# Halo XSI 10 string Guitar



## BryanBuss (May 13, 2008)

Holy fuck, I don't know why no one is going ape shit over this yet . This company has really good deals for custom guitars, and I mean come on, a floating ten string bridge, thats fucking sweet.

HALO Custom Guitars, Inc. - The finest custom guitars this side of the PECOS


----------



## eleven59 (May 13, 2008)

We're familiar with them


----------



## BryanBuss (May 13, 2008)

Waylon,
how much are these going for? just a base model.
and what is the scale length?


----------



## Desecrated (May 13, 2008)

Do a search for halo, there are some interesting info about them


----------



## BryanBuss (May 13, 2008)

yeah, I've seen them posted all over here, but all the hype is the Ibanez and ESP 8's. I just really find Halo more interesting because they are an up and coming company, that are very inovative


----------



## Desecrated (May 13, 2008)

BryanBuss said:


> yeah, I've seen them posted all over here, but all the hype is the Ibanez and ESP 8's.



Don't forget agile!


----------



## Adam (May 13, 2008)




----------



## BryanBuss (May 13, 2008)

I always heard about this guitar coming out, but it's actually on the site now and everything, which atleast I thought was exiting


----------



## Adam (May 13, 2008)

Nah, Waylon actually posted a progress pic and finished pics a long time ago, then there was the video that included it.


----------



## BryanBuss (May 13, 2008)

Too bad I missed that. Well anyway, some more information would still be good. Like scale length, prices, options, suggested tuning etc.

it's pretty crazy that it was EMG 10 string pickups in it.


----------



## TemjinStrife (May 13, 2008)

What is the "NTune" tuning system? Is that similar to the Gibson "Robot Guitars"?

EDIT: And wtf do you tune it to? Without fanned frets there's gotta be some tension/string gauge issues.


----------



## Crucified (May 13, 2008)

i think the pickups are bass pickups, don't know what it tuned to but the price was in the 3500 3600 range.


----------



## technomancer (May 13, 2008)

TemjinStrife said:


> What is the "NTune" tuning system? Is that similar to the Gibson "Robot Guitars"?
> 
> EDIT: And wtf do you tune it to? Without fanned frets there's gotta be some tension/string gauge issues.



The NTune is probably the tuner built in to one of the knobs Waylon told me about. It's a neat idea.

That said I wouldn't do business with Halo again, and I was glad to get my money back at the end of the day.


----------



## Adam (May 13, 2008)

Crucified said:


> i think the pickups are bass pickups, don't know what it tuned to but the price was in the 3500 3600 range.



Nope EMG doesent make pickups that large, the 6 string version(45DC) is used for 9 strings and cant cover the range of 10 strings. Waylon said himself that they are real EMG guitar pickups


----------



## Adam (May 13, 2008)

BryanBuss said:


> Too bad I missed that. Well anyway, some more information would still be good. Like scale length, prices, options, suggested tuning etc.
> 
> it's pretty crazy that it was EMG 10 string pickups in it.



30", C#1-A4, and 27 frets.


----------



## TemjinStrife (May 13, 2008)

Wow, what string gauges do they expect you to use on that? Especially for the high A...


----------



## Adam (May 13, 2008)

TemjinStrife said:


> Wow, what string gauges do they expect you to use on that? Especially for the high A...



For the A4 string I'm pretty sure Waylon contacted Garry about that.


----------



## angus (May 13, 2008)

Not sure about those pickups or what Waylon said, but EMG definitely does make pickups that wide...and much wider.


----------



## sepherus (May 14, 2008)

wow, talk about a crazy range for one instrument. I honestly don't think i could play it though, damn short stubby fingers!


----------



## Adam (May 14, 2008)

angus said:


> Not sure about those pickups or what Waylon said, but EMG definitely does make pickups that wide...and much wider.



OEM or production? If so It would be a nice alternative to handwound/expensive 10,11 and 12 string pickups


----------



## MatthewK (May 14, 2008)

Halo guitars look like they would fall apart.


----------



## TheIllustratedLuthier (May 14, 2008)

They try too hard to look metal. The guitars SUCK. They have pictures of chicks in lingerie trying to sell their guitars, fucking "halo gals". UGH.
They just piss me off that they're getting business, they're the emo kid of guitar companies.


----------



## OrsusMetal (May 14, 2008)

Agreed.


