Handmade Vs Mass Made

Kuras

Took a trip to @Danielsguitars with @liftman yesterday. We were smitten with every guitar we tried. All of them (maybe 12 or so) had that ineffable quality that is missing in so many modern guitars. Whether one calls it resonance, character, sustain, depth, balance, they seemed to have 'it'. Darren's new range is really interesting, the fret access due to some beautiful sculpting, exciting use of tone woods which make them light as a feather combined with excellent craftsmanship makes for some of the finest guitars I've played in years. Darren was also a brilliant host, he is so passionate and enthusiastic about all things guitar.

Shout out to @poopot too 

tsj93

you've summed it up perfectly, sounds like you enjoyed your visit. Always a treat playing all his guitars, you'd be happy with any of them really. I'm gonna play his new stuff too, what was the new range like? Looks the bollocks to me

ennspek

They are exceptional instruments.

Kuras

The new range is awesome @tsj93. All the refinements make for a versatile and inspiring guitar. I guess that is another thing which is unquantifiable, all the of Darren's built were really fun and exciting to play.

Danielsguitars

Thanks for coming down Tom, glad you enjoyed it.

I'm genuinely excited about the new models coming along, I've said this before but once you go lightweight there's no going back, add in a vintage feel with a nice vintage style neck profile, a fully sculpted back with a cutaway that hasn't a hint of lumpiness makes for a much more enjoyable playable guitar imo, makes a standard Les Paul feel horrible now

I'll be doing an updated burst and custom at some point

liftman

tsj93 said:

you've summed it up perfectly, sounds like you enjoyed your visit. Always a treat playing all his guitars, you'd be happy with any of them really. I'm gonna play his new stuff too, what was the new range like? Looks the bollocks to me

My favourite was one of his new 'Evo' ones- Les Paul shape but with Tele controls and in incredibly light wood,  so resonant and dynamic to play , never played anything like it really. As Darren says above , they have a sculpted back and the kind of no neck- heel so the upper access is all there and much more comfy to sit with. They are all amazing guitars though, and heads-up to anyone after a Jazzmaster- a fantastic Shell pink one going for £1750.

Danielsguitars

For anyone interested this is where we're going using lightweight woods that are sustainable and have a great tone 
The idea is to mix and match pickups etc, I'm doing a p90 firebird neck with a wraptail,

Humbucker p90 and a mojotron build

tsj93

Kuras said:

The new range is awesome @tsj93. All the refinements make for a versatile and inspiring guitar. I guess that is another thing which is unquantifiable, all the of Darren's built were really fun and exciting to play.

well said, just as I thought they would be

liftman said:

tsj93 said:

you've summed it up perfectly, sounds like you enjoyed your visit. Always a treat playing all his guitars, you'd be happy with any of them really. I'm gonna play his new stuff too, what was the new range like? Looks the bollocks to me

My favourite was one of his new 'Evo' ones- Les Paul shape but with Tele controls and in incredibly light wood,  so resonant and dynamic to play , never played anything like it really. As Darren says above , they have a sculpted back and the kind of no neck- heel so the upper access is all there and much more comfy to sit with. They are all amazing guitars though, and heads-up to anyone after a Jazzmaster- a fantastic Shell pink one going for £1750.

nice, i like the idea of the tele control plate, been talking to Darren as to what he prefers, tele or gibson controls. Tele just seems more simple and easier

ThePrettyDamned

Danielsguitars said:

For anyone interested this is where we're going using lightweight woods that are sustainable and have a great tone 
The idea is to mix and match pickups etc, I'm doing a p90 firebird neck with a wraptail,

Humbucker p90 and a mojotron build

Ooo a Floyd.

So like, what does one of these set me back? Looks like a sensible thing to aspire to. 

Funkfingers

There is an extent to which established brands F, G, R and others are trapped into continuing to churn out their greatest hits ad infinitum. This is what many of their customers claim to want. Efforts at innovation are often met with scorn because they are not like the old favourites.

For my tastes, the slab bodied single cutaway models would look better without the metal control plate. (Rear rout in the LP Junior position, please.) A fancy lever selector switch is a good way to govern the coil permutations.

IMO, Filter'Tron, Dyna-Sonic and/or Firebird pickups could prove interesting.

  

Hattigol

liftman said:

tsj93 said:

you've summed it up perfectly, sounds like you enjoyed your visit. Always a treat playing all his guitars, you'd be happy with any of them really. I'm gonna play his new stuff too, what was the new range like? Looks the bollocks to me

My favourite was one of his new 'Evo' ones- Les Paul shape but with Tele controls and in incredibly light wood,  so resonant and dynamic to play , never played anything like it really. As Darren says above , they have a sculpted back and the kind of no neck- heel so the upper access is all there and much more comfy to sit with. They are all amazing guitars though, and heads-up to anyone after a Jazzmaster- a fantastic Shell pink one going for £1750.

Link to the Jazzmaster?

poopot

Hattigol said:

Link to the Jazzmaster?

I’m sure Darren won’t mind me posting the pics...

Danielsguitars

Funkfingers said:

There is an extent to which established brands F, G, R and others are trapped into continuing to churn out their greatest hits ad infinitum. This is what many of their customers claim to want. Efforts at innovation are often met with scorn because they are not like the old favourites.

For my tastes, the slab bodied single cutaway models would look better without the metal control plate. (Rear rout in the LP Junior position, please.) A fancy lever selector switch is a good way to govern the coil permutations.

IMO, Filter'Tron, Dyna-Sonic and/or Firebird pickups could prove interesting.

  

I've been playing my telepaul the most and no plans to change the control plate as standard, I've got some one offs coming that are more traditional, I'll be staying away from the standard layout for my new models going forward

MikeB

That EVO with the p90 and a floyd is really doing it for me. Will be interested to hear some demos of these 2021 models. 

Loving what you are doing and have in the pipeline.

ennspek

@Hattigol no affiliation but I've played that guitar and it was a monster. In a good way!

Danielsguitars

MikeB said:

That EVO with the p90 and a floyd is really doing it for me. Will be interested to hear some demos of these 2021 models. 

Loving what you are doing and have in the pipeline.

Thanks Mike, now I've gone lightweight and fully sculpted there's no going back, a standard LP type just feels heavy and clunky, not only that but my telepaul covers more ground and sounds like a good LP with dirt anyway

I'm also sick of looking for lightweight mahogany.

earwighoney

Danielsguitars said:

MikeB said:

That EVO with the p90 and a floyd is really doing it for me. Will be interested to hear some demos of these 2021 models. 

Loving what you are doing and have in the pipeline.

Thanks Mike, now I've gone lightweight and fully sculpted there's no going back, a standard LP type just feels heavy and clunky, not only that but my telepaul covers more ground and sounds like a good LP with dirt anyway

I'm also sick of looking for lightweight mahogany.

I was going to try to get you some, but a few spanners were thrown in the works....

tsj93

I love that jazzmaster, brings out the creativity in me when I played it. Not much creativity in me to begin with but it brought it out

Danielsguitars

tsj93 said:

I love that jazzmaster, brings out the creativity in me when I played it. Not much creativity in me to begin with but it brought it out

A short scale version would be perfect 

skippy76

Danielsguitars said:

For anyone interested this is where we're going using lightweight woods that are sustainable and have a great tone 
The idea is to mix and match pickups etc, I'm doing a p90 firebird neck with a wraptail,

Humbucker p90 and a mojotron build

Morning all,

I had a chance precovid to try out some of Darren’s guitars and they feel and sound great (they don’t look too shabby either!).

Looking forward to trying one of the new models