How does a Suhr Modern hold up to more modern guitars?

[bigswifty]

I love my Suhr Modern 7. It is a beast, it handles metal really well, the pickups are insanely versatile and the fit/finish (Bengal Burst) are exceptional. It was basically a GG Sig spec'd to a sevenstring.
I have bonded with it.

 

[NCASO96]

Question Suhr owners...

I ordered my guitar from Humbucker in Georgia. They had the guitar (new) for around a year, from Suhr. I noticed the Pao Ferro FB to be crazy dry. Even after a dose of lemon oil overnight.

They recommend Fret board juice, which is nothing but pure mineral oil.

Since i live in PA, i'm wondering if the climate change has affected the guitar?

I plays and sounds very good... but i was hoping for great? Am I missing something?

 

[Drew]

For those that own one and and have played say a strandberg, Aristide’s or Mayones, did you regret your purchase? How does it compare to playing a more modern axe?

Serious question - what makes a Suhr Modern "less modern" than one of those other brands? I'm confused by this question.

 

[penguin_316]

Ergonomics? For Strandberg, the weight and the benefits of headless instruments. The neck profile etc.
For Aristide, the ideal man made tonewood, Arium, can’t speak for them as I am yet to play one. Those are going to be the standouts, the rest is pretty much the same.

 

[groverj3]

Question Suhr owners...

I ordered my guitar from Humbucker in Georgia. They had the guitar (new) for around a year, from Suhr. I noticed the Pao Ferro FB to be crazy dry. Even after a dose of lemon oil overnight.

They recommend Fret board juice, which is nothing but pure mineral oil.

Since i live in PA, i'm wondering if the climate change has affected the guitar?

I plays and sounds very good... but i was hoping for great? Am I missing something?

Pau Ferro is kind of reddish and never darkens as much as a dark rosewood, and certainly nothing like Ebony. However, you don't need to use any different products to treat it than any other kind of unfinished fretboard.

If it's really really dry though, you can oil it overnight with as much as it'll soak up. Or apply multiple times. I used to live in Arizona, and as crazy as it sounds, I'd have to treat my fretboards like that twice a year. So, if something has been sitting for a long time, and traveled to a drier climate over the winter, it's entirely possible you may want to do more than the "light coating and wipe off the excess" approach that people tell you to.

 

[BigViolin]

Only one guitar that I regret selling…a GG antique Modern. Fuck, what a great guitar.

 

[NCASO96]

Only one guitar that I regret selling…a GG antique Modern. Fuck, what a great guitar.

G.G. Allen had a signature guitar?

 

[NCASO96]

Pau Ferro is kind of reddish and never darkens as much as a dark rosewood, and certainly nothing like Ebony. However, you don't need to use any different products to treat it than any other kind of unfinished fretboard.

If it's really really dry though, you can oil it overnight with as much as it'll soak up. Or apply multiple times. I used to live in Arizona, and as crazy as it sounds, I'd have to treat my fretboards like that twice a year. So, if something has been sitting for a long time, and traveled to a drier climate over the winter, it's entirely possible you may want to do more than the "light coating and wipe off the excess" approach that people tell you to.

so this fret juice that Suhr recommends (pure mineral oil) isn't better than lemon oil, which they consider a solvent?

 

[Drew]

Ergonomics? For Strandberg, the weight and the benefits of headless instruments. The neck profile etc.
For Aristide, the ideal man made tonewood, Arium, can’t speak for them as I am yet to play one. Those are going to be the standouts, the rest is pretty much the same.

I've never gotten the appeal of a headless design, to be fair, and I don't know what the benefits would actually be. Balance maybe? I've certainly never had any problems balancing a guitar with a headstock. Plenty of neck profile options at Suhr, too, so for me this is a "different" more than better. Ditto with Aristides, a synthetic material isn't necessarily going to be an improvement. And that skips Mayones all together, there's literally nothing they're doing that Suhr isn't also doing aside from slightly different body shapes and headstocks.

I don't know what a "modern" featureset is, I guess - if I'd look at that reductively as "not vintage," then pretty much any Suhr Modern (and can we talk about the irony of wondering if a Modern is modern enough) is going to seem extremely contemporary compared to a 57 Strat or 59 Les Paul, with is asymetrical neck profile and body shape, high output pickups, multiradius neck, sculpted neck joint, usually stainless wire... idunno, what else?

