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The Rob Williams ‘Set Neck Deluxe’ Guitar.
Recently I did a feature at All Out Guitar on the makeover of my beloved BC Rich Super Strat, by the revered guitar maker Rob Williams based in the Welsh hills. However, whilst Rob worked on my guitar, he lent me one his own, to help fill the void. It only seemed right therefore, that I gave it a quick review before I gave it back and it most definitely deserves one!
The ‘Set Neck Deluxe (with Cherry Burst finish)’ is a beautiful guitar. I lent it to a local guitar collector and enthusiast and his thoughts were:
“I think it is what Berlutti are to shoes or Roger Federer is to tennis - it is touched with genius!! I do not want to give it back! I think the craftsmanship and the power of the tone are remarkable and it is rare you feel at one with the instrument.”
This basically sums up the ‘Set Neck Deluxe’. Often, stunning looking guitars are far from stunning in reality, but as soon as I picked up this beauty, everything felt so natural. I felt at one with the instrument, it’s neck, shape, sound, weight and feel in general. I must stress that this is not me trying to get a discount on my own guitar - this is the truth.
The finishing and attention to detail is second to none, but as I would expect from a guitar that retails at £2,999. But you really feel the sense of love and labour that has been devoted to the creation. The neck is
smooth and comfortable, the fretting excellent and if my model had lighter- gauge strings on than the one’s supplied, I’m sure that somehow, I would have enjoyed the experience even more.
The hardware includes Gotoh locking tuners and a Wilkinson VS400 vibrato unit, which is as good as I’ve come across, especially keeping the tuning in line for a non-locking system. The pick-ups controlled by a 5-way switcher (creating similar switching to the PRS rotary selector), are hand-made by Rob himself and are very impressive. So impressive in fact, that Rob is now fitting one of his humbucker neck pick-ups to my BC Rich. This neck pick-up produces some very warm and smooth sounds, whilst I managed to get some fierce distortion and power from the bridge humbucker (baring in mind that I am usually used to a Super Distorted Dimarzio). All in all, the pick-ups provide an array of articulate voices for both soloing and rhythm in many styles.
My only snipe would be that I couldn’t easily remove my jack from the jack input (with it’s delightfully finished inlay), without pulling on the actual cable – I asked Rob about this and he said that the USA made input has a naturally tight fitting hole… And to be really picky, the Rob Williams/Made In Britain logo on the headstock looks a bit busy and somehow doesn’t seem quite right. That however, is not bad considering the guitar has got everything else right.
Specifications
Body: Brazilian Mahogany
Drop Top: Big Leaf Quilt
Neck: Mahogany/Walnut laminate
Scale: 25.5” (647.7mm)
Fingerboard: Ebony 10” radius
Frets: 22 - w.092” h.048” (2.3 x 1.2mm)
Nut Width: 1 11/16” (42.9mm)
Neck join: Contoured tenon
Headstock angle: 7 degrees
Inlay: Shell dot
Pickup Options: HH, Hss, P90
Vibrato: Wilkinson VS400
Tuners: 510 magnum lock
Controls: 1 x Vol, 1 x Tone, 5 way lever switch
Finish: Acrylic gloss
Weight: 3.1kgs, 6.8lbs
Hardware: Chrome or gold
South paws: No extra charge
Case: Tweed
Finish Options: 59 burst, cherry burst (shown), cobalt blue, charcoal grey, rebel yellow, planet green, bloodshot red or just naked (no colour).
Rob Williams Guitars will be in some premier division UK guitar shops very soon and we will keep you posted for details.
For all enquires please contact Rob Williams on 01686 689120 or email him at rob@robwilliamsguitars.co.uk
The ‘Set Neck Deluxe (with Cherry Burst finish)’ is a beautiful guitar. I lent it to a local guitar collector and enthusiast and his thoughts were:
“I think it is what Berlutti are to shoes or Roger Federer is to tennis - it is touched with genius!! I do not want to give it back! I think the craftsmanship and the power of the tone are remarkable and it is rare you feel at one with the instrument.”
This basically sums up the ‘Set Neck Deluxe’. Often, stunning looking guitars are far from stunning in reality, but as soon as I picked up this beauty, everything felt so natural. I felt at one with the instrument, it’s neck, shape, sound, weight and feel in general. I must stress that this is not me trying to get a discount on my own guitar - this is the truth.
The finishing and attention to detail is second to none, but as I would expect from a guitar that retails at £2,999. But you really feel the sense of love and labour that has been devoted to the creation. The neck is
smooth and comfortable, the fretting excellent and if my model had lighter- gauge strings on than the one’s supplied, I’m sure that somehow, I would have enjoyed the experience even more. The hardware includes Gotoh locking tuners and a Wilkinson VS400 vibrato unit, which is as good as I’ve come across, especially keeping the tuning in line for a non-locking system. The pick-ups controlled by a 5-way switcher (creating similar switching to the PRS rotary selector), are hand-made by Rob himself and are very impressive. So impressive in fact, that Rob is now fitting one of his humbucker neck pick-ups to my BC Rich. This neck pick-up produces some very warm and smooth sounds, whilst I managed to get some fierce distortion and power from the bridge humbucker (baring in mind that I am usually used to a Super Distorted Dimarzio). All in all, the pick-ups provide an array of articulate voices for both soloing and rhythm in many styles.
My only snipe would be that I couldn’t easily remove my jack from the jack input (with it’s delightfully finished inlay), without pulling on the actual cable – I asked Rob about this and he said that the USA made input has a naturally tight fitting hole… And to be really picky, the Rob Williams/Made In Britain logo on the headstock looks a bit busy and somehow doesn’t seem quite right. That however, is not bad considering the guitar has got everything else right.
Specifications
Body: Brazilian Mahogany
Drop Top: Big Leaf Quilt
Neck: Mahogany/Walnut laminate
Scale: 25.5” (647.7mm)
Fingerboard: Ebony 10” radius
Frets: 22 - w.092” h.048” (2.3 x 1.2mm)
Nut Width: 1 11/16” (42.9mm)
Neck join: Contoured tenon
Headstock angle: 7 degrees
Inlay: Shell dot
Pickup Options: HH, Hss, P90
Vibrato: Wilkinson VS400
Tuners: 510 magnum lock
Controls: 1 x Vol, 1 x Tone, 5 way lever switch
Finish: Acrylic gloss
Weight: 3.1kgs, 6.8lbs
Hardware: Chrome or gold
South paws: No extra charge
Case: Tweed
Finish Options: 59 burst, cherry burst (shown), cobalt blue, charcoal grey, rebel yellow, planet green, bloodshot red or just naked (no colour).
Rob Williams Guitars will be in some premier division UK guitar shops very soon and we will keep you posted for details.
For all enquires please contact Rob Williams on 01686 689120 or email him at rob@robwilliamsguitars.co.uk