# GCI Guitars (God City Instruments): Kurt Ballou of Converge design guitar



## Mwoit (Jan 30, 2014)

NAMM 2014: Kurt Ballou Shows Us His Own Line of Guitars: GCI | GearGods

Thoughts? I'm not feeling it too much as I don't have much information, but I do love Kurt Ballou's style and the guitar seems pretty rad.


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## Chuck (Jan 30, 2014)

Was expecting something Kurt a alloy once a I read "God City". Anyway, I dig it. Rad seems like the most appropriate word to describe that guitar.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 30, 2014)

*Hears him about to play*

"Oh shit, this is going to be crazy..."

*Hears "Sweet Emotion"*

...Didn't expect that.


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## MikeH (Jan 30, 2014)

As a huge Converge fan, and fan of vintage style guitars, I want this.


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## Forkface (Jan 30, 2014)

one bolt? that's... interesting 

anyway, it looks very rad


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## Mprinsje (Jan 30, 2014)

that looks so awesome, hope i'll be able to get it in europe.


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## jeleopard (Jan 30, 2014)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> *Hears him about to play*
> 
> "Oh shit, this is going to be crazy..."
> 
> ...



I stared at my screen like "wait wut"

Expected so much brutality....


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## 693 (Jan 30, 2014)

It looks really nice! Like the shape and everything... Wonder what specs are on it!


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## SandyRavage (Jan 31, 2014)

Without the mini humbuckers I would be all about this.


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## Dekay82 (Jan 31, 2014)

Pretty intriguing...


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## bobbybuu (Feb 1, 2014)

He has my attention. I wonder what the list price is going to be for one of these.


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## fortisursus (Feb 1, 2014)

Woah a single bolt!


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## Boogyman69 (Feb 4, 2014)

That has to be the ugliest heel ever, and to top it off only one bolt...how sturdy can that be?!?!?!


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## stevexc (Feb 4, 2014)

I don't understand this guitar. It intrigues me.

The part of me that wants to have full upper register access doesn't like the "reverse" style shape, but the part of me that actually plays guitar - and rarely goes above 17ish - appreciates the aesthetic of it.

And I was kinda going in expecting a pretentious post-hardcore douche, but Kurt seems like a really cool dude.


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## Blood Tempest (Feb 4, 2014)

I think this guitar looks great. Sounded awesome too. Love that vintage tone. Even though Converge tends to be very abrasive sounding, Kurt's tone is outstanding. Especially live. This is great!


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## Edika (Feb 4, 2014)

Initially red CGI and was whaaaaat? Seems intriguing!


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 4, 2014)

Neat neo-vintage number, but nothing special. These will sell with the early Metalcore devotees simply for Kurt's association. Not a bad thing though. 

As for the single bolt neck, works just fine on Taylor guitars.


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## goldsteinat0r (Feb 4, 2014)

I feel like I yanked a lot of ideas from Kurt's playbook as far as his approach to gear, so this could very well be the perfect guitar for me. I've wanted one for awhile, but of course they've always been one-off customs. This is awesome news. Any word on pricing?


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## technomancer (Feb 4, 2014)

Meh looks like a randomly combined bunch of elements from a bunch of different guitars. No interest 

I did edit the first post so the video is embedded though


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## Mwoit (Feb 4, 2014)

technomancer said:


> Meh looks like a randomly combined bunch of elements from a bunch of different guitars. No interest
> 
> I did edit the first post so the video is embedded though



Thank you, it didn't embed immediately so I changed it a bit and failed. 

THEN I STOPPED CARING


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## timbale (Feb 7, 2014)

Statically the one bolt construction is unstable, civil engineer here... though you don't have to study to see that.


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## jordanky (Feb 8, 2014)

Glad to see Kurt taking off with this, he is pretty great at pretty much everything he does. I can definitely get onboard with these!

John Baizley's GCI is rad.


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## Blackbog3 (Feb 8, 2014)

This is exactly what I expected it to look like, and I personally love it; except maybe the bridge. 


_Posted from Sevenstring.org App for Android_


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## Blackbog3 (Feb 8, 2014)

Forgot to say that it was rad.