 

[groverj3]

so this fret juice that Suhr recommends (pure mineral oil) isn't better than lemon oil, which they consider a solvent?

(Most) lemon oil is just lemon-scented mineral oil anyway. Maybe it has some other goop in there. Use that, or lemon oil from Dunlop or Daddario, or F1 Oil from Music Nomad, etc. I've heard of people using bore oil made for woodwind instruments (clarinets, etc.) as well, which is also mostly mineral oil.

I could get really nerdy and say that any liquid could be a solvent 🙃

 

[newfinator]

Question Suhr owners...

I ordered my guitar from Humbucker in Georgia. They had the guitar (new) for around a year, from Suhr. I noticed the Pao Ferro FB to be crazy dry. Even after a dose of lemon oil overnight.

They recommend Fret board juice, which is nothing but pure mineral oil.

Since i live in PA, i'm wondering if the climate change has affected the guitar?

I plays and sounds very good... but i was hoping for great? Am I missing something?

The neck and fingerboard on my Suhr is pau fero. It looks like a big chunk of dark chocolate and seems hard like birds eye maple which for me is a good thing . I’ve never treated it with anything and it’s never looked dry and I’m in Canada. My understanding, correct or not, is that pau fero didn’t require a finish and is basically maintenance free.

 

[NCASO96]

The neck and fingerboard on my Suhr is pau fero. It looks like a big chunk of dark chocolate and seems hard like birds eye maple which for me is a good thing . I’ve never treated it with anything and it’s never looked dry and I’m in Canada. My understanding, correct or not, is that pau fero didn’t require a finish and is basically maintenance free.

ok... my FB looks/is dry. I reached out to Suhr, and they recommended that it should be treated.

 

[groverj3]

Pau Ferro is maintenance-free how rosewood and ebony are. Meaning, if you don't treat it you run a slight risk of wood cracking, but lots of people never do any treatment and are fine aside from it looking ugly.

 

[BeyondAntares]

ok... my FB looks/is dry. I reached out to Suhr, and they recommended that it should be treated.

Take it to a luthier. Suhr may have received a dryer batch of Pau Ferro that was used. Potentially it will need to be soaked in mineral oil.

Have you reached out to Suhr for advice on how to best look after it? If it causes too much trouble, I'd recommend replacing the Pau Ferro fretboard with a Rosewood fretboard.

 

[BeyondAntares]

Serious question - what makes a Suhr Modern "less modern" than one of those other brands? I'm confused by this question.

Well even with the modern accoutrements that come with the Suhr Modern, other brands have introduced upgrades and improved ergonomics in recent times that are considered more modern.

Ibanez:
* Thinner necks
* Improved floating tremollo system with the Edge Pro / Edge III / ZPS system to improve tuning stability and ease of adjustment.
* Improved ergonomics
* Modern Body shape

Strandberg
* Headless design
* Fanned fret
* Extended range scale length (26.5-28")
* supports up to 8 strings
* Fishman pickups with multiple voicings
* Luminlay glow in the dark fret markers
* Enduraneck - trapazoidal neck, thicker at the low end and thinner at the higher end
* Improved bridge
* Ease of tuning with headless design
* Chambered body, making it more lightweight

I've never gotten the appeal of a headless design, to be fair, and I don't know what the benefits would actually be. Balance maybe?

It's been around since steinberger in the late 70's.
Benefits:
* reduced weight at the headstock
* ease of tunning up without the need of windings
* ease of fine-tuning at the bridge

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Most of the time when folks think their board is dry, it isn't.

There is this misconception that boards are always really dark and glossy, and that's not the case for a lot of fairly common fretboard materials.

If a standard mineral oil rub doesn't change it, then that's just the wood.

You can definitely over oil boards, which can cause just as many, yet different, issues as letting them dry out too much. Boards spend years seasoning to reach ideal moisture content, absolutely drenching them in oil messes with that.

As a material Pau Ferro is generally very stable, meaning that it doesn't tend to be overly wet or dry, unlike ebony that's usually a bit more delicate, or padauk which is almost maintenance free.