----------



## guitarplayerone (May 14, 2008)

with the Q/C issues they had on some of the seven's, I'm curious what the build quality on this 10 is. Not to mention I want to see some actual pics of it


----------



## TemjinStrife (May 14, 2008)

There's a Halo Octavia 6 at my local Daddy's Junky Music. I played it for a while. The body shaping was rough, the Kahler nut was rusted, and the bridge itself had been abused; someone had tried to whammy (hard) with it while it was in "locked" mode. Action was stupid high as well, and I broke the high E within a few seconds of unlocking the trem. Despite all this, it sounded pretty good... had a reasonably nice pickup in there, kind of like a really defined JB. All in all, though, not something I would grab.

Plus the Octavia looks ridiculous as a 6-string. It really needs the wide neck to even look close to proportional.


----------



## Stitch (May 14, 2008)

TheIllustratedLuthier said:


> They try too hard to look metal. The guitars SUCK. They have pictures of chicks in lingerie trying to sell their guitars, fucking "halo gals". UGH.
> They just piss me off that they're getting business, they're the emo kid of guitar companies.



Bwahaha.

Man, if I had the sort of money you'd need I'd get something off you straight away. You're without a doubt my favourite luthier out there.

Dread to think how much you cost though. 

Nice sleeves too


----------



## Kronpox (May 14, 2008)

TheIllustratedLuthier said:


> They try too hard to look metal. The guitars SUCK. They have pictures of chicks in lingerie trying to sell their guitars, fucking "halo gals". UGH.
> They just piss me off that they're getting business, they're the emo kid of guitar companies.



Agreed. Halo seem way too 'Hey look at us, we're pointier and have more strings!' and will build you pretty much anything as long as you pay up front.


----------



## Ishan (May 14, 2008)

I always thought those Halo guitars were looking like those no name chinese guitar your find on eBay. Very rough and ugly design.


----------



## TheIllustratedLuthier (May 14, 2008)

Stitch said:


> Dread to think how much you cost though.



Hey I'm quite reasonable, and my guitars won't fall apart or be caressed by a gutter whore when I take pictures of it.  

I should start a sister company called Horns, and make Halo guitars but 10x better.


----------



## Stitch (May 14, 2008)

TheIllustratedLuthier said:


> Hey I'm quite reasonable, and my guitars won't fall apart or be caressed by a gutter whore when I take pictures of it.
> 
> I should start a sister company called Horns, and make Halo guitars but 10x better.





Good call


----------



## BryanBuss (May 15, 2008)

I agree with what you guys are saying about the whole "METALNESS" of halo, But the Octavia is bad ass, and I really like the open options for customizing their base models.


----------



## darren (May 15, 2008)

Intrepid > Octavia


----------



## Ishan (May 15, 2008)

darren said:


> Intrepid > Halo



Fixed


----------



## Reece Fullwood (May 15, 2008)

BryanBuss said:


> Waylon,
> how much are these going for? just a base model.
> and what is the scale length?



31 1/4 in i looked into this a while back,
biggggggggggggggg guitar



BryanBuss said:


> Waylon,
> how much are these going for? just a base model.
> and what is the scale length?



the price is about 3500 us dollars, plus postage!


----------



## JJ Rodriguez (May 15, 2008)

TheIllustratedLuthier said:


> Hey I'm quite reasonable, and my guitars won't fall apart or be caressed by a gutter whore when I take pictures of it.
> 
> I should start a sister company called Horns, and make Halo guitars but 10x better.



Will the gutter whores be an option though?


----------



## DevourTheDamned (May 15, 2008)

BryanBuss said:


> Too bad I missed that. Well anyway, some more information would still be good. Like scale length, prices, options, suggested tuning etc.
> 
> it's pretty crazy that it was EMG 10 string pickups in it.



yeah, the pups were cool.

but that body makes me want to bludgeon a baby kitten.


----------



## TheIllustratedLuthier (May 15, 2008)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> Will the gutter whores be an option though?


----------



## technomancer (May 15, 2008)

BryanBuss said:


> I agree with what you guys are saying about the whole "METALNESS" of halo, But the Octavia is bad ass, and I really like the open options for customizing their base models.



Yeah the Octavia looks awesome. Unfortunately their quality control seems to be pretty lax and they consistently failed to meet their delivery estimates.

Just to give you and idea:

April 3 2007 - ordered an Octavia with custom specs and was promised a delivery to my door in 90 days

September 6 2007 - I finally receive my guitar, with the wrong specs, a crooked bridge, some uneven fretwork, and no allen wrenches for the trem or truss rod... talk to Halo and agree that they'll order me a replacement and that I can keep the existing guitar until the new one arrives

September 17 2007 - a replacement Octavia is ordered by Halo on an "expedited" basis that will arrive in 45 days best case or 90 days worst case

January 30 2008 - I still haven't received a replacement guitar and am told it will be AT LEAST another month before it arrives. I get a refund. By now the neck on the original guitar had shifted to the point that all of the treble side strings were sitting on the fretboard

I mean they at least attempted to make things right, but with the poor communication and build problems and completely blowing deadlines... twice... I wouldn't do business with them again.


