Abyss guitars?

I have always liked the look of his guitars(never played one) but, damn you can get a lot of guitar for that kind of money from a lot of different luthiers whose guitars I have played. There is someone around here that has one of these Hollowbodies though hopefully he will speak up.

 

Tried 2 Abyss solidbody seven string guitars. Not impressed at all. Guys like Gustavsson, Stevens, McNaught, etc are making guitars on a much higher level.

 

Not to bug you about it but....
what didn't you like? sound? playablility?

 

Didn't like the build quality of either one. One looked like a high school wood shop project. The other one was better, but still not in the league of some of the other builders that have been mentioned frequently on this board.

 

Ouch!

 

He would have been better off (and sold more guitars) if he'd just made a copy of the Languedoc. It's the body shape that throws me off on those guitars, too exaggerated for me. Someone just paid $7600 for the one on ebay though so I guess he's doing something right.

Chris

 

DAMN! I had no idea that would sell at the BIN. That is impressive!

 

The guy that bought that guitar had a -4 feedback. The guitar has since been relisted. No one is gonna pay $7600 for that guitar unless they just hit the lottery. Nothing personal against the guitar builder, it's just that you can get a lot of guitar from many amazing builders for much less.

 

Yeah, I saw it up again as well. I couldn't imagine anyone would pay that much for that guitar!

 

Those guitars look pertty impressive from pictures. Maybe it's a different story up close.

Maybe you saw an early guitar. If there's a year plus waiting list....he must be doing better work than a high-school wood shop for $6000-7000.

 

Or maybe it just takes him a long time to build a guitar? They do look very nice in pictures. I would like to play one if I ever had the chance.

 

I've only seen one pretty recently and I didn't get to plug it in, but my experience was pretty much the same as Dave P's.

Let's just say for the price they were asking I was expecting the build quality to be MUCH higher than it was. I've regularly seen some Epis with better attention to detail.

I think the rub is that they look very sparkly in photos, and with a high price on the instrument there is a perceived quality by the viewer. Pretty easy to make a guitar look pretty at screen resolution. I personally would certainly not buy one based on the one I played, that's for sure. Play before you pay if you can.

I should add that my hat's off to anybody that builds instruments themselves. It's a pretty hard market to crack and there are some extremely talented builders out there. I couldn't do it, I know that much.

-e.

 

I saw two. The first one was junk. A $100 Wal Mart guitar was better than that thing. I know the 2nd one I saw was a later one, it was improved and seemed OK, but it still had build issues. What am I supposed to say, I'm just being honest.

Hey, the pix on the website look good, don't they?

 

Has anyone seen or played any of the hollowbodies?

 

Yes, I have seen and played the hollowbody this year at the Chicago vintage guitar show. I'm not going to get into the "nitty gritty" details of the guitar, just that I agree with everyone elses' comments. They're ok, but they're definitley not worth the $$$ the builder is asking.

These guitars are really nothing special, I think that an Epiphone Hollowbody is better than one of those Abyss Hollowbodies.

They sure do photograph well though...

 

I own an Abyss J2 as well as a 68 Gibson ES 335, A 72 Strat and a
G&L S-500. The Abyss is hands down the best of them. It is the only one I play any more, i feel bad neglecting my other guitars, but the Abyss is that sweet. You cant put it down. It is so resonant that I play it unplugged as my bro plays his acoustic bass. The sound is great, it has a push-pull coil tap and the pickups, PAF Symeour D's sound amazing. I have been playing for close to 15 years and I have owned and sold and seen a lot of guitars, Abyss Guitars are worth every penny. And to everyone who is talking down about one of these, You dont own them-you dont play them every day and you especially dont play them after you play a 68 ES or a 72 strat. When you put the abyss up against those, you really see how great of a guitar it is. if you have the means, pick one up. I got my Abyss J2-for $3150-they sell from his website for $6500+. I got a great deal from someone who sold it to me on ebay less than a year after he bought it from Kevin at Abyssguitars.com.

 

Could you give some more details. Everyone is saying they are crap but wont give specific details. What were the particular parts you thought needed work or could be improved?

 

For that kinda dough I think I would check out a Sakashta Jam Master, or a Ribbecke. They may be a few thousand more, but worth it.


Matt