# Thoughts on GOC Guitars?



## Crundles (Feb 3, 2019)

So GOC Guitars are doing a group run on their headless model, apparently partnering with Guitarmory pickups.

690 USD, 6,7 or 8 string, fanfret, american ash body, maple/wenge neck, SS frets, their own hardware, buyer's choice of Guitarmory pickups.

Made in China, which I'm perfectly fine with, if the QC is good.

I checked online, and there's not much info, but what is there, seems good. Anyone have any personal experience? For the price, I'm really tempted to jump in.

Thanks!


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## horrorwes (Feb 3, 2019)

I'm going on about 3 months with my 2 GOCs. I'm still very happy. Guitars have held up well and play excellently.


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## dh848 (Feb 3, 2019)

I'm giving it a go for this materia run. Had been kicking it around for a month or so now. The price point combined with the guitarmory pickups make it a no brainer for me. Going with the fox bat pickups.


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## Curt (Feb 3, 2019)

Tried a friend's Valkyrie and its no better or worse than an Ibanez Iron Label, so for the price its hard to say no to since you have tp spend hundreds if not thousands more for something of the same vibe.


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## sezna (Feb 3, 2019)

Where is this group run being hosted? Sounds tempting


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## Crundles (Feb 4, 2019)

It's on their facebook - https://www.facebook.com/GOCGuitars/

If the quality is on the level of Iron Label I guess it is a pretty good offer, considering that's my general price range anyway, and I'm quite keen to try a headless fanfret instrument.

Anyone else joining this particular run, or having previous experience?


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## BillCosby (Feb 5, 2019)

I've been very heavily considering jumping on the run for a 7. Maybe if I get my taxes before the run closes.


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## Hollowway (Feb 5, 2019)

Yeah, I got in on the run. I picked up an 8 string a few months ago on sale. I didn’t have super high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised. I’d echo the thing about Iron Label quality. Since the build time is 60 days, I’m comfortable paying through PayPal, and then if the instrument never shows up, I can dispute it. I’m not saying that for GOC, just in general. Anyway, I’m in the 2nd “batch” of these for a pink 8 with a maple FB.


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## Crundles (Feb 5, 2019)

Yeah I feel pretty much the same way. The specs are pretty cool, they're partnering with a well-known pickup manufacturer, and there's satisfactory feedback on their general quality. Really can't decide on a colour combo and pickups, though.

Oh well, off to the Pickups section for a new thread lol.


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## dh848 (Feb 6, 2019)

Decent review here


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## btbg (Feb 9, 2019)

I ordered one but merciful fuck I cannot handle the "yo dude bruh bro brah bruv" speak that the (I assume) owner communicates with.


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## pfizer (Feb 17, 2019)

https://www.gocguitars.com/

They have some interesting headless designs and are priced quite low for the specs. Apparently, the guitars are built in China by American luthiers. Glen Frikker from SpectreSoundStudios recently showed an 8-string model on his YT channel. 

Anyone here with any experience or own one? Could be a good alternative to Kiesel, Strandberg or Ormsby.


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## Xibuque (Feb 17, 2019)

I considering to jump into the run based on Hollowway's experience. 

Specs: antique green finish + maple board + guitarmory foxbat ceramic.


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## RiksRiks (Feb 17, 2019)

pfizer said:


> https://www.gocguitars.com/
> 
> They have some interesting headless designs and are priced quite low for the specs. Apparently, the guitars are built in China by American luthiers. Glen Frikker from SpectreSoundStudios recently showed an 8-string model on his YT channel.
> 
> Anyone here with any experience or own one? Could be a good alternative to Kiesel, Strandberg or Ormsby.



I mean, didn't Glen also used to make a lot of promo for Legator? Not saying that GOC will be the same but I wouldn't take him as a reference. But that's just me.

I'm seriously considering jumping in the run!


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## Xibuque (Feb 17, 2019)

Done, Ordered and payed, I am praying to GOC do not screw with the run hehe

Number of Strings: 7
Finish: Antique Green;
Fretboard: Maple, i would love a darker wood instead of maple, but do not like wenge for fretboards.
Pickups: Foxbat ceramic set + black poles.
Gigbag: Yes


Does anyone also jumped into the run?
What specs did you choose?


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## Hollowway (Feb 18, 2019)

The good thing is the delivery on this is 4 months or whatever, so we can get our money back from PayPal or CC or whatever if for some reason they go belly up. It doesn’t seem like they will, and I specifically told them on FB to not fuck this up like BRJ, Decibel, Siggery, etc. Sounds like they’re on top of it, and I’m pulling for them.


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 18, 2019)

the price seems really good, but I'll wait for you guys to be the guinea pigs


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## Crundles (Feb 18, 2019)

Hollowway said:


> The good thing is the delivery on this is 4 months or whatever, so we can get our money back from PayPal or CC or whatever if for some reason they go belly up. It doesn’t seem like they will, and I specifically told them on FB to not fuck this up like BRJ, Decibel, Siggery, etc. Sounds like they’re on top of it, and I’m pulling for them.



They're limiting the run to 50 units, which is good in that it won't let them get swamped but is horrible in that I need to order today and I cannot for the life of me decide on a colour option holy moly


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## ChugThisBoy (Feb 18, 2019)

I want to order one too but I have a question. Does the total cost appear before claiming the order or I have to put the order up and the price comes with e-mail?


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## Crundles (Feb 18, 2019)

Oh well, in for a penny, in for an antique white 7 with wenge fretboard and Polaris pickups. Was really torn between white and pink, but for some reason the white looks amazing in my imagination.


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## Xibuque (Feb 18, 2019)

They guy on GOC(Pan Gao) said the building process will start this week. I am on 4th batch.


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## Curt (Feb 18, 2019)

Hoping I can get in on the run still. 8 slots left, and 5 days until I get paid.


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## sezna (Feb 18, 2019)

Curt said:


> Hoping I can get in on the run still. 8 slots left, and 5 days until I get paid.


do you have to pay in full when reserving a spot?


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## Curt (Feb 18, 2019)

sezna said:


> do you have to pay in full when reserving a spot?


No only a deposit of I believe $345


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## BillCosby (Feb 18, 2019)

This sucks. I really wanted to jump on, but I doubt I'll get my refund before they hit 50.


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## Afed993 (Feb 19, 2019)

Sorry for being a total noob but what do you guys mean about these runs? Is it like their new guitars with limited runs or all of them? Because I saw a few on reverb that I was considering and now I'm wondering if they even have these guitars made already or not.


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Feb 19, 2019)

Ordered a 7.

Strings: 7
Finish: Antique White
FB: Wenge
Pickups: Guitarmory Atlas pickups


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Feb 19, 2019)

Afed993 said:


> Sorry for being a total noob but what do you guys mean about these runs? Is it like their new guitars with limited runs or all of them? Because I saw a few on reverb that I was considering and now I'm wondering if they even have these guitars made already or not.



These are not compelted yet. The run is basically using a set price for a bulk order. They do not have them completed.


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Feb 19, 2019)

Nvm I joined Hollowway in Pink Nirvana
Antique pink and maple boards ftw


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## Curt (Feb 19, 2019)

The


Afed993 said:


> Sorry for being a total noob but what do you guys mean about these runs? Is it like their new guitars with limited runs or all of them? Because I saw a few on reverb that I was considering and now I'm wondering if they even have these guitars made already or not.


The ones up on reverb are already made and not customizable, the limited headless run are not yet built


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Feb 19, 2019)

Oh checked like an hour or two ago and he had 6 spots open


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## AwakenNoMore (Feb 19, 2019)

Well I messaged them about making a lefty, they said yes. However I'm skeptical about this company.


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## Descent (Feb 19, 2019)

pfizer said:


> They have some interesting headless designs and are priced quite low for the specs. Apparently, the guitars are built in China by American luthiers.



So how did they get the US luthiers in China? They offered them a smaller salary to live in a dirty Industrial city? Sorry, but that statement sounds absolutely fake, but I guess they can claim that as long as they send one guitar to do a week of QC or whatever.


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## Curt (Feb 19, 2019)

Descent said:


> So how did they get the US luthiers in China? They offered them a smaller salary to live in a dirty Industrial city? Sorry, but that statement sounds absolutely fake, but I guess they can claim that as long as they send one guitar to do a week of QC or whatever.


It's more like the bodies and necks are CNC'd in China, then sent to the US for finish, assembly, and QC. Or so I am assuming since the shipping price on reverb is nowhere near what you would expect shipping from China.


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## Curt (Feb 19, 2019)

Im in, 7 string, Antique green, maple board, Alnico Atlas set. Super hype!


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## Catalyst Collide (Feb 19, 2019)

I don't know this for sure, but I just assumed it was an American that owned / operated the company, in China, with chinese workers & sub-contractors. At least that's how I've always read it. I've followed his instagram for a while, and I'd say I'm 99% positive he works with / has other Chinese companies to build his hardware. I don't think it's a one man show, but I also don't think it's a big shop. It is possible he's doing the design, specing out the guitars, having another company doing build and then doing QC himself, but I have no idea. I've never once seen the claim that they're built in America, quite the opposite.


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## Curt (Feb 19, 2019)

Catalyst Collide said:


> I don't know this for sure, but I just assumed it was an American that owned / operated the company, in China, with chinese workers & sub-contractors. At least that's how I've always read it. I've followed his instagram for a while, and I'd say I'm 99% positive he works with / has other Chinese companies to build his hardware. I don't think it's a one man show, but I also don't think it's a big shop. It is possible he's doing the design, specing out the guitars, having another company doing build and then doing QC himself, but I have no idea. I've never once seen the claim that they're built in America, quite the opposite.


When I talked to Michael from Guitarmory about sending a set of pickups for GOC to finish match them with the blue fade Valkyrie, he talked like it would a quick process, which makes me believe that the finish and QC at least is done in the US.


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## Xibuque (Feb 19, 2019)

Catalyst Collide said:


> I don't know this for sure, but I just assumed it was an American that owned / operated the company, in China, with chinese workers & sub-contractors. At least that's how I've always read it. I've followed his instagram for a while, and I'd say I'm 99% positive he works with / has other Chinese companies to build his hardware. I don't think it's a one man show, but I also don't think it's a big shop. It is possible he's doing the design, specing out the guitars, having another company doing build and then doing QC himself, but I have no idea. I've never once seen the claim that they're built in America, quite the opposite.




That is what i assumed too, btw they said only have 20 employes and cnc machines, the only thing that take more time is the fretwork due to the QC.

GOC guy is thinking about open more batches for this run, i hope that does not affect the leadtime/QC of the original 50 slots... they said it won't, the guys who jump into the extra slots will have to wait 4weeks more on the leadtime, the leadtime will just increase for the new ones.


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## Don Tonberry (Feb 19, 2019)

I have 2 GOC guitars, one is an early prototype and the other is a "custom shop" model. Both have been pretty good and I've very pleased with them. Quality is as good or better than the Ibanez Iron Labels or the Mexican made Charvels. and fwiw, my experience with those are pretty positive. 

I've jumped in this run in the first batch and will try to do a write-up on here whenever it comes in. I expect it to be as good especially with those Guitarmory pickups (I got the Minuteman set) and for ~700 it seems pretty reasonably priced.


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## Crundles (Feb 20, 2019)

They've posted pics of the completed finishes on their facebook.

The red looks surprisingly awesome, a lot darker than I expected. Green is a bit... swampy. I guess if you went for the Guitarmory Warlord you can make one heck of a sludgemonster guitar.


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## Curt (Feb 20, 2019)

The green is exactly what I hoped for. A mossy, earthy kind of green.


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Feb 20, 2019)

That pink though.


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## Gishki (Feb 20, 2019)

So happy I went for the red, wasn't 100% sold on the initial color that they showed but hoped it would turn out darker. Loving it. Red, Maple, Polaris


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## Crundles (Feb 20, 2019)

They've posted a new picture of the pink, which is significantly more fabulous than the old one, and making me consider emailing Pan really quickly to change colour lol.


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## Albake21 (Feb 20, 2019)

I'll let others test them out before I do. I just have an off feeling about them to be honest. With that said, I truly hope they come through and make some decent guitars for the money. I'm not expecting a $1000+ plus looking/feeling guitar, but just something that isn't a pile of shit.

Also that pink is fucking awesome looking.


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## Xibuque (Feb 20, 2019)

The green looks great, but I was expecting a much more brighter green, so a changed my order to the Antique Black.

I wish i could get one of each hehe


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## 0rimus (Feb 21, 2019)

Does anybody know if these are gonna have the knubby "headstock" thing the standard Materia's have? Cuz... I actually kinda dig it lol. Nice perch for a clip on tuner or gopro camera


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## Marv Attaxx (Feb 21, 2019)

0rimus said:


> Does anybody know if these are gonna have the knubby "headstock" thing the standard Materia's have? Cuz... I actually kinda dig it lol. Nice perch for a clip on tuner or gopro camera
> View attachment 67191


I had the same question, the answer is: no, it will have the smaller headstock you can see in the mockups. But apparently you can still use a clip on it (tuner or go pro etc).
I was sceptical at first, too, but then I jumped in anyway.
Most of the questions here have been answered openly on their homepage (work philosophy, where the guitars are built, history with Neko etc.), all guitars they have released so far seem to be of rather high quality and their communication is on point (even if at least one of the guys uses the word "bro" a bit too often ) and they seem to know what they're talking about.
Found them in December and instantly liked their designs. Some are definitely inspired by other guitars, but have enough distinc features to distance them from the inspiration. And the Materia seemed to be a good start into the headless world.

My config:
8 string
antique black
maple neck
guitarmory patriot pickups

Btw: the 2018 Materia was around 1300, but the ones sold from their homepage were around 900. So I guess that's where the real price will end up after the run (which they do to put their name on the map).


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## Curt (Feb 21, 2019)

As it turns out, I didn't make it into the initial run. I missed by one spot so I will be in the first set of the secondary run that was opened due to the demand. An extra month or so of waiting won't kill me, but damn. I knew I should have been more decisive


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## Xibuque (Feb 21, 2019)

Did you guys notice the upper horn is slightly different from the first Materia model?

The one on the run model is a little bit shapper on the tip, well i like it.