 

[HungryGuitarStudent]

Here’s my experience. I had one for 10 months, 4 of which is was at Suhr to fix a neck hump problem. These are great instruments, but I just didn’t like the neck profile. Too round for me (even though it’s called « elliptical »). I’m more of a D-U neck shape guy. It really comes down to personal preference, i.e. you need to try one to know (which applies to any guitar purchase IMO).

 

[MetalDestroyer]

Here’s my experience. I had one for 10 months, 4 of which is was at Suhr to fix a neck hump problem. These are great instruments, but I just didn’t like the neck profile. Too round for me (even though it’s called « elliptical »). I’m more of a D-U neck shape guy. It really comes down to personal preference, i.e. you need to try one to know (which applies to any guitar purchase IMO).

This is funny because I felt like the modern elliptical was shaped like a 2x4. I actually also think their even c slim shape is too D-shaped. This is why we play guitars before we buy them.

 

[technomancer]

Well even with the modern accoutrements that come with the Suhr Modern, other brands have introduced upgrades and improved ergonomics in recent times that are considered more modern.

Ibanez:
* Thinner necks
* Improved floating tremollo system with the Edge Pro / Edge III / ZPS system to improve tuning stability and ease of adjustment.
* Improved ergonomics
* Modern Body shape

Strandberg
* Headless design
* Fanned fret
* Extended range scale length (26.5-28")
* supports up to 8 strings
* Fishman pickups with multiple voicings
* Luminlay glow in the dark fret markers
* Enduraneck - trapazoidal neck, thicker at the low end and thinner at the higher end
* Improved bridge
* Ease of tuning with headless design
* Chambered body, making it more lightweight


It's been around since steinberger in the late 70's.
Benefits:
* reduced weight at the headstock
* ease of tunning up without the need of windings
* ease of fine-tuning at the bridge

Your list is interesting since 90% of it is subjective.
For example:
- I am not a fan of thin necks
- headless tuning is more of PITA than standard guitars as the rotary tuners are way too close together and usually recessed into the body... apparently I'm not the only one so they added the allen key access to turn the tuners
- I didn't find any advantage in the Strandberg neck profile after owning 3
- the Strandberg has a relatively thick neck compared to Ibanez where you sited the thin neck as a advantage
- Strandberg has been through 3 or 4 different pickup makers stock so Fishman basically got them the cheapest deal on pickups
- the "improved" bridge is a terrible design with horrible string height adjustment and a number of addons to fix problems like the set screws to keep the height adjustment screws from rattling

As for headless itself the only real advantage is reduced size and weight which makes traveling with them easier.

 

[BeyondAntares]

So it's finally arrived. I've setup the guitar like my PIA and so far it plays pretty well. I'll spend about a week with it before writing a review with the NGD.

This is funny because I felt like the modern elliptical was shaped like a 2x4.

I agree, it's thicker than I thought it would be. I've never been a fan of thick necks, but this is still thinner than some les pauls and fenders I've played. I'm still getting used to it. Having said that, the satin neck is one of the smoothest I've ever played.

Your list is interesting since 90% of it is subjective.
For example:
- I am not a fan of thin necks
- headless tuning is more of PITA than standard guitars as the rotary tuners are way too close together and usually recessed into the body... apparently I'm not the only one so they added the allen key access to turn the tuners
- I didn't find any advantage in the Strandberg neck profile after owning 3
- the Strandberg has a relatively thick neck compared to Ibanez where you sited the thin neck as a advantage
- Strandberg has been through 3 or 4 different pickup makers stock so Fishman basically got them the cheapest deal on pickups
- the "improved" bridge is a terrible design with horrible string height adjustment and a number of addons to fix problems like the set screws to keep the height adjustment screws from rattling

As for headless itself the only real advantage is reduced size and weight which makes traveling with them easier.

I value your points and yes the benefits are subjective, given if you like them or not.

I wasn't saying one was better than the other, just how the suhr or classic guitar shapes differed from more modern guitars such as Ibanez and Strandberg.

I found the Strandberg neck thinner past the 12th fret, but I didn't compare it to ibanez. I still think the Super Wizard necks from the 90's are still, hands down, the best necks I've ever played. I agree with you in that I didn't find any advantages with the enduraneck, but it was nice to have a thumb rest that follows the shape of your hand. It's all subjective whether you like it or not.