# NGD: Skervesen Raptor 6 baritone! review, pics & vid



## Erockomania (Oct 26, 2013)

Ok, so I&#8217;ve been able to spend some quality time with my new toy and thought I&#8217;d take a moment to give it a proper review! I&#8217;ll review the entire process from inception to completed instrument as well as sound and playability. 

First, here are the specs:

Skervesen Raptor 6 baritone (26.5&#8221; scale)
Chambered Swamp Ash wings
Burl Poplar top
Neck Through Body
Rosewood/Ebony/White bubinga neck
Ziricote fretboard, no fret dots
Stainless steel frets
Reverse blue burst (Nebula burst?) &#9786;
A headstock of my own&#8230; I wanted to keep the Skervesen vibe intact so I use two existing headstocks and combined them to make something unique and more my style at the same time. It is a combination of the Swan and the &#8220;019&#8221;. I think it came out killer! &#9786;
Bareknuckle Aftermaths calibrated set
Hannes Bridge
Ivoroid binding
Luminlay side dots

Secondly, the goods(just some crappy lighting/iPhone pics and the Skervesen pics for now... more to come with better res and lighting soon ):
































































*The build process:*
So about a year ago, I was in Germany on vacation and started searching for guitar manufacturers over in that region to see if there was something worth visiting. I stumbled on Skervesen&#8230; which was not close enough, unfortunately, but I was struck by their finishes a craftsmanship. I&#8217;d struck up a conversation with Maciek on Facebook and inquired on pricing, turnaround, etc&#8230; all the while determining if they would be a good company with which to work to build a custom guitar. 

Maciek seemed very willing to answer all questions and is just a nice person in general. At that time, the turnaround was something crazy&#8230; like 8-10 weeks or so so I put them at the top of the list as I&#8217;m an impatient dude. Haha. I started gathering funds and all the while I was watching their climb in popularity here on SS.org. This, of course, started increasing the turnaround but it was still totally reasonable. By the time I ordered, the turnaround was 12-16 weeks. Totally fine with me. After many conversations with Maciek, I decided on all the specs you see above and the build was underway! Throughout the process, Maciek was always courteous and patient&#8230;. And I can be demanding and wishy-washy with particulars at times, so you know he&#8217;s a good dude and he never lost his cool or changed his tone with me &#9786; There were times in the middle of the build where communication slowed down but I chalk that up to their fast climb to one of the more popular builders out there and their obviously quickly increasing instrument orders. During the important stages, however, communication was quick and accurate, for the most part. I did find I got faster responses via Facebook messaging and during the late evening, early morning hours here in CA (midnight &#8211; 7am seemed to be the sweet spot, but I&#8217;m a night owl so that was fine &#9786. It should be noted that even tho communication slowed at times, the builds seemed to be pretty well automated and work was getting done even tho the updates weren&#8217;t flying in. I know some folks were getting a little frustrated with communication at times, but inevitably, the important stages were well communicated and work was still getting done &#8220;behind the scenes&#8221;. I would imagine it was getting pretty difficult for Maciek to catalog all the builds in different stages, take pics, email or FM message them, etc&#8230; 

In the end, the build took about 6 months. A couple months longer than expected, but I wasn&#8217;t really to concerned with it as I knew they wouldn&#8217;t just rush guitars out the door to make deadlines. Especially the more elaborate ones. Honestly, I think they should just quote 6 months. It&#8217;s completely reasonable and STILL faster than most custom builders out there. I can&#8217;t imagine folks would shy away from them because of a slightly longer build time. The quality of the guitar was most important to me and I&#8217;m sure that&#8217;s the number one priority with most everyone spending the money on such equipment. Overall, I give Skervesen a B+ on the build process. Do not be concerned with giving your money to them. They really seem like nice guys willing to do what it takes to make sure the customer is happy. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the norm these days as we&#8217;ve seen with several, more recognized builders.