The forearm rest is also different, i like the old one better


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## Crundles (Feb 21, 2019)

Xibuque said:


> Did you guys notice the upper horn is slightly different from the first Materia model?
> 
> The one on the run model is a little bit shapper on the tip, well i like it.
> 
> The forearm rest is also different, i like the old one better



Interesting - I mailed Pan on the arm-rest, because I also really like the "old-style" one. Will update once I have a reply.


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## Marv Attaxx (Feb 21, 2019)

Xibuque said:


> Did you guys notice the upper horn is slightly different from the first Materia model?
> 
> The one on the run model is a little bit shapper on the tip, well i like it.
> 
> The forearm rest is also different, i like the old one better


Yeah, they're constantly changing their models a bit.
Never realized the sharper horn, I like it! The arm rest might just be an optical illusion because the clearcoat is missing, therefore the edge might not be as visible as on the 2018 model 
In any case, I like both and don't really mind


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## Mathemagician (Feb 21, 2019)

I hate this forum so much. *unzips wallet*


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## Crundles (Feb 21, 2019)

So I got a reply:

"No this one is more of a suhr kind of contour, its arched to give it a low profile carved yet sleek enough when viewed at an angle."

I did kind of hope they'd keep the more carved style one, but it's perfectly fine either way.


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## Xibuque (Feb 21, 2019)

i still prefer the old arm-rest, but i am ok with the new one too


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## Mathemagician (Feb 21, 2019)

Anyone play one of these ever? NAMM, etc? Either way I’m in for a purple with maple neck and a set of Patriots recommended by the guitarmory site.


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## Xibuque (Feb 21, 2019)

Some mockups provided by GOC














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## Emperor Guillotine (Feb 21, 2019)

Oh, look! The scammers behind Neko Guitars are back under a new name! Looks like they are still using the exact same designs for the exact same cheap, Chinese-made instruments.

Kiss your money goodbye, guys.

If they do come through and actually deliver the guitars this time, they will no doubt be pieces of shit.



Mathemagician said:


> Anyone play one of these ever? NAMM, etc?


Nope, because these guys were formerly Neko Guitars, and no one received the guitars that they paid for when Neko did runs exactly like this. So, you sure as hell wouldn't see these guitars from this super small operation anywhere, especially at a big tradeshow like NAMM, because no one who ordered even received their instruments.


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## BillCosby (Feb 21, 2019)

I'm pretty sure this has been discussed before. They aren't Neko.


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## Emperor Guillotine (Feb 22, 2019)

BillCosby said:


> I'm pretty sure this has been discussed before. They aren't Neko.


They are. Multiple sources on Facebook groups and forums have confirmed it. Aside from that, the fact that this guitar's design WAS a Neko design undeniably cements it. (Seems like folks have forgotten what the few Neko models looked like. But I don't blame anyone for forgetting since the guitars never made it to fruition and/or never made it into the marketplace to enter into the hands of those who paid for them.)


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## Crundles (Feb 22, 2019)

Emperor Guillotine said:


> Oh, look! The scammers behind Neko Guitars are back under a new name! Looks like they are still using the exact same designs for the exact same cheap, Chinese-made instruments.
> 
> Kiss your money goodbye, guys.
> 
> If they do come through and actually deliver the guitars this time, they will no doubt be pieces of shit.



I considered the possibility, of course. Even barring everything else, it's still a small, uknown brand, and this forum especially has seen its fair share of luthiers nicking people's money. 

Ultimately I decided to join the run, basing my own personal decision on three things:

1. The timeframe and the PayPal payment do offer some buyer protection, should things go ploin-shaped
2. They are partnering with an established, american company. Guitarmory actually stand to lose a lot if they end up being associated with a scam
3. There are enough reviews and personal opinions from small, seemingly independent sources, including people in this very thread. Did GOC pay a guy with 43 subscribers on youtube to say it's a pretty ok guitar for the price? Possibly, but not really the marketing strategy I'd suggest, and I actually studied this shit in university.

Their website claims they acquired the GOC brand from Neko in 2017, obtaining the existing models with it. Communication has been swift and to the point, and they have a moderate buzz going about their current run. It's a good opportunity for a small company to grow their business, and yes, it's also a decent opportunity to shlorp off with some money, should they be inclined to do so.

Am I being bamboozled? I hope not. Even if it's a cheap, China-made guitar it's still a pretty significant amount of money for me, and I'm actually pretty enthusiastic about the model itself. So far, I'm keeping a cautious optimism, and will allow myself some minor hype.

Time will tell I guess?


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## lewis (Feb 22, 2019)

I have a GOC kit build and build quality is great. They used to sell kits (neck + body but no hardware). This came out fine and their communication with me was always spot on


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## Marv Attaxx (Feb 22, 2019)

Crundles said:


> I considered the possibility, of course. Even barring everything else, it's still a small, uknown brand, and this forum especially has seen its fair share of luthiers nicking people's money.
> 
> Ultimately I decided to join the run, basing my own personal decision on three things:
> 
> ...



Those are the same thoughts that lead me into joining the run 
Especially the buyer protection from Paypal is a good safety net for a build that should take about 60 days.
As I said before, I found them first in like December and since then they've posted a shitload of news, pictures and generally make the impression of working their asses off. If I get the guitar I saw on youtube videos: I'll be happy. If I have to fix some smaller things: I'll be happy, too. If it turns out to be a scam I'll get in contact with PayPal asap.
No risk, no fun they say


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## 0rimus (Feb 22, 2019)

Slipped in like a fuckin nightmare

7 string
Antique Violet
Wenge fretboard
Warlord set with black poles
Gigbag yes plz

So I know it's blasphemy to not get a maple board with purple... But I've worked alot with wenge and it has really interesting grain structure 90% of the time.

Maple can range from crazy spalted/quilted/birdseye shit to downright homely plain as paper shiz. I felt a figured ash body need an equally interesting board (we will see) 

No one posted pics of the gigbag here yet but on their FB page it looked super thick and it was a nice olive drab color


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Feb 22, 2019)

I'm considering picking up one of the Valkyries over on reverb. They have some cool fades


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## Xibuque (Feb 23, 2019)

r3tr0sp3ct1v3 said:


> I'm considering picking up one of the Valkyries over on reverb. They have some cool fades



Me too, but only if the RUN ends well


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## Xibuque (Feb 23, 2019)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2027613340691398/

Just created a group for us

This is a discussion group for those who jumped into the Goc Guitars Run (Materia Model 2019). This group is not affiliated with the company. It was created to reunite everyone who is in the same boat, so we can talk about specs, experiences or take decision if the run go wrong.(i don't have bad feelings about this run, but who knows...)


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## Xibuque (Feb 24, 2019)

I made some mockups for you guys.
Be advised:

1 - I don't have skills on photoshop;

2 - It is NOT a official mockup provided by GOC, it is made by me and may not be accurate to the final and real product.


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## Mathemagician (Feb 24, 2019)

I went purple, maple, patriots, gold pole pieces. 

Let’s see how this all shakes out.


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 24, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> I went purple, maple, patriots, gold pole pieces.
> 
> Let’s see how this all shakes out.


hope you like having your ears raped. Patriots are pretty bright, so unless you get a darker sounding ash guitar, they'll be torturous to listen to.


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## Mathemagician (Feb 25, 2019)

I just went off the reccomendation on the pickup website. I’ve never played an ash guitar before. Is there anyone whose tried a few of these to make recs? I basically just hoped for a modern hi gain pickup (not djent-level mid quack).


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 25, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> I just went off the reccomendation on the pickup website. I’ve never played an ash guitar before. Is there anyone whose tried a few of these to make recs? I basically just hoped for a modern hi gain pickup (not djent-level mid quack).


I've tried most of their lineup and personally I would have gone with either foxbats or polaris sets, both of those work well in ash ime and they can cover a ton of ground soundwise.
The patriot is a lot more treble heavy so it doesn't play as nice with brighter guitars. 
The bridge has a bigger low end, but it tracks really well and has an excellent chunk/percussive sound to chugs/trem picking. The midrange reminds me of the black winter bridge or impulse, where it has some snarl and some growl present instead of accentuating one area of the mids excessively. The high end is pretty cutting. Pinch harmonics are an absolute breeze, legato and smooth sounding sweeps are doable but not this pickup's forte imo. The patriot bridge excels at cutting/aggressive soloing.


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## Mathemagician (Feb 25, 2019)

Then how do the fox bats/Polaris differ? It sounds like the patriots will be fine if I just EQ down the highs a bit no? I usually use EMG’s so all this is way outside my normal comfort zone.


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## 0rimus (Feb 25, 2019)

I started using 330k pots to kill a bit of high end in my guitars

It doesn't drop output or anything. And you still get all the benefits of a no-tone knob setup (kinda open, string to string clarity thing that volume pot value doesn't change at all)

Or even a 250k, but a 330k worked great for my duncan Custom 7. Kinda cool for playing leads on the bridge without losing any bite for rhythm. Costs like $3-5 too *shrug*


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 25, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> Then how do the fox bats/Polaris differ? It sounds like the patriots will be fine if I just EQ down the highs a bit no? I usually use EMG’s so all this is way outside my normal comfort zone.


foxbats and polaris are much warmer on the high end. If the patriots are too bright then try adjusting your amp eq or you can change pot values/capacitor values.


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## Don Tonberry (Feb 25, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> I've tried most of their lineup and personally I would have gone with either foxbats or polaris sets, both of those work well in ash ime and they can cover a ton of ground soundwise.
> The patriot is a lot more treble heavy so it doesn't play as nice with brighter guitars.
> The bridge has a bigger low end, but it tracks really well and has an excellent chunk/percussive sound to chugs/trem picking. The midrange reminds me of the black winter bridge or impulse, where it has some snarl and some growl present instead of accentuating one area of the mids excessively. The high end is pretty cutting. Pinch harmonics are an absolute breeze, legato and smooth sounding sweeps are doable but not this pickup's forte imo. The patriot bridge excels at cutting/aggressive soloing.


I went with the Minuteman per Guitarmory's recommendation when I messaged them. Any idea how those fare compared to the Foxbat or Polaris?


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 25, 2019)

Don Tonberry said:


> I went with the Minuteman per Guitarmory's recommendation when I messaged them. Any idea how those fare compared to the Foxbat or Polaris?


 i haven't tried the minutemen yet


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Feb 25, 2019)

I got Atlas pickups because they sound open and awesome


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## DickyTripleD (Feb 25, 2019)

I have a seven string Valkyrie on the way now. Hopefully showing up within the week. If all is well, I'll be joining the next run. Would love to hear what people's Guitarmory recommendations would be for an 8 string looking for a tight, yet relatively high output pickup would be.


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## Xibuque (Feb 25, 2019)




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## Ibanez_Guy (Feb 28, 2019)

These mockups look great! Thanks for posting!




Xibuque said:


> I made some mockups for you guys.
> Be advised:
> 
> 1 - I don't have skills on photoshop;
> ...


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## Ibanez_Guy (Feb 28, 2019)

And btw, I ordered a 7 string in antique violet, maple board, and Guitarmony Polaris pickups. Can't wait!


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## BillCosby (Feb 28, 2019)

Well, I was going to get in on this run, but I got the opportunity to get an Ormsby Hype 7 from run 1 for 650 locally. So, my wife would kill me if I did this too. I can't wait to see how they turn out, though!!


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## Torchenal (Mar 2, 2019)

My wife convinced me to join this run to see which comes sooner: this or my Run 6 Ormsby RA.


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Mar 2, 2019)

Torchenal said:


> My wife convinced me to join this run to see which comes sooner: this or my Run 6 Ormsby RA.



Lol cool wife


----------



## AwakenNoMore (Mar 9, 2019)

I'm going to sit back and see how this all pans out. If all goes well, I'll jump on the next group buy. Hoping it works out for everyone.


----------



## LeviathanKiller (Mar 13, 2019)

pfizer said:


> https://www.gocguitars.com/
> 
> They have some interesting headless designs and are priced quite low for the specs. Apparently, the guitars are built in China by American luthiers. Glen Frikker from SpectreSoundStudios recently showed an 8-string model on his YT channel.
> 
> Anyone here with any experience or own one? Could be a good alternative to Kiesel, Strandberg or Ormsby.





Albake21 said:


> I'll let others test them out before I do. I just have an off feeling about them to be honest. With that said, I truly hope they come through and make some decent guitars for the money. I'm not expecting a $1000+ plus looking/feeling guitar, but just something that isn't a pile of shit.
> 
> Also that pink is fucking awesome looking.





Emperor Guillotine said:


> Oh, look! The scammers behind Neko Guitars are back under a new name! Looks like they are still using the exact same designs for the exact same cheap, Chinese-made instruments.
> 
> Kiss your money goodbye, guys.
> 
> ...





Emperor Guillotine said:


> They are. Multiple sources on Facebook groups and forums have confirmed it. Aside from that, the fact that this guitar's design WAS a Neko design undeniably cements it. (Seems like folks have forgotten what the few Neko models looked like. But I don't blame anyone for forgetting since the guitars never made it to fruition and/or never made it into the marketplace to enter into the hands of those who paid for them.)



Well darn. I haven't been able to be on the forums as of late so I missed this entire thread now that the run is closed. Anyway, I own a GOC Valkyrie 2 265 in Natural. Very pleased. I was sketchy at first but I did indeed receive my guitar. haha

As others have mentioned, this is not Neko guitars. The name and designs were bought out. Poor choice to keep the tarnished GOC name bit which used to stand for Grumpy Old Cat but whatever. I would be very shocked if this run went bad considering I got another guitar from them in January right about when the run was announced. I've spoken with Pan before personally and he's a cool friendly dude. Haven't talked to anyone else though specifically (just the Facebook page replying to me).

Fit and finish is all around excellent imo. My only complaint is that the frets weren't polished. That's it but it is annoying. My Valkyrie came in better condition than the three Schecter Keith Merrow MK-IIIs I tried that I paid $1700 for and I only paid $675 for my Valkryie so that's a good deal in my book.

Since this entire run is getting seamless ball end frets and custom shop fret treatment, I expect the frets to be polished this time. Not delivering on that specific point will put me off ordering from them if so.

I'd put these right at the $1000 mark probably in terms of quality. I'm considering getting a custom shop from them when their books are open again if the price and options are right.

I also joined the run at the last minute. I wish I would've seen the paint samples that got posted here since they would have convinced me to join sooner. The red looks absolutely fantastic. I was concerned it was going to be too light. Nope. Definitely my preferred tone.

