Equator Instruments
~hand-made, custom guitars~
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~reviews~
Posted by Lewis Cole who bought a "Standard"
The neck carve is a reasonably thick “C” shape which is something I turned onto after playing a few
old Kramer “baseball bat” necks; it makes for comfortable chording up and down the neck and doesn’
t make my hand cramp up like some “thin” neck styles do. The back of the neck is glossy; but is thin
enough not to be sticky. I always find the neck is the hardest part of the guitar to get right; I’ve had to
pass on a fair few guitars that had a beautiful sound but the neck didn’t “fit”. In contrast this guitar is
like a pair of old jeans; it’s totally effortless to play.
The acoustic sound of this guitar is breathtaking; this is easily one of the most resonant guitars I’ve ever
played. When you hit an open E-chord the headstock vibrates wildly, the sheer volume of the guitar
hits you right away as well. For an electric hollowbody this thing is extremely loud, considerably louder
than my Gibson. That being said it is not a “boomy” loudness which is the trouble with some
hollowbodies, it is quite a “delicate” sound and is extremely touch sensitive. Don’t think that the single
notes and octaves lack body however; they have a nice plump low end. I’m seriously impressed,
being a smaller hollowbody I was a little concerned that it would suffer the “thin weedy sound”
syndrome that some have, I keep looking inside the instrument to try and work out how David did it; so
far I haven’t worked it out!
Posted by Grant Gallagher, who bought a "Mini":
"First off, the way it looks is truly flawless. I couldn't find one imperfection on the binding work and neck
joint is great, amazing upper fret access. Unplugged, the guitar resonates like crazy. Its not just loud
either, it actually sounds like an acoustic guitar. Plugged in is where all the real sweetness comes
through. I used a set of nickel covered Seymour Duncan 59s. Clean, the guitar has an amazing
frequency response. I don't think I've ever laid hands on a guitar which has such a strong, tight yet
thick, bass, lush mids and very crisp treble without approaching ice pick territory. The sound is just
dripping with fatness while still remaining very articulate. Under some mild OD, it dirties up nicely and
again, still remains very articulate. Slap on a cranked tube screamer and you have that classic Trey
Anastasio endless sustain that goes into very harmonically focused, controllable feedback. Even when
clean or under mild OD its so easy to coax it into some sweet feedback. I think its safe to say this guitar
is everything i hoped it would be and more. Its a finely crafted instrument with a stellar tone. I can't see
this guitar ever not being my number one."
Received from Justin Fox who bought a "Mini"
I recently had a Mini Hollowbody (very Langudoc-ish, but 8-10% smaller than a G2) built by David from
Equator Instruments. David is great to work with, a true professional and very much an artist. His
communication skills are excellent and made me feel at ease during the whole process. My guitar
(upon his recommendation) has a carved cedar top, masacare (sp?) sides and walnut back. The neck
(I believe) is made of a wood called Colorado, and the headstock has a clavalin veneer. The neck is a
perfect size for me, and falls somewhere between a Les Paul/SG and a PRS for thickness, which is about
as good as it gets. The fretwork was excellent, and after a setup (I mean come on, the thing traveled
all the way to Minneapolis from Ecuador, of course it needs a tweak or two) it plays perfectly. The
upper fret access is amazing and the tone is outstanding. The mellow cedar top really smoothes out
the Seymour Duncan ‘59s nicely, and it sounds absolutely HUGE, even unplugged. You can tell David
has great attention to detail, as the finish work is great, and the binding and neck joint are fantastic
(two very easy spots to find shoddy workmanship). Overall I’m very pleased with the instrument that
Mr. Coleman has produced here and will definitely work with him in the future on more custom
projects. Thanks David!