Suhr Modern Plus or Mayones Duvell Elite or Caparison?
- Thread starter NCASO96
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MetalDestroyer
Heaven's Football Bat
Quality? Suhr. But a Modern Plus and a Duvell are night-and-day guitars - you should play both before dropping that kind of money. No experience with Caparison but the general consensus seems to be they're a tad expensive.
groverj3
Bioinformagician
All three will make a killer guitar.
I have only played a few Mayos. I liked them, and I would say they're a touch better-built than Caparison. It's kind of all-about the features you like.
I like compound radius fretboards, and so the feel of a Suhr or Caparison is more my thing. I like neck-thru over bolt-on, so Caparison and Mayones win there. I like stainless steel frets, so Suhr and Mayones win on that, but I don't consider it a deal breaker. Suhr is a domestic company for me in the US, have a bigger dealer network and legendary customer service, in case I need some kind of warranty repair done.
I might go with Suhr, but it's probably down to your favorite based on the stuff above I mention.
I have only played a few Mayos. I liked them, and I would say they're a touch better-built than Caparison. It's kind of all-about the features you like.
I like compound radius fretboards, and so the feel of a Suhr or Caparison is more my thing. I like neck-thru over bolt-on, so Caparison and Mayones win there. I like stainless steel frets, so Suhr and Mayones win on that, but I don't consider it a deal breaker. Suhr is a domestic company for me in the US, have a bigger dealer network and legendary customer service, in case I need some kind of warranty repair done.
I might go with Suhr, but it's probably down to your favorite based on the stuff above I mention.
At this price point...go play these guitars. All opinions of people aren't worth anything if the interwebz favorite guitar doesn't do it for YOU! Might sound snarky, but it is the most sound advise that can be given.
Those guitars are all so different it's not really worth comparing them based on similar price point. Go play them and see which one you enjoy the best.
The Duvell model he's asking about have bolt on necks.
NCASO96
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thx brother
NCASO96
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exactly. nope, not snarky... you are correct.. .it's just really difficult, because i'm on the east coast.. practically every custom guitar shop is hundreds of miles away from me.
It's hard to really go wrong with a Suhr or a Mayo, much easier to do with a Caparison. Suhr and Mayo in my experience are substantially more consistent and have better QC, Caparison can be a total crapshoot, and even more so if you buy used.
IMO Caparisons are priced at least a grand above what they should be.
IMO Caparisons are priced at least a grand above what they should be.
ChrispyFinch
Well-Known Member
i have 2 of these right now. And have had my hands on a duvell elite recently as well.
You want straight metal? Mayones Duvel hands down
You want more versatility? Suhr Modern hands down
I love the suhr moderns, i have 2 of them. I sold my Mayones Regius awhile back.
Different strokes and all that. All of those are great, best value is buying used imo. Most people that have these insturments take good care of them and you can snag a deal if youre patient.
Cheers
ill quickly add here too: suhr pickups are phenomenal. Caparison's not so much. Mayones depends on what they come with, but most BKPs and Duncans are great.
I'll also echo Oracles, Caparisons are way overpriced. Definitely buy used and expect the fit and finish to be somewhere between Ibanez Prestige and J.Custom. All my opinion of course.
You want straight metal? Mayones Duvel hands down
You want more versatility? Suhr Modern hands down
I love the suhr moderns, i have 2 of them. I sold my Mayones Regius awhile back.
Different strokes and all that. All of those are great, best value is buying used imo. Most people that have these insturments take good care of them and you can snag a deal if youre patient.
Cheers
ill quickly add here too: suhr pickups are phenomenal. Caparison's not so much. Mayones depends on what they come with, but most BKPs and Duncans are great.
I'll also echo Oracles, Caparisons are way overpriced. Definitely buy used and expect the fit and finish to be somewhere between Ibanez Prestige and J.Custom. All my opinion of course.
S4M4R1N
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They both seem to excel in their respective fields - classic and contemporary. But they also charge quite extreme money, so I have a bit unorthodox suggestion for you. Check out Vola Guitars. OZ line has that Suhr vibe, but there is also Ares line if you are into Caparison/Ibanez stuff. I love my OZ 7 
Fred the Shred
Shrederick
I prefer Caparisons out of those. "Prefer" being the key word here, as they're all great guitars, to be fair. I disagree with the acessment of Caparison being overpriced in regards to their quality, especially at this point.
As stated before though, earlier Caparison guitars are not as consistent as what I've found after they found their footing and current management, so if you're in the second hand market, do be mindful of that - there were some fantastic guitars back in the beginning, but also a non negligible number of "eh..." instruments.
Having said this, other than maybe Mayones, it shouldn't be incredibly hard to find those guitars not horribly far from you, so I'd really give them a spin if possible - this is all just preference between all 3.
