Steve Haynie Posted May 4, 2016 Posted May 4, 2016 Heck with seeing photos! Bring it back across the Atlantic so we can see it under stage lights! The anticipation of receiving the guitar is what we feel like waiting for a North American tour. Welcome to our world!
Bennyboy-UK Posted May 4, 2016 Posted May 4, 2016 Can't wait to see it! Just watched an interview on YouTube of yours Kev, plus some stage stuff - great widdly and riffin. Hell is new to me looks like you have a lot of fun together!
hamerhead Posted May 5, 2016 Posted May 5, 2016 12 hours ago, Bennyboy-UK said: Hell is new to me Good one, Bennyboy. We know better.
Biz Prof Posted May 5, 2016 Posted May 5, 2016 21 hours ago, kevinbower1959 said: Woohoo !! For a brief, weary-eyed moment, I was thinking, "How did Mike ship that guitar (on February 5th) before he actually finished it...and even if he could do that, why the hell did it take Fed Ex the entire months of February and March to get it across the pond? Oh...then I remembered date formatting differences between the U.S. and Europe.
velorush Posted May 5, 2016 Posted May 5, 2016 2 hours ago, Biz Prof said: For a brief, weary-eyed moment, I was thinking, "How did Mike ship that guitar (on February 5th) before he actually finished it...and even if he could do that, why the hell did it take Fed Ex the entire months of February and March to get it across the pond? Oh...then I remembered date formatting differences between the U.S. and Europe. Yes, another thing (along with the metric system) Europe gets right!
kizanski Posted May 6, 2016 Posted May 6, 2016 I don't think we're going to be hearing from him for quite a while...
kevinbower1959 Posted May 6, 2016 Posted May 6, 2016 It's honestly difficult to know where to start. I really wish I had a quality SLR instead of a crappy iPad camera - because nothing I tried even comes close to capturing the stunning beauty of this work of art. It's off the scale - in fact, let me correct that and say that it has a scale all of its own. I'm normally pretty eloquent, but I can't find any words right now so I'll just let some pictures do the talking. I'll post again in a few days when I get my breath back.
BubbaVO Posted May 6, 2016 Posted May 6, 2016 BLACK MAGMA! That top! The binding! The fretwork! It's amazing. Enjoy! Mike Shishkov is a master. FTW.
MCChris Posted May 6, 2016 Posted May 6, 2016 3 hours ago, kevinbower1959 said: The guitar is outrageous, of course, but I love the fact that the guitarist for Hell lives in such a nice residential neighborhood. Very King Diamond-esque!
HSB0531 Posted May 6, 2016 Posted May 6, 2016 2 hours ago, cmatthes said: That is simply OFF THE CHARTS. That's the only way to describe it.
kevinbower1959 Posted May 6, 2016 Posted May 6, 2016 My girlfriend just showed up with her SLR, so I'll post some proper pictures asap. OK - earlier than expected (I just shredded the hell out if for almost 4 hours non-stop, I couldn't put it down) - here's what I think - my 'review' if you like. Most of this has been said many times on here already by all the earlier Ultimate recipients, so forgive me if this makes 'same old story' reading; 1 - It's the best guitar I ever played. Not just by a small margin - but by a country mile. It just felt like 'mine' the minute I picked it up. Every tiny detail just oozes quality, and the lengths Mike has gone to accommodate my specific requests (stuff like mounting the high E string 3-4mm inbound of the fretboard edge to stop it falling off whilst doing trills) is nothing short of astounding. Now bearing in mind that I've played my '08 Standard for tens of thousands of hours across hundreds of shows, and that guitar's always felt like an extension of my arm - going back to my former #1 after just 30 minutes on the Shishkov just felt 'wrong'. It's hard to describe, but as players you'll all know where I'm coming from. 2 - It sounds astonishing. Unplugged, it chimes and resonates like nothing I ever experienced. I have no idea how he manages to pull off this voodoo, but plugged into the go-to Kemper Powerhead, and really cranked up through a bunch of Marshall cabs with V30's - it just gets better and better still. It's like every single note, on every string, in every conceivable fret position - is identically balanced. There are absolutely no weak spots, no single riff or run you play features any one note louder or quieter than it should be. It's taking some getting used to, after years of picking variation to compensate. I can't wait for the next live show ..... but #0666 will be going straight to the studio tonight to re-track a bunch of album guitar parts. 3 - Josh Gravelin has done a stellar job with the 'Charlotte' pickups. The bridge has exactly the right balance of drive, clear but crunchy mids, sparkling highs and absolutely no flab on the low end. Once again - the absolute linearity of response across the entire playing scale is what really shines through. He actually did me two versions of the bridge pup - Mike included the alternative version is in the case. I'm sure I'll get round to swapping the bridge pup out for version #2 in due course - but for now, it's hard to imagine how anything could better what's already there. As for the neck pup - it's just instant Gary Moore. I was a little worried because I had specced the guitar up with no tone controls, and being used to rolling off the tone pot a little whilst using the neck pup on almost every guitar I played until now, I thought that I'd maybe screwed up, and that it would be too bright. But no - Josh totally nailed it. It sings with a creamy, smooth voice - no nasty peaks, just velvety smooth awesomeness. Well done to the Mad Professor. 4 - The build, fit and finish, materials, and component quality are all absolutely flawless. This is again hard to describe, unless you've actually seen and handled one of Mike's instruments in the flesh - but it's the same as getting used to driving a really nice car - you're super-comfortable with it, and really happy with every aspect of its performance, reliability, build quality and so on. And then one day - you get to drive a Bentley or an Aston Martin, and you realise that your expectation levels have shifted .... by any stretch of the imagination, these are guitars which are worth much, much more than any of us have paid for them. I feel very lucky. 5 - I could go on, but I have no superlatives left. I would close by offering my heartfelt thanks to Mike for all the work, skill, and dedication he expends practising his craft, and for generating the biggest shit-eating schoolboy grin my face ever experienced. He's a total one-off in every sense of the word - incredible to deal with, and what we Brits fondly call 'a top bloke'. And finally - if any of you out there are still undecided, hovering over Mike's 'Buy It Now' button - hover no longer, my friends. I guarantee you won't regret it. Best wishes Kev
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