Here's a video that I recorded after unboxing and sent to a few friends. I was testing to see if the guitar fretted out anywhere and stuff like that. Didn't have issues. Used the rocker method to test the frets being level and there were just a few minimally unlevel places. I had to rock it a couple of times to actually make sure that it was indeed unlevel because it was VERY very close. Sadly, I have a custom instrument that came to me that wasn't even as leveled.


----------



## Xibuque (Apr 5, 2019)

Some updates





the frets are not installed yet, it is to show just tha ball end


----------



## Taylor2 (Apr 7, 2019)

I really like the Valkyrie 7 string. If we could match the headstock and body top finish and complete the BM B7 rip-off I think I'd buy one. About $1000 up here to the door though.


----------



## Xibuque (Apr 11, 2019)




----------



## Wolfhorsky (Apr 12, 2019)

Xibuque said:


>


Why They ruined this ash with such an ugly dye? Why?


----------



## LeviathanKiller (Apr 12, 2019)

Wolfhorsky said:


> Why They ruined this ash with such an ugly dye? Why?


That's just that particular color. I think it's the antique brown. I got a red one. I'm hoping for Mayones Gothic / Hapas Kayzer kinda look.


----------



## nateispro (Apr 12, 2019)

Im really excited to see more of these out in the wild. From what Ive seen people seem to be happy with them. I may have to jump on the next Valkyrie I see. I really like the body shape and layout of those ones


----------



## Xibuque (Apr 18, 2019)




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## Mathemagician (Apr 18, 2019)

Really regretting not going with pink hopefully the purple is a nice deep shade. A Deep Purple, if you will.


----------



## Albake21 (Apr 18, 2019)

Damn that red looks pretty badass.


----------



## LeviathanKiller (Apr 18, 2019)

Dat red be mine

Kinda wish I had bought a green one too though. I'm really surprised with how nice it turned out and I have no green guitars in my collection yet.


----------



## Wolfhorsky (Apr 18, 2019)

I have the proposition of the colors’ names:
- booger green
- bloody red
- poo brown
- cadaver blue
- barbie pink

But seriously that red is super sexy. Even that pink looks cool. I don’t care for the rest.
Nice quality btw.


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## LeviathanKiller (Apr 18, 2019)

Can we all appreciate how amazing that piece of wood is on the blue one though? I hope my red one has that.


----------



## Wolfhorsky (Apr 18, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> Can we all appreciate how amazing that piece of wood is on the blue one though? I hope my red one has that.


Actually that close grain ash is not that desirable visually. But YMMV, mate


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## LeviathanKiller (Apr 18, 2019)

Wolfhorsky said:


> Actually that close grain ash is not that desirable visually. But YMMV, mate



I guess that's why I don't see almost any guitars with it then. 
The twist is that I want it because I don't see it often.


----------



## Wolfhorsky (Apr 18, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> I guess that's why I don't see almost any guitars with it then.
> The twist is that I want it because I don't see it often.


I get Your perspective


----------



## Crundles (Apr 19, 2019)

There's a picture of the white and violet ones now. Pretty happy with how the white turned out:


----------



## Xibuque (Apr 19, 2019)

i am just missing the antique black


----------



## MysticNetherlands (Apr 30, 2019)

Following this. Did anyone or did anyone explicitly NOT receive their guitar?


----------



## LeviathanKiller (Apr 30, 2019)

MysticNetherlands said:


> Following this. Did anyone or did anyone explicitly NOT receive their guitar?



First batch of 10 isn't shipped yet. A lot are being worked on. They recently did frets on some but are waiting on fretwire for some others currently. Everything seems to be progressing quite nicely so far. I'm rather impressed on top of how impressed I was when I got my Valkyrie.


----------



## prlgmnr (Apr 30, 2019)

MysticNetherlands said:


> Did anyone or did anyone explicitly NOT receive their guitar?



I've nothing of any value to add, but I do want to say that I enjoyed figuring out what this sentence meant.


----------



## Vede (Apr 30, 2019)

MysticNetherlands said:


> Following this. Did anyone or did anyone explicitly NOT receive their guitar?



Yes.


----------



## prlgmnr (Apr 30, 2019)

Vede said:


> Yes.


Explicitly or implicitly?


----------



## Vede (Apr 30, 2019)

prlgmnr said:


> Explicitly or implicitly?



Yes.


----------



## Taylor2 (Apr 30, 2019)

These or Agile is the question for me. Anyone see the new Legacy purple?

Seems like the GOC has better components than the Legacy, but that legacy looks sooo goooooood


----------



## prlgmnr (Apr 30, 2019)

Vede said:


> Yes.


Exactly what I did and didn't expect.


----------



## LeviathanKiller (Apr 30, 2019)

Taylor2 said:


> These or Agile is the question for me. Anyone see the new Legacy purple?
> 
> Seems like the GOC has better components than the Legacy, but that legacy looks sooo goooooood



Go for a GOC. I had a Legacy and sold it. Was definitely not up to the same level of quality although it was much cheaper.
The basic level Septors are better than the Legacy series but the Pro and Elite variants blow those away for about $600-$700.

My GOC Valkyrie vs my Agile Septor Elite/Pro/whatever-it-is. I'd say the GOC edges out a bit. I like the thinner neck on the Elite and Pro Agiles though.


----------



## Seabeast2000 (Apr 30, 2019)

prlgmnr said:


> Exactly what I did and didn't expect.


I am both entertained and entertained by this.


----------



## Albake21 (Apr 30, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> Go for a GOC. I had a Legacy and sold it. Was definitely not up to the same level of quality although it was much cheaper.
> The basic level Septors are better than the Legacy series but the Pro and Elite variants blow those away for about $600-$700.
> 
> My GOC Valkyrie vs my Agile Septor Elite/Pro/whatever-it-is. I'd say the GOC edges out a bit. I like the thinner neck on the Elite and Pro Agiles though.


Wait the GOC has a thicker neck than the Agiles? Damn that must be a pretty thick neck considering the Agile is like a medium thickness, to me at least.


----------



## LeviathanKiller (Apr 30, 2019)

The906 said:


> I am both entertained and entertained by this.


Entertained or explicitly entertained?


----------



## LeviathanKiller (Apr 30, 2019)

Albake21 said:


> Wait the GOC has a thicker neck than the Agiles? Damn that must be a pretty thick neck considering the Agile is like a medium thickness, to me at least.


Which Agile models are you talking about because it's basically the same as the base Septor model's neck thickness.
You know I hate thick necks. This isn't that bad. They still need to go thinner though imo. I figure it's a 21mm probably. I want a 20mm at least.


----------



## Albake21 (Apr 30, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> Which Agile models are you talking about because it's basically the same as the base Septor model's neck thickness.
> You know I hate thick necks. This isn't that bad. They still need to go thinner though imo. I figure it's a 21mm probably. I want a 20mm at least.


Well if I'm not mistaken, the thinnest Agile neck is 21.5mm to 22mm with some of the other models being 22mm to 24mm. I'm the same as you when it comes to neck thickness. I think the thickest I'll go is 21mm.


----------



## prlgmnr (Apr 30, 2019)

I'm glad I've got something new to run into the ground now I've used up my lifetime quota of Kirk Hammett wah pedal jokes.

Won't ever get tired of "it tessellates the human thumb" though.


----------



## LeviathanKiller (Apr 30, 2019)

Albake21 said:


> Well if I'm not mistaken, the thinnest Agile neck is 21.5mm to 22mm with some of the other models being 22mm to 24mm. I'm the same as you when it comes to neck thickness. I think the thickest I'll go is 21mm.



That sounds about right. Neither the base Agile models nor the GOC that I have right now are thin. I don't know what they're doing exactly on this Materia run but I voiced my preference in an email to Pan when he asked what I thought about the guitar. Given they do custom shop stuff, I bet I could just have them make something with a thinner profile. Maybe the next run they do that can be part of the specs if this one isn't thin enough.


----------



## Albake21 (Apr 30, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> That sounds about right. Neither the base Agile models nor the GOC that I have right now are thin. I don't know what they're doing exactly on this Materia run but I voiced my preference in an email to Pan when he asked what I thought about the guitar. Given they do custom shop stuff, I bet I could just have them make something with a thinner profile. Maybe the next run they do that can be part of the specs if this one isn't thin enough.


They definitely would have my interest with a much thinner neck closer to 19-21mm.


----------



## Mathemagician (Apr 30, 2019)

Albake21 said:


> Wait the GOC has a thicker neck than the Agiles? Damn that must be a pretty thick neck considering the Agile is like a medium thickness, to me at least.



Just jumping in here.

The only people to whom Agile’s “aren’t thin” are the ones who absolutely love Ibanez wizard necks.

For the rest of us that think wizard necks are flypaper and uncomfortable, agile necks are actually definitely in that Schecter banshee/Jackson soloist range of thin/shreddy necks.

People need to clarify when their barometer for “thin” is one of the thinnest necks on the market. 

Neck shape also matters a lot, and D shaped necks with shoulders and a flat back are the worst IMO. 

I don’t know anything about GOC’s necks though.


----------



## Albake21 (Apr 30, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> Just jumping in here.
> 
> The only people to whom Agile’s “aren’t thin” are the ones who absolutely love Ibanez wizard necks.
> 
> ...


Schecter's ultra thin C (which is on half of their guitars) is 18mm to 20mm thick. While their normal is 20 to 22mm thick, still thinner than Agile's thinnest neck. Jacksons are just as thin as Ibanez Wizards which vary from 17mm to 23mm thick.


----------



## MysticNetherlands (May 1, 2019)

prlgmnr said:


> Exactly what I did and didn't expect.


Guys can we please be Aladeen or Aladeen?


----------



## MysticNetherlands (May 1, 2019)

Taylor2 said:


> These or Agile is the question for me. Anyone see the new Legacy purple?
> 
> Seems like the GOC has better components than the Legacy, but that legacy looks sooo goooooood


I really wonder about the GOC bridge and lock, where are they sources from. Does anyone know??


----------



## MysticNetherlands (May 1, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> First batch of 10 isn't shipped yet. A lot are being worked on. They recently did frets on some but are waiting on fretwire for some others currently. Everything seems to be progressing quite nicely so far. I'm rather impressed on top of how impressed I was when I got my Valkyrie.


Thanks a lot for your comment. Does your Valkyrie stay in tune very well?


----------



## LeviathanKiller (May 1, 2019)

MysticNetherlands said:


> I really wonder about the GOC bridge and lock, where are they sources from. Does anyone know??





MysticNetherlands said:


> Thanks a lot for your comment. Does your Valkyrie stay in tune very well?



They have branded tuners. "DJ Rocksolid open-gear" but not that kinda of DJ. 
The full name is Dei Jung or something (I'm not home to check).

It seems to be staying in tune quite well so far. The strings that came on it were pretty meh in my opinion though and I haven't changed them yet since I'm waiting on pickups to come in that I'm putting in it. The stock 4th Dimension alnico pickups are cool but aren't really my thing and they do seem microphonic.

I really like the bridge system so far! Clean looking but completely functional. Isn't a pain to adjust or anything. Haven't noticed it hurting my hand either.


----------



## Taylor2 (May 1, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> That sounds about right. Neither the base Agile models nor the GOC that I have right now are thin. I don't know what they're doing exactly on this Materia run but I voiced my preference in an email to Pan when he asked what I thought about the guitar. Given they do custom shop stuff, I bet I could just have them make something with a thinner profile. Maybe the next run they do that can be part of the specs if this one isn't thin enough.



...do you think they'd do custom finishes and a thinner neck if you requested it? I should email them. I like a thinner neck generally.


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## LeviathanKiller (May 1, 2019)

Taylor2 said:


> ...do you think they'd do custom finishes and a thinner neck if you requested it? I should email them. I like a thinner neck generally.


I know they do custom finishes (there was a Assassin's Creed themed one on their Instagram I noticed today even) and I know they do custom inlays (one dude has his name inlayed in a really sick font which as shown on their FB page).

I have not inquired about a custom neck profile just yet. But I will do that for you and myself when I email them (I need to ask to get a gig bag put on my order since it turns out they have a ton of storage unlike my current gig bags).


----------



## MysticNetherlands (May 2, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> They have branded tuners. "DJ Rocksolid open-gear" but not that kinda of DJ.
> The full name is Dei Jung or something (I'm not home to check).
> 
> It seems to be staying in tune quite well so far. The strings that came on it were pretty meh in my opinion though and I haven't changed them yet since I'm waiting on pickups to come in that I'm putting in it. The stock 4th Dimension alnico pickups are cool but aren't really my thing and they do seem microphonic.
> ...


Thanks a lot for the info! So the bridge is probably some Chinese brandless thing, be it produced exclusively for them or not?


----------



## c7spheres (May 2, 2019)

Those necks look really nice! That body shape with the upper horn looks great for upper fret access. I gotta keep my eye on these for sure.


----------



## Marv Attaxx (May 2, 2019)

kinda new-ish video with an older custom materia:


----------



## LeviathanKiller (May 2, 2019)

MysticNetherlands said:


> Thanks a lot for the info! So the bridge is probably some Chinese brandless thing, be it produced exclusively for them or not?


Yeah, probably. Brandless or a brand that no one here has heard of at least. lol
I'm curious if the hardware is upgradeable. I know some if not all Agiles aren't able to have their bridges swapped easy because they use a 3-screw mount instead of whatever Hipshot uses or something along those lines.


----------



## Xibuque (May 3, 2019)




----------



## Mathemagician (May 7, 2019)

Is that antique white? Whew that looks good.


----------



## LeviathanKiller (May 7, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> Is that antique white? Whew that looks good.


It is indeed. Looks super slick.
I'm actually going to end up doing a Kiesel build similar to this now.


----------



## remco mayer (Jun 13, 2019)

any got contact details for this company like a phone number and address thanks


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## remco mayer (Jun 13, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> They have branded tuners. "DJ Rocksolid open-gear" but not that kinda of DJ.
> The full name is Dei Jung or something (I'm not home to check).
> 
> It seems to be staying in tune quite well so far. The strings that came on it were pretty meh in my opinion though and I haven't changed them yet since I'm waiting on pickups to come in that I'm putting in it. The stock 4th Dimension alnico pickups are cool but aren't really my thing and they do seem microphonic.
> ...



all there single string bridge and there new tremolo are all fake and they have stolen the idea witch has a patent from apollo music parts


----------



## AwakenNoMore (Jun 14, 2019)

So, where's the beef? Anyone receive one of these yet?