*The Sound:*
The guitar sounds amazing. Flat out. Very resonant and very balanced. I think the brightness of the Aftermaths combined with the slightly darker sound you get with a NTB is a great match. Some folks note slightly snappier attack with a bolt on&#8230; this combo gets me close enough and still gives me the benefits of a NTB (not to mention the aesthetic advantage!). I have this tuned to drop A (which was setup perfectly from Skervesen, btw) and the added length really makes a difference to me. Drop A might just be the perfect tuning for a 26.5&#8221; scale; punchy and harmonically rich while maintaining &#8220;true&#8221; pitch very well. I don&#8217;t find much of an issue with the higher strings in this scale. I do prefer shorter scales for the high strings much of the time, but this scale doesn&#8217;t bother me. The notes still sound pretty rich on these strings. High gain sounds are effing ridiculous on this. Seriously. It spoiled other guitars in my brothel. Cleans sound bright and sparkly&#8230; and balanced! Although I haven&#8217;t put it through ALL its paces yet, I can tell you it&#8217;s very versatile and wil make an appearance in many types of music. Overall, I give it an A on sound.

*The Playability:*
Again, they knocked it out of the park. The relief is .003&#8221; &#8230; so very flat, yet there is very little fret buzz. Certainly none that comes thru an amp. The action is low, but not too low, which is ideal for me and I like to be able to dig in. Some folks might want the action a tad lower than it came, those that use a soft touch when playing for speed, but that&#8217;s just a few twists of some allen screws away. Easily done. The frets are ultra-polished and feel and look like glass. It&#8217;s a pleasure to play. I do setups/fret levels, etc&#8230; on the side of my studio business and this is absolutely top notch work. The crowning is excellent and the fret end are rounded which makes for a very comfortable playing experience. I give it an A for playability. 

*The Aesthetics:*
Obviously, the guitar is a stunner. Beyond what I could have imagined. I was very specific about the burst and was in constant communication during that process. I made a few changes to the actual border of the burst as well as some colors that didn&#8217;t work for me, but once completed, I was in awe. It looks stunning. I feel very fortunate to own this instrument! I know everyone wants to get the DL on flaws these days and there are a couple SUPER minor &#8220;flaws&#8221; (I hate even calling them that).. for one, there is a tiny border flaw on the bridge pickup route. You can almost tell hands touched the guitar . Nothing major&#8230; in fact, you can only see it when you take close up pics and really try to find something wrong. This effing site has changed the way I see instruments! I swear, the camera sees more than my eyes, lol. The other minor &#8220;imperfection&#8221; (better word) has nothing to do with the wood, but the little chrome ring under the switch&#8230; it has some minor chips in the nickel chrome coating. Again, really nothing. I could fix it for $.30 if I felt it would make a diff to me. Other than that, the only things I might find will have to be under microscope. I like to keep in mind that humans make these things and flawless instruments are very hard to come by. Obvious &#8220;issue&#8221; flaws are BS and should never happen, but when craftsman&#8217;s hands touch wood, those minor imperfections are what lets you know humans have made your custom instrument. (yes, I know CNC does the bulk work these days, but that not what I talking about here &#9786. For aesthetics I give it an A.

*OVERALL:* effing A man. I can stare at the damn thing for hours. It was hard working away from it, haha. I would recommend Skervesen to anyone wanting a badass custom guitar for a very reasonable price. These guys live up to the hype and really seem to love what they do.

Here is a quick video I made late at night with sh***y lightning. Don&#8217;t worry, the guitar is bathed in yellow light&#8230; that is not the true color, haha! 

Skervesen Raptor 6 demo - YouTube


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## Watty (Oct 26, 2013)

Congrats; looks phenomenal!


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## 77zark77 (Oct 26, 2013)

Weird ! I don't know what I'm supposed to think at first glance !
Too many styles in one item !

Nice at first glance though, but needs some time to really appreciate


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## ihunda (Oct 26, 2013)

Damn, that's an amazing raptor, congrats!
Thanks for the review man,

HNGD!


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## Nahkaparoni (Oct 26, 2013)

Amazing looking guitar! That top looks like a nebula or a supernova . And I bet the guitar doesn't sound anything less than superb. HNGD!

