Okay, so I've never purchased a guitar online before, and never purchased a guitar that I haven't tried out and played before, so my expectations were that it would look good (since I'd seen the photos at the time I bought it) but perhaps not sound very good.
Pictures don't do this guitar justice. The colors are a lot richer in real life. The neck is so deeply tinted (I like!) it is a rich amber that just looks fantastic. it shows up in the photos as almost anemic compared to how it actually looks.
I plugged it in and played till bed time. I have pretty high expectations when it comes to guitars, as I guess most G&L fans do (given their choice of guitars), but I was leery that this might be all eye-candy, and no mojo. Well, it seems impossible to me, but this guitar's mojo trumps it's looks.
The neck was slick and fast, played like a dream, the sound was bigger than life, and I couldn't find a dead spot though I looked in vain for one. I'm not sure what size strings are on it. - feels like 11s (I normally play 10s with a heavier bottom - like 52s or 54s), but the extra didn't bother me much - and that was the only thing that I could say about it that was even remotely negative.
The past two weeks I have been jumping back and forth between all manners of concerns - what if it isn't packaged sufficiently and it shows up broken? What if it sits in a hot truck in the sun for a week? What if, what if, what if...? When it finally arrived I was prepared to live with whatever disappointment may come - but for me this is one of those once in a lifetime success stories. The guitar exceeded every one of may already unreasonably high expectations. I am so glad I pulled the trigger on this one, as I got myself a gem (It plays and feels better than my USA Legacy!).
I was going to record a video yesterday, but my wife's parents came over for a surprise visit so I never got around to it. I'll try and put something together this weekend - maybe a bit of a "review".
The case, if anyone is interested is a "ChromaCast CC-EHC Electric Guitar Hard Case" - not a high end case, but as you can see, the Comanche fits in it nicely even with the strap pegs. Some of the reviews say that the guitars move around too much, but I haven't experienced that. The case was one of the least expensive (~ $60 USD / $87 CDN). It's the same one dhgleaves suggested in the post where I first mentioned the guitar. Anyone else looking for an inexpensive case for their Legacy or Comanche would do fine by this case, as long as they understand it isn't a "premium" case. The latches are only so-so etc. But if you're like me, and just want to keep the guitar out of harms way when you're not playing it, and want some functional protection when heading out to a gig - this'll do, and you can't beat the price. I'm not affiliated with the product apart from having purchased it - so my endorsement is limited to the fact that it is inexpensive and more importantly "fits" the Comanche. I think anyone looking for a case for their Comanche wants to find someone somewhere say, "Yeah - that fits my Comanche, and it doesn't suck even though it's not overly priced" - so I put that out there as a public service.
Biggest (Pleasant) Surprises?
-How clean/clear it was across the whole tonal range.
-Build quality for an Indonesian Tribute - wasn't expecting the quality I found
-Tone knobs felt soooo solid - just the right weight - noticeably better than my US Legacy.
-GOT on neck aged so much sweeter than the photos can show
-Guitar was still in tune when it arrived
-Setup/Intonation was so close to perfect, I'm not going to bother getting it set up.
- No "unpleasant" surprises
Most Negative Thing:
Here is where I would have told you about some flaw or mar in the finish, or perhaps a poor tuning peg or something. Seriously, there was nothing negative about this guitar. I got more guitar bang for my buck than I've ever got before on any purchase in all my 30 years of playing. Granted I've only gone through maybe 2 dozen guitars in that time - but that's still saying something. The most negative thing about this purchase was the waiting period - which itself wasn't any worse than buying anything else online.
Where does she sit in the stable?
Certainly in the top three. I'm still tripping from what a great find this was, and how this guitar has exceeded my already high expectations. Once the honeymoon is over, I expect this guitar will remain a solid player in my esteem, it may be the most versatile guitar I've every played, so I expect it'll get a lot of rotation, but I have other great guitars too - which I must play often as well, or my wife will tell me I don't "need" them....
Anyway, I don't use this smiley very often, but it does describe how I felt yesterday after playing it:
- cheers
that is one beautiful guitar. I can imagine the flame being even better in person.