----------



## TheIllustratedLuthier (May 15, 2008)

Just waiting for Halo guitars to go out of business, good on you for complaining and getting a refund.


----------



## Metal Ken (May 15, 2008)

My favorite fuckup was the custom 9 string they put strings on but forgot to drill the holes & Ferrules for so you have to take the bridge off to replace the strings.


----------



## Kronpox (May 15, 2008)

darren said:


> Intrepid > Octavia



I love Agile but I want to be fair- Nobody has yet seen, touched, or played an Intrepid, they don't exist right now. When the Octavias came out everyone was stoked, until the horror stories started coming in. Who's to say the Intrepids couldn't be a similar story?


----------



## Scarpie (May 16, 2008)

Metal Ken said:


> My favorite fuckup was the custom 9 string they put strings on but forgot to drill the holes & Ferrules for so you have to take the bridge off to replace the strings.



i thought it was an octavia that had that problem. but no matter. what really kills me about that defect is that there is no conceivable way the builders at halo didn't notice the problem as they needed to string up the guitar. i mean how could they not notice that they forgot to drill holes, being that they had to remove the bridge to string up the guitar the first time. i mean that is the mother of all fuckups, and they sent it out anyway. i am sorry but in my opinion that is unforgivable. i mean seriously what were they hoping for that the buyer would be too stupid to notice?!! they have no respect for their clientel. then waylon cops me an attitude bitching about how busy he is in desperation to defend their shitty ethic, quality, and poor judgement of turnaround times. ridiculous  i am on the same boat as jesse and waiting for it to be over. as far as i am concerned halo's days became numbered after sending that octavia with no holes/ferrules.


----------



## plyta (May 16, 2008)

Scarpie said:


> i thought it was an octavia that had that problem. but no matter. what really kills me about that defect is that there is no conceivable way the builders at halo didn't notice the problem as they needed to string up the guitar. i mean how could they not notice that they forgot to drill holes, being that they had to remove the bridge to string up the guitar the first time. i mean that is the mother of all fuckups, and they sent it out anyway. i am sorry but in my opinion that is unforgivable. i mean seriously what were they hoping for that the buyer would be too stupid to notice?!! they have no respect for their clientel. then waylon cops me an attitude bitching about how busy he is in desperation to defend their shitty ethic, quality, and poor judgement of turnaround times. ridiculous  i am on the same boat as jesse and waiting for it to be over. as far as i am concerned halo's days became numbered after sending that octavia with no holes/ferrules.



I think such Halo fuckups mean that people working at Halo who build, set-up and inspect guitars know jack shit about building, setting up and inspecting guitars. 

Look at the current guitar pictures at Halo site - all guitars with Kahlers (except Octavia) don't have intonation set up


----------



## TheIllustratedLuthier (May 16, 2008)

plyta said:


> I think such Halo fuckups mean that people working at Halo who build, set-up and inspect guitars know jack shit about building, setting up and inspecting guitars.
> 
> Look at the current guitar pictures at Halo site - all guitars with Kahlers (except Octavia) don't have intonation set up


----------



## Metal Ken (May 16, 2008)

Scarpie said:


> i thought it was an octavia that had that problem. but no matter. what really kills me about that defect is that there is no conceivable way the builders at halo didn't notice the problem as they needed to string up the guitar. i mean how could they not notice that they forgot to drill holes, being that they had to remove the bridge to string up the guitar the first time. i mean that is the mother of all fuckups, and they sent it out anyway. i am sorry but in my opinion that is unforgivable. i mean seriously what were they hoping for that the buyer would be too stupid to notice?!! they have no respect for their clientel. then waylon cops me an attitude bitching about how busy he is in desperation to defend their shitty ethic, quality, and poor judgement of turnaround times. ridiculous  i am on the same boat as jesse and waiting for it to be over. as far as i am concerned halo's days became numbered after sending that octavia with no holes/ferrules.



Maybe it was. I remember it was the one that went to Chris9, so maybe im getting my numbers flipped. it was the white one that was supposed to be "Customized" no less!


----------



## Drew (May 16, 2008)

Kronpox said:


> I love Agile but I want to be fair- Nobody has yet seen, touched, or played an Intrepid, they don't exist right now. When the Octavias came out everyone was stoked, until the horror stories started coming in. Who's to say the Intrepids couldn't be a similar story?