How do you like that Hannes bridge btw? I have noticed a lot of people getting those on their guitars lately.


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## jahosy (Oct 26, 2013)

Congrats mate! You've got yourself a real stunner!


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## rifft (Oct 26, 2013)

Sick guitar! Skervys are excellent


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## knagy0325 (Oct 26, 2013)

Spectacular, as almost every Skervy. Top is amazing!
HNGD!

Oh, and how is the neck profile, cold you compare it to some other brand?


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## shawnperolis (Oct 26, 2013)

It is so pretty... Papa want!


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## Erockomania (Oct 26, 2013)

Thanks guys! 

Regarding the Hannes bridge... It's VERY comfy. I really like it both in how it feels and how it looks. Seems to be made very well too. 

Regarding the neck contour... You know, I'm not very sensitive to neck differences so I'm probably not the best guy to ask, but I'd say it's like an ibanez but a bit thicker with a softer C shape. 

Here's the build thread if anyone would like to see...

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/luthiery-modifications-customizations/235601-new-skervesen-raptor-baritone-6-build.html


Also, how does one embed a video!?


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## chrisxrome (Oct 26, 2013)

HNGD! Incredibly jealous, man. Flippin' beautiful


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## kchay (Oct 26, 2013)

I am insanely jealous, and really want one now. That figuring on the fretboard, is it normal for that wood?


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## Jlang (Oct 26, 2013)

Oh
My
.....
I was waiting for this post, I have been following your build thread from the get go. This is seriously top notch work.
Hngd and if you ever sell this I will be there,


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## lobotom (Oct 26, 2013)

Amazing! Congratulations.

Alex


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## Cremated (Oct 27, 2013)

'At son bitch is purty.


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## Daf57 (Oct 27, 2013)

Work of art, man! Just beautiful!  Congrats!


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## Eviga (Oct 27, 2013)

Congrats and HNGD! Stunning guitar!


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## Cowboyfromhell (Oct 27, 2013)

OH MY GOD! That top is AWESOME!!!!! Who we kidding the whole guitar is a BEAST! Even the fretboard is made of dragon skin or something. Looks absolutely amazing congrats and HNGD!


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## Aris_T (Oct 27, 2013)

Hands down the best burst I've seen! It reminds me of this:





Just perfect!

Congrats and HNGD!!!!


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## Roland777 (Oct 27, 2013)

Woah. That's some "bloody ....ing hell"-grade burl.


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## Michael T (Oct 27, 2013)

Love it. That burst turned out awesome. 

Congrats, HNGD


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## ben_hurt (Oct 27, 2013)

Love the stain on the burl. Looks great! congrats


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## Erockomania (Oct 27, 2013)

Aris_T said:


> Hands down the best burst I've seen! It reminds me of this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Holy crap... it does sorta look like that, haha!

THanks for all the kind words! I feel very fortunate to own this guitar.


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## Steinmetzify (Oct 27, 2013)

Saw that one on FB and was awestruck. This is far and away the best looking Skervesen I've seen yet. The burst really outlines those pickups, which just look great floating there. Just stunning, man. HN(AWESOME)GD!


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## HaloHat (Oct 27, 2013)

Nice guita...whoa holy crap look at that guys studio gear in back 

That fret board has very lacewood like figuring. Damn nice job on the headstock too. Sweet.


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## Erockomania (Oct 28, 2013)

Thanks guys! 

Oh, and that guy is me


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## Mklane (Oct 28, 2013)

Insanity!!


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## Forkface (Oct 28, 2013)

i am now 100% convinced that skervesen goes to neptune to harvest their wood.


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## Erockomania (Oct 28, 2013)

Forkface said:


> i am now 100% convinced that skervesen goes to neptune to harvest their wood.



lol!


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## coffinwisdom (Oct 28, 2013)

That is the nicest finish I have ever seen.


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## LordCashew (Oct 28, 2013)

Aris_T said:


> Hands down the best burst I've seen! It reminds me of this:



Archaea Burst!


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## hk_golgatha (Oct 28, 2013)

Very nice! Such a HNGD!