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## Mathemagician (Jun 14, 2019)

Instagram is getting updated more now but I haven’t seen a run instrument go out yet.


----------



## Crundles (Jun 14, 2019)

I emailed them recently and I was told that the guitars themselves are done, GOC are just waiting on the Guitarmory pickups to arrive so they can complete and ship.

From what I understand, they are now completing instruments that were started before or alongside the run, since those use their own pickups and are not affected by the delay.


----------



## Mathemagician (Jun 14, 2019)

Yep just came back to post this same thing. Apparently it’s on guitarmory according to them. Which is annoying if it’s true. They should have started on that order when they got the #’s. If there were two runs the first one at least should have been ready.


----------



## LeviathanKiller (Jun 17, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> Yep just came back to post this same thing. Apparently it’s on guitarmory according to them. Which is annoying if it’s true. They should have started on that order when they got the #’s. If there were two runs the first one at least should have been ready.



The pickups were being made in batches then GOC demanded all of them at once when they decided to not make their guitars in batches (against what the run description had stated) but rather all at once without communicating that to Guitarmory. That's on GOC.

There were like 8 batches, all part of the same run.


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## Mathemagician (Jun 17, 2019)

Oh. OH. OOOOOH. So they decided to not ship early batches because they put onerous demands on the pickup manufacturer post-contract? 

Cool. Coolcoolcool.


----------



## MrWulf (Jun 17, 2019)

No wonder why Guitarmory is not making any pickup till next month


----------



## 0rimus (Jun 17, 2019)

Yeah, I'm glad GoC busted the guitars out ahead of schedule. But 80 sets of pups is a tall order.

Plus I'm pretty sure Guitarmory still has to send the pickups out in batches because of the issue with shipping magnets in bulk.


----------



## ElysianGuitars (Jun 17, 2019)

0rimus said:


> Yeah, I'm glad GoC busted the guitars out ahead of schedule. But 80 sets of pups is a tall order.
> 
> Plus I'm pretty sure Guitarmory still has to send the pickups out in batches because of the issue with shipping magnets in bulk.





Mathemagician said:


> Instagram is getting updated more now but I haven’t seen a run instrument go out yet.


FYI, I've been busting my butt trying to get their pickups going. I'm the Guitarmory builder since February, and this GOC stuff is a ton of work. I've got a LOT of the first 4 orders wound, but have a ton to assemble still. It's a slow process, and I've been trying to recruit helpers to help finish it out.


----------



## DevinShidaker (Jun 17, 2019)

I just wanted to add a little bit to this, as I also work for The Guitarmory, albeit in a different capacity than Adam (artist relations). As stated above, we were given an original timeline for pickup builds being done in small batches, with the guitars being finished around the same time. This would allow us to get the GOC builds finished in a timely manner while also allowing us to fulfill orders for customers who were not part of this run. After the run closed, GOC moved much more quickly than anticipated, while we stuck to the original schedule, because we will absolutely not sacrifice quality just to move things a little quickly. At the beginning of this month we announced that we would be closing new orders from June 7th to July 7th, so that we could get the GOC orders (along with our other orders) done properly, without other orders piling up. Thankfully, there has been lots of communication in the facebook group for this run (with most of that being from us). GOC has lacked a little bit in communicating and posting in the group, but we've been acting as a liaison between them and the customers, just to keep everybody as informed as we possibly can. We are really looking forward to the finished products in this run, and we are excited for you all to try our pickups


----------



## Mathemagician (Jun 18, 2019)

Yeah I respect that you guys aren’t rushing it and risking quality as I really wanted to try the pickups and it was a solid part of the reason I placed my order. 

I appreciate the efforts all around to keep people informed.


----------



## ChugThisBoy (Jun 18, 2019)

May be a little off topic but does anybody know when we can expect another run from GOC?


----------



## Marv Attaxx (Jun 18, 2019)

ChugThisBoy said:


> May be a little off topic but does anybody know when we can expect another run from GOC?


Last thing I've heard is that they're not even thinking about another run until the first one is out, so no dates or estimations by now.


----------



## ChugThisBoy (Jun 18, 2019)

Marv Attaxx said:


> Last thing I've heard is that they're not even thinking about another run until the first one is out, so no dates or estimations by now.



Well, that's reasonable. Thanks


----------



## Xibuque (Jun 20, 2019)

I am on the "run" and all i can say that to me everything seems to be under control! the guys on guitarmory are doing their best for sure and as a customer i really apreciate the fact they are focusing on quality of the pickups instead of rushing the production at any cost. It is a wise decision and any customer in their right mind will understand what is happennig.
There is no delay caused by negligence
There is no delay caused by scam
It was just a small hiccup on the overall thing that people are taking care to solve it and doing their best to minimize or extinguish any chances of further delay.


----------



## prlgmnr (Jun 20, 2019)

Xibuque said:


> I am on the "run"



Thought for a minute another builder had taken off with peoples cash


----------



## Hollowway (Jun 21, 2019)

Are they letting you guys (Guitarmory) ship the pickups to them in batches, or are they waiting for all 80 to be shipped? The last batch of these guitars will be done earlier than anticipated, but the first two will undoubtably be delayed. It seems to make more sense to have Adam/guitarmory ship the pups in batches, as they’re completed, so GOC can ship the guitars. The selling point to get in the run ASAP was to get the guitar early, since they were going to ship in batches.


----------



## Hollowway (Jun 21, 2019)

I will say I’m pretty stoked that Adam is making these. A few years ago Guitarmory fucked up some PME I sent to them to wind some pups, because they made it to the wrong template. The old owner sold the company, so I was left in a lurch. The new guys made me a new set, but the PME was gone, so I had to just use generic wood for them. Adam knows his stuff, is a solid dude, and lives by his word, so we’re in good hands with him.


----------



## Marv Attaxx (Jun 21, 2019)

That pink 8 string materia they've just posted tho....That thing looks insane!! Can't wait for mine in black!


----------



## Marv Attaxx (Jun 21, 2019)




----------



## Hollowway (Jun 22, 2019)

Yeah, mine is those exact specs - pink and maple. I can’t wait! But I hope it shows soon. I’ve been burned enough I don’t want to Have to make the hard call and do a paypal dispute at 6 months.


----------



## I play music (Jun 22, 2019)

Marv Attaxx said:


>


Hey it looks to me like if it is the exact same bridge pieces as on the new Harley Benton headless prototype. Apparently finally there exists not-so-expensive headless hardware and maybe we can expect more headless instruments in an affordable price range now.


----------



## Wolfhorsky (Jun 22, 2019)

I play music said:


> Hey it looks to me like if it is the exact same bridge pieces as on the new Harley Benton headless prototype. Apparently finally there exists not-so-expensive headless hardware and maybe we can expect more headless instruments in an affordable price range now.


I have the same bridge in my NK. It is OK. It can have microtuning thumb screws. Some models have them while other just have plain hex screws.


----------



## gunch (Jun 22, 2019)

Wolfhorsky said:


> I have the same bridge in my NK. It is OK. It can have microtuning thumb screws. Some models have them while other just have plain hex screws.



I thought they were screws meant to lock the string in the tuner


----------



## Wolfhorsky (Jun 22, 2019)

gunch said:


> I thought they were screws meant to lock the string in the tuner


If You try to lock them, the string will brake (will be cut off to be precise). 
Here You can see this chrome thumb screw micro tuners:


----------



## Marv Attaxx (Jun 26, 2019)

It seems like all of the custom guitars got delivered and the new owners seem to be quite happy with it so far. Also I saw Andrew Banea posting a pick of his guitar being assembled, so I guess they moved onto the final assembly of the run-guitars, minus the pickups.


----------



## remco mayer (Jul 1, 2019)

I play music said:


> Hey it looks to me like if it is the exact same bridge pieces as on the new Harley Benton headless prototype. Apparently finally there exists not-so-expensive headless hardware and maybe we can expect more headless instruments in an affordable price range now.


No these Bridges are not the same Goc is using non licensed fake copy 's from apollo music parts


----------



## DickyTripleD (Jul 1, 2019)

remco mayer said:


> No these Bridges are not the same Goc is using non licensed fake copy 's from apollo music parts



They might be unlicensed copies, but they look real to me. Unless they got a killer photoshop guy.


----------



## remco mayer (Jul 1, 2019)

DickyTripleD said:


> They might be unlicensed copies, but they look real to me. Unless they got a killer photoshop guy.


so you think it is ok then to steal a design of hardware and then make it your self some where else


----------



## ElysianGuitars (Jul 1, 2019)

Marv Attaxx said:


> It seems like all of the custom guitars got delivered and the new owners seem to be quite happy with it so far. Also I saw Andrew Banea posting a pick of his guitar being assembled, so I guess they moved onto the final assembly of the run-guitars, minus the pickups.


Update for anyone waiting on a run guitar, I get back home from meeting with Michael in San Diego tonight, and the focus will be on GOC run orders, so I should have a batch shipped out this week, and more next week.

Thanks everyone for your patience.


----------



## DickyTripleD (Jul 1, 2019)

remco mayer said:


> so you think it is ok then to steal a design of hardware and then make it your self some where else



I think two things; you have terrible grammar, and you can't take a joke.


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## iamaom (Jul 1, 2019)

remco mayer said:


> so you think it is ok then to steal a design of hardware and then make it your self some where else


Gibson's lawyer has joined SSO.


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## Blessedarethesick (Jul 3, 2019)

My thoughts on GOC? I think GOC is pretty rad!!! ^_^


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## lewis (Jul 3, 2019)

Blessedarethesick said:


> View attachment 70756
> My thoughts on GOC? I think GOC is pretty rad!!! ^_^


dayum!!!

thats hot ASF!

Great choice dude. Jealous


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## Blessedarethesick (Jul 3, 2019)

I also made an unboxing video if anyone is interested in checking it out.


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## AkiraSpectrum (Jul 3, 2019)

Blessedarethesick said:


> I also made an unboxing video if anyone is interested in checking it out.




Looks good!

Odd that they didn't cut the string ends off, but not a big deal I guess.

How do you like it? How is it in comparison to your Strandberg?

I saw GOC sharing pics of the fretends and they were very rounded and looked quite good. How are yours?


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## Randy (Jul 3, 2019)

Not a fan of the Chinese Strandy copy market in general but I gotta say... I REALLY like the lines on that thing.


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## Blessedarethesick (Jul 4, 2019)

AkiraSpectrum said:


> Looks good!
> 
> Odd that they didn't cut the string ends off, but not a big deal I guess.
> 
> ...


It really takes less than 10 seconds to cut them, no big deal. Apparently, it helps to not get stabbed for them putting the guitar in and customs/ clients when they take the guitar out as you'd need to reach for the neck/ headpiece first.

I really like the GOC. Not sure how I'd compare them to each other, GOC's neck feels very Ibanez like, maybe just a little thicker. I like to use the analogy that the Strandberg feels like a state of the art aircraft since it's so light with the excessive chambering in the swamp ash, while the GOC just feels like a military grade battle armored tank.

The fretends on my guitar are also well rounded, to the same extent as those pictures. GOC's really put a lot of time and quality into it, there's no mistake about that!


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## gunch (Jul 4, 2019)

I cant wait until another run I want a FF 6


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## DickyTripleD (Jul 4, 2019)

Randy said:


> Not a fan of the Chinese Strandy copy market in general but I gotta say... I REALLY like the lines on that thing.



I'll give this one a pass on the 'inspired by' chip. It seems what they're really going for is the midrange boutique market. I'll admit i'm biased though. I love my Valkyrie.


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## Crundles (Jul 6, 2019)

So GOC have posted on their FB that the group run currently faces 2 options:

1. Wait for the Guitarmory pickups - the image states expected delays of up to 4 months
2. Get your guitar with their own pickups - get the guitar july-august, get a free gigbag, and get the Guitarmory set shipped to you directly by the manufacturer.

Taken directly from their Facebook:


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## ElysianGuitars (Jul 6, 2019)

Just straight up going to say, I don't like this one bit. I'm working hard on the GOC pickups, and am ready to start shipping sets Monday, but with this, it's all up in the air now. This also puts the onus of install on the customer, and that can be pricey, and puts the individual pickup shipments on me, which shipping 80 orders to one place is a lot easier than shipping 80 orders to 80 people. The "cons" list is honestly a crock.


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## Crundles (Jul 6, 2019)

ElysianGuitars said:


> Just straight up going to say, I don't like this one bit. I'm working hard on the GOC pickups, and am ready to start shipping sets Monday, but with this, it's all up in the air now. This also puts the onus of install on the customer, and that can be pricey, and puts the individual pickup shipments on me, which shipping 80 orders to one place is a lot easier than shipping 80 orders to 80 people. The "cons" list is honestly a crock.



Yeah I'm a bit unsure what to make of this.

As a consumer, of course it's in my best interest to request this go through with the GOC pickups - not only do I get my guitar now, get a free gigbag, and have the Guitarmory pickups shipped directly US to EU while having a working guitar beforehand. 

However this does incur extra costs on both GOC (who will basically have to throw away one set of their pickups per guitar, and a gigbag, and even if it's not 120$ value it's still a cost) and Guitarmory (who will need to make a ton of individual shipments rather than a single group one)

I'm curious - how was this discussed with you/Guitarmory? Was this a majority decision?


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## Crundles (Aug 13, 2019)

So, a brief update for those wondering how the whole thing is going: my guitar has been shipped, and is currently stuck in the swamp of despair that is the Bulgarian Customs. It took ~4 days for it to arrive from China to Bulgaria.

Presumably if I make the correct sacrifices at the right altars, it should be released within two weeks. Unfortunately there's no way of knowing, because the Bulgarian Postal Service hasn't deemed me worthy of paying the VAT and import taxes yet - officially the guitar is "undergoing import customs procedures" at the moment, so I can't actually do anything.


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## Infini (Aug 17, 2019)

I got mine. 8 string, in black because I'm devoid of taste

I'm not gonna lie lads, it's got some glaring issues. I'm off to the hardware store tomorrow for drill bits and wood to see if I can fix some of this mess. Will put up a proper review after for those who are interested in the brand.