Well, the Agile 7's have a cult following here, and while I've seen some ones with issues, even then they've alledgedly been playable, and Kurt's been pretty good about making things right. I'm certaintly tempted to grab one of the 8's...


----------



## Meh (May 16, 2008)

wow I did not know Halo guitars had so many problems, the octavia six string i got from them is just fine , no scratches, neck was setup fine my only complaint are the pickups, to much gain for a passive set.


----------



## st2012 (May 18, 2008)

I had never seen that before so thanks for the link. Holy hell thats a hot guitar 



TheIllustratedLuthier said:


>


----------



## hmmm_de_hum (May 20, 2008)

Metal Ken said:


> Maybe it was. I remember it was the one that went to Chris9, so maybe im getting my numbers flipped. it was the white one that was supposed to be "Customized" no less!



Lol yeah they're just Cunts......they truly are, i've sent them no end of emails about the issues with Chris9's octavia (now mine).....i even rang them a couple of times but with no avail. Their quality control and customer service is non existent, luckily with a bit of work and some £££ i managed to get my octavia made into a playable state I.E get ferrules put in


----------



## Toshiro (May 20, 2008)

The Halo 7 string V I had for like 2 days was a chinese-made piece of shit. Seriously Chibanez level.


----------



## guitarplayerone (May 21, 2008)

hmmm_de_hum said:


> Lol yeah they're just Cunts......they truly are, i've sent them no end of emails about the issues with Chris9's octavia (now mine).....i even rang them a couple of times but with no avail. Their quality control and customer service is non existent, luckily with a bit of work and some £££ i managed to get my octavia made into a playable state I.E get ferrules put in



so the octavia didn't have them either?

could you tell us about the fretwork, overall feel etc? I thought the nine-string monstrosity was a one-time incident



TheIllustratedLuthier said:


> I should start a sister company called Horns, and make Halo guitars but 10x better.



10x0=0

But yes, with all of the 'metal' aspect of extended range guitars there don't seem to be too many builders doing V's and things of that sort. Then again there are only a handful of builders who do 8-strings anyway


----------



## technomancer (May 21, 2008)

The Octavia I had had serious problems. The scary thing is that Jeff, one of the co-owners of the company, played mine and loved it before it was shipped to me. He apparently didn't notice the uneven frets or crooked bridge.

Add to that the missed delivery dates and I personally would not do business with them again.


----------



## Meh (May 21, 2008)

wow after hearing this i really dont know if it was worth it for me to buy one, i mean so far mine is fine but all these stories are making me think that there is something wrong with mine


----------



## Shawn (May 22, 2008)

That 10-string Halo looks badass.


----------



## NegaTiveXero (May 22, 2008)

^


----------



## BinaryTox1n (May 22, 2008)

NegaTiveXero said:


> ^



I thought the same thing 
Someone read the first post and quick-replied


----------



## technomancer (May 22, 2008)

Meh said:


> wow after hearing this i really dont know if it was worth it for me to buy one, i mean so far mine is fine but all these stories are making me think that there is something wrong with mine



It may well be fine.


----------



## hmmm_de_hum (May 22, 2008)

I mean i cant actually remember how it used to play when i first got it, the setup was pretty horrible.......i gave the entire thing an overhaul the day i got it, re soldered shit joints and generally tried my best to make everything nice. The neck itself is actually pretty good, not schecter baseball bat like, but more D profiled.

The fret working was pretty bad, theres also a section on the fretboard where it looks like glue has been spilt or something, just wont come off. Plus the nut doesnt actually reach the end of the neck, there is like 1/4 of a Cm of just plain wood. 

The biggest mistake was that they have a sticker on the underside of the control cavity saying "Made in USA".........jesus fucking christ.


----------



## darren (May 22, 2008)

Maybe the control cavity cover was made in their "custom shop".


----------



## hmmm_de_hum (May 22, 2008)

You joke but that and the EMGs are probably the only thing that was made there.


Needless to say i will not buy from Halo again lol, the octavia was just a spur of the moment type thing and it didnt cost me too much in the end, i payed considerably less for it than i did my S7320, but it shows


----------



## AVWIII (May 29, 2008)

Now, I've never owned, or even played a Halo. This means I cannot comment on their build quality or customer service. I can, however, comment on how incredibly stupid they all look. Especially the Reaper. I'm sure the crack design team spent many sleepless nights slaving over that one.
Superstrat + Triangles = AWESOME!!!!!!!
All of them look like they'd be at home in those ebay auctions being described as having "the highest quality song!"