In all of the necks I've seen I've never really been a big fan of rosewood, but damn. That neck is badass. Love the bubinga, too!


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## ThePhilosopher (Oct 28, 2013)

Winning, simply winning.


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## Aris_T (Oct 28, 2013)

LordIronSpatula said:


> Archaea Burst!



It sure beats the plain and simple "yellowstone burst".

@Erockomania: is there an "official" name for this burst? If not, I nominate Archaea!


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## LordCashew (Oct 28, 2013)

Aris_T said:


> @Erockomania: is there an "official" name for this burst? If not, I nominate Archaea!



Does the burst bear genetic dissimilarities to all other guitar finishes? If so, I concur!


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## oniduder (Oct 28, 2013)




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## crg123 (Oct 28, 2013)

YOU! you're the one who gained this masterpiece! I love my skervesen but seriously I've never GAS'd so hard for a 6 string in my life. GOD! lol


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## MikeH (Oct 28, 2013)

I saw this on the Skervesen Facebook and nearly shit my pants. By far, one of the most beautiful tops I've ever seen.


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## Shimme (Oct 28, 2013)

That is one of the most beautiful guitars I've ever seen. Seriously, my jaw lowered a little bit when I saw that final picture. Possible guitar of the YEAR there.

Also, I have to ask, is that scaling look normal for ziricote? That's just out of this world.


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## serch777 (Oct 29, 2013)

That's amazing man!!!! Congratulations!!


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## vilk (Oct 29, 2013)

That is like the coolest coloration I've ever seen


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## Acrid (Oct 29, 2013)

That top is insane dude, HNGD!


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## HellGamer666 (Oct 29, 2013)

Too awesome, dude! Hands down the nicest Skervesen I've ever seen on here.


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## Erockomania (Oct 29, 2013)

Aris_T said:


> It sure beats the plain and simple "yellowstone burst".
> 
> @Erockomania: is there an "official" name for this burst? If not, I nominate Archaea!



Nebula burst or Arctic burst is sorta what I thought was appropriate, but archea is cool too! haha



crg123 said:


> YOU! you're the one who gained this masterpiece! I love my skervesen but seriously I've never GAS'd so hard for a 6 string in my life. GOD! lol



haha, the facebook response on this was crazy! pretty darn cool 



Shimme said:


> That is one of the most beautiful guitars I've ever seen. Seriously, my jaw lowered a little bit when I saw that final picture. Possible guitar of the YEAR there.
> 
> Also, I have to ask, is that scaling look normal for ziricote? That's just out of this world.



thanks! 

Actually I have seen some ziricote with this look before so this is not necessarily unique, but certain areas of the FB look pretty dramatic... like reptile skin or something 



Thanks everyone!


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## Tyler (Oct 29, 2013)

You're lucky I live all the way on the other side of the country, pal..

But no really, this is definitely the best looking top I have ever laid eyes on


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## Erockomania (Oct 29, 2013)

Tyler said:


> You're lucky I live all the way on the other side of the country, pal..
> 
> But no really, this is definitely the best looking top I have ever laid eyes on


Ha! Thanks!


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## Birdman (Oct 30, 2013)

Congrats to this beauty. 

Funny story with your headstock....
I´m the original owner of the Skervesen Raptor "19". It was the first Skervesen Neck Thru and the headstock was designed by myself.
Also I´m the first owner of the "Swan" headstock on a Raptor ( the Raptor 3 )

PS : I was in vacation in San Francisco this year ;-))


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## Amanita (Oct 30, 2013)

Birdman said:


> Congrats to this beauty.
> It was the first Skervesen Neck Thru



it was the first NTB Skervesen _guitar _


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## Erockomania (Oct 30, 2013)

Birdman said:


> Congrats to this beauty.
> 
> Funny story with your headstock....
> I´m the original owner of the Skervesen Raptor "19". It was the first Skervesen Neck Thru and the headstock was designed by myself.
> ...



haha! We're like guitar soul mates! lol


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## Kullerbytta (Oct 31, 2013)

Oh my god, was that yours?! I saw it on Skervesens FB and I soiled my pants, jizzed and barfed at the same time (extremely-positive-shock-barf, not disgust-barf) when I saw it. 
This is, beyond a doubt, the best looking finish I've ever seen... The burl + the colors you chose were a perfect match for each other.

