So after slightly over 3 months (only a tiny bit over the estimate given) I received my Kiesel AM7. I went with a mahogany body, quilted maple top and headstock plus a flamed maple fretboard. I now wish I had gone for stainless steel or gold EVO frets but these are just regular ones.
The following pictures were mostly taken in direct sunlight. In normal light the guitar top can look much darker and muted depending on the lighting and angle.
This is the comparison between the final product and the Photoshop mockup I sent them:
I think Kiesel did a great job matching my Photoshop mockup. I didn't ask for a photomatch or anything, just had them make a mark to use dark red mahogany (no extra charge for that) to get the right color for the back.
More pics:
It was well setup, plays great and sounds very nice. The Kiesel Lithium pickups are fine IMO, they seem to require a bit more midrange than my other guitars but they are quite clear and balanced overall. The multiscale is really a joy to play as each string has just the right tension to it. I've sold the few 7-strings I've owned because I didn't like how floppy the low B-string was and often felt they were harder to play. Not this one, it feels very comfortable and the neck doesn't feel too wide to me. I have the regular neck profile which is not too chunky nor too thin.
Alas, all is not perfect with it. For one I'm getting the harmonics from the strings at the headstock others have reported with this model. It was easily fixed with a piece of foam right behind the nut but I don't experience this on any of my other guitars so it is a minor design flaw IMO.
The guitar is built well where it counts, everything seems to fit together with precision, fretwork is very good but there are a few small things that are off. First off, there's a little bit of dye in the wood under the nut. You can see it in the corner under the lowest strings. It's not something you see or spot right away but it's still one of those little details that could've been solved at the factory by either sanding it off or dying the rest of that area.
Some tooling marks visible in the nut as well but otherwise it is cut correctly. Kudos to Kiesel for that as most guitars have poorly cut nuts from the factory.
The second flaw on the guitar is that the fretboard side dots are not in line. They are fine up till the 12th fret, where one of the dots is obviously lower than the other and then the dots that follow on the higher frets are also a bit lower compared to the lower fret markers.
Also as a minor thing I think the back would be better if the string inserts were flush with the body. They're fine as it is but would look better if sunk. I also kinda wish I had been informed that their gold hardware option would have black bottom plates. I think the combination of colors looks pretty cool on the guitar so I'm fine with it, but it was a bit unexpected.
I've sent Kiesel an email (same person who I dealt with when ordering the guitar over email) about the issues but so far haven't received an answer. I will be keeping the guitar as I like it otherwise and can live with these admittably small issues, but considering I paid quite a lot for the guitar after shipping and taxes (I live in Finland) it is a bit annoying to get less than perfection.
I chose Kiesel over other brands because they were one of the few with affordable multiscales available and didn't have a waiting time of 6-12+ months. Domestic luthiers would've probably cost me 1000-1500 euros more for similar quality woods as well as having the long wait times. I think a Skervesen might've come up to a similar price but again, I'm not a patient man.
If I end up ordering another guitar some day I'll probably go for them as they have really fantastic finishes and models.
The following pictures were mostly taken in direct sunlight. In normal light the guitar top can look much darker and muted depending on the lighting and angle.
This is the comparison between the final product and the Photoshop mockup I sent them:
I think Kiesel did a great job matching my Photoshop mockup. I didn't ask for a photomatch or anything, just had them make a mark to use dark red mahogany (no extra charge for that) to get the right color for the back.
More pics:
It was well setup, plays great and sounds very nice. The Kiesel Lithium pickups are fine IMO, they seem to require a bit more midrange than my other guitars but they are quite clear and balanced overall. The multiscale is really a joy to play as each string has just the right tension to it. I've sold the few 7-strings I've owned because I didn't like how floppy the low B-string was and often felt they were harder to play. Not this one, it feels very comfortable and the neck doesn't feel too wide to me. I have the regular neck profile which is not too chunky nor too thin.
Alas, all is not perfect with it. For one I'm getting the harmonics from the strings at the headstock others have reported with this model. It was easily fixed with a piece of foam right behind the nut but I don't experience this on any of my other guitars so it is a minor design flaw IMO.
The guitar is built well where it counts, everything seems to fit together with precision, fretwork is very good but there are a few small things that are off. First off, there's a little bit of dye in the wood under the nut. You can see it in the corner under the lowest strings. It's not something you see or spot right away but it's still one of those little details that could've been solved at the factory by either sanding it off or dying the rest of that area.
Some tooling marks visible in the nut as well but otherwise it is cut correctly. Kudos to Kiesel for that as most guitars have poorly cut nuts from the factory.
The second flaw on the guitar is that the fretboard side dots are not in line. They are fine up till the 12th fret, where one of the dots is obviously lower than the other and then the dots that follow on the higher frets are also a bit lower compared to the lower fret markers.
Also as a minor thing I think the back would be better if the string inserts were flush with the body. They're fine as it is but would look better if sunk. I also kinda wish I had been informed that their gold hardware option would have black bottom plates. I think the combination of colors looks pretty cool on the guitar so I'm fine with it, but it was a bit unexpected.
I've sent Kiesel an email (same person who I dealt with when ordering the guitar over email) about the issues but so far haven't received an answer. I will be keeping the guitar as I like it otherwise and can live with these admittably small issues, but considering I paid quite a lot for the guitar after shipping and taxes (I live in Finland) it is a bit annoying to get less than perfection.
I chose Kiesel over other brands because they were one of the few with affordable multiscales available and didn't have a waiting time of 6-12+ months. Domestic luthiers would've probably cost me 1000-1500 euros more for similar quality woods as well as having the long wait times. I think a Skervesen might've come up to a similar price but again, I'm not a patient man.
If I end up ordering another guitar some day I'll probably go for them as they have really fantastic finishes and models.