----------



## hb169 (Jun 26, 2008)

I found and interesting QA on their webpage:
Q: Where are HALO guitars and basses made?
A: The standard line of HALO guitars and basses are manufactured at the Halo China Factory in Weifeng, China. Each instrument goes through five stages of QC at the Halo China Factory and one stage of QC at Halo Headquarters in Cupertino, CA. Finally, each HALO instrument is 100% set up in the USA. HALO USA Custom Shop guitars and basses are 100% handmade in Houston, TX.

I hope they're aware of this thread, it's destroying their reputation. This forum being so popular with their potential customers, they're getting hosed. It's too bad, a 10 string guitar is like the forbidden fruit to a 7 string player. How can you resist!


----------



## rockerjeff (Jun 27, 2008)

Hey guys, this is Jeff Lee from Halo Guitars. Someone sent me a link to this thread and I am very thankful for that. Although most of the posts on this thread have brutally negative reviews of Halo Guitars, I take them with open arms as learning experiences and move forward with my goal of continuous improvement in all aspects of the company, including quality control. 

I don't log on to this forum often, but if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding Halo Guitars, you can e-mail me directly for the quickest response at [email protected] 

The Reaper model is actually my personal favorite, but as always, to each his own. 

Thanks


----------



## your_mum (Jun 27, 2008)

Glad to see you take it well.
I honestly hope that the revisions you make, will make you a decent company.
Best of luck mate!


----------



## JJ Rodriguez (Jun 27, 2008)

It's good you're looking into the QC issues, but I'm pretty sure that the damage has already been done with the folks who post here at least. I used to be really interested in a Halo custom since they had really kick ass prices, and I didn't really need Jackson or ESP CS quality, I just wanted something to try out something different (bridge, pickups, etc), but after hearing all the horror stories, there's no way I'd feel confident in picking one up unless it was a stupidly good deal.


----------



## your_mum (Jun 27, 2008)

Same tbh, I'd go kxk.


----------



## JJ Rodriguez (Jun 27, 2008)

Well, to be fair, Halo CS and KxK are in completely different brackets. I got a quote from Halo and it was a LOT less than KxK, but I don't expect the quality on the Halo to even come close to KxK. It could be different now though, not sure.


----------



## Wolfv11 (Jun 27, 2008)

rockerjeff said:


> Hey guys, this is Jeff Lee from Halo Guitars. Someone sent me a link to this thread and I am very thankful for that. Although most of the posts on this thread have brutally negative reviews of Halo Guitars, I take them with open arms as learning experiences and move forward with my goal of continuous improvement in all aspects of the company, including quality control.
> 
> I don't log on to this forum often, but if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding Halo Guitars, you can e-mail me directly for the quickest response at [email protected]
> 
> ...



I knew a guitarist who was endorsed by halo, he seemed to like em.
However, my best advice regarding halo QC or anything regarding halo guitars would be to pick up a few of these for the shop
Guitar String Ferrules at Stewart-MacDonald


----------



## your_mum (Jun 27, 2008)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> Well, to be fair, Halo CS and KxK are in completely different brackets. I got a quote from Halo and it was a LOT less than KxK, but I don't expect the quality on the Halo to even come close to KxK. It could be different now though, not sure.



I suppose, but then again due to the bad press on halo guitars I think it is fair to say people would consider other brands even if they are more expensive. If you get me.


----------



## JJ Rodriguez (Jun 27, 2008)

For sure, no use in paying for a guitar that's unplayable. By the time you get the work done to it that puts it into acceptable condition, you probably might as well have ordered KxK, RAN, etc.


----------



## your_mum (Jun 27, 2008)

Ayyyye, or even agile tbh.
Shame tbh, because Halo were filling a nice gap, just poor execution.


----------



## technomancer (Jun 27, 2008)

hb169 said:


> I found and interesting QA on their webpage:
> Q: Where are HALO guitars and basses made?
> A: The standard line of HALO guitars and basses are manufactured at the Halo China Factory in Weifeng, China. Each instrument goes through five stages of QC at the Halo China Factory and one stage of QC at Halo Headquarters in Cupertino, CA. Finally, each HALO instrument is 100% set up in the USA. HALO USA Custom Shop guitars and basses are 100% handmade in Houston, TX.
> 
> I hope they're aware of this thread, it's destroying their reputation. This forum being so popular with their potential customers, they're getting hosed. It's too bad, a 10 string guitar is like the forbidden fruit to a 7 string player. How can you resist!



I was unaware that the factory had moved from Korea to China (the factory was in Korea when I ordered from them).


----------



## JJ Rodriguez (Jun 27, 2008)

technomancer said:


> I was unaware that the factory had moved from Korea to China (the factory was in Korea when I ordered from them).



Given their history of QC issues, it seems like a step in the wrong direction.


----------

