# Skervesen owners! How do you like your guitars now?



## laxu (Sep 14, 2016)

So I've been having GAS for a 7 or 8 string Skervesen Shoggie DC for a while now and have looked thru several of the threads posted here and gone thru their Facebook page.

The guitars look pretty awesome but those who have owned a Shoggie or other Skervesen models for a longer time, have you found any bad sides to them? If you have sold yours, why? Hows dealing with the company been?

Is there a reason why Skervesen seems to favor ash bodies so much? I love how the wood looks but not how it sounds (too mid scooped for my tastes). Do they use very mid heavy pickups to compensate?


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## GXPO (Sep 14, 2016)

I can't really help much with most of what you've said, but being a custom shop they will use which ever body wood the customer asks for as well as the pickups. 

Ash is sort of in vogue at the moment due to it being a preferred body wood by a lot of the more popular guitarists in these parts on their customs. Some argue that it gives the guitar a a snappy tonal response and if you go in for all that maybe it does.


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## Snarpaasi (Sep 14, 2016)

Torille!

I have been sending back and forth over 30 emails in total for the last few weeks and they have responded within few hours to all my questions. I would say that's damn customer service. I have set the order and I'm expecting it to arrive some time next year  A friend of mine (@Tre) just received his Shoggie roughly a month ago and he had some issues along the way but it didn't discourage me.

Especially swamp ash is favoured since it is claimed to be light and have that snappy sound like GXPO mentioned. I didn't quite get the ash hype until I went and played few teles and compared them to alder strats. Bogumil from Skervesen sent me pictures of their European ash and swamp ash. I chose European ash basically because of the looks. It will have a chambered body anyway so the weight shouldn't be an issue.


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## Cheap Poison (Sep 14, 2016)

Snarpaasi said:


> Torille!
> Especially swamp ash is favoured since it is claimed to be light and have that snappy sound like GXPO mentioned. I didn't quite get the ash hype until I went and played few teles and compared them to alder strats. Bogumil from Skervesen sent me pictures of their European ash and swamp ash. I chose European ash basically because of the looks. It will have a chambered body anyway so the weight shouldn't be an issue.



Not saying there is no validity to that, but be very careful about making comparisons in woods when talking about 2 guitars that are quite different.
Not saying that Swamp ash isn't more snappy, there are otehr things on a tele that might help with that.

That being said, pretty curious on the consensus on this. I bet this is just the hype dying down a little instead of these suddenly being bad. There might be a case of beauty clouding a bit of judgment, but I haven't been near one so. Let's see where this leads.


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## Taikatatti (Sep 14, 2016)

Tuon saunan!

I own a Skervesen raptor 7 and i've been happy with it. It's not the best guitar i have but definitely solid and good deal for it's price. Communication was pretty bad when i ordered it and had to wait couple days/ a week for an answer. But it got finished in time that was given for me, so no problems with that. There was also some misunderstandings with the specs and they ended up putting different inlays in that i asked for. So some small problems here and there but overall quality is good. Probably not going to order again from them, since i've had a lot better experience from a different builder.

My raptor has swamp ash body and i chose to go with it mostly for light weight and bright tone quality. Specs are swamp ash body, wenge/bubinga neck, quilted maple top, maple fingerboard and BKP aftermath/VhII pickups. Very balanced guitar weight and tone-wise and i spec'd my now main guitar (Vandermeij Magistra 7) the same way.

Second guitar player of my band has one coming right now and it's been ready and paid for over a month now, but they are waiting for case to ship it out. No information or updates when it's shipping and he's getting little frustrated. Build time right now is around 8 months, but delays like this can always happen.


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## Snarpaasi (Sep 14, 2016)

Cheap Poison said:


> Not saying there is no validity to that, but be very careful about making comparisons in woods when talking about 2 guitars that are quite different.
> Not saying that Swamp ash isn't more snappy, there are otehr things on a tele that might help with that.



Okay let's say then that I also tried an ash RG652 and preferred it over many basswood RG's. I want to believe that I recognized the characteristics of ash, even though people say that it varies more in weight and tone than alder, which is considered more consistent wood.


