A very special NGD for me.

Bucket

Some of you may recall a thread I did a year or two ago, when I was deliberating on which guitar to save up for. At the time I was pretty much dead set on a Jackson PC-1, but was also considering a great number of other things - from R8 Les Pauls and CS Teles, to Tom Andersons and Music Mans (Men?).

However, one thing that stood out from an early stage as a "want" was a Blackmachine B6. I'd seen them become a big thing as Periphery mania swept the guitar-playing part of the internet community, and didn't really buy into the hype. It was only when I first played one that I realised WHY these guitars were special. That was a few years ago, and I have been dreaming of owning one for a long time. Their scarcity and the talk of an impossible waiting list put me off, but having actually got in touch with Jon at @FelineGuitars, I went ahead and put down a deposit. Yesterday, I went to pick it up.

http://i.imgur.com/gd3rVMN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/r7V03ss.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/pfbg1NP.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kvu2nUo.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/NdzgXOH.jpg

This guitar is a whole new level - head, shoulders, lungs, colon and bollocks above anything else I have ever owned.

If you're thinking it looks like a boneheaded metal guitar that isn't much use for anything else, you would be amazed. I'd put the clean sound up there with anything else I've played - it's warm, rich, full of clarity and definition as well as body and punch. The middle position in particular is sublime. @TheGuitarWeasel has really excelled himself with these pickups - they're the best higher-output humbuckers I've ever heard, by a country mile.

It helps that they sit in such an astonishingly resonant guitar. This is probably the loudest unplugged solid-body I have ever laid hands on - it rings, and rings, and rings. Almost like an acoustic. Weight-wise... I don't have an exact figure but I wouldn't be surprised if it was under 6 lb. It's noticeably lighter than my Junior, which is the other lightest guitar I have. And it is such a beautifully crafted instrument as well - a real quality item. It's a stark, stripped-down and purely functional design, almost industrial. Beautiful British engineering! And it plays, sounds and feels like only the utmost care has been taken over it, which I know is indeed the case.

To play, it is practically rocket-powered. It's set up with heavier strings and a higher action than I have long been used to, but it doesn't matter a bit - it's absolutely effortless. It makes me feel like I have super powers. The neck is not a skinny little Ibanez-style thing either - think modern-day Fender kind of thickness and you're in the ballpark. A sublimely comfortable neck profile too, and a quality of fretwork and set-up that makes the whole thing feel like it's practically playing itself. It is the easiest, and most comfortable guitar to play that I have ever owned. And that incredibly light, resonant, thin ash body has such an immediate, punchy response - the notes practically explode out of it.

I gigged it last night, straight off the bat, and was a bit nervous about the lack of inlays given that our material is pretty complicated and requires a lot of jumping around the neck. But it just felt so natural, and the sound was utterly perfect. I didn't have to make a single adjustment for it, I just got on with playing, and it spurred me on to play better and better.

I admit, I also get something of a kick out of the fact it's so rare and such an iconic modern guitar - I'm not sure exactly how many B6s exist, but I know it's less than a hundred. I feel so fortunate to even be able to own one. I keep looking over at it and being amazed that it's even mine. When I was thinking about what to buy, all that time ago, I knew that it had to be something that I would want to keep forever. And indeed, you will have to prise this guitar out of my cold, dead hands.

The best analogy I can make is an automotive one - this is, beyond doubt, the McLaren P1 of guitars.

Winny_Pooh

Awesome, looks like a great choice for you. Would love to try one one day.

BloodEagle

That looks fantastic - slightly jealous!

SquireJapan

Welcome to the club - best guitar I've ever owned. Will never sell mine.

Agree with everything you've said. I always liked the the lack of inlays for aesthetic reasons, but like you was slightly concerned that I'd get lost. I don't  

Country fan friend of mine was amazed when he played mine - very expressive guitar.

guitarfishbay

Congratulations, a very cool guitar indeed.

I guess this design is proof of how much rigidity is a factor in guitar building rather than mass being the only way a guitar can sound good and be loud/resonant acoustically.  

I've had a couple of guitars with no front fret markers and you get used to using the side ones very quickly.  I'd actually expect that over time you'll end up using the side dots more on most guitars as a result of playing this regularly enough.

Dave_Mc

awesome

steer

So, you quite like it then?



Happy NGD. 

DrBob

Well done that man ! Beautiful guitar.
Must confess I don't go anywhere near the kind of music that you would perceive as being the kind you would play on a Blackmachine but I did have the good fortune to play one when I was over visiting Jonathan at Feline a few years back and I do really want one. They are incredible things 

OilCityPickups

Glad you like the guitar ... and very glad you like the pickups :-) If I 'popped me clogs' without designing another  pickup I'd be happy that the Blackbird served as a reminder of what I could do ... it's my favorite of all those I produce I think, and I hear so much astounding music played on them (particularly when paired with the B6 Blackmachine).
The Blackbird has a new stablemate (or should that be hanger mate) by the way, The Blackbird 'Ulfberht' (named after a famous Medieval sword maker).
This is basically a ceramic powered (and slightly beefed up in output) at the bridge, and alnico 5 powered at the neck. Still all the clarity and usefulness clean ... but with a bit more raw ommmph in the bridge.

ESBlonde

Not my saucer of tea, but I'm sure it's a wonderful machine. Enjoy in good health.

Ravenous

Phwoar very tasteful - and I agree about the "stripped down" sort of look.

I also like the lack of inlays on the fretboard by the way, not that votes count for much.

Gassage

It's not green. Why not?

Vibetronic

beautiful guitar, got to be NGD of the year so far. Love the plain finish. Just need some clips of you playing it now 

bobliefeld

Beautiful.  

Flanging_Fred

Dibs. 

RocknRollDave

Where are you taking it to get the Bigsby fitted.....?

Sassafras

I like the idea of a thin bodied electric especially with that nice wood grain on show.

guitarfishbay

RocknRollDave said:

Where are you taking it to get the Bigsby fitted.....?

LOL

It'd be worth photoshopping one on just to post it on Sevenstring.org

Bucket

And I did it all without any recourse to a GoFundMe campaign

guitarmangler

Well jell! HNG

stickyfiddle

Fantastic. I have no want for such an instrument but I'm well aware how bloody good they are. Excellent GAS