# NGD - Ran Crusher 8 w/ EMG 808X



## Lothar (Aug 6, 2011)

Hi there!

Last friday I got my mine package from RAN Guitars. 





The pack was built like a tank, I spent ~10 minutes opening it up. The guitar was sent without any kind of flightcase nor hardcase (as I didnt want to) and the amount of bubble wrap and other crap held the guitar safe. So BIG THUMB UP for packing service in RAN.

So, now some photos my gf shot today (pardon the odd lighting, the amount of light in my backyard was changing within seconds).

































and size comparison with my PAS Custom 7 (25,5")
























Spec:
No. of strings:8-string
Scale length:28&#8221;
Construction method:Ran AANJ w/NTB style heel and metal inserts/countersunk hex bolts
Body shape:CRUSHER
Body material: carved - American Walnut 
Body finishther - Hand-rubbed Oil
Headstock shape:CRUSHER
Headstock:regular
Headstock finish:match body finish
Truss rod covervangkol
Logo:MOP
Neck material:Ovangkol (quartersawn)
Neck shape:Ran R8
Nut width:2 5/32&#8221; (55mm), 8-string
Thickness at 1st/12th:20-22mm
Neck finish:match body finish
Fingerboard material:macassar ebony
Number of frets:24
Fret sizeunlop 6100
Fingerboard radius:20&#8221;
Fingerboard side inlayslastic dots
Nut:GraphTech Black TUSQ
Hardware color:black
Bridge system:Hipshot Fixed 8-string
Tuning machines:Schaller M6 locking
Straplocks:Schaller
Neck Pickup:EMG 808X
Bridge Pickup:EMG 808X
Control knobs:2 x volume
Pickup selector:3-way toggle



The build quality is OUTSTANDING. Srsly. Frets, scale, wood - everything is top notch. And, oh my god the "Ran AANJ w/NTB style heel and metal inserts/countersunk hex bolts" - thats pure genious. It feels like set-in but its not and the sustain is amazing. Amazing design.
The only downside is that due the smaller body - guitar is light overweigthed towards the headstock (but as I am a "chest-high-player" thats not a problem).
Neck profile is way better than ibanez 2228 (at least that's my opinion, I had three 8 in my hands and profiles were like RAN/LTD 608b >>>> 2228)
I have currently ernie balls 0.74 and its quite good for F# but to floppy for drop E.

The most important part now: SOUND
Well, to be honest the combination of Walnut/ovangkol neck and the 808X PU's is odd as fuck. The guitars sounds like something between a telecaster and a piano  The sound is so sterile that I can powerchord or play a 5 string chords and hear all the string ring out independetly. It's crazy. 
I'm playing through a Koch Twintone II and it's golden.
Also the 2x vol pot were a jackpot. When im on third channel on my Twintone with high gain setting I make bridge vol pot at maximum and the neck PU at minimum therefore I got three separate sounds:
1 - high gain with only bridge PU
2 - crunch with both PUs
3 - clean with a blues tone - only neck PU
I have to say again, it's frigging amazing.

Three VST sound samples:
Eleven Rack Soldano Preset:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19395860/Ran Crusher 8/Ran Crusher 8 - Eleven Rack - Soldano.mp3

TSE x50 beta
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19395860/Ran Crusher 8/Ran-vst-x50.mp3

Some Mesa VST
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19395860/Ran Crusher 8/Ran-vst-mesa.mp3

Randall-like VST
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19395860/Ran Crusher 8/Ran-vst-randall.mp3

I'm for sure under the WOW effect but still - I am considering selling my PAS Custom to order another RAN Crusher with other spec.
Also customer service at RAN is A+
The guitar is worth every penny spent on it.

cheers
Jakub!


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## Mindcrime1204 (Aug 6, 2011)

Hella nice axe there!!!


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## Adam Of Angels (Aug 6, 2011)

That is an outstanding guitar. I'd be very pleased with it, myself. I especially like the Use of Ovangkol for the neck.


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## in-pursuit (Aug 6, 2011)

goddamn. walnut is the sex!


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## Mehnike (Aug 6, 2011)

I love oiled bodies, I wub em.  


But then again, who doesn't?


Seriously that ebony is fucking excellent as well as the superb neck joint. I swear they just drilled in some screws to 'make' you think its a bolt on. Happy ngd!!


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## Jakke (Aug 6, 2011)

Beautiful... Just beautiful

Congrats at the score! I can't put mine down


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## Lothar (Aug 6, 2011)

Thanks  I play it all the time.