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## diagrammatiks (Aug 18, 2019)

Crundles said:


> So, a brief update for those wondering how the whole thing is going: my guitar has been shipped, and is currently stuck in the swamp of despair that is the Bulgarian Customs. It took ~4 days for it to arrive from China to Bulgaria.
> 
> Presumably if I make the correct sacrifices at the right altars, it should be released within two weeks. Unfortunately there's no way of knowing, because the Bulgarian Postal Service hasn't deemed me worthy of paying the VAT and import taxes yet - officially the guitar is "undergoing import customs procedures" at the moment, so I can't actually do anything.



I was under the impression that goc did final setup and work in the us. Are you sure it’s shipped directly from China?


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## Infini (Aug 18, 2019)

diagrammatiks said:


> I was under the impression that goc did final setup and work in the us. Are you sure it’s shipped directly from China?


Where'd you get that impression? My tracking # says it came straight from their factory as well


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## Crundles (Aug 18, 2019)

diagrammatiks said:


> I was under the impression that goc did final setup and work in the us. Are you sure it’s shipped directly from China?



Yeah it's all China I think.

Really interested to see what Infini posts, the reviews I've been seeing online for the run guitars have been pretty positive in general. Hopefully there aren't any unfixable issues.


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## Marv Attaxx (Aug 18, 2019)

I got mine also last week and might post a proper review when I have the time.
Short summary as of now:

Pros:
- the neck is amazing (blindfolded I could easily mistake it for an Ibanez)
- best fretwork I've ever seen
- extremely comfortable bodyshape, in any playing position
- usable stock pickups (still waiting for my guitarmory pickups), pretty close to Dimarzio Ionizers
- low action, zero fretbuzz
- one of two 8 strings that I've owned (out of 5) that can actually perfectly intonate a low E using a size 80 string

Cons:
- minor issues with the finish (stain did not penetrate the logo, some rough spots), but it actually kinda adds to the "antique black" thing so I'm not really bothered by it.
- Using the wrong screws. The intonation is set similar to what strandberg does but they've used normal philips screws that strip easily and can't be tightened down hard enough to prevent tuning issues (bridge moving slightly under string tension). The fix: ordered allen screws.
- inlay work: some glue residue
- one of the tuning barrels is screwed in crooked, so I have to redrill a hole

Bottom line: while there are some QC issues I still think the guitar was worth the wait since it's simply a joy to pick it up and play it. The issues are annoying but can be fixed are rather easily. I've seen worse from bigger, established brands 

EDIT: Well, it actually turned into a proper review anyway, minus pictures haha


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## Mathemagician (Aug 18, 2019)

Very nice review thanks for the update. 

I need my purple + maple. I left it to come with Guitarmory pickups so I know my confirmation email will be a while.


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## Infini (Aug 18, 2019)

I made a new thread for my review: 
https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/ngd-goc-materia-8-or-how-infini-learned-to-mod-guitars.337728/


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## Don Tonberry (Aug 18, 2019)

Marv Attaxx said:


> I got mine also last week and might post a proper review when I have the time.
> - Using the wrong screws. The intonation is set similar to what strandberg does but they've used normal philips screws that strip easily and can't be tightened down hard enough to prevent tuning issues (bridge moving slightly under string tension). The fix: ordered allen screws.



What size/type screw did you order for those?


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## Marv Attaxx (Aug 18, 2019)

Don Tonberry said:


> What size/type screw did you order for those?


It's an M3 and I've measured the length to be 6mm. It's basically the same as the strandberg ones, just a mm longer. I have not received them yet tho and can't 100% say they work but other ppl have used m3 allen screws and they worked just fine.


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## plainfaced (Aug 27, 2019)

Grabbed an 8 String Materia in Black, the other day. They had posted on Socials that their site was down and for anyone to purchase via DM. 

Seemed to work. AFAIK, they sold out within a day or so. 

Got my tracking number. Now I wait. 

Im a little worried about my first restring. Would anyone be kind enough to list a quick step by step on how to string and tune the Materia please?


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## Sollipsist (Aug 27, 2019)

Claimed a 7-string from that same run. It's been said before, but GOC's communication is pretty stellar.


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## Hollowway (Aug 27, 2019)

Yeah, they have those “eco” models for sale now too. I want one, but I already bought 2 GOCs. The next thing I buy really needs be a 12 step program.


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## Sollipsist (Sep 6, 2019)

Just got my Materia 7 today... whatever the opposite of the honeymoon period is, I'm going through it right now. Pretty seriously disappointed in the feel and the sound. 

It really is a beautiful guitar though. Perfect design blend of classic and modern elements. Dark glassy neck with the most beautiful frets I've ever seen. Gorgeous grain and finish. Taking it out of the box and looking at it was wonderful. Maybe I should have stopped there 

I'd assumed the multiscale would help solve the tension issue, but these strings are seriously wiggly and I haven't even tuned down from standard yet. The action isn't bad but I'm afraid to lower it given how floppy it feels already.

It's not really tuning up/ holding its tune as well as I'd like, I can just about get 6 strings within a few cents of pitch, but the low string travels about 30 cents unless I pick VERY lightly. Might work for someone else's technique, but not mine...

All of this might be fixable with meatier strings and a good setup... but man, the sound from those pickups is not encouraging. Noisy, hissy, with a slightly artificial-sounding grind that makes anything with gain sound like it's being processed through the digital distortion on an old Zoom multiFX unit. It seems pretty silly for me to have an $800 metal-oriented 7-string that can't do palm mutes and neck pickup leads as well as my $100 Epiphone LP Special. 

Cleans are pretty good, but frankly I can get sweet cleans from any of my guitars... well, maybe not so much the EMG 81...

Granted, I've just come off of a 10-hour shift and only played around with it for an hour or so. And no doubt the guitar probably needs some time to settle in. I could probably improve the tone by dialing in the pickup height and pole pieces (BTW one of the pole pieces looks distressed, almost corroded -- stands out like a fart in church). I could just drop in another set of pickups, but then we're talking a grand for a guitar that has failed to impress me in any way besides aesthetics.

I'm not afraid of a little tweaking to bring a guitar from good to great, but I gotta say I wanted it to be a lot closer to good from the start. Maybe my expectations were just too high for a sub-$1000 guitar purchased on looks and specs alone. Can't help thinking that if I'd gone with the Boden Metal 7 instead, I could at least have counted on a great set of pickups if nothing else.


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## Mathemagician (Sep 6, 2019)

Hmmm just rescheduled mine for re-delivery Saturday. Hopefully I can figure out how to set up a headless as I normally take my guitars to a tech but I doubt anyone local has spent much time with headless guitars. 

Am I really going to need to buy hex-screws to replace simple philips screws with?


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## Sollipsist (Sep 8, 2019)

Just a little update... going to return the Materia. 

The bridge is just unusable; it feels like the tuners are slipping up and down on the screws with the slightest nudge, sending it out of tune (and it has enough trouble tuning and holding its tune, even without that issue). I don't even want to think about what I'd run into trying to restring it; I considered trying a heavier set, and then pictured issues with the locking nuts... and imagined a 60+ low string pulling the bridge right out of the wood...

The pickup switch is right where my picking hand can bump it when I'm on the high strings. The one tarnished/distressed pole piece is glaringly obvious and a major red flag for quality control.

Everything I expected about multiscale is exactly the opposite; the strings feel LESS tight as the scale increases, and the angle of the frets seem to be working against my natural position instead of with it. I had more fatigue after 30 minutes than my other guitars give me after hours of playing.

And I just can't get decent results from the pickups. I tried dialing in my tube amps and put it through various amp sims, nothing gave me any hope that I could eventually get one quality recorded or live sound, let alone any versatility. 

This sucks because I absolutely love the look of the guitar. If I was going for a project, I could probably eventually get most of the issues worked out, so I guess I could recommend it as raw material for someone with the time and patience to tinker. But I've got plenty of tweaking to do on my existing guitars -- and I already like the way they play and sound...

The gig bag is really nice though :/


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## iamaom (Sep 8, 2019)

Question to those who own one: is there any way to take the shitty bridge out and replace it with single saddles?


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## Marv Attaxx (Sep 8, 2019)

iamaom said:


> Question to those who own one: is there any way to take the shitty bridge out and replace it with single saddles?



The current bridge system is a single saddle system. To answer the question: No, still looking for suitable alternatives. I've written T4M and Meera about the size of their baseplate to see if those bridges fit and got no answer. Strandberg bridges are too expensive. Going ABM should involve some extra routing. There are some by Guyker (chinese brand) that are pretty much T4M copies with, supposedly, almost the same quality, but cost as much as the originals, too.

For those with the current bridge system: Replace the bridge mounting screws with allen head screws, this will eliminate most problems and improve tuning stability a lot. Still, it could be more stable and I don't really like the way it feels below my Hand.


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 8, 2019)

Marv Attaxx said:


> The current bridge system is a single saddle system. To answer the question: No, still looking for suitable alternatives. I've written T4M and Meera about the size of their baseplate to see if those bridges fit and got no answer. Strandberg bridges are too expensive. Going ABM should involve some extra routing. There are some by Guyker (chinese brand) that are pretty much T4M copies with, supposedly, almost the same quality, but cost as much as the originals, too.
> 
> For those with the current bridge system: Replace the bridge mounting screws with allen head screws, this will eliminate most problems and improve tuning stability a lot. Still, it could be more stable and I don't really like the way it feels below my Hand.


scratch strandberg, they don't even sell replacement bridges anymore afaik.


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## Mathemagician (Sep 8, 2019)

Post didn’t deliver yesterday and I wasted an entire day trapped at home waiting. Why the fuck is Saturday even an option if no one is going to fucking deliver my package?


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## Marv Attaxx (Sep 8, 2019)

plainfaced said:


> Grabbed an 8 String Materia in Black, the other day. They had posted on Socials that their site was down and for anyone to purchase via DM.
> 
> Seemed to work. AFAIK, they sold out within a day or so.
> 
> ...



A quick guide about restrining:
1. Change the bridge mounting screws to allen head screws, otherwise the bridge pieces will slide all over the place and go out of tune. You can use the original Strandberg bridge mounting screws which I use myself. This improves intonation and tuning stability a lot.
2. The saddle height screws will stick out a lot, get suitable M2 screws. I've put on 3 mm screws.
3. Restrining: Put the string through the bridge piece and through the headpiece. You can lock the string down at the bridge, but you don't have to since the ball end keeps it in place. While locking the screw into the headpiece you might encounter some problems with the unwound strings: often they don't stay in the middle of the headpiece and slide to the left while locking, which causes tuning and string spacing problems. Try this: put the string in and push it to the right side. Lock the screw as slow as possible to let it grip the string. The string sticking out of the headpiece will start to go upwards, I stop locking at about 45 degress. Now your string should be perfectly sitting in the headpiece.
4. Using large strings: The method above doesn't work for larger strings (bigger than a size 64 I believe) since the barrels are not drilled out to size. You can either do that or: Put on the string backwards, first through the headpiece and put the tapered end into the bridge and lock it down. Lock the other side into the headpiece and cute the string behind it.
5. Leave some slack, as the bridge can pull the string back quite a lot! If you don't leave some slack you won't be able to move the bridge backwards to set the intonation, if necessary.


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## Marv Attaxx (Sep 8, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> scratch strandberg, they don't even sell replacement bridges anymore afaik.


They currently sell one piece on their homepage for 45 bucks, so getting a set might be difficult


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## Hollowway (Sep 8, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> Post didn’t deliver yesterday and I wasted an entire day trapped at home waiting. Why the fuck is Saturday even an option if no one is going to fucking deliver my package?


Same thing happened to me a year ago. I was sitting in plane view of my front door, which is glass. I kept refreshing the FedEx page, and all of a sudden it pops up that I “wasn’t home. Will be delivered next business day.” I was pissed. I called the dispatch center and told them what happened, and apparently the driver filled out the form and took a photo of it in his truck, and wrote down that it stuck it to my front door. I explained that he never came here, and never stuck anything to the front door. Apparently he was running behind and just decided to fuck over a couple of people on the route. Dispatch made him come over to me right then and drop it off. Fuck FedEx and fuck UPS. Constantly screwing stuff up.


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## ElysianGuitars (Sep 8, 2019)

iamaom said:


> Question to those who own one: is there any way to take the shitty bridge out and replace it with single saddles?


You might be able to replace them with the bridges they're based on, which are Falbo designed.

http://www.apollomusicparts.com/product/single-tune-bridge/

Pricey, but high quality.


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## Mathemagician (Sep 8, 2019)

Hollowway said:


> Same thing happened to me a year ago. I was sitting in plane view of my front door, which is glass. I kept refreshing the FedEx page, and all of a sudden it pops up that I “wasn’t home. Will be delivered next business day.” I was pissed. I called the dispatch center and told them what happened, and apparently the driver filled out the form and took a photo of it in his truck, and wrote down that it stuck it to my front door. I explained that he never came here, and never stuck anything to the front door. Apparently he was running behind and just decided to fuck over a couple of people on the route. Dispatch made him come over to me right then and drop it off. Fuck FedEx and fuck UPS. Constantly screwing stuff up.



Yeah the actual delivery date was a weekday when no one was home so understandably I decided to set it to Saturday. Since no one came I submitted an email complaint at 6pm Saturday as the original confirmation # no longer updates and the “re-delivery #” does nothing.


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## Hollowway (Sep 8, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> Yeah the actual delivery date was a weekday when no one was home so understandably I decided to set it to Saturday. Since no one came I submitted an email complaint at 6pm Saturday as the original confirmation # no longer updates and the “re-delivery #” does nothing.


I know we're getting pretty far OT, and I should probably just make a thread about delivery stuff, but I also had an incident when I sent a christmas gift to my sister. I paid UPS to get it there by a certain date/time, and when it didn't arrive I asked. They said that it was bad weather, and they didn't want their drivers in harm's way. I told the guy that with the internet, I can plainly look up and see that it's been sunny and zero precipitation in the area of the country where my sister lived. The guy said, "No, not necessarily where she is. But there is bad weather in other parts of the country, and that causes the slow down of all deliveries." Which is 100% BS. It got there 3 days after the paid-for date. And they refused a credit for it, because weather is not in their control. In reality, I think it was just busyness of the holiday season, and they were using weather as an excuse for not making their deadlines.


