StSpider
Active member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2002
- Messages
- 2,148
The title says enough, yet I feel like words can't do justice to this guitar.
I first came across these Eliminator guitars in early 2017, and immediately fell in love with it: it was all I was looking for, single pickup, vintage vibe, lightweight and comfortable on stage. I had been looking at vintage Juniors for a long time, but never found anything I was comfortable buying unseen here in Europe (well, I actually had found one but it was snatched from me while I was almost litterally cash in hand ready to go pickup it up). So I decided to go for something else and the Eliminator fit the bill perfectly, as I was saying. Plus, it's even cooler than a double cut Junior (IMO). I exchanged a couple of mails with Clive, discussed a few tweaks to his normal model, put an order down and 9 months after here it was in all its beauty:
Not only it is (in my opinion) a gorgeous looking guitar, it sounds and feels like the best vintage Juniors I've ever put my hands on. Lightweight, resonant, with notes popping out of the fretboard, and an incredible arsenal of tones available at the turn of the knobs. I don't know where Clive sources his woods but these two beautiful pieces of korina (one piece neck, one piece body) sound as dry and seasoned as a 50s Junior with its original finish on. It sits in the mix with authority, and I can't get enough of the korina snap and definition, expecially on the wound strings, it's truly remarkable.
As far as specs go, neck is the most comfortable boat profile I've ever played. It's bigger than my R4 (tho not as big as some freak necks I've found around), yet incredibly comfortable: every person I've lent the guitar to has liked it, regardless of their preference (even the other player in my band, who plays a musicman axis, can't help but dig it). As per my request, the profile is very even from the first fret to the heel. Pickup is a SHED soap star, which is a p90 in humbucker shape (I wanted a P90 but I felt like a soapbar or dogear would have looked weird, plus the humbucker routing gives me more options to swap pickups if I ever feel like it). I asked for strap buttons to be placed in the "modern" position (behind the neck / center of the body), because I feel at home the most with ES330/335 type of balance. It's pretty light for such a BIG chunk of wood (it's absolutely full size, and explorers are far from being tiny guitars), weighting a little less than 8 pounds. Bridge is a Pigtail, tuners are vintage.
The finish and aging job are incredible. The realism of it is amazing, and the neck feels really worn in, as if it had been played for decades. This guitar is such a pleasure to look at, also considering that Clive picked a very beautiful pieced of Korina for the body (reminds me of 8 4548 in the way that there's a "wave" in the fin and tighter grain the the center of the body). Overall, it's easy to see why Clive is regarded as one of the very best in the business when it comes to refinishing a vintage guitar: his reputation is absolutely deserved.
I got my Eliminator for a couple of months now, so honeymoon phase should be well over. Yet, I still have a hard time putting it down. It's the kind of guitar that makes it fun even to practice scales on it, it plays and sounds so good.
Please be patient if I sound like a schoolgirl talking about his first crush: I just like this guitar so much, and I hope you dig it too.
I first came across these Eliminator guitars in early 2017, and immediately fell in love with it: it was all I was looking for, single pickup, vintage vibe, lightweight and comfortable on stage. I had been looking at vintage Juniors for a long time, but never found anything I was comfortable buying unseen here in Europe (well, I actually had found one but it was snatched from me while I was almost litterally cash in hand ready to go pickup it up). So I decided to go for something else and the Eliminator fit the bill perfectly, as I was saying. Plus, it's even cooler than a double cut Junior (IMO). I exchanged a couple of mails with Clive, discussed a few tweaks to his normal model, put an order down and 9 months after here it was in all its beauty:
Not only it is (in my opinion) a gorgeous looking guitar, it sounds and feels like the best vintage Juniors I've ever put my hands on. Lightweight, resonant, with notes popping out of the fretboard, and an incredible arsenal of tones available at the turn of the knobs. I don't know where Clive sources his woods but these two beautiful pieces of korina (one piece neck, one piece body) sound as dry and seasoned as a 50s Junior with its original finish on. It sits in the mix with authority, and I can't get enough of the korina snap and definition, expecially on the wound strings, it's truly remarkable.
As far as specs go, neck is the most comfortable boat profile I've ever played. It's bigger than my R4 (tho not as big as some freak necks I've found around), yet incredibly comfortable: every person I've lent the guitar to has liked it, regardless of their preference (even the other player in my band, who plays a musicman axis, can't help but dig it). As per my request, the profile is very even from the first fret to the heel. Pickup is a SHED soap star, which is a p90 in humbucker shape (I wanted a P90 but I felt like a soapbar or dogear would have looked weird, plus the humbucker routing gives me more options to swap pickups if I ever feel like it). I asked for strap buttons to be placed in the "modern" position (behind the neck / center of the body), because I feel at home the most with ES330/335 type of balance. It's pretty light for such a BIG chunk of wood (it's absolutely full size, and explorers are far from being tiny guitars), weighting a little less than 8 pounds. Bridge is a Pigtail, tuners are vintage.
The finish and aging job are incredible. The realism of it is amazing, and the neck feels really worn in, as if it had been played for decades. This guitar is such a pleasure to look at, also considering that Clive picked a very beautiful pieced of Korina for the body (reminds me of 8 4548 in the way that there's a "wave" in the fin and tighter grain the the center of the body). Overall, it's easy to see why Clive is regarded as one of the very best in the business when it comes to refinishing a vintage guitar: his reputation is absolutely deserved.
I got my Eliminator for a couple of months now, so honeymoon phase should be well over. Yet, I still have a hard time putting it down. It's the kind of guitar that makes it fun even to practice scales on it, it plays and sounds so good.
Please be patient if I sound like a schoolgirl talking about his first crush: I just like this guitar so much, and I hope you dig it too.