I'm gonna save up as much money as I can if you should ever wish (god forbid) to sell this


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## Erockomania (Oct 31, 2013)

Kullerbytta said:


> Oh my god, was that yours?! I saw it on Skervesens FB and I soiled my pants, jizzed and barfed at the same time (extremely-positive-shock-barf, not disgust-barf) when I saw it.
> This is, beyond a doubt, the best looking finish I've ever seen... The burl + the colors you chose were a perfect match for each other.
> 
> I'm gonna save up as much money as I can if you should ever wish (god forbid) to sell this



Hahaha! Too funny. Thank you!

However, I can't imagine wanting to sell this


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## PAINGVR (Nov 1, 2013)

Congrats, sweet axe! I've got two multi scale Raptors and love them!!


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## MAJ Meadows SF (Nov 1, 2013)

What the serious .... dude!?! 

That is just nasty. What the Spanish call 'el terrible'. 

..... Wow and it sounds brutal too. Thanks for doing a clip! The nebula stain is outrageous (and spawning my own filthy ideas ).

HNGD!


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## Erockomania (Nov 1, 2013)

PAINGVR said:


> Congrats, sweet axe! I've got two multi scale Raptors and love them!!



Nice! Where are the pics!? 



MAJ Meadows SF said:


> What the serious .... dude!?!
> 
> That is just nasty. What the Spanish call 'el terrible'.
> 
> ...



You're welcome! Better (much better) clips to come!


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## Eclipse (Nov 2, 2013)

My reaction to the guitar pron in this thread.


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## Erockomania (Nov 2, 2013)

Here are a few more of the fretboard mostly as there were no good closeups and one of the guitar in totally natural light  

(please excuse the finger "dander" and I've been playing the crappola out of it


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## TIMEwaveXERO (Nov 2, 2013)

This guitar is full of cosmic beauty! Congratulations dude. It's amazing.






Had to put that there. Reminded me of it. With all this sci-fi talk.. I think it's suitable to say.. _Sic Itur Ad Astra_


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## Erockomania (Nov 4, 2013)

TIMEwaveXERO said:


> This guitar is full of cosmic beauty! Congratulations dude. It's amazing.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Haha! Nice!  ("to the stars")

Thanks!


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## Steinmetzify (Nov 13, 2013)

Keep coming back to look at this one. I'm a sick man; it's replaced the nude shots of my wife as backgrounds on my phone and computers lol.


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## Erockomania (Nov 13, 2013)

steinmetzify said:


> Keep coming back to look at this one. I'm a sick man; it's replaced the nude shots of my wife as backgrounds on my phone and computers lol.



haha!


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## Erockomania (Nov 13, 2013)

Thought this was pretty cool


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## Steinmetzify (Nov 14, 2013)

^ way cool man.


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## Themethalmaster (Nov 16, 2013)

:O Love that Skervy!


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## lucasreis (Nov 16, 2013)

It looks AMAZING and I bet it's really comfy to play. HNGD!!


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## Erockomania (Nov 17, 2013)

Themethalmaster said:


> :O Love that Skervy!



Thanks!!



lucasreis said:


> It looks AMAZING and I bet it's really comfy to play. HNGD!!



Thanks man! It is definitely comfy. I really like the neck contour and the SS frets are like glass


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## noise in my mind (Nov 18, 2013)

well deserved bk cover win! congratulations!


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## Erockomania (Nov 18, 2013)

noise in my mind said:


> well deserved bk cover win! congratulations!



Thanks!


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## sikapple (Nov 20, 2013)

you must be stoked man. this skervesen is r i d i c u l o u s !!

hands down one of the best i've seen. sounds really good too!

cant really get much better then this can it...or perhaps -
an extra string with multi scale??