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## Mathemagician (Sep 15, 2019)

I went to pick it up and have had it for a day or so. Didn’t get to play it much as one of the strings “broke”. Feels more like when a string unwinds a bit on a trem equipped guitar. Didn’t actually snap out or anything. Prior to the string snap they seemed to be mostly in tune likely would only have needed some fine tuning with the pegs.

The construction quality feels as good as any indo/Korean guitar off the shelf may feel. The neck isn’t painted so it has a smooth finish. However I can feel some imperfections as I run my hand along the back of the neck. The frets are all rounded but don’t have that “angle” at the ends like a lot of my guitars do. They simply end at an even rounded “bulb”. Difficult to explain but I’ll follow up with the pictures.

At a glance the hardware are looks nice enough. Definitely like the black with gold accents. However I’m going to need to re-read the post further back of swapping the plus sign screws for hex screws.

I don’t even set up my own guitars with TOM/trem bridges so this will be a bit of a learning process for me.

Anyone know what strings gauges come on these by default? Also for the 7 string owners, what are the odds EMG’s will fit in these?


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## LeviathanKiller (Sep 16, 2019)

I'm curious if anyone is able to fit different hardware on here like the Falbo-designed stuff these are similar to. The hardware is the weak point of the guitar imo. I just don't like the tuners really.


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## Sollipsist (Oct 6, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> Anyone know what strings gauges come on these by default? Also for the 7 string owners, what are the odds EMG’s will fit in these?



I don't know for sure, but I'm used to 10s or heavier and the GOC felt pretty slinky to me, so I'd guess a standard .009 top 7-string set. It's a good bet that many people will want something a little heavier.

The pickups have a standard 7-string rout, most dogears should work just fine but idk about bars.


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## bschmidt (Oct 7, 2019)

Marv Attaxx said:


> A quick guide about restrining:
> 1. Change the bridge mounting screws to allen head screws, otherwise the bridge pieces will slide all over the place and go out of tune. You can use the original Strandberg bridge mounting screws which I use myself. This improves intonation and tuning stability a lot.
> 2. The saddle height screws will stick out a lot, get suitable M2 screws. I've put on 3 mm screws.
> 3. Restrining: Put the string through the bridge piece and through the headpiece. You can lock the string down at the bridge, but you don't have to since the ball end keeps it in place. While locking the screw into the headpiece you might encounter some problems with the unwound strings: often they don't stay in the middle of the headpiece and slide to the left while locking, which causes tuning and string spacing problems. Try this: put the string in and push it to the right side. Lock the screw as slow as possible to let it grip the string. The string sticking out of the headpiece will start to go upwards, I stop locking at about 45 degress. Now your string should be perfectly sitting in the headpiece.
> ...



Hey Marv Attaxx, any chance you could link me to the hex screws you bought? I followed your lead and bought a set to replace the shitty stripped Phillips screws that were holding the bridge in place, but the bridge barrels sliding is actually worse now that i've put in the hex screws


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## Marv Attaxx (Oct 8, 2019)

bschmidt said:


> Hey Marv Attaxx, any chance you could link me to the hex screws you bought? I followed your lead and bought a set to replace the shitty stripped Phillips screws that were holding the bridge in place, but the bridge barrels sliding is actually worse now that i've put in the hex screws


Ok, that's weird! Did you screw 'em down really hard?
And sure, I've bought these and they work perfectly:
https://strandbergguitars.com/product/tuner-mounting-screw-m3x5-10-pcs/
out of stock atm tho haha


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## bschmidt (Oct 8, 2019)

Marv Attaxx said:


> Ok, that's weird! Did you screw 'em down really hard?
> And sure, I've bought these and they work perfectly:
> https://strandbergguitars.com/product/tuner-mounting-screw-m3x5-10-pcs/
> out of stock atm tho haha



Thank you!

I think the problem is the only screws I was able to find were from china on ebay. they're pretty bad quality -- they started stripping as i tightened them so they're probably not as tight as they need to be. I'll definitely grab the -s* set once they're in stock, hopefully they've stopped gouging on shipping to Canada


----------



## ikarus (Oct 9, 2019)

Apparently the next Materia run in November will be with upgraded hardware made in Germany...


----------



## gunch (Oct 9, 2019)

Aw sheeit


----------



## sleewell (Oct 9, 2019)

wow that website leaves a lot to be desired. i could only click on 2 guitars. didnt see any way to order anything, but i dont think i would based on how shady it looks.


----------



## BigViolin (Oct 9, 2019)

Exactly, the website isn't just bad it flat out doesn't work.


----------



## Sollipsist (Oct 9, 2019)

Yeah, I hate to sound old fashioned but companies with an outdated website and social media-only runs seem like a danger sign. GoC seems to be following the Ormsby model...

I'll give them props for a fast full refund anyway.


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## Hollowway (Oct 9, 2019)

I didn’t even know they HAD a website! I know they’re basically just a small presence here in the US, and everything is made in China. My guess is that if you want a decent niche guitar for next to no money you’re probably not going to get someone with a good website.


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## LeviathanKiller (Oct 10, 2019)

I'm teetering back and forth between investing in better hardware for mine or just getting rid of it. Nothing is wrong with it build-wise but 1) I have too many guitars as is and 2) not sure multi-scale and/or headless is really my thing. But dang does it look good.


----------



## Arthur McCay (Oct 13, 2019)

ikarus said:


> Apparently the next Materia run in November will be with upgraded hardware made in Germany...



I chatted with folks from GOC earlier this month and they said bridges will be German grade steel which I think is a type of material rather than manufacturing country.

They also promised CNC'd necks made of atlas wood - some sort of proprietary synthetic material. No clue what that might be.

There seem to be quite a few new tops and finishes coming with the 3 gen of Materia and the prices will be around 1k this time.

Sounds really tempting so far and I'm itching to get one but I'll wait for a few customer reviews before pulling the trigger.


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## Tyson (Oct 16, 2019)

Anyone have any experience with their non-headless models? I have a couple bucks kicking around and am looking at maybe purchasing one of those limited northern ash models they have discounted right now.


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## LeviathanKiller (Oct 16, 2019)

Tyson said:


> Anyone have any experience with their non-headless models? I have a couple bucks kicking around and am looking at maybe purchasing one of those limited northern ash models they have discounted right now.



I have a Valkyrie 265 (7-string) that I really like. The only complaints are that my frets weren't polished and the neck is thicker than I normally prefer but it's still playable. The GOC pickups sucked too although they were better in my Materia oddly enough. I think they're different pickups honestly despite them both being called "4th Dimension" pickups.


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## Tyson (Oct 17, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> I have a Valkyrie 265 (7-string) that I really like. The only complaints are that my frets weren't polished and the neck is thicker than I normally prefer but it's still playable. The GOC pickups sucked too although they were better in my Materia oddly enough. I think they're different pickups honestly despite them both being called "4th Dimension" pickups.



I guess I might give it a shot. I like taking chances on cheaper guitars for some reason.


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## FancyFish (Oct 27, 2019)

Now what they have a storefront setup, what are yalls feelings on those 7 strings they're offering? I'm guessing it's some sort of limited run. Was thinking about picking one up as my first 7.


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## LeviathanKiller (Oct 29, 2019)

Screw GOC. I'm seeing some bad stuff on Facebook as of late. Their whole operation seems to be falling apart. I'm done being a customer of theirs. Especially considering that they are apparently charging $25 a piece for saddles to replace the sub-par ones they used on the guitars originally. And $25 for the new brass headpiece.


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## KnightBrolaire (Oct 29, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> Screw GOC. I'm seeing some bad stuff on Facebook as of late. Their whole operation seems to be falling apart. I'm done being a customer of theirs. Especially considering that they are apparently charging $25 a piece for saddles to replace the sub-par ones they used on the guitars originally. And $25 for the new brass headpiece.


that's basically what tengdu tuner prices are at. still very reasonable compared to other headless bridges.


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## diagrammatiks (Oct 29, 2019)

Funny they have an aliexpress store now...which you can only really use if you ship directly from mainland china. 
I though their whole thing was doing setups and final qa in the states


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## LeviathanKiller (Oct 30, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> that's basically what tengdu tuner prices are at. still very reasonable compared to other headless bridges.


I don't have a problem with that so much as with how they marketed their product compared to how things actually are. They acted like they designed stuff in-house (even if some of it was a copy of or similar to existing designs) when apparently they didn't do that at all. Their "4th Dimension" pickups were found on Aliexpress even. They've talked those up in several places. Imo, they just appear to have put together a lot of already made parts that anyone could have gotten off the internet. I saw videos where they were routing the bodies so I at least think that is genuine and they have their logo embedded in them. I really don't have any issues with the instrument itself (body and neck), just the hardware on/in it. The actual feel of the guitar (especially the neck) feels WAY way better than my Ormsby Goliath much to me surprise. Why not just be okay with not having made every single thing yourself though? It's understandable. Not every guitar builder makes every single piece of the product. They'll use Hipshot bridges, other companies' pickups, other companies' tuners. It's fine. Don't try to claim you designed every piece of the product when you didn't. That dishonest/shady marketing is why I'm really just fed up with them.


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## Mathemagician (Oct 30, 2019)

I knew the hardware was likely to be cheap but I didn’t know the cost of replacement parts would be >$200 as I just hadn’t looked into it. So I learned that I like the small form factor of headless and that I’m not sold on fanned frets. Which was worth the cost to me at least. Not really planning on buying hardware upgrades though. 

Going forward I hope they just raise their prices and add the new better hardware as the default option for buyers. No idea if I’m ever going to see the Guitarmory pickups that were “supposed” to come with it.


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## Crundles (Oct 30, 2019)

Hey, so I haven't posted in a while because my Internet provider decided two months is a decent period to process an address change request, but I did get my guitar, so here's a quick review I guess.

First and foremost, this is *by far* the most expensive guitar I've had. Filter anything I say through the appropriate lens.

So far, I'm chalking the entire Buying-a-Chinese-Headless as a "learning experience". Things I've learned:

- I love the headless format - Every time I look at my fretting hand and I see nothing beyond, it brings me genuine joy. I've been wanting a headless since the first strandbergs when I was a broke-ass university student, and actually having a headless in my hands is still slightly unbelievable
- I like the stainless steel frets - I'm not sure how much I actually notice them while playing, but I like 'em.
- I like the wenge fretboard - It looks nice and stripey.

- I don't care about the fanfret - I love the way it looks, I really don't notice it while I'm playing, and at least in the GOC, it's not helping with string tension all that much.
- I don't care about the trans-white ash - I thought I'd like it a lot more than I actually do. Right now I wish it was a high-gloss finish, because I feel I pick up my BC Rich Stealth a lot more because I'm not subconsciously worried about marring the finish

- I don't like the tuners resting on my leg when I play in classical position - I'm sure it doesn't affect much, and will affect a higher-quality bridge a lot less, but I still don't like it.
- I absolutely hate the flat D neck - All my previous guitars have been variations of a C, mostly on the fatter side, and I notice a lot of tension and even pain when playing power chords on the GOC. I have to consciously relax my fretting hand, whereas I've absolutely no issues just chugging the hell out of my BC Rich.

As for the guitar itself, I feel it's pretty well made. It has a decent heft to it, which makes it feel more premium. There is a yellow spot on the body, I presume from a miscalculation on the antiqueing agent - it doesn't bother me, but it's there. The fret ends are a bit wonky as with the previous ones posted in the forum. The low B slips from the frets. I won't judge the pickups because the run was supposed to ship out with the Guitarmory ones. The hardware is meh - I haven't changed the screws, I just tightened everything and it seems to have helped with tuning stability, but there's an upper limit to what can be achieved with the existing bridge. I feel I got great specs for my money, however some of the realization of those specs is a bit cheap.

All in all, the guitar is in a bit of a purgatory right now.

I really like the fact it's headless, and the overall feel, but I dislike the hardware and I never anticipated how uncomfortable a D neck would be for my current playstyle.

I don't want to sell it, because I genuinely enjoy having a headless instrument, and I am even less able to afford a better one than when I placed the order with GOC; but I also can't afford changing the bridge. So in the end, I take it out of the gigbag (really well made gigbag), play it a bit thinking to myself "hehe, headless <3", and then put it down and pick up the BC Rich to practice or noodle.

I guess I'll wait for the Guitarmory pickups, change the screws, and reconsider from there.


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## LeviathanKiller (Oct 30, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> No idea if I’m ever going to see the Guitarmory pickups that were “supposed” to come with it.


You will. I'm sorry it's taking so long but you will get them. There's a lot of things going on behind the scenes to increase production output on our end.


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## Frostbite (Oct 30, 2019)

Crundles said:


> Hey, so I haven't posted in a while because my Internet provider decided two months is a decent period to process an address change request, but I did get my guitar, so here's a quick review I guess.
> 
> First and foremost, this is *by far* the most expensive guitar I've had. Filter anything I say through the appropriate lens.
> 
> ...


I've had this before with guitars and they always end up getting sold. I find that I'm in love with the idea of a guitar more then the actual thing sometimes. I usual end up selling them once the honeymoon phase wears off


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## Mathemagician (Oct 30, 2019)

LeviathanKiller said:


> You will. I'm sorry it's taking so long but you will get them. There's a lot of things going on behind the scenes to increase production output on our end.



Hey just want to say don’t take my comment as a personal attack. I just know there’s been some issues on the supply/communication side of things in the background. I meant more like I knew I took some risks in ordering from a small shop in China so I’m just peacefully waiting.


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## diagrammatiks (Oct 30, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> I knew the hardware was likely to be cheap but I didn’t know the cost of replacement parts would be >$200 as I just hadn’t looked into it. So I learned that I like the small form factor of headless and that I’m not sold on fanned frets. Which was worth the cost to me at least. Not really planning on buying hardware upgrades though.
> 
> Going forward I hope they just raise their prices and add the new better hardware as the default option for buyers. No idea if I’m ever going to see the Guitarmory pickups that were “supposed” to come with it.



for the people complaining about the cost of headless guitars...

hardware is still niche and even the cheapest ones aren't cheap. That being said...they could have just used better hardware in the first place and not have had people pay for 2 sets of hardware.


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## Mathemagician (Oct 30, 2019)

My comment was more of a point than a complaint. I wasn’t aware that headless hardware averaged $400+ but I am now.


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## btbg (Nov 10, 2019)

Mathemagician said:


> Hey just want to say don’t take my comment as a personal attack. I just know there’s been some issues on the supply/communication side of things in the background. I meant more like I knew I took some risks in ordering from a small shop in China so I’m just peacefully waiting.



