New Grosh RC in the house!!!

[iggs]

Hey all,

well ... the Black Beauty arrived here on Thursday and I almost feel like the review will be somewhat redundant, because:
a) there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said;
b) won't seem objective since I really don't have anything negative to say;

Regardless, here it goes:

Few months ago I wanted another Strat type guitar and was looking into another Fender mostly due to price range. After some time, I was convinced that I should really re-consider this and pony up the extra cash (which is not that much more) and order something better ... like a Grosh.
The best part of it was the ability to really custom select what I wanted, which was a simple and understated looking guitar with killer sound and amazing build.

The Grosh is amazing ... right out of the case, as soon as I grabbed the neck, it felt "right". The set-up is perfect. String height, intonation , neck relief, tremolo angle are all like I was there to tell them what I like. Every single guitar I had in the past required an afternoon of mucking around with the set-up, including my PRS and Music Man, not even talking about the Fenders which had to go to the shop for side fret-dress and nut work.

Fret work is just perfect ... it was odd because my fingers just flew over the fretboard and I had to "adjust" my playing because I am so used to over-compensating on the Fender neck which always felt like it was constricting my playing in a way. The neck is very comfortable and sits perfectly in the palm of my hand. The edges are perfectly rounded and feel broken in. Medium is not too thick and not too thin. Great blend of enough "meat" for blues and speed for some ol' school 80's shred.

The hardware is great, the tremolo is very smooth but still feels solid and is not too sensitive, I can still rest my palm on it without throwing it out of tune. Thank God Don and Brent convinced me to get locking tuners ... I wanted regular ones but the locking are amazing. They are small in size and "vintage" looking but keep everything absolutely in tune. I'm not gentle when I play, have a very heavy left and right hand and even with crazy dive-bombing and out-of control Jimi type tremolo action, the Grosh returns perfectly in tune. Speaking of in-tune ... the intonation is perfect. Open G, D, C and A are all dead-on. Even up the neck, the chords and single notes ring right in tune. There's almost zero buzz and not a single dead spot on the neck (not that I ever thought there would be any).

The Blend pot is is f-ing awesome ... I've been playing with it a lot and it works wonders. It blends certain pickup combinations depending on where the switch is set and it's so cool! For example ... when the bridge pup is selected, the pot will Blend the neck pickup as it's being turned up, amazing for smooth transitions!

The guitar is so lively and resonant when unplugged. It just rings forever and has a beautiful, open and airy quality to it. Good wood, amazing construction and thin finish really come together and make a huge difference. The whole construction, fit and finish of the guitar is perfect.

Plugged into my Dr. Z Route 66 through Z-Best it's heaven. Open, big, tons of overtones and harmonics, rings for days. It's what a great Strat is supposed to sound like. Bright but not harsh, with tight low end. I think it really likes the Route 66 and I can tell you the 66 really likes it too!

Brent from Grosh was absolutely amazing throughout the whole process and really helped me get the perfect guitar. Answered all my e-mails promptly (there was a lot of them), talked to me on the phone and just provided A+ customer service.

This is the first guitar I ever had that I immediately thought: "this one's for life".

I probably missed a few things I wanted to say, but I'll just add anything else I think of. Here's the specs and pics:

RC-S
Alder body
Maple neck
1 11/16 nut
Medium roundback
6150 frets
Locking Vintage tuners
Black
White aged, single ply pickguard
Grosh/Gotoh tremolo
DiMarzio Area pickups (58 neck, 58 middle, 61 bridge)
5-way switch
Volume, tone, blend

(my photography skills do not do justice to this guitar, my apologies)

[keninsyr]

Congratulations on your beautiful RC. I have 3 of Don's guitars and they are amazing.
I hope you enjoy for many years to come. Now you have to get another one!

[Formvar]

Very Nice:RoCkIn

[XKnight]

Congrats! Grosh makes the best Strats that I've ever tried.

[Long2Play]

Oh man is THAT Retro Classic sexy!! Congrats!! I'm jealous!

[pgurlea]

Rock on Dude .:RoCkIn Grosh makes an awesome Strat.
Enjoy,
Paul

[iggs]

Thanks all! I'm still in awe of how amazing this guitar is ... and I thought I had nice guitars before ...

[Long2Play]

Originally Posted by iggs

Thanks all! I'm still in awe of how amazing this guitar is ... and I thought I had nice guitars before ...

Grosh will do that to ya....... He has got me for three guitars so far......

[Big White Tele]

Those Grosh RC's are absolutely the nicest S style guitars I have ever played. Just wonderfull. Congrats on the Black one, nice!!

[MaxBoogie]

VERY Nice!

You're just making my impending decision that much more difficult!

[Rumble]

Never seen one in black, looks quite sharp!

[cg]

The Grosh RC is one of the finest guitars made in the last 10-15 years. Very nice! It looks incredible in black!

[KingBoneSlim]

Paint it Black. Killer!!!!

[LightninBoy]

Love the look of the strat in black/maple with aged white guard - even moreso in the sleeker Grosh body style. Glad to hear it's working out so well for you!

[gregory70]

Man, I'm jealous... I'm still a month or so away from getting my new Grosh. Threads like this kill me. My Grosh RC effectively ruined me for all other guitars.