Jakke - do You have any sound samples of Your Crusher?


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## JaeSwift (Aug 6, 2011)

Very pleased to hear the good news about the build quality. Looks like we may finally have an affordable EU axe supplier!

Congrats and happy ngd!


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## Danxile (Aug 6, 2011)

Such a sick axe. Was legitimately considering buying one... GAS induced.


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## Empryrean (Aug 6, 2011)

Happy ngd dude! she's a beauty


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## leftyguitarjoe (Aug 6, 2011)

That is a super sexy guitar. Congrats!!


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## abadonae (Aug 6, 2011)

I cried a little when i saw this man, the matching on that top is amazing and the macassar ebony just fits so perfectly with everything else as well, i love the AANJ construction that they use on these, i normally hate bolt ons but honestly i'd put that aside to own one of these.

Really happy for you dude that guitar looks amazing on so many levels 

ENJOY!


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## BrandonARC (Aug 6, 2011)

that guitar looks amazing. congrats to you sir.


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## orakle (Aug 6, 2011)

must 

buy

new 

pants


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## techjsteele (Aug 7, 2011)

Beautiful instrument. Congrats!


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## powergroover (Aug 7, 2011)

one of the best guitar i've ever seen 
that neckjoint is golden


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## Sebastian (Aug 7, 2011)

That looks awesome! Big congrats


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## crg123 (Aug 7, 2011)

Wow absolutely gorgeous 8 string. If you dont mind me asking how much did that run you?


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## Nyarlath (Aug 7, 2011)

Awesome looking 8. I just wish EMG covers were smaller. The pickups shouldn't stick out past the bridge, imo. It's not aesthetically pleasing.


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## infernalservice (Aug 7, 2011)

Sick 8 man. I use two volume setups in many of my guitars for the same reason. Going clean to dirty with the flip of a switch is where it's at.


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## Jakke (Aug 7, 2011)

Lothar said:


> Thanks  I play it all the time.
> 
> Jakke - do You have any sound samples of Your Crusher?



Unfortunately no, I'm so busy right now that I at least have to give it 'til after september.


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## 77zark77 (Aug 7, 2011)

Awesome ! 
I'd love to have a deal with 'em, one day


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## Lasik124 (Aug 7, 2011)

Wow! Look how thin that neck is! Beautiful build man!


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## thesimo (Aug 7, 2011)

welcome to the club 


That neck join is crazy!


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## thatguy87 (Aug 7, 2011)

that guitar is fucking Sex.


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## TwitTheShred (Aug 7, 2011)

Fuck me man, what a beautiful guitar. GAS!


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## Goatchrist (Aug 7, 2011)

Congrats! Really hot, want one too!


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## simonXsludge (Aug 7, 2011)

very nice.


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## xtothx (Aug 7, 2011)

Nice guitar, congrats


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## brutus627 (Aug 7, 2011)

I love it it's sick...good job


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## Death Metal Belgian (Aug 7, 2011)

That's exactly the setup I will be ordering soon. Except I'll have it rigged with Blackouts. How much did your axe cost? And how long did you have to wait?


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## Explorer (Aug 7, 2011)

I rarely post in NGD threads, but that guitar is just beautiful.


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## Lothar (Aug 7, 2011)

For the people who asked:

It costed me ~1300 Euro and I waited 4 months and 1 week


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## stevemcqueen (Aug 7, 2011)

I literally grabbed my penis when I saw this.... my wife then proceeded to tell me I need to divorce her and marry music. Lol


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## Splinterhead (Aug 7, 2011)

stunning guitar! hey lets not forget how nicely packaged that thing was! holy mackerel that thing could've gone through a nuclear winter before taking on damage.


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## skeels (Aug 7, 2011)

That is one big ol' freaking tank of a guitar man! I bet it lives up to its name and Crushes! Sweet grain, too - love the color and depth of the body lines and the neck and the fret board.. an.. and... man, that whole thing is awesome! Ran makes some classy stuff! Use it in good health, my friend!


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## orakle (Aug 7, 2011)

stevemcqueen said:


> I literally grabbed my penis when I saw this.... my wife then proceeded to tell me I need to divorce her and marry music. Lol


 
MCQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN

ah you made me laugh


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## Ben.Last (Aug 8, 2011)

I want one of these sooo hard.