Guitarmory has over promised several times and continually under delivered on that part. One guy (who is a hell of a good guy and fantastic builder) is expected to wind 80+ sets of guitarmory pickups, having to ship them to 80 different locations throughout the world while also working a day job and running his own pickup company with little outside help.

Can't help but think thats a fail on Guitarmorys part.


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## Lord Voldemort (Nov 10, 2019)

I almost hopped on this run, seems like a good thing that I didn't. The idea of a brand new made in China company producing headless guitars seemed...well, have you guys not seen this kind of thing before?

I think with any cheap headless guitar you're going to have problems at the bridge. My old NK was reasonably fine, but the bridge was just weird as shit and that was kind of the payoff for saving you know, a thousand or so dollars on a good one at the time.

Anyways, hope it works out for you guys. Also on an unrelated note, The Guitarmory is a dope name for a pickup company.


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## btbg (Nov 10, 2019)

My NK smokes every aspect of my piece of shit Materia.


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## Lord Voldemort (Nov 11, 2019)

btbg said:


> My NK smokes every aspect of my piece of shit Materia.



Really?! That's genuinely surprising. Granted I actually liked that guitar a lot, but I had to do some basic fretwork and what not to get it running smoothly. I would have assumed that GOC would be a higher quality instrument in the other categories besides the bridge.


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## LeviathanKiller (Nov 12, 2019)

btbg said:


> Guitarmory has over promised several times and continually under delivered on that part. One guy (who is a hell of a good guy and fantastic builder) is expected to wind 80+ sets of guitarmory pickups, having to ship them to 80 different locations throughout the world while also working a day job and running his own pickup company with little outside help.
> 
> Can't help but think thats a fail on Guitarmorys part.



It's a LOT of work for Adam. He's got at least one person helping him now but it's not full-time and I don't think the helper knows the whole start to finish process. I wish I myself could physically help rather than just respond to emails and messages (which I can only do after I get home from my full-time job as well) but I don't live anywhere near Adam even. I joined on right when the builder transition happened and it's been a painful growing process but I'm glad we put out what I consider to be a _very _high quality product now. There may be mistakes here and there but we fix things or make it up to our customers. You can't make everyone happy but it's our goal to at least try. Anyone we add on to help wind, has to be taught how to do so which is a time-sucking process itself. And helpers have to be vetted over a period of time as to their quality too. Like I said, it's been a journey with growing pains but things are growing. I'm here if anyone has any questions. We (Guitarmory) don't have a need to not be transparent but at the same time I can only give the information that I have at the given time of inquiry. I was a customer of the brand for a while before becoming involved so I try to make sure everyone has the same level of an experience or even better, than what I did when I was making purchases from Guitarmory.


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## Mathemagician (Apr 8, 2020)

Just bumping this to discuss/hear from others on whether it is worth trying to upgrade/replace the hardware.


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## gunch (Apr 9, 2020)

If its the same stuff on my NK the string locks, probably, but the bridge pieces are decent enough.


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## Crundles (Aug 17, 2020)

So I recently emailed GOC and Guitarmory again, just because I'm a naive optimistic child, and I actually got replies from both!

Guitarmory sent out an email right after i contacted them - the pickups are still being built, we have an option of getting a discount towards a new set if we don't want to wait, and once their new website is done, we will be able to track the orders there.

GOC just emailed me that they are actually sending new hardware to members of the run, they sent several last week, and have ordered more (to presumably send to the remaining members of the run, hopefully me included).

All in all, not bad on paper I guess?? Really hope things work out.


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## Mathemagician (Aug 17, 2020)

I emailed the Guitarmory guy back to ask about getting a discount code. The email was direct to the point and very professional. It’s very clear he wants to resolve this cleanly and is working hard to do so. 

Have not heard anything about “new hardware” for the run I was in a year+ ago. So that’s new, or maybe only for more recent runs?


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## Crundles (Aug 17, 2020)

Well, I emailed asking about the GOC/Guitarmory run, since that's the one I took part in. I believe someone mentioned in another thread too, that people from this run will be sent replacement hardware.

To my knowledge, newer runs come with the updated hardware anyway. GOC dude asked me to message them via Facebook, since their mailbox was apparently getting swamped, so you could try there?


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## Crundles (Sep 11, 2020)

Oh hey lookit what I just got today:






I wasn't actually told it was sent, but who cares it's here now lol. Really quickly, too, my conversation with GOC was on 26-Aug.

I'll wait for the guitarmory pickups to arrive and try to find a luthier to install all at once.


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## diagrammatiks (Sep 11, 2020)

nice looking t4m copies. 
I kinda want a set to try out.


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 11, 2020)

diagrammatiks said:


> nice looking t4m copies.
> I kinda want a set to try out.


most of the chinese factories churning out headless parts have been ripping off t4m from what I've seen. I have some tengda and aliexpress bridges that copy them very closely. Fit and finish on them is nowhere near as good as the t4m though.


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## diagrammatiks (Sep 11, 2020)

KnightBrolaire said:


> most of the chinese factories churning out headless parts have been ripping off t4m from what I've seen. I have some tengda and aliexpress bridges that copy them very closely. Fit and finish on them is nowhere near as good as the t4m though.



guyker has bridges that are very similar to these...but they aren't actually very cheap.


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 11, 2020)

diagrammatiks said:


> guyker has bridges that are very similar to these...but they aren't actually very cheap.


yeah some of the chinese factories are trying to get like 200$ for an 8 string set..


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## diagrammatiks (Sep 11, 2020)

KnightBrolaire said:


> yeah some of the chinese factories are trying to get like 200$ for an 8 string set..



which is fine I guess. The Apollo stuff that fablo sells is made by tengda. 

but the prices aren't so cheap that they'd be a no brainer over something like tan.


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## unadventurer (Oct 8, 2020)

Sry for reviving this thread.

I just picked up a used Materia 2.0 with the older style saddles (red washer) They're near impossible to turn, even with a 1.5mm pick.

I reached out to GOC to ask about lubing them and they said to use petroleum jelly... That made me laugh. I ended up using something similar to what I'd seen in a guitar restoration video and they move more freely now but as soon as they approach full tension, they become impossible to move again without really putting in a ton of effort. Is this just par for the course w headless??

GOC says the diameter of the barrel is larger than other brands so they're harder to turn.

Anyone had success modding them or swapping them recently for something that doesn't cost and arm and a leg? I see a few references earlier in this thread but these saddles are like $45 ea and never in stock.

Aside from that the guitar is decent... aside from some QC issues... 15th fret needs to be leveled and the saddles are far from straight. The D and G string saddle knobs actual rub against each other.


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## Hollowway (Oct 8, 2020)

unadventurer said:


> Sry for reviving this thread.
> 
> I just picked up a used Materia 2.0 with the older style saddles (red washer) They're near impossible to turn, even with a 1.5mm pick.
> 
> ...



The 2.0 hardware isn’t very good. I have one, and most of us had to get the 3.0 hardware and swap it out. The problem is that you’ll be either tuning up or bending a note and it’ll “ping” and the string goes slack. So see if you can get some of their 3.0 hardware. It’s not too expensive, and should be a direct replacement.


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## btbg (Oct 11, 2020)

Just got my materia, brand new from GOC. The pickups were set so high that the action had to be 6mm up and off the 12th fret in order to clear the pickups.

Easy solution, right? Wrong. The screws they used were so long that they were already bottomed out. Lowering the pickups caused the screws to go through the body. When I inquired with them about this, they played dumb. Seems the norm for them.

A quick fill and it seems decent enough, but it seems to me that GOC is constantly fucking up the most minor of details. That and the 2.0 fiasco annoyed me to no end and has definitely put me off the brand.


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## Infini (Oct 20, 2020)

Man, I picked up the Materia 8 up the other day because I was setting up all my guitars (I have a lot of free time) and I don't think I've ever seen a neck shift as much as this  it was just standing in my living room rack for a few months and the strings are fleeing from the fretboard like it was a homeless guy with a broken bottle and a frothy mouth

Nothing works on this guitar, it's amazing; the frets lengths are off, the neck pocket doesn't fit, the finish isn't applied properly, the hardware can't keep tune or hold the strings properly _and_ isn't the correct size for 7/8 strings, the pickups are completely devoid of high end or mid growl, it's like playing with a blanket over your speakers. 14 months later the promised and paid for pickups are nowhere to be seen at all and the only communique about it is 'eventually we will send out the pickups you paid for while we continue to sell and produce for other costumers'. And the truss rod might as well be cardboard. It is cardboard, isn't it?

GOC's decision to shift to aliexpress or whatever perfectly cements my thoughts about their brand. 

I can't even sell this abortion of a guitar to anyone in good conscience, and I'll be twice buggered if I spend more time trying to repair this heap of haphazardly glued together junk. So now it just sits there. Silently mocking my hubris from the rack with it's stupid headless not-face.

Perhaps I will keep it, a warning to future generations of unconventional guitar players. I will show it to my pods and say 'hark; my accursed shitplank, a monument to all the things you can do wrong even if you let a CNC robot do 85% of the work for you.' 

All of this is only to give my anecdotal views on the question of whether anyone should buy a GOC guitar for themselves. Maybe you have a penchant for misery or maybe you enjoy the thought of having a vastly inferior guitar sit inbetween its betters, like an encephalitic court jester, soiling itself for the bemusement of others.

In that case, do buy on.


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## olejason (Oct 21, 2020)

Does your Materia have a wood neck or the synthetic stuff they've been touting for awhile?


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## sym30l1c (Oct 21, 2020)

Infini said:


> Man, I picked up the Materia 8 up the other day because I was setting up all my guitars (I have a lot of free time) and I don't think I've ever seen a neck shift as much as this  it was just standing in my living room rack for a few months and the strings are fleeing from the fretboard like it was a homeless guy with a broken bottle and a frothy mouth
> 
> Nothing works on this guitar, it's amazing; the frets lengths are off, the neck pocket doesn't fit, the finish isn't applied properly, the hardware can't keep tune or hold the strings properly _and_ isn't the correct size for 7/8 strings, the pickups are completely devoid of high end or mid growl, it's like playing with a blanket over your speakers. 14 months later the promised and paid for pickups are nowhere to be seen at all and the only communique about it is 'eventually we will send out the pickups you paid for while we continue to sell and produce for other costumers'. And the truss rod might as well be cardboard. It is cardboard, isn't it?
> 
> ...



I was actually considering buying one of the newer models. I didn't because I wanted a 6 and I don't like they way their 6 strings look. After reading some stories and yours, I'm really glad I didn't. No way I'm gonna buy one now. I honestly would rather spend twice as much on an indo Strandberg knowing that at least they have excellent customer service.


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## Wolfhorsky (Oct 22, 2020)

NK is better imho - just plan swapping the pickups.


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## Infini (Oct 25, 2020)

olejason said:


> Does your Materia have a wood neck or the synthetic stuff they've been touting for awhile?


maple/wenge neck, IIRC the other neck is 'atlas wood' which is supposedly made of wood fiber soup that's been treated in some way to make it dense.

Makes sense they'd make a neck out of literal compost, I'm not surprised in the least


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## heklmbbsna (Apr 17, 2021)

pole pieces of pickups in their 7 & 8 string models are not straight in line with strings since their pickups aren't slanted. does that affect the volume of 1st & 7/8th strings?


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## Miek (Apr 17, 2021)

Had a valkryie and if I didn't have guitars that outclassed it in what I wanted it to do I would've kept it. I put a Bareknuckle alnico Nailbomb in the bridge and it sounded absolutely absurdly good.


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## littlebadboy (Jun 10, 2021)

I apologize for reviving this thread... so based on what I have read, GOC headless is a no go?


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## Marv Attaxx (Jun 10, 2021)

littlebadboy said:


> I apologize for reviving this thread... so based on what I have read, GOC headless is a no go?


Depends on the risk you're willing to take 
You might get a guitar, might not get a guitar. If you get a guitar it might be complety unplayable or be actually quite nice. But in the end its a chinese guitar with the cheapest aliexpress parts that might be well over 1k after taxes. Plus the shady history: there's a FB group, good read if you can get someone to invite you.
For me, what started as a great adventure turned into the biggest nightmare and my worst purchase ever. Fell in love with how it felt and to be honest the fretwork was amazing. But then I found issue after issue, some fixable, others not. Plus having to deal with GOC shenagigans even months/years after they promised me the finest instrument I can imagine.


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## RiksRiks (Jun 10, 2021)

Marv Attaxx said:


> Depends on the risk you're willing to take
> You might get a guitar, might not get a guitar. If you get a guitar it might be complety unplayable or be actually quite nice. But in the end its a chinese guitar with the cheapest aliexpress parts that might be well over 1k after taxes. Plus the shady history: there's a FB group, good read if you can get someone to invite you.
> For me, what started as a great adventure turned into the biggest nightmare and my worst purchase ever. Fell in love with how it felt and to be honest the fretwork was amazing. But then I found issue after issue, some fixable, others not. Plus having to deal with GOC shenagigans even months/years after they promised me the finest instrument I can imagine.



Is there really people who didn't get their guitar?? that sucks big time
Also, wondering if anyone has any feedback on the lighter fretboard, nut equipped materias that were sold recently...


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## mbardu (Jun 11, 2021)

Just throwing my 2 cents here not on GOC, but on NK.
I had zero interest in them but through no fault of my own, I'm now the owner of one.
My in-hand sample size is one, so not going to generalize but my impression is very very good and most of the downsides I heard or read about are unfounded.

