Driskill / McNaught Porn!! WOOT!

Well guys

I posted this on the BaM forum as I was in the process of aquiring the Driskill. A very good friend of mine actually did a google search for Driskill and came across one for sale at a dealership in Houston.

http://www.rahanguitars.com/proddetail.asp?id=257

I called the guy up, verified it was still available (unbeleiveably it had been on his site for a few weeks and he had reveived quite a few calls but none jumped on it), I took about 20 minutes to verify that the guitar was in fact legit and plunked down the cash for it. Its been an anxiety filled 2 days waiting for it to arrive, but the 5 years of dreaming of owning one of these guitars is over!! And I can say it was well worth the wait!

I was amazed with the similarities with the Diablo and my McNaught Pheonix, so much so that I took the pictures of them together. I am still in sort of shock that this guitar is currently in my home. When I had posted that I bought the guitar Joe actually got a hold of me and we spent a little time talking about the guitar before it got here. He was a bit amazed that the original owner let it go also as in his own words its one of the top 4 guitars he has ever built. The tiger inlay is just amazing!!!

Anyhow, here is a pic of the guitar in my front yard with my Pheonix.

 

Hey Dennis

Well to be honest, sound wise, its really not much different than my McNaught Singlecut with the same pickups in it. the Rio pups sound a bit muddy to me. I have been playing it through my Splawn Pro Mod and its a very versatile guitar to say the least. Playability wise, the thing is the easiest guitar to play I have ever touched (but this is the first unfinished neck I have ever played too, so I dont know how fair that is) Right now I would say that my favorite sounding guitars that I own are still my 2 McNaughts with the Wagner pups in them(I have one with Darkbursts and one with Black Magics). The McNuggets are definitely a lot more resonant than the Driskill is, but I think this is due to the different neck/heel design. I mean unplugged the McNaughts are by far and away better sounding, ring much louder, etc... Now, asthetics wise, the Driskill blows everything I have ever seen completely out of the water. I cant even begin to explain how thick this maple top is (its quite literally about an inch thick!!) and the amount of carving done to the top. It is just absolutely beautiful and the inlay on it is just astounding. Also the neck on it is a different shape compared to everything else I have ever owned. It is a bit thinner than all mine and not as round, and to be honest I really like it very much. We will see what shape I prefer as time goes on as its just too early to tell which I like better.

So at this point I would say the Driskill kills in some area's but the McNaught does in others. I am no luthier for sure, but I would say that the McNaught neck design is probably better than the neck design on the Driskill and that is what makes them so much more resonant. I would also say that the amount of work that goes into making a Driskill top makes the McNaught look like a production guitar, it is just a crazy amount of carving done to the top of this thing. Soundwise, I would bet I can change pups around and make any guitar I currently own my favorite sound just by swapping my favorite pups into that particular guitar, I mean at this point I am still just totally amazed by the Wagner darkburst pups, and I will more than likely grab a set to put into the Driskill. I know that Joe likes the fact that everything in his guitar is straight from Texas, but I really think that I will personally like the guitar better with a pup change so I will be socking away the overtime checks as fast as I can to replace what I stole from the family savings and as soon as its done I will be calling Jim for a new set of pups. Its not that I dont like the Rio's, its that I like the wagners more.

Ultimately IMHO a Driskill body with a McNaught neck and an over the top Thorn inlay with wagner pups would be the greatest guitar built on the planet....how is that for a politically correct answer??? At least its an honest one too...LOL

 

Maybe I am not using the term "muddy" in the right context. Maybe I should say a bit "darker" than the wagners. I had thought that the Rio's were the best I had ever heard until I put the DB's in the P90 guitar that Mike had sold me. THey just ring with such clarity that its astounding. I really dont have the vocabulary to be able to explain it properly. It could also all be in my head too, since my friend that lives down the street from me says that my SC with the Rio's is by far and away the best sounding guitar I own (he hasnt tried the Diablo yet, but he will this weekend) He is a professional gigging musician so he has a much more rounded opinion than I would have considering I have only been playing for something like 4 years now. I am only saying what I feel I hear in my head (kind of all that matters really right...LOL) so others opinions very well may be completely different. Our buddy Adam said that he liked the Rio's more than the wagners and on top of that he said the neck pup in his Driskill was the best sounding neck pup he ever heard....when he took it out of the guitar to find out what it was...well it turned out to be a Rio bridge pickup!! LOL So I am sure that every single person who plays probably hears something totally different tonally.

Anyhow Dennis, I will be up Mikes way hopefully in a few months and maybe I can swing by your place on my way up there and let you give this thing a test drive....or if you are ever down this way you are definitely welcome to swing on through!!

 

Wow...you are right...its canted a bit. Around an 1/8 of an inch higher on the right side compared to the left....not sure if it was intentional or if "slacker" (Joes CNC machine) had one too many beers the night he cut this....LOL I'll have to ask Joe.


Hmmmm in looking at his site I dont see any other pups canted like this so it looks like mine may be a defect...not sure how it happened since I would guess that its all done on the CNC and since the neck one is fine the bridge one should be also unless they were cut at different times.

 

Yeah William

I spent about 2 hours talking to Joe about it. He emailed me right after he found out I had bought it. THe one I got was built pretty much right along with yours. They sat side by side through the entire build process so you probably played mine in your visits out there.