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## Casper777 (Sep 14, 2016)

Owned a Raptor 6 and sold it.

My experience ordering from them was really great. They answered questions quickly, were helpful. The deadline was (almost) respected. Nothing to complain about.

About the guitar, it's more a matter of taste. The quality of the instrument itself was nice and attention to details, fretwork was satisfactory. 

However for some reason, never was able to be happy with the sound of this guitar even after some pickups change... (from BKP Aftermath to Alnico Warpigs). Found it was lacking some depth really... 

Like said earlier, not the best guitar I owned but still a good deal for the price.


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## Perplexed-Perception (Sep 14, 2016)

i have a shoggie 8 currently being built http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/showthread.php?t=314806  i haven't played any yet but i would say so far is that there Communication time isn't 100 percent but fairly reasonable email unfortunately isn't there best form of communication. they have a File which you can choose your specs and different options etc so you don't have to choose ash if you don't wish.i would love more recent skervesen owners to chime in as i believe they have up'ed the game since there earlier days from my observations.

all in all though i have been updated every 1-2 months with the body parts completed.

and have if i wanted to change for instance hardware colour Maciek was happy to see if it was possible and it was and so now i changed my hardware colour,i don't think you would regret dealing with Skervesen you just have to patience that is all.

1 thing is if you do decide to get a build from them don't use paypal as paypal takes a huge chunk out the of deposit payment.


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## crg123 (Sep 14, 2016)

I've had my Skervesen 7 string for around 3 years now. It's the first Viper model which is where that headstock originated. I love it to death. Sounds great (especially love the A-Pigs), beautifully designed. 

It has a swamp ash body, pau ferro/ ebony neck, arabian ebony fretboard, and an elm burl top stained emerald green.

I'm the third owner. First was Muza who had it for less than a year IIRC and then my friend josh who had it for 6 months (sold it to fund a KXK) and I've had it ever since. FYI Josh is sad he sold it to me but will never get it back.... hhaa.


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## Hollowway (Sep 14, 2016)

I have a 7 string Shoggie I just got, and I think it's great construction, and it plays really well. I know I'll be shunned for saying it, but I would strongly caution you about assuming the characteristics of wood on the sound of the guitar. Even in this thread, we see there is not consensus on what sound Ash gives. And that's assuming that it _does_ affect the tone. Basically, don't turn down a good guitar because you're scared of the species of wood.


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## Perplexed-Perception (Sep 15, 2016)

this a Good review  http://www.wiredguitarist.com/2016/09/14/skervesen-raptor-review/


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## Hollowway (Sep 15, 2016)

Perplexed-Perception said:


> this a Good review  http://www.wiredguitarist.com/2016/09/14/skervesen-raptor-review/



Well, that's a pretty in depth review, but WG is a pay to play site. They give very good reviews to companies who advertise or do discounts for them, and crappy reviews for those who do not. I don't disagree with the review, but WG's opinions are worthless.


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## Perplexed-Perception (Sep 15, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> Well, that's a pretty in depth review, but WG is a pay to play site. They give very good reviews to companies who advertise or do discounts for them, and crappy reviews for those who do not. I don't disagree with the review, but WG's opinions are worthless.



really oh ok fair enough but they don't seem to stock Skervesen from what i can find?


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## Floppystrings (Sep 15, 2016)

Perplexed-Perception said:


> really oh ok fair enough but they don't seem to stock Skervesen from what i can find?



"As dealers for Mayones, weve had the chance to play far more than we probably should have"

http://www.wiredguitarist.com/2016/03/22/mayones-guitars-the-guide/


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## gorthul (Sep 15, 2016)

Taikatatti said:


> Second guitar player of my band has one coming right now and it's been ready and paid for over a month now, but they are waiting for case to ship it out. No information or updates when it's shipping and he's getting little frustrated. Build time right now is around 8 months, but delays like this can always happen.




Had the same problem. Was waiting for 1.5 months after I paid the guitar until it finally shipped out. I was also getting very worried, but after I got the guitar I was very happy I finally got it. It's a great playing instrument for sure.

Otherwise I can't contribute much to this thread, since I got my guitar only for 1 month now and I can't give any long term opinions.