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## Lothar (Aug 8, 2011)

New sound sample - made with Eleven Rack, Soldano preset

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19395860/Ran Crusher 8/Ran Crusher 8 - Eleven Rack - Soldano.mp3


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## Musza (Aug 8, 2011)

Sick guitar dude!


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## Tranquilliser (Aug 9, 2011)

Oh wow, that is incredible.


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## Wookieslayer (Aug 9, 2011)

Wow!11111111111

holy crap man that looks really amazing! congrats 


What Randall-ish VST is that clip? sounds cool!


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## TimSE (Aug 9, 2011)

man the curves and top on that thing are tang


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## JPMike (Aug 9, 2011)

This is some serious guitar porn!!


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## MistaSnowman (Aug 9, 2011)

Very, VERY nice!!!!


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## LeAdEr (Aug 9, 2011)

Really Beautiful...i wish i had the money for something like that


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## Rev2010 (Aug 10, 2011)

Pure intarwebz f0to Sechs!!!!!!!

Congrats man, uber congrats! I was looking at a RAN custom this past fall/winter and was set to go for it till the American dollar tanked again jumping the Euro up from $1.26 or so to $1.45. Some day though, some day.


Rev.


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## german7 (Aug 16, 2011)

congrats dude, I love Ran guitars and yours is beautiful


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## CrazyDean (Aug 16, 2011)

That really is beautiful. I love the fretboard especially.


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## VILARIKA (Aug 17, 2011)

That looks amazing, congrats!


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## guy in latvia (Aug 17, 2011)

amazing guitar! damn it, now ive got to start reconsidering ordering one of these...


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## drjeffreyodweyer (Aug 17, 2011)

This is my dream guitar. I hate being poor.


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## Saber_777 (Aug 17, 2011)

Photos arent displaying. Mabye its better so I dont try and sell off some body parts. Sounds great!


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## Death Metal Belgian (Aug 19, 2011)

I ordered mine this week. It's pretty much the same setup. Only I asked for other pickups and other knob placement. Can't wait for the moment it arrives...


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## RXTN (Aug 27, 2011)

You really shouldnt play that axe when youre drunk, you may poke someone's eye with that headstock, other than that, i jizzed my pants


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## zeaoth (Aug 27, 2011)

That is pretty epic guitar. How much did that baby run you?


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## Lothar (Aug 30, 2011)

> You really shouldnt play that axe when youre drunk, you may poke someone's eye with that headstock, other than that, i jizzed my pants



...and I have to stand on the left side of the stage :/



> That is pretty epic guitar. How much did that baby run you?



~1200 Euro




I recorded today a fast test, cus theres nothing in the net to show anything about Crushers.


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## JPMike (Aug 30, 2011)

Only 1200 euro?? Are you serious?? I am so considering it.

It's a total beauty and a superb beast!!! GRATZ!!


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## crg123 (Aug 30, 2011)

^^ :O That sounds awesome dude. Mind giving some tips for getting a tone like that with the two VST's. (What impulses did you use etc). What are you using to connect to the computer. Awesome guitar, I really want one, if only I had the budget haha.


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## Lothar (Aug 31, 2011)

crg123 said:


> ^^ :O That sounds awesome dude. Mind giving some tips for getting a tone like that with the two VST's. (What impulses did you use etc). What are you using to connect to the computer. Awesome guitar, I really want one, if only I had the budget haha.



I use a M-Audio Fast track > reaper > track with TS 808 > Legion or x50 > Sneap IR > a little post eq (cutting low and high and adding little gain) and thats basicly it.


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## InfinityAndThree (Aug 31, 2011)

I think a Crusher 8 may well be my next purchase. I love that!!

One quick question, are there dual truss rods or any other reinforcements (like graphite rods etc.) in the neck? If not, is there any chance of neck warp? Thats the only thing making me hesitate at the moment. That and the fact I've got no money...


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## crg123 (Aug 31, 2011)

Noob question but what do you mean you track with a TS808, do you mean you go guitar > TS808 >DI box > reaper and plugins/vsts?


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## F0rte (Aug 31, 2011)

Bookmarked for Wood styles.
How is the 8 string? I have had trouble finding one where the nuts don't make the strings buzz.
I''ve had to file mine down a few times to make it stop.
Not sure how custom's go through, never played one.


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## GuitaristOfHell (Aug 31, 2011)

DAYUM!


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## aWoodenShip (Sep 1, 2011)

Though you can't see it. This is my jelly face. And I want one.


