP Goldtop that a friend described as ‘like a bloody baseball bat’. My hands seem to not notice - I honestly haven’t found a neck shape that has upset me yet so please keep in mind that the ‘too thin’ comments might be true for you if you’re more sensitive to these things than my unfussy hands!
It’s a really lively, resonant guitar when played acoustically - bags of energy come through the body and neck and it rings on impressively. Plugged in, it’s weird but a good weird….. I was hoping for something a little different to my other guitars. Although these look a little like P90’s, they are apparently fat single coils (but then in a way so is a P90 depending how you think of it!). They’re fairly hot for single coils but they lack the rawness of P90’s and they don’t approach ice pick territory. They’re just really nicely balanced and I love all three positions.
I’ve never had a guitar with a Bigsby before and I’ve always been told they can be tricky to keep in tune. These things have a roller bridge (see photos) and so far, so good…. Once the strings were stretched in, it’s seemed to stay in tune really well. I’ll update the review with time and see if this continues. I hope so as poor tuning stability is one thing that does upset me. Speaking of tuning - the tuners feel lovely but they are not locking.
Only things I’m less keen on?
There’s a bit of neck dive going - it’s not horrific but it’s there so if you like a guitar to balance on your knee unaided if you’re playing sitting down, this isn’t for you. Personally I’m not fussed but I know some people are sensitive to this. I would imagine that the non-Bigsby Wingman would would be even worse in this regard due to the lack of metalwork at that end of fhe see-saw. Stood up, I use straps with a grippy suede side and it’s not an issue - if you like smooth leather straps and wear silk shirts I think the headstock is going to droop whenever it feels like it.
Another thing - the Bigsby arm gets in the way of the volume and tone pots. I’m not a constant volume adjuster mid-song unless I’m playing with fuzz but, if you are, this will get in your way IMO. I’d imagine that’s the case with any Bigsby equipped guitar but again, these are new to me.
Overall, a lovely guitar….. looks great, plays great, sounds great. They give a 45 day window to send it back - I can’t see that happening :)
Apologies for the picture quality - it’s pretty dark here today. Much easier to get a nice shot in the sunshine!