As stated before though, earlier Caparison guitars are not as consistent as what I've found after they found their footing and current management, so if you're in the second hand market, do be mindful of that - there were some fantastic guitars back in the beginning, but also a non negligible number of "eh..." instruments.
Having said this, other than maybe Mayones, it shouldn't be incredibly hard to find those guitars not horribly far from you, so I'd really give them a spin if possible - this is all just preference between all 3.
jco5055
Well-Known Member
i definitely think it's worth him to seek out a Caparison, maybe via Sweetwater or wherever with a return policy, assuming of course he doesn't have very specific specs that a Caparison doesn't hit (things like nut width etc). In my experience, and with people I've talked to, Caparisons are pretty much a love/hate thing-and I'm one of the lovers like you Fred haha...I just have pretty much only heard "they are my favorite" or "they are overpriced" with nothing in between.
FitRocker33
My tone is tighter than my hamstrings
I will add my .02 as well.
I’ve owned a 2010 Caparison dellinger II, a mayones Duvell elite and still own a Suhr modern.
The Caparison was the cheapest feeling between the 3. Very disappointing for a 2500 dollar guitar (at the time). Played similar to a good Ibanez prestige but not any better IMO.
The mayones was on a higher level for sure. Built great and excellent fretwork. I personally couldn’t bond entirely with the neck profile (noticeable shoulders on the neck) and the hannes bridge. It also sounded a bit cold to me. Like it really only felt at home doing monuments typed music lol.
I love my Suhr. The quality is top notch and it plays fantastic. I’ve owned many high end guitars from many different makers and it’s one of my faves from over the years. Plus, they stand behind their guitars should anything go wrong as you would see in my thread about my customer service/repair experience with them.
If you want a straight metal guitar check out a mayo. If you want a metal guitar that can also hang with a change of mood check out a Suhr.
I’ve owned a 2010 Caparison dellinger II, a mayones Duvell elite and still own a Suhr modern.
The Caparison was the cheapest feeling between the 3. Very disappointing for a 2500 dollar guitar (at the time). Played similar to a good Ibanez prestige but not any better IMO.
The mayones was on a higher level for sure. Built great and excellent fretwork. I personally couldn’t bond entirely with the neck profile (noticeable shoulders on the neck) and the hannes bridge. It also sounded a bit cold to me. Like it really only felt at home doing monuments typed music lol.
I love my Suhr. The quality is top notch and it plays fantastic. I’ve owned many high end guitars from many different makers and it’s one of my faves from over the years. Plus, they stand behind their guitars should anything go wrong as you would see in my thread about my customer service/repair experience with them.
If you want a straight metal guitar check out a mayo. If you want a metal guitar that can also hang with a change of mood check out a Suhr.
jco5055
Well-Known Member
it seems like at least with Caparison early 10s/late 00s is like the low point quality wise, at least until Gabe took over
Fred the Shred
Shrederick
Definitely - as much as I liked the great ones I could find, it was really in that Gibson territory where you needed to go hunt for a good one. It was not in that territory where I'd feel confident buying blind for a while.
Wildebeest
Well-Known Member
I love my 2004-2006 Caparison Horus, but I haven't found a new modern one that I have liked. Very different feel and finish.
narad
Progressive metal and politics
Had some 2005-2010 caparisons and not a huge fan. CL14 was a better guitar and felt more quality for sure, but still something couldn't jive with about it.
Mayones in comparison have always felt super high quality, but also not overall the experience I preferred. Kind of the experience where I'm in the shop and it's the best guitar I've played there yet I'm just not over that "buy me" threshold. I think the Regius are very "stiff" feeling guitars with those a million laminate necks.
Suhr I have more limited experience, having only owned one. But it was goddamn fantastic and my main guitar for a couple of years. Had the Thornbucker in it. Now I use the Aldrich in two other guitars and just think it's amazing. Felt very alive. Nicer fretwork than the caparison for sure. I preferred the neck shape over the two others.
Mayones in comparison have always felt super high quality, but also not overall the experience I preferred. Kind of the experience where I'm in the shop and it's the best guitar I've played there yet I'm just not over that "buy me" threshold. I think the Regius are very "stiff" feeling guitars with those a million laminate necks.
Suhr I have more limited experience, having only owned one. But it was goddamn fantastic and my main guitar for a couple of years. Had the Thornbucker in it. Now I use the Aldrich in two other guitars and just think it's amazing. Felt very alive. Nicer fretwork than the caparison for sure. I preferred the neck shape over the two others.
Musiscience
Well-Known Member
They are all quite different, but based only on quality from owning and/or playing quite a few: Suhr, close second Mayones and Caparison dead last. Not to say Caparisons are bad guitars, but definitely in the overpriced category.
Drew
Forum MVP
This is, uh, an interesting "Beginner" question. I don't know about you all, but my first guitar cost $250 with a included Crate GX15R, and while this was some time ago, inflation hasn't really gotten QUITE so bad that that's a $4,000 guitar today. 