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## Lothar (Sep 23, 2011)

My roommate recorded small LTD 608B <-> RAN Crusher 8 comparison yesterday :



EMG808 signal is hotter, you can clearly see internal preamp clipping:


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## Ancestor (Sep 24, 2011)

holy god almighty. that's beyond description. i have no words.


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## Slunk Dragon (Sep 24, 2011)

That looks absolutely stunning! Glad to see that they were intent on having you get your precious 8-stringer intact!


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## stuglue (Sep 24, 2011)

wow, stunning axe. How does the scale length feel? Can you easily play at the first fret?


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## Lothar (Sep 25, 2011)

InfinityAndThree said:


> I think a Crusher 8 may well be my next purchase. I love that!!
> 
> One quick question, are there dual truss rods or any other reinforcements (like graphite rods etc.) in the neck? If not, is there any chance of neck warp? Thats the only thing making me hesitate at the moment. That and the fact I've got no money...



well, there are no neck warps, the one truss rod does the job perfectly, homever my local trusted guitar tech said that the two rods in my roommates ltd 608b fit very well to the 8 stringers.



> Noob question but what do you mean you track with a TS808, do you mean you go guitar > TS808 >DI box > reaper and plugins/vsts?



no, by ts808 i mean a virtual tool  its a plugin, I use the one that TSE made
(the same guy that made the awesome x30 and x50 VST)



> How is the 8 string? I have had trouble finding one where the nuts don't make the strings buzz.



there's no fret buzz on my RAN or on the LTD (homever the ltd is now equipped with a new bone nut, it fits better with bigger strings, in this example ghs .80 for Drop E)



> wow, stunning axe. How does the scale length feel? Can you easily play at the first fret?


the first frets are no problem, the bigger scale make some issues with some complex chords which I play a lot in one of my bands. In Butterfly Trajectory I still use my PAS Custom 7 with 25,5" because of that.


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## IB-studjent- (Sep 25, 2011)

My year and a half old sister started to headbag when I played your sound clips , it sounds awesome man.


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## avenger (Sep 27, 2011)

cant stop cumming


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## georg_f (Sep 27, 2011)

I WANT!


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## Koop (Sep 27, 2011)

Ahhh, fuck off! I just got over these guitars. The GAS is back...


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## MaxSwagger (Sep 29, 2011)

Oh mah goodness! That is amazing!


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## col (Oct 3, 2011)

Lothar said:


> For the people who asked:
> 
> It costed me ~1300 Euro and I waited 4 months and 1 week



What the..

Then Ran has seriously stepped up their game, my 7-string cost me 2300 euros and took 16 months to finish.

E: Ah, it's a production model, that explains it.

Awesome looking guitar btw, congrats!


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## 808 (Oct 15, 2011)

Soooo beautiful!


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## Hot47 (Oct 16, 2011)

this is one of the greatest 7/8-string guitar shapes I've ever seen (the headstock too). But I'mnot sure about ordering one, since some people had bad experiences with ran...


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## Marv Attaxx (Oct 16, 2011)

Iirc most of the bad experiences people had with ran were that they delivered guitars with slightly wrong specs (in that case it shouldn't be a problem to send it back and get a new one/a refund). I've never heard anyone having problems with the quality of the guitar.
I'd order one if I had the money


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## col (Oct 16, 2011)

Marv Attaxx said:


> I've never heard anyone having problems with the quality of the guitar.QUOTE]
> 
> They built my baritone 7 with a too short truss rod, which made adjusting it useless. It makes the neck bow like an s instead of a u. I had to take it to a local luthier who filed the heck out of the frets to make it playable.


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## Marv Attaxx (Oct 16, 2011)

^ok, THAT sucks


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## Lothar (Oct 16, 2011)

almost unrelated pic ; )


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## Sudzmorphus (Oct 17, 2011)

Nice looking Guitar for sure but i'll never buy another RAN again. The 2 I owned were full of problems.


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## Chumple Spuzz (Oct 17, 2011)

that thing is far too beautiful for its own good.


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## jeremyb (Oct 17, 2011)

Awesome gat man!!!


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## Konfyouzd (Oct 17, 2011)

Not that they aren't beautiful, but it seems everyone gets the exact same specs on these.

Also, what's up with that ONE left handed guitar in a sea of righties? Do you play left handed in your sleep?


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## kowoolo (Oct 17, 2011)

Konfyouzd said:


> Also, what's up with that ONE left handed guitar in a sea of righties? Do you play left handed in your sleep?




haha exactly the same thing i was thinking :-D


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