BTW, I am quite surprised Wired gave the Skervesen a very good review. I remember that they were constantly bashing them in the past.


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## Wolfhorsky (Sep 15, 2016)

I currently own 2 Skervs: one chiroptera (i will post one-year-later thread within few weeks) and one nebelung (ngd comming soon after honeymoon period). I have the third one being made: new prototype model Lupus. As far as communication goes: well, to be honest, it requires some patiency. Sometimes the answer is on the same day, sometimes it is after a week or so. I know they have a LOT work, so... 
I have been in their factory. They make astonishing work. Very cool atmosphere in there. The most part of the finishing and assembly is being made by passionate guitarists. 
I was let to try some of their work along with two prototypes of MG Skervesen amps. I must say that BKPs are not my cup of tea. Too nasal/metallic/shrill for my taste. That's why my third build will be with Full Shred set, that i like the most.
As for the guitars: 
Chiroptera (you can find my ngd on my profile in section with threads staretd by me) - firstly i hated the Juggernaut, swaped for Breed, ended up with Full Shred. Very snappy, resonant and lightweight. I had few ergonomic issues with ABM bridge and the shape of the body. I will post it in my thread. After few tweaks it became my most ergonomic axe.
Nebelung - very solid, thick and heavy. Very nice, balanced tone. This time i went with dimarzios and i'm very happy. Cool color "aquaman". 
Fretwork on both of them is very very very well made. Both of them don't have any real finish flaws. But, it must be stated that there is something about their guitars that you can love or hate. It is the snappiness and clarity regardless of the pickups. 
As far as quality goes, they are better than j customs, on par with some prs i had experience with.


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## laxu (Sep 15, 2016)

Wolfhorsky said:


> I currently own 2 Skervs: one chiroptera (i will post one-year-later thread within few weeks) and one nebelung (ngd comming soon after honeymoon period). I have the third one being made: new prototype model Lupus. As far as communication goes: well, to be honest, it requires some patiency. Sometimes the answer is on the same day, sometimes it is after a week or so. I know they have a LOT work, so...
> I have been in their factory. They make astonishing work. Very cool atmosphere in there. The most part of the finishing and assembly is being made by passionate guitarists.
> I was let to try some of their work along with two prototypes of MG Skervesen amps. I must say that BKPs are not my cup of tea. Too nasal/metallic/shrill for my taste. That's why my third build will be with Full Shred set, that i like the most.
> As for the guitars:
> ...



What kind of issues did you experience with the Chiroptera and what is the Lupus going to be like?


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## JMO831 (Sep 15, 2016)

I owned a Skervesen Shoggie DC FF8 that I picked up from Musza. I'll give you my thoughts below:

"Have you found any bad side to them?"
The model I owned was one of the more recent builds (either late 2015/early 2016). I honestly couldn't find any issues with it. Fit and finish was great. They have some of the best fretwork in my opinion. The model, itself, is very lightweight and ergonomic. Serbian Willow body and neck-through pear/flamed maple brought a very loud acoustic character... Seemed to have a very neutral sound frequency. Idk, Serbian Willow/Pear is a winning combination.

"If you have sold yours, why?"
I sold mines because 1. I have another Shoggie build with Skervesen and 2. Someone oversees offered me a good amount of money to pick it up. And I had to ask myself, "Is this a guitar I see myself keeping?" Excellent guitar, but I wanted something to my personal spec. 

"How's dealing with the company been?"
Actually, very responsive. I'd send an email off one day and get a response early the next day. But I definitely think they prioritize emails based on who has paid/who hasn't. For example, if you've sent them a deposit for a build, they'll be more responsive as opposed to someone who's just showing interest.

"Is there a reason why Skervesen seems to favor ash bodies so much? I love how the wood looks but not how it sounds (too mid scooped for my tastes). Do they use very mid heavy pickups to compensate?"
Skervesen is a full blown custom shop, really. I think swamp ash is just one of those woods that's in right now. You can order whatever you please. I almost did a very special build with them that would've included a padouk body.