_Posted from Sevenstring.org App for Android_


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## SandyRavage (Feb 8, 2014)

Just curious if anyone sees the similarities to this and the first act custom shop? Seeing as first act custom is closed the timing makes a lot of sense.....

Just speculation but if the quality is similar I'm guessing these are going to take off as the only thing first act ever lacked was a mid priced quality instrument.

Any one agree with me here?


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## goldsteinat0r (Mar 3, 2014)

Is there any news on a release date for these?


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## Mprinsje (Mar 3, 2014)

goldsteinat0r said:


> Is there any news on a release date for these?



Nope, in the gear gods livestream about his studio stuff he said that there isn't a release date, if only so that there isn't the risk that he isn't able to follow through with it because of his busy schedule.


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## CHaY22 (May 31, 2014)

Can't wait for these to drop.

Huge fanboy of Kurt not even going to sugarcoat it.


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## RadDadTV (Jun 1, 2014)

^ same, I must have one


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## khanate7 (Jun 1, 2014)

I was expecting some news on these. Ive been monitoring these and harassing kurt about them every chance i get. This is sick and i will purchase first chance i get but i was really hoping for this one :


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## patata (Jul 10, 2014)

^What band?


I'm really looking to purchase one.


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## metalvince333 (Jul 10, 2014)

I want one.
I love the simplicity of it and the bare bones vintage look.

Looking forward to a price and release date.


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## LLink2411 (Jul 11, 2014)

Would be much better looking / playing if the shape was reversed.

I don't understand the point of lowering your upper feet-access to increase the empty space near the bass-side if the neck joint.


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## gunshow86de (Jul 17, 2014)

Cool little video with Kurt showing off the GCI.


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## jwade (Jul 17, 2014)

that song kicked ass.


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## Skullet (Jul 18, 2014)

khanate7 said:


> I was expecting some news on these. Ive been monitoring these and harassing kurt about them every chance i get. This is sick and i will purchase first chance i get but i was really hoping for this one :



Maybe this could fill the void till/if these are released.

Electra Talon Guitars | Electra Guitars


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## Blood Tempest (Jul 18, 2014)

patata said:


> ^What band?
> 
> 
> I'm really looking to purchase one.



Looks like KEN mode. KEN stands for Kill Everyone Now  Great band to see live. Lots of energy.


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## khanate7 (Oct 1, 2014)

So i spotted some suspicious looking necks in the background of a picture from john mcguires page. If anyone is wondering who he is he used to work for the first act custom shop before they closed. Makes sense that he might be involved with GCI as he's built several guitars for kurt and is located in boston.
https://www.facebook.com/510929292270024/photos/pcb.917994491563500/917994021563547/?type=1


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## xwmucradiox (Oct 1, 2014)

The necks for GC Guitars have been by Warmoth in the past although Michael Mason of Cult Leader/Mason Guitars has made at least one baritone neck for Kurt.


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## vansinn (Oct 1, 2014)

timbale said:


> Statically the one bolt construction is unstable, civil engineer here... though you don't have to study to see that.



I tend to agree with you, but then again, when the single-leg swinging arm came out on motobikes, I felt uneasy about this too 

He mentions a lock of sorts; maybe it's something to keep the neck in a locked alignment..

I dig the looks, sounds ok for an all-too brief test.
Could use one or two more strings..


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## HurrDurr (Oct 3, 2014)

I am excite for this. Where can I get one?


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## Ancient (Oct 3, 2014)

IS there any info on GCI? It looks like he's got guitars in the works (obviously) but in the video above there's also a GCI labeled snare drum... looks like he may be getting into a whole line of instruments. But I can't find squat online really.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 13, 2016)

Okay, as much as I hate necrobumping, I feel this might be a good reason to do so...

What the heck ever happened to this company? Did Kurt lose interest or not have the means to continue?


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## Electric Wizard (Feb 1, 2021)

Haven't seen this posted yet so I'm just going for it with this necrobump.

Apparently the first production GCI guitars are shipping this month, and there was a pre-order back in October that evidently flew under the radar. Kurt's playing one in his latest rig rundown.

Different design than what he showed off in 2014.



https://www.godcityinstruments.com/collections/guitars


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 1, 2021)

Aww, I liked the bastardized Mosrite.


