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NGD: a pristine GMP Pawnshop Deluxe (photos added)


polara

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In the local GC, with original case, the build card, the case key and tools, and the receipt from purchase new in 2001.

Burgundy quilted maple top that has a sort of demon face in the quilting, matching headstock, bound top, fretboard and headstock, ebony board, fretboard inlays and logo are real abalone. Immaculate, just a bit dirty. No fret wear, no corrosion, one odd little flaw in the finish that I think will polish out.

Under a thousand bucks. I didn't need it, but practically ran out the door, it was so much guitar for the money.

Pics tomorrow when there's light. Holy crappers this is a nice guitar. Built like a brick house, mighty mighty.

EDITED TO ADD: Removed the control covers (secured with machine screws, which is cool. It's almost hollow! Just a block under the middle as far back as the bridge. Beyond what I'd call chambered,  more semi-hollow. Cool.

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On 9/24/2017 at 10:21 AM, Jakeboy said:

Wow. That looks really nice.....I know zippo about GMP.....

Thanks. They're super-obscure. From what I can tell, they started in 1990 or 1991 with a core of guys from Charvel and Jackson, in San Dimas, California. Tried to make the absolute top quality with super-flashy finishes, and after a couple years the quality got there. Guys from Warrant, Cinderella, Neil Geraldo, Vivian Campbell, some guys who did a lot of touring in the hard rock and metal scenes played 'em and I guess still do. Somehow they were tied to another small company in an unrelated business - I heard juicers, of all things - and they shuttered the guitar company when the other business was closed, in 2005 I think. They made about 1,100 guitars and the reputation was for really top-end stuff.

Then a few years later they re-opened under a guy who was famous for his wild finish work, along with his wife and two guys from the original GMP. Supposedly these are also great guitars, but the website hasn't been updated in over a year.

They may be out of business again, but they update their Facebook page sometimes. Rick Neilsen, of all people, was their last update, playing a new GMP mandcello.

Basically while the quality is at Hamer level, their back story and marketing make Hamer look look like CF Martin in terms of stability and recognition.

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Wow, that's gorgeous and a score at the price. I had a GMP in the past and it was nice solid guitar. The neck carve wasn't as comfy as Hamer's though.

And I can't quite tell from the pic; does that have the blocky, LP-esque neck/body attachment or the seamless one? At some point I believe they transitioned from the former to the latter.

-

Austin

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4 minutes ago, atquinn said:

Wow, that's gorgeous and a score at the price. I had a GMP in the past and it was nice solid guitar. The neck carve wasn't as comfy as Hamer's though.

And I can't quite tell from the pic; does that have the blocky, LP-esque neck/body attachment or the seamless one? At some point I believe they transitioned from the former to the latter.

-

Austin

When I picked it up and played it, my honest thought was "This is possibly the nicest electric guitar I have ever played," and I've played some nice ones. The build quality is astonishing. As for the neck, it's pretty big, up in Hamer "vintage" territory. It is slightly more square-shouldered, I guess more D than C, but it happens to suit me really well.

Yep, it's the Les Paul kind of joint. I don't spend much time up there, and perhaps the bulk makes it stronger, but it is kind of funny that as crazy as they went on these, that it's not sculpted.

It does have some very small stress cracks in the clearcoat on both sides of the nut. There's a also a teensy ding at the tip of the headstock, so it may have gotten bumped hard once. It's weird, as there is no fretwear and no buckle rash, plus all the paperwork is intact: usually the sign of a well-heeled "I'm going to get the old band back together" buyer or a non-playing collector but it got played enough to put pressure on the neck. Stable as a rock though: I can only feel the cracks if i slide a fingernail over them.

The only way I'll sell it is if it just doesn't sound right for my stuff. Fender scale, thick maple cap on mahogany, ebony board, and 59 and CC pickups, I can predict it'll be a snappier, brighter LP which should work well.

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That sounds like the right formula......My favorite for quite a while has been the singlecut with the "traditional" maple.mahogany build, but ebony board. My number one has gotten about 80% of my time when playing out for the past 4 years or so.

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43 minutes ago, polara said:

Thanks. They're super-obscure. From what I can tell, they started in 1990 or 1991 with a core of guys from Charvel and Jackson, in San Dimas, California. Tried to make the absolute top quality with super-flashy finishes, and after a couple years the quality got there. Guys from Warrant, Cinderella, Neil Geraldo, Vivian Campbell, some guys who did a lot of touring in the hard rock and metal scenes played 'em and I guess still do. Somehow they were tied to another small company in an unrelated business - I heard juicers, of all things - and they shuttered the guitar company when the other business was closed, in 2005 I think. They made about 1,100 guitars and the reputation was for really top-end stuff.

Then a few years later they re-opened under a guy who was famous for his wild finish work, along with his wife and two guys from the original GMP. Supposedly these are also great guitars, but I've seen trailer parks with better branding. Their website hasn't been updated in over a year, the pages too wide to fit most screens, it has Flash (!) banners, and is littered with weird 3-D buttons, flags, and overall is so crap that if one of my interns did it I'd dismiss him on the spot. Maybe they're trying for an authentic 1993 vibe.

They may be out of business again, but they update their Facebook page sometimes. Rick Neilsen, of all people, was their last update, playing a new GMP mandcello.

Basically while the quality is at Hamer level, their back story and marketing make Hamer look look like CF Martin in terms of stability and recognition.

I think you're getting some facts mixed up with the Gene Baker story - he was the one that went under (in part) because of the juicer thing back in 2002-03.  The finish/graphic artist guy you're thinking about is Dan Lawrence, who is very well known as THE guy in SoCal for airbrush graphic finishes in the '90s-00s.

I'm not sure about their current status, but they were just brought back a couple of years ago. Serial has the last bass they made in the original run - it's got some pretty bitchin' blue/green metalflake flames!

 

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Quick sound report. Very nice. Very elegant sounding guitar, no dead spots, very consistent across and up and down the fretboard. 

The CC bridge with 59 neck is an interesting combination. You can get radically different sounds in the three positions, very clear and midrangey with the bridge, and the 59 sound in the neck position we all know, but the guitar overall is pretty snappy and bright, so it's not too wooly. Both pickups together is really unusual... hard to describe. Good, unusual.

It's a very civilized, articulate guitar.

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10 hours ago, polara said:

 

   It has a smiling fire demon face between the pickups, so I'm naming it "Calcifer."

DSCF0819.JPG

Reminds me of what a gremlin looks like when it gets wet:

142651.jpg

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21 minutes ago, Ed Rechts said:

How do you feel about Firebirds?

jay_gmp.jpg

IF they were made by American Motors......

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