To be honest, the newer builds Skervesen is pushing out are top notch. I think the company had a bad rep on this site earlier when they had first started. It seems like there is a blind consensus that Skervesen guitars are no good, when in fact their more recent builds say otherwise. Their price point is very reasonable as well. Even when considering the many options you can get.


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## J_Mac (Sep 15, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> I have a 7 string Shoggie I just got, and I think it's great construction, and it plays really well. I know I'll be shunned for saying it, but I would strongly caution you about assuming the characteristics of wood on the sound of the guitar. Even in this thread, we see there is not consensus on what sound Ash gives. And that's assuming that it _does_ affect the tone. Basically, don't turn down a good guitar because you're scared of the species of wood.



^ yep. Lots of factors contribute to the vibration: woods, neck construction (glue is quite bright according to Ben Crowe, so laminate necks and bodies will be brighter), thick LP style necks will vibrate differently to thin Ibanez style necks, body shape, chambering, hardware (I'm sure everyone has experience of say, upgrading tuners and getting more sustain cos that's where some of the vibration passes to the neck).

I adore my Tamandua 8, partly because it looks amazing to me, and also because it sounds ace. I was apprehensive about the body, it's a single piece of pearwood. I'd never heard of it being used in contemporary electric guitars but it's right on. Skervesen know what they're talking about with woods and will advise for combinations to produce the tone you're after.


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## Wolfhorsky (Sep 16, 2016)

laxu said:


> What kind of issues did you experience with the Chiroptera and what is the Lupus going to be like?


There weren't any flaws or something. Just inconvenience with the shape of the bridge. It poked my hand. Solution was very simple:
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/showthread.php?t=314141
The second issue was the body contour. I just filed it a bit. Sanding and some oil. I will post it in my one-year-experience thread. For me it wasn't that hard to fix. I like to modify guitars.
Lupus will be based on nebelung, but neck-through and flat top with ergonomic right hand carve.


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## laxu (Sep 16, 2016)

JMO831 said:


> I owned a Skervesen Shoggie DC FF8 that I picked up from Musza.



Oh you had that gorgeous beast! It's actually very close to what I want at the moment but back when it was for sale I ruled it out because I didn't fancy a 8-string and had a Kiesel 7-string coming in anyway.


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## ztevie (Sep 16, 2016)

I talked with them for a while regarding a new custom, but I was not impressed.
First of all, answers came very sporadic, sometimes the next day, sometimes more than a week. 
Secondly, I wouldn't consider them a true custom shop? There are basic things they wouldn't change, like scale length and nut width. I wanted 24.75" scale, 42 mm nut widthand some other minor things for a 6-stringer but they wouldn't do it. 25.5 and 43 mm was set in stone, or as they put it: "If you want to buy from us, you need to trust us because we know what options are the best for our guitars"

Besides that I'm sure they're fine...


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## Erockomania (Sep 17, 2016)

ztevie said:


> I talked with them for a while regarding a new custom, but I was not impressed.
> First of all, answers came very sporadic, sometimes the next day, sometimes more than a week.
> Secondly, I wouldn't consider them a true custom shop? There are basic things they wouldn't change, like scale length and nut width. I wanted 24.75" scale, 42 mm nut widthand some other minor things for a 6-stringer but they wouldn't do it. 25.5 and 43 mm was set in stone, or as they put it: "If you want to buy from us, you need to trust us because we know what options are the best for our guitars"
> 
> Besides that I'm sure they're fine...



They are a true custom shop. If you wanted that stuff, there is basically just an additional CAD fee as they have to design it all for milling. They do everything else under the sun, including custom double neck 8 strings... if that is not a true custom shop, I do not know what is.


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## Erockomania (Sep 17, 2016)

Rather than regurgitate it... here is my latest NGD (with shots of my other 3 as well):
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/showthread.php?t=309480

#5 on the way soon if that tells you anything


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## Petar Bogdanov (Sep 17, 2016)

Erockomania said:


> They are a true custom shop. If you wanted that stuff, there is basically just an additional CAD fee as they have to design it all for milling. They do everything else under the sun, including custom double neck 8 strings... if that is not a true custom shop, I do not know what is.



Would you want a custom guitar from someone that doesn't want to build it?