Cons:

Shape is a blatant blatant copy of a one that's not my favorite
Some of the routes are a bit rough
Body wood is "meh" and 3-piece
Dots are not real luminlays, and they don't really glow for very long
But yeah...that's pretty much it

Pros:

Super light at 4 and a half pounds. Supremely comfortable seated in standard or classical, as well as standing. Obviously good balance.
Frets are GOOD. Very good. Fretboard has blind fretslots too, which is very nice. Before really playing it, in principle I was already thinking about having it refretted _just _because I prefer stainless steel, but now I'm feeling absolutely no rush to do so.
Neck shape is GREAT. I don't like the harsher angles of the endurneck on real *bergs, and while this one is still asymmetric, with a slightly flatter region in the middle (big benefits of the endurneck for playability), it is still overall curved rather than having sharp angles. Best of both worlds in my book.
Neck materials are great. Roasted birdseye fretboard and neck, with stripes of walnut/prupleheart in the neck itself. Oiled finish feels perfect, and the neck is rock solid. Doesn't seem to move much at all with weather changes. Flat radius, and very easy to get super low non-buzzing action.
Hardware is actually good. Mine has the newer bridge and newer one-piece headpiece and there's not much to say about them. Maybe lubricate the bridge a bit, but otherwise the thing just works, and the guitar stays in tune like a great headless should. No issues at all.
I was fully prepared to have to replace all electronics on day 1. I actually have a SD Distortion/lil-59 set already in hand to do so with better pots... Specifically for this guitar. But I feel no rush to do it either. The pickups are just good. The tone pot is not good so you can ignore it, but that's the only bad part. The volume works well, and you have a push-push with a nice clicky action to split the bridge humbucker. Even the electronics cavity is shielded and organized well.


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## maccayoung (Jun 12, 2021)

littlebadboy said:


> I apologize for reviving this thread... so based on what I have read, GOC headless is a no go?



I have one, but if if read this thread first maybe I wouldn't have taken the chance!

I really like mine. There was some incorrect wiring and a dodgy output jack, but the customer service was good. They basically said buy a new jack locally and we'll reimburse you (which they did). The incorrect wiring was also on the output jack so I fixed that when I swapped it.

I've owned a strandberg boden os and the goc easily compares. In fact it made me question why I paid so much for the strandberg.

Mine is the 3.0 version I believe, before they started putting nuts on them.

https://imgur.com/a/oOKyplf


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## Masoo2 (Jun 12, 2021)

mbardu said:


> Just throwing my 2 cents here not on GOC, but on NK.
> I had zero interest in them but through no fault of my own, I'm now the owner of one.
> My in-hand sample size is one, so not going to generalize but my impression is very very good and most of the downsides I heard or read about are unfounded.


WOAH dude, did not know that they made one with a single in the neck.

May just have to order one, that's like the perfect budget 6 string headless for me. It seems some models have disappeared from both their Aliexpress and Ebay pages, I remember a really nice pink/purple contrasting finish, but this one is like 95% what I'm wanting.

Any other comments on NKs before I pull the trigger? Most everything I've read has been _extremely_ positive and man I'm just digging that guitar hard rn. Headless, single coil neck pickup, seemingly decent neck that is still asymmetrical but not Endur-levels (did *not* vibe with the Endurneck), etc. Already have a cheaper import headless 8, a Legator Ghost, but have been wanting a 6 to compliment it for a while now.


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## mbardu (Jun 12, 2021)

Masoo2 said:


> WOAH dude, did not know that they made one with a single in the neck.
> 
> May just have to order one, that's like the perfect budget 6 string headless for me. It seems some models have disappeared from both their Aliexpress and Ebay pages, I remember a really nice pink/purple contrasting finish, but this one is like 95% what I'm wanting.
> 
> Any other comments on NKs before I pull the trigger? Most everything I've read has been _extremely_ positive and man I'm just digging that guitar hard rn. Headless, single coil neck pickup, seemingly decent neck that is still asymmetrical but not Endur-levels (did *not* vibe with the Endurneck), etc. Already have a cheaper import headless 8, a Legator Ghost, but have been wanting a 6 to compliment it for a while now.



You can bet the fact that it's H-S caught my eye too 
Like I said, I have just one sample, so maybe I've been particularly lucky.
Can't guarantee you wouldn't get one with a structural issue or something...you never know.

And as far as mine is concerned, I should be clear. It's not a 3k$ guitar and you can tell. It's not, like..."refined" like a boutique or top of the range instrument.
But it plays awesome. Thought I would noodle on it at my desk and it would be tolerable, but it's more than that. I could gig with it just as I could a way more expensive instrument, and my back would thank me for it .

If you ask the guy on eBay or Facebook, I bet he could build an HS one to your specs too, I hear he is taking requests for customizations.


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## feilong29 (Jun 12, 2021)

My GOC Materia 8 3.0 is fantastic. I hated the stock pickups and swapped them out for Fishman Reyes pups. I got it a good setup and it is a badass guitar. Quality-wise, I have no complaints. I equate them to a Mid-ranged Schecter. Tuning stability is great on mine and I am overall satisfied with it. I know there are horror stories, but I think they hit the mark with their 3.0 series. I must also caveat this with the fact that I only paid $300 for it (reward points yay). If I paid full price for it, I would still feel the same way.


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## Masoo2 (Jun 12, 2021)

mbardu said:


> You can bet the fact that it's H-S caught my eye too
> Like I said, I have just one sample, so maybe I've been particularly lucky.
> Can't guarantee you wouldn't get one with a structural issue or something...you never know.
> 
> ...


Well, I guess we'll have to wait a few weeks and see...cause I got one on the way now 

Although I really thought the pink + purple flame top was really unique and something I'd want to check out in person, I'm all for a blue fade with roasted maple so it was just the perfect culmination of specs + price + availability. If it turns out better than anticipated, maybe one day in the future I'll request an HS or HSS in the pink/purple:






Stupidly excited to have a guitar with a single in the neck position again though, it's been far too long since I sold my Jazzmaster. Honestly I just can't stand humbucker neck pickups anymore, I have to use plugins like Blue Cat Audio's Re-Guitar to instill somewhat of a single coil-like characteristic to my DI sound.

I'm definitely not expecting perception, but my Legator really shaped my perception of how decent affordable imports (headless/multiscale at that) can be. I know plenty of people have had QC issues with them, but mine is as close to flawless as I'd expect a $500-700 import to be. Everything I've read about the NKs makes me think I should get something at _least_ on par with the Legator or other good affordable imports I've had (eg Squier Classic Vibe), so if it plays decent I'll be more than happy.


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## diagrammatiks (Jun 12, 2021)

I really wish they would discontinue that strandberg copy shape tho. They’ve got other better shapes now.


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## bassplayer8 (Jun 12, 2021)

I got one of the NK 7 strings on the way but just found out NK will be doing even more customization in the future. Currently only in China but there’s a guy on ig who got a black limba body and wenge neck.


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## mbardu (Jun 12, 2021)

diagrammatiks said:


> I really wish they would discontinue that strandberg copy shape tho. They’ve got other better shapes now.



That I agree. The Berg copy was unnecessary. 
The 2021 shape is nice.


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## mbardu (Jun 12, 2021)

Masoo2 said:


> Well, I guess we'll have to wait a few weeks and see...cause I got one on the way now
> 
> Although I really thought the pink + purple flame top was really unique and something I'd want to check out in person, I'm all for a blue fade with roasted maple so it was just the perfect culmination of specs + price + availability. If it turns out better than anticipated, maybe one day in the future I'll request an HS or HSS in the pink/purple:
> 
> ...



Mine has a couple of rough spots like mentioned, where you know the guitar would have been marked "B-stock" for a regular brand. And the finish is very thin satin (which I actually like very much) that some people would say is "lower quality" than a thick shiny poly. So hopefully those are not your major criteria when comparing  ... but it sounds like that's not the case.
Where it matters though (structure, neck shape, neck materials, stability, frets), the guitar is much better than any entry-level guitar I've played in the past and that's not even close. In a blind test, plays as well as anything really - if splitting hairs then really just missing stainless steel frets for that extra bit of guaranteed smoothness.


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## littlebadboy (Jun 13, 2021)

So, how much did you get your GOC Materias for?


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## feilong29 (Jun 13, 2021)

littlebadboy said:


> So, how much did you get your GOC Materias for?


Mine was a little over $900


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## Crundles (Jun 18, 2021)

So I go to check my gmail today, see whether Steam have anything on sale, the usual, and uhhhhh

*Your Cerberus Music order is now complete*
Polaris *Seven String Set:* Direct Mount

They've managed to misspell my name, but who cares, just 2 brief years and I can finally piece my guitar together!


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## lurè (Jun 18, 2021)

Played a GOC for the first time yesterday and it felt absolutely similar quality-wise to a strandberg.


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## bzhang9 (Jun 19, 2021)

I have had 8 GOC headless and about as many strandbergs
Fit and finish is slightly worse, however fretwork seems to be better. All SS frets with smooth ends, not a single one had dead spots and all could get very low action.
Newer hardware 3.0 and later I have not had problems with
stock pickups are decent, usable
used and new they go for about 1/2 the price of the lowest tier strandbergs, I would take them over strandberg every time


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## Marv Attaxx (Jun 21, 2021)

Well, my Materia 2.0 had fucked up neck holes because they drilled it too large. And instead of rebuilding the neck or at least properly filling the holes and redrilling them, what did they do? Literally cut up guitar strings, stuff those inside the drillholes and tighten the neckscrews like that. Also I wasn't able to tune the 7th and 8th string without causing damage because the tuners were mounted crooked, which tells a lot about QC or the setup. How many strandbergs have these kinds of faults? 
My guitar felt great in the beginning and, as mentioned, the fretwork was truly amazing. But the rest was firewood at best. If the 3.0 are great: fair enough! But I'm out and I can't encourage anyone to put their money on GOC either. Also Guitarmory, still no pickups after almost 2 1/2 years and I even got a new confrmation mail about 2 months ago....


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## olejason (Jun 21, 2021)

They seem like garbage tier Chinese guitars. Better to save pennies and get something from a reputable company.


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## mbardu (Jun 21, 2021)

olejason said:


> They seem like garbage tier Chinese guitars. Better to save pennies and get something from a reputable company.



Yeah, and to think Strandberg is charging _more than _premium prices for those too...


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## Marv Attaxx (Jun 21, 2021)

mbardu said:


> Yeah, and to think Strandberg is charging _more than _premium prices for those too...


Strandberg charges more for a guitar that's made in some Indonesian sweatshop than many Europe-based Custom Shops, at least in regards to the base models 
While I do admire the ideas behind the Strandberg design (without overhyping it, it's still just a guitar) I'd rather get a headless guitar by Hapas, Aviator guitars or pay like 300 bucks more and get an Aristides.


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## mbardu (Jun 21, 2021)

Marv Attaxx said:


> Strandberg charges more for a guitar that's made in some Indonesian sweatshop than many Europe-based Custom Shops, at least in regards to the base models
> While I do admire the ideas behind the Strandberg design (without overhyping it, it's still just a guitar) I'd rather get a headless guitar by Hapas, Aviator guitars or pay like 300 bucks more and get an Aristides.



I don't even fault them for thinking they innovated a bunch in a niche market, and should thus benefit from good margins now as a result. Even though the R&D costs are probably recouped ten times over now, Ola is an inventor who deserves success.

And you can get quality work in overseas factories too.

But couldn't they at least invest in _some _QC? Even if it means their margin goes down to, say only 60% instead of 65% on what they sell, wouldn't it still be worth it?


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## Masoo2 (Jun 29, 2021)

mbardu said:


> Just throwing my 2 cents here not on GOC, but on NK.
> I had zero interest in them but through no fault of my own, I'm now the owner of one.
> My in-hand sample size is one, so not going to generalize but my impression is very very good and most of the downsides I heard or read about are unfounded.



Still in the early honeymoon stages but duuuude.....
View media item 4022
(apologies for the crappy phone pic, better pics coming sometime)

Did _not_ think it would have a zero fret, come pre-installed with a battery tray, or have this flamed of a fretboard...

I prefer the lighter blue and a larger fade section like on your NK, but I'm not complaining for the price one bit.


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## mbardu (Jun 29, 2021)

Masoo2 said:


> Still in the early honeymoon stages but duuuude.....
> View media item 4022
> (apologies for the crappy phone pic, better pics coming sometime)
> 
> ...



Wow, no reason to complain...nice veneer, and nice flamed fretboard!
Also arrived super quick, I'm impressed. Mine took ~5/6 weeks for the West Coast.

Looking forward to your impressions.

Oh and yeah the empty/unwired battery box surprised me too.
But eeeh...why not. if I need it, one day it's there, and if it saves a few minutes of work and a few $$$ to have just one template for the various models...no big deal!


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## Wolfhorsky (Jun 30, 2021)

mbardu said:


> Oh and yeah the empty/unwired battery box surprised me too.
> But eeeh...why not. if I need it, one day it's there, and if it saves a few minutes of work and a few $$$ to have just one template for the various models...no big deal!


Poorman’s chambering  
To be precise - i got it too in my NK...


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## Wolfhorsky (Jun 30, 2021)

Masoo2 said:


> Still in the early honeymoon stages but duuuude.....
> View media item 4022
> (apologies for the crappy phone pic, better pics coming sometime)
> 
> ...


Dude, that looks so cool. Now i am GASing for another NK to my collection. The one I got turned out to have ugly yellowish discoloration of the blue. Sun and time did their job... Now I modded the body shape here and there a bit and painted it. When i finnish the mods, i will post the thread about it.


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## bassplayer8 (Jul 1, 2021)

Jumping on the NK train here - got this delivered a few hours ago. Pretty excited for my first 7 and to see if it’s any good.


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## Wolfhorsky (Jul 2, 2021)

bassplayer8 said:


> Jumping on the NK train here - got this delivered a few hours ago. Pretty excited for my first 7 and to see if it’s any good.
> View attachment 95086
> View attachment 95087


Mate, that back looks so badass. It should be on the front


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## John (Jul 2, 2021)

Not my cup of tea, personally. But I don't really mind them in the sense of having more options regarding guitars (ie- brands, products at different price points, etc). The more the merrier, as far as I care.


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## MisterCirKus (Sep 23, 2022)

Hi, I messaged GOC on Twitter to know the weight of their guitars but no reply.

Do someone here have those info ? (the 8 strings are what i'm looking for)

Also if anyone also had chance to play GOC and Strandberg can you tell us about the ergonomics of those guitar ? 

_I must say that i'm wondering go with GOC because had a first experience with strandberg not even clause to what i excpected._


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## bzhang9 (Sep 24, 2022)

The newest iteration of every cheaper headless company has gotten better, goc is decent but the neck is fat, if you like thinner ibanez types try legator


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## AkiraSpectrum (Sep 24, 2022)

MisterCirKus said:


> Hi, I messaged GOC on Twitter to know the weight of their guitars but no reply.
> 
> Do someone here have those info ? (the 8 strings are what i'm looking for)
> 
> ...


GOC is SUPER responsive on their Facebook page.
I don't have any experience with their guitars though so can't help there.


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