Spec Sheet: $85 buck premium for Alder over Basswood. That buys a lot of fried chicken on the street here.. Fretboard is not rosewood by Kabukalli which is a South American Hardwood. iGuitar Music Instrument Shop 16 April · Paul Ray Guitars กีตาร์รีลิคสวยๆ Spec ดีมากๆ มีสองรุ่นคือ ST-1 Body Basswood กับ ST-2 Body Alder ทั้งสองรุ่นมาพร้อมคอแบบ 60’s C Shape 10” เล่นง่ายแบบ Super Strat,Semi Gross Finish,Pickup Wilkinson,ลูกบิดและหย่องVintage,Pickguard Mint Green หรือ Tortoise Shell มีให้เลือกสามสี Sunburst,Cream และ Shell Pink มาพร้อมกระเป๋าคู่ตัว เฉพาะรุ่น ST-2 มีให้เลือกทั้งแบบ SSS และแบบ HSS ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ Model: Paul Ray Relic ST-1 Body Wood: Basswood Neck Wood: Maple Fretboard: Kabukalli Neck Shape: 60’s C Shape Radius: 10” Fret: 22Frets Nut Width: 1 5/8" (41.3mm) Inlays: Dot Finish: Semi Gross Relic Finish Color: Sunburst,Cream,Shell Pink Pickups: Wilkinson Pickguards: Mint Green Electronics: Volume-Tone-Tone ,5Way Switch Hardware: Chrome Tuners: Vintage Chrome Bridge: 6 Screw Vintage Knobs: Mint Green Strings: .009-.042 Bag : Paul Ray Bag ราคา 5,000 บาท โปรโมชั่นลด 10% เหลือ 4,500 บาท ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ Model: Paul Ray Relic ST-2 Body Wood: Alder Neck Wood: Maple Fretboard: Kabukalli Neck Shape: 60’s C Shape Radius: 10” Fret: 22Frets Nut Width: 1 5/8" (41.3mm) Inlays: Dot Finish: Semi Gross Relic Pickups: Wilkinson SSS/HSS Pickguards: Mint Green/Tortoise Shell Electronics: Volume-Tone-Tone ,5Way Switch Hardware: Chrome Tuners: Vintage Chrome Bridge: 6 Screw Vintage Knobs: Mint Green Strings: .009-.042 Bag : Paul Ray Bag SSS ราคา 8,000 บาท โปรโมชั่นลด 10% เหลือ 7,200 บาท HSS ราคา 8,500 บาท โปรโมชั่นลด 10% เหลือ 7,650 บาท ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
As lin Yutang would have said , The tone of an Alder strat will be remembered long after the taste of chicken is forgotten'.
I am so glad I've never had that kind of hardwood premium before. I am amazed how often I've had no premium for wood, nice grain and even flametop maple. On nearly every guitar I have they could have nailed me for a $30 or maybe $40 premium. In fact just seeing a flame burst and a plain black or red guitar at the same price it spurs me to consider it just because the obvious bargain niche feel. I had my very nice Gibson tribute plaintop @$600 but I actually sold it for my $1000 studio deluxe II with a beautiful flamed top. So that was quite the upcharge for close to the same guitar. I had zero interest in a firefly for 139. But a flame oceanburst or spalted at 169 had me checking my credit cards. $85 extra for ash over basswood and I would probably do it especially if I could pick it in person. But alder? Maybe for a damn nice piece?
Some people: wood is organic material, so no two pieces sound the same even from the same tree! The same people: wood has no effect on tone! You can use cement and it sounds the same!
The brown sunburst guitar reminds of a model that Vintage Brand Guitars puts out. I wonder if they are using the same factory.
The only caveat is if you want the SSH you need to pay the premium as that model only available in Alder for a $97 buck premium. I am heavily favoring the basswood SSS at this point...but on Wednesday I'll be checking them out in person and we'll see if the relic job can be accaptable to me first of all. This shop is a small place for new stock but they have a dusty back room with a large used inventory of higher end stuff...lots of expensive Fenders and have not been back there in a while might check out what used goodies they have in the back...sometimes you can stumble upon a gem.
I'm just talking about the looks of the grain, and the feel, weight, resell, sometimes a rews strip out of softwood or dents.
OK got to check out the Paul Ray guitars today. Quality: FRET ENDS perfect, action low, all frets polished and level. Playability: I have been playing acoustics exclusively for a year with 13s so the 9s felt like limp noodles but the neck was comfortable and fast. Pickups sounded good and supposedly are Wilkinson Alnico but the slugs were all level and I suspect maybe ceramic. Having said that, they sounded good under the limits of my quick run thru. Just for laughs I ran my finger along the fretboards of the other 4 or 5 Paul Ray's on the shop and all smooth as silk no sharp edges. Then I did the same with 3 Squier Affinity 1 Strat ND 2 Tele models and all 3 had razor frets... The CV strat was OK. Now the bad..the relic job (and I don't cotton to relics in the first place) just looks too contrived. To top it off they even rusted the string trees which is really an awful idea.. If that's even part of the relicing! I've decided not to jump on these.. Maybe the vendor will intro a non relic model which would be a sure buy then. Some pics:
Sure those aren't pre punched veneers on there? I'm just guessing. How else would you get the exact same wear on all of 'em? Should have taken a closer shot of the burst to see if the end pieces match the top/back grain. I don't see any obvious seam. I can't imagine they're 1 piece basswood. Reminds me of the ESP relicing.
The SSH models are Alder. SSS are basswood. Definitely not veneers.. The worn areas are poly coated.. That is why I did not bite
SSS is what I was referring to. It's the only transparent burst I can see. Besides, the exact wood wasnt my issue i was trying to explain. It was seams. You cant poly over a veneer? These look like the faux ESP relics & my Hadean Antiquety. The "relic" is under an inch of poly. It would never wear any further.
