Incoming NGD custom Dunable Asteroid [V-style]

[FleshOnGear]

It’s almost ready to ship!

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Why, it's lovely, June!
Dig the Les Paul Custom fretboard too.

 

[FleshOnGear]

Why, it's lovely, June!
Dig the Les Paul Custom fretboard too.

It’s funny, I had specified dot inlays, but they goofed and made it with blocks. I was going for a more minimal “Special” kind of look, but the blocks do look nice. They gave me the option to have another made, but that seemed ridiculous.

 

[Kutt]

That thing is SICK. Congratulations! The block inlays look fantastic, flowing nicely to/from the headstock. Tear it up.

 

[Mike_LA]

Hope it works out for you.
Dunable HAD a storefront space close by, but it didn't last and shut down a little while ago.
I went in there and found the staff to be condescending and the instruments, while interesting look at, were uninspiring to play.

 

[FleshOnGear]

Hope it works out for you.
Dunable HAD a storefront space close by but it didn't last and shut down a little while ago.
I went in there and found the staff to be condescending and the instruments, while interesting look at were uninspiring to play.

Well, that’s not encouraging. We will certainly see. He was basically the only guy who could make what I wanted for a reasonable price. Of course, if the guitar feels crappy or sounds dull, that’s a problem.

I’ve heard that the necks are a bit thick (which I actually like), and that the bodies are highly resonant. But those were just anecdotes. The proof is in the pudding. Trust that I will give an honest review when I can.

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Congrats on the incoming V
Looks great to me

 

[FleshOnGear]

The guitar is in my house! But I’m at work, and the clock on the wall has seemingly come to a grinding halt.

 

[JJ119]

SWEET!!!

HNGD!!!

 

[FleshOnGear]

Okay - I like the guitar a lot. It feels good, looks good, has a nice acoustic ring. But, the pickups are dull sounding, which makes it less fun to play.

I don’t feel like writing all the details about the guitar right now. There are a couple of minor imperfections that I can live with, but the main problem is the pickups.

 

[TheKman76]

... but the main problem is the pickups.

At least a relatively simple fix. Custom guitars are always a risk in this regard.

I built a guitar from Australian hardwoods during COVID lockdowns. The pickups I used sounded epic in the donner guitar but became really bass heavy in the custom.

Good luck with the new beasty!

P.S. I think the block inlays fit the guitar perfectly.

 

[FleshOnGear]

Here are some things I noticed about the guitar that are less than ideal for me.

1. The frets seem smaller than what I asked for. I asked for Jescar 55090-S frets, but these seem significantly shorter than 0.055” tall. I have to get a new battery for my calipers so I can check.
2. There’s a bit of a divot underneath the side edge of the Tusq nut. It’s not a smooth, seamless transition from the nut to the neck.
3. The polepieces of the middle and neck pickups don’t line up exactly with the strings.
4. The middle pickup is set too high, and there’s not enough spring or rubber tubing between the baseplate and the pickguard to lower the pickup.
5. Pickup selections 3 and 4 are not as discussed, and do not cancel hum.
6. The neck is wider than I’m used to, and the strings don’t spread out to the full width. It just seems needlessly wide.

Generally I’m not that picky about these kinds of details, but this was not a cheap off the shelf guitar. There’s a lot to like about the guitar, though. I like the thickness of the neck. The finish is nice looking and feeling. The weight is great, and it balances well. It has a beautiful resonance - an open airy top end with deep sustaining lows.

 

[Mike_LA]

Yah, pretty much my experience with Dunable instruments. Found the frets lacking in the ones that I played too.
Hope it works out for you.

 

[lespaul339]

That's a bummer to hear. I've never played a Dunable, but years ago, my old metal band I was in once opened up for Sacha Dunable's band Intornaut. I wasn't in that band anymore, but I went to the gig to support them. Sacha seemed like a nice enough dude when I met him. Hopefully he takes care of the issues for you or offers some kind of compensation for the things you're unhappy about.

 

[FleshOnGear]

Lol. I’m on crack, and I didn’t even realize it. The neck is narrower than my Gibson Flying V. The calipers do not lie. Also, the top of the frets measure 0.060” from the board, so they used the right wire. So really, the only issue that’s particularly troublesome is the pickups.

 

[FleshOnGear]

That's a bummer to hear. I've never played a Dunable, but years ago, my old metal band I was in once opened up for Sacha Dunable's band Intornaut. I wasn't in that band anymore, but I went to the gig to support them. Sacha seemed like a nice enough dude when I met him. Hopefully he takes care of the issues for you or offers some kind of compensation for the things you're unhappy about.

Sacha has been very helpful and friendly through the process of building this guitar. At one point he sent me pictures of the guitar after he finished it, and it was this awful yellow. There was a misunderstanding between us over what ‘white blonde’ meant. He refinished it without complaint.

I haven’t brought up the issue of the pickups yet, but I’m not sure what he can do. They wind their own, so it seems unlikely I could get him to spring for someone else’s pickups. I guess you don’t know until you ask.

As for the playability of the guitar, it compares favorably to my Gibson V. I think I had a bit of a hump getting used to the 25-1/2” scale, even though the Dunable has lighter strings on it than my Gibson. The neck heel is really well contoured, and it joins at the 19th fret rather than the 17th like on the Gibson. That might also be part of why I needed some time to get used to the Dunable - the Gibson ends up feeling more compact, while the Dunable feels bigger overall.

As I said above, the weight, balance, and resonance are very nice. The Gibson edges out the Dunable a bit on acoustic resonance, but I can appreciate their differences. The Gibson has a more vocal midrange and more percussive pop, while the Dunable has deeper lows and more of a shimmering top end. Maybe the Dunable will open up over time; it is 21 years younger than the Gibson, after all. I look forward to hearing what it sounds like with better pickups.