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## Wolfhorsky (Sep 17, 2016)

Try to call PRS to make a custom in the shape of a Strat 
I know that guys at Skervesen want to focus on their designs. Thus it is more custom select. To enter the full blown custom shop, you need to pay extra for the designing process.


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## Erockomania (Sep 18, 2016)

Petar Bogdanov said:


> Would you want a custom guitar from someone that doesn't want to build it?



I do not know how the conversation went so I can't comment, but point made.


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## ztevie (Sep 19, 2016)

A true custom shop will make you anything you want. Within reason of course... I understand they wouldn't want to make a guitar with a 60"scale and 5mm thick neck, but...

I wanted a slight alteration on one of their body options, but they felt they wanted to keep visual integrity of their instruments.
Smaller nut width was not possible, 43 mm only.
Pickup choices BKP, Lace and Duncan only.
I wanted a slightly thinner neck, like ESP thin U 19-21 mm, but they was reluctant to do that because of fear that it would be sanded through the wood and expose the truss rod.

It may sound like I'm very unhappy with my experience with them, but not at all! I just chose to go elsewhere because they wouldn't do the above. Many custom shops have plenty of options to choose from but won't do anything outside of those, thus I won't call them a "true custom shop".
I'm actually having a guitar built now by a shop that has firm options on most things like body and head shape, but they have no problem doing different nut widths, thinner necks and so forth... But I liked the look of their guitars and could get the specs I needed...


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## Wolfhorsky (Sep 19, 2016)

You made Your point, mate. I hope Your build will be great.


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## Perplexed-Perception (Sep 19, 2016)

laxu said:


> So I've been having GAS for a 7 or 8 string Skervesen Shoggie DC for a while now and have looked thru several of the threads posted here and gone thru their Facebook page.
> 
> The guitars look pretty awesome but those who have owned a Shoggie or other Skervesen models for a longer time, have you found any bad sides to them? If you have sold yours, why? Hows dealing with the company been?
> 
> Is there a reason why Skervesen seems to favor ash bodies so much? I love how the wood looks but not how it sounds (too mid scooped for my tastes). Do they use very mid heavy pickups to compensate?



but the biggest question of them all is how is laxu Feeling about ordering from skervesen now?  will he release his gas and order a shoggie


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## laxu (Sep 20, 2016)

Perplexed-Perception said:


> but the biggest question of them all is how is laxu Feeling about ordering from skervesen now?  will he release his gas and order a shoggie



Checking if I can find a used one first.


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## Possessed (Sep 21, 2016)

ztevie said:


> A true custom shop will make you anything you want. Within reason of course... I understand they wouldn't want to make a guitar with a 60"scale and 5mm thick neck, but...
> 
> I wanted a slight alteration on one of their body options, but they felt they wanted to keep visual integrity of their instruments.
> Smaller nut width was not possible, 43 mm only.
> ...



Ran used to do it, but not anymore


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## laxu (Nov 1, 2016)

So I am in talks with Skervesen about getting a Shoggie DC 8 built but thought I would ask you guys some more info.

How do you like the neck joint on the bolt-on models, especially the Shoggie? I generally prefer bolt-on but now have a Strandberg Boden OS 8 here that doesn't have the most ergonomic neck heel because it goes quite far out up to the 17th fret. So how are the Skervesens in this regard?

Any thoughts on pickup choices? Skervesen recommended BKP Juggernaut/Mule combo for a rosewood neck, limba body and poplar top build. I want something that can deal with tones from funk to metal.


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## fantom (Nov 7, 2016)

I've owned a used swamp ash raptor 7 bolt on for a few years. I haven't dealt directly with skervesen. I bought it to decide if I should place a custom order. I still haven't wanted to place an order. I'm happy with the guitar, but something doesn't click.

The guitar is built extremely well. The fretwork is great. The finish is great. The tone and aftermath really made me have to dial in my amp a totally different way (the mids were very honky and I needed to cut mids). The tone was definitely usable, just needed to adapt.

