Mystery guitar brand

ThePrettyDamned

I remember, about a decade ago (or maybe a hair more) going into the huge virgin megastore in London and visiting the music shop underneath. They had these guitars which were probably made in Japan or Korea that were really spiky and metal - not very attractive! I quite fancy one but have no idea what the brand was. Doesn't seem to exist anymore... 

Long shot but can anyone remember? They retailed for between 500 and 2000 I think... 

Lebarque

BC Rich?

guitars4you

If it was around 10/12 years ago then Sound Control had a branch within the Virgin Store - S Control went bankrupt around this time as well - At the time apart from the regular best selling lines I recall they sold/imported Alvarez, I recall Schecter and their own brand called something like Santa Fe

SteveRobinson

Maverick? Not unattractive though

stimpsonslostson

https://d1aeri3ty3izns.cloudfront.net/media/5/5199/1200/preview.jpg

ThePrettyDamned

Not maverick or bc rich...  

boogieman

Shine? Korean brand. They did some regular Fender/Gibson copies but also weird pointy stuff too 

Unless you mean extremely weird .... Minnarek Inferno? 

Kittyfrisk

Vaguely recall seeing ESP's in that there London town store.

stickyfiddle

Not just Dean Dimebag models? 

Parker

I remember that was a Soho Soundhouse. They had some fairly unique-to-them brands at times and reasonable prices. Japanese IIRC. They definitely had some Schecters too.

ThePrettyDamned

They were not a current brand - I remember comparing them to Dean and BC Rich. There was a band that I saw with one in a music video but can't remember band or guitar...!

How frustrating. Is there a place for historic catalogues for that store? 

ThePrettyDamned

They were pointier than dimebag razorback. 

ThePrettyDamned

Maybe it was these?

https://www.nealmoserguitars.com/store/store_results.php?pageNum_Catalog=7&totalRows_Catalog=9&Brand=2&Section=neal-moser-guitars

I feel like they were factory built though, not custom... 

MattP

Minarik, maybe? 

I seem to remember seeing an Inferno there...

guitargeek62

MattP said:

Minarik, maybe? 

I seem to remember seeing an Inferno there...

Yep, me too - they were pretty out there and would certainly match the description! Amazingly, they’re still going!

http://www.minarikguitars.com/

dazzajl

guitargeek62 said:

MattP said:

Minarik, maybe? 

I seem to remember seeing an Inferno there...

Yep, me too - they were pretty out there and would certainly match the description! Amazingly, they’re still going!

http://www.minarikguitars.com/

I don’t know if that’s a guitar website or a piece of satire? 

Parker

We had a new Minarik through the shop. My boss loved it. I thought it was a piece of shit.

The brand I was struggling to remember that Soho Soundhouse sold was Starfire. Think they were Fender / Guild owned. 

Fishboy7

One on ebay here:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/283594106925

The shape reminds me of an oven ready chicken. 

ThePrettyDamned

Not minarik, that still exists. This one I've not seen or heard from.

I feel like it's the moser brand, but they're custom only... These were factory guitars.