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## Orgalmer (Nov 20, 2013)

I can't get over the reverse blueburst. My God that thing looks amazing.


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## Erockomania (Nov 20, 2013)

sikapple said:


> you must be stoked man. this skervesen is r i d i c u l o u s !!
> 
> hands down one of the best i've seen. sounds really good too!
> 
> ...



Thanks man! haha... Doing a multiscale 7 with Sabre right now. Can wait to get the info out about this one 



Orgalmer said:


> I can't get over the reverse blueburst. My God that thing looks amazing.



thank you!


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## HumanFuseBen (Nov 20, 2013)

MOTHER OF GOD. That may be the most attractive guitar i have ever seen. Good lord.


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## Casper777 (Nov 21, 2013)

Congrats man!!
That's a great raptor!!

I hope mine will make it to the BKP page too


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## Blood Tempest (Nov 21, 2013)

This guitar is unreal!  Beautiful axe ya got there! Congrats!!!


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## Erockomania (Nov 21, 2013)

Thank you guys!


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## Erockomania (Nov 25, 2013)

Here is an "under construction" track with the Skervesen all over it. Even with high gain nothing is masked. All nice and clear. Of course, the aftermaths play a huge part but...

E - Skerv 

This track will give you a better idea of how this guitar sounds. The video track was thrown together in a few mins


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## Steinmetzify (Nov 27, 2013)

Brutality dude. Glad it's working out so well for you! Sounds incredible.


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## littlemurph7976 (Nov 28, 2013)

The woods on this guitar are insane! Congrats!


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## sifi2112 (Jan 22, 2014)

This has gotta be my favorite guitar on here ! Will take some beating .... if you ever get bored of looking at it I have a perfect space on my wall


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## Erockomania (Jan 28, 2014)

sifi2112 said:


> This has gotta be my favorite guitar on here ! Will take some beating .... if you ever get bored of looking at it I have a perfect space on my wall



haha! I'll bet!


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## NickVicious24 (Jan 29, 2014)

pretty much perfect, that finish is impeccable


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## CondemnedBDM (Jan 29, 2014)

Was tung oil put on the back of the neck and body to get the rosewood and ebony to pop like that?


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## Amanita (Jan 29, 2014)

CondemnedBDM said:


> Was tung oil put on the back of the neck and body to get the rosewood and ebony to pop like that?


nope


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## CondemnedBDM (Jan 30, 2014)

Amanita said:


> nope



So its 100% natural? How about the top(anything placed over the stain of the burst)? Those colors are so vivid!

Thanks for the response by the way!


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## Erockomania (Jan 30, 2014)

CondemnedBDM said:


> So its 100% natural? How about the top(anything placed over the stain of the burst)? Those colors are so vivid!
> 
> Thanks for the response by the way!



I think it's a satin polyurethane?? Amanita, can you confirm?

Whatever the eff it is, it looks great.


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## JemmX (Jan 31, 2014)

Stunning beauty!


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## CondemnedBDM (Jan 31, 2014)

Erockomania said:


> I think it's a satin polyurethane?? Amanita, can you confirm?
> 
> Whatever the eff it is, it looks great.



Thanks! Love the look of the guitar. Hopefully soon i can get something similar made!


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## jayeshrc (Jul 28, 2014)

hey, i just wanted to know how the ziricote fretboard feels, not sure whether to stick with ebony or make a jump on this for my raptor fretboard


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## Erockomania (Jul 28, 2014)

I think ziricote feels like a cross between rosewood and ebony. It's also freakin beautiful


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## sifi2112 (Jul 29, 2014)

Been away for a few months but this guitar still looks fantastic & just had to say so again


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## GRIZ (Jul 29, 2014)

every skervesen NGD post i see just makes me want one so much more. congrats. i am super jealous.


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## Alfrer (Jul 30, 2014)

I had your guitar as my computer background for like a year


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## cellopet (Aug 17, 2014)

I love this colour!!!!


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## Slunk Dragon (Aug 18, 2014)

Damn, that burst... I can't get over it!!!


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