Everything about this guitar suggests that I should be amazed. The main issue is I have several other guitars that play more effortlessly and naturally to me. If you are looking at an order, I strongly suggest you have them build a standard c shaped neck and not an asymmetric neck. I think this is one of my main discomforts. If you have a general idea of a neck shape you like, measure it and stick to symmetric.

As far as the neck heel. I never had an issue with it (and I prefer neck thru, so that says something).

Otherwise I agree with an earlier poster. It isn't my favorite. I wouldn't even say I go to it regularly. But for the price and wait time, I still consider ordering one with a standard neck shape just to see if it helps.


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## Snarpaasi (Nov 7, 2016)

Do they even offer any other neck shape than their own asymmetric? :s


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## fantom (Nov 7, 2016)

No idea. Why wouldn't they do a C or D profile?

Regarding neck access. On the high e and b, the heel gets in the way around the 19-20 fret. This is using my pinky. Using my index finger and sliding my wrist, around the 15th fret it is noticeable. On lower strings the fan definitely makes it hard to play up high.

On pickups/ wood, go with something you know. If I could swap out wood and pickups for a mahogany body with x2n and air norton or emgs, I would. The slant means I have to custom order any different pickups to try addressing the tone, and can't easily swap various used pickups. I know DiMarzio has a return policy. I'm not even sure I could sell a slanted aftermath.


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## Slaeyer (Nov 8, 2016)

Snarpaasi said:


> Do they even offer any other neck shape than their own asymmetric? :s



I'm just being in contact with one of their authorized dealers about ordering a custom myself. They offer regular neck shapes as well.


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## Snarpaasi (Nov 11, 2016)

Slaeyer said:


> I'm just being in contact with one of their authorized dealers about ordering a custom myself. They offer regular neck shapes as well.



Oh okay. I am just in love with my Carvin neck profile, it is the most comfortable ever. Many people like endurneck for example and I decided to go for the asymmetric profile. We'll see what is it like.


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## laxu (Nov 11, 2016)

Snarpaasi said:


> Oh okay. I am just in love with my Carvin neck profile, it is the most comfortable ever. Many people like endurneck for example and I decided to go for the asymmetric profile. We'll see what is it like.



As much as I also like the Carvin neck profile, I decided to order my Skervesen Shoggie 8 with their asymmetric profile. I like the Endurneck as well but felt it was a tad too chunky so I hope the Skervesen is a bit more svelte.


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## Chugalug (Dec 7, 2020)

I hate to bring this back to life, but I’m interested in what others have to say years later with more time on them. Are these better than an RG series Ibby or would you just run from one?


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## thebeesknees22 (Dec 8, 2020)

I haven't received mine yet, but if you're ordering one it might take a little longer than usual right now because of Covid. The dude that was set to assemble mine got Covid so they had a scare, but they're still up and running. Overall things are just a bit slower because of Covid, but they're still really great to respond to emails in a timely manner. I'm going on 16 months right now from my initial order time, and I'm guessing it's going to be closer to 18-20 months by the time I get it. (depending on how quick the guy assembling mine gets better)

I'll post a thread when I do finally get it.


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## Chugalug (Dec 8, 2020)

thebeesknees22 said:


> I haven't received mine yet, but if you're ordering one it might take a little longer than usual right now because of Covid. The dude that was set to assemble mine got Covid so they had a scare, but they're still up and running. Overall things are just a bit slower because of Covid, but they're still really great to respond to emails in a timely manner. I'm going on 16 months right now from my initial order time, and I'm guessing it's going to be closer to 18-20 months by the time I get it. (depending on how quick the guy assembling mine gets better)
> 
> I'll post a thread when I do finally get it.


That’s a good bit of time, but with the way the world is now I get that wait period. Did you have a chance to play one prior to ordering? I’ve heard they’re on par with Mayo, and honestly I’m looking at the pre-owned market on these.


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## thebeesknees22 (Dec 12, 2020)

I did not actually. It's only the 2nd time I've ordered a guitar without trying one out. The first time was a Johnny marr jaguar and I absolutely hated it ...at first. After I learned how to setup a guitar I have it playing really well now and it's pretty nice...anyway. nope. never played a skerv. It's a roll of the dice, because I wanted to have a custom. We'll see how it is when I get it. The pics look great though.


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