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## Electric Wizard (Feb 1, 2021)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Aww, I liked the bastardized Mosrite.


Yeah I agree. I think he says there will be other designs so maybe that's still a possibility. Hopefully sooner than 7 more years...


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Dec 21, 2021)

https://www.godcityinstruments.com/

So the store's finally open
And half of the damn catalog is already sold out.


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## Musiscience (Dec 21, 2021)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> https://www.godcityinstruments.com/
> 
> So the store's finally open
> And half of the damn catalog is already sold out.


Now all sold out except one bass model. That was fast.


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## Emperor Guillotine (Dec 21, 2021)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> https://www.godcityinstruments.com/
> 
> So the store's finally open
> And half of the damn catalog is already sold out.


The store has been open for awhile.

Series 1 (the first run) of the Craftsman had pre-orders back in February 2021. Series 2 was back in May 2021. All guitars were quickly delivered.

For Series 3 and Series 4, which were part of the massive drop earlier today, it seems like Kurt already had the batches built and ready to be delivered to buyers. No pre-orders. Same for all of the other new models that he randomly surprised us with that he introduced in the massive drop earlier today: the Craftsman bass, the Deconstructivist guitar, and the Deconstructivist bass.

I find it very annoying that folks are essentially resorting to hypebeast tactics on these GCI instruments where they have everything pre-loaded, timer/alarms set, and then they make the purchase immediately as soon as the hour strikes with some folks purchasing multiple instruments in a singular transaction. Kurt's whole idea with having the store set to private for awhile and a password being required was meant to help stave this off, but as soon as the site went public and the store opened on the hour, boom, everything sold out within minutes. Meanwhile, the rest of us who work actual jobs, we're shit out of luck.

These runs must be incredibly tiny to sell out as quickly as they do. As famous as Kurt is for his work with Converge and for Godcity Studios, he isn't exactly known as being some kind of gear-slingin' god or greased-palm shill (like Misha, for example). So, I just can't see endless hoards of people flocking to his instruments. Even some hardcore Converge fanboys who I know saw the GCI stuff and were like: "eh, pass, dude." Same thing with Kurt's pedal collaborations with Abominable Electronics. The runs must be super tiny in number to sell out as quickly as they do and maintain such high prices on the secondhand gear market.

Having the runs be so small in number would also explains the immense price tags that Kurt is asking. $1,549 - $1,899 (and I'm not sure if taxes are factored in since I haven't made a purchase) for a Korean-made, production-line instrument that is made in the same shop that produces Balaguer's Korean-made stuff.

Honestly, the high price tag, coupled with knowing that this is made in the same shop as Balaguer, is what really deters me. I just can't see myself paying an average price of $1,700+ for a production-line, barebones workhorse guitar, when instead I could get a semi-custom Balaguer built to my own selected specs in the same exact shop and _*still have money leftover*_.

While we're on the topic of this, one of the Series 1 wenge-topped GCI Craftsman guitars popped up on Reverb a little over a week and a half ago. (Maybe two weeks?) The asking price on the listing was initially higher than the price that the guitar cost new (oh boy...scalpers...opportunists...), but then the seller dropped the price down to $1,600, which _*was*_ the cost of the guitar brand new directly from the GCI website. The listing sat up for maybe five days in total before it sold at-cost. So, the guitar held its value. And with that in mind, given that we don't know the number of instruments being produced in each run, it will be interesting to see how they hold value on the secondhand market. Because, again, as immensely respected as Kurt is as a musician and audio engineer, I just can't see the demand for his GCI instruments being that high to merit constantly selling out in only a matter of minutes again and again and again (essentially due to hypebeast tactics).


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## spudmunkey (Dec 21, 2021)

I really really like the Deconstructivist bass design.

I really hate the bass headstock.

I really really hate the logo.


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## CanserDYI (Dec 21, 2021)

spudmunkey said:


> I really really like the Deconstructivist bass design.
> 
> I really hate the bass headstock.
> 
> ...


Almost word for word what I was going to say. Its exactly how I feel about Dunable. I really enjoy their designs, not a fan of the headstocks.


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## gunch (Dec 21, 2021)

I think the Logo rips


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