Bilt guitars??

[thesneakyjesus]

Has anyone played these guitars? Any strong opinions in either direction? They look great, and the top end Relevator has onboard fuzz and delay, which is wild. Not sure how to feel about that. The price tag on most of them would put me in the same playing field as some pretty nice jazzmasters, just looking for some experienced opinions.

Thanks!

[wooderson]

I have a Zaftig, the offset semi-hollow with Lollar Regals. It's great - the finish is perfect, the neck feels great. Top shelf hardware (Mastery bridge and trem unit). A little odd because they favor the flatter 9.5" modern radius with vintage frets but I don't notice that much difference in radii and frets to be honest.

[HNB]

I played one. The necks are great. Pickups are usually pretty awesome. Loads of options to customize and loads of color options. Mine was great.

[transients]

I've played three different Zaftigs and instantly loved every single one. Always impeccable fit and finish, always top quality from top to bottom. I often daydream about ordering a custom build from them

[Maggieo]

I have a Zaftig, the offset semi-hollow with Lollar Regals. It's great - the finish is perfect, the neck feels great. Top shelf hardware (Mastery bridge and trem unit). A little odd because they favor the flatter 9.5" modern radius with vintage frets but I don't notice that much difference in radii and frets to be honest.

Seconded. Sounds great, feels great, impeccably made. Also, gorgeous:


BilT Guitars, S.S. Zaftig, November 04, 2017 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

[smjenkins]

+1. I love my Bilt. They generally have great taste on the colors, materials, pickups and H/W they choose. And the fit and finish is top notch. I always think of it as what the Fender custom shop would be if Leo and George could run it today and had no historical constraints on what they could steal from.

[thesneakyjesus]

Thanks for posting pics. Those guitars are sweeeeeet. I'm gearing up to pull the trigger on something new in the next few days or so, just trying to really make my mind up about what I want. I'm considering an AVRI62 or AV65 Jazzmaster, or a BilT Relavator. Unfortunately there are no shops anywhere near me where I can try any of these guitars. Trying to rely on opinions of owners and youtube sound clips (both of which can be dubiously trustworthy sources, to be sure). I'm pretty narrowed down to the following three guitars as of now, the BilT being the most expensive, but it comes stock with all mastery hardware and Lollar JM pickups. Decisions...

[Maggieo]

+1. I love my Bilt. They generally have great taste on the colors, materials, pickups and H/W they choose. And the fit and finish is top notch. I always think of it as what the Fender custom shop would be if Leo and George could run it today and had no historical constraints on what they could steal from.

God, I want one of those, like Nels' with the Goldfoils in Sunburst, soooooo bad.

[Maggieo]

FWIW, I never did care for the AVRI '62 pickups. When I put some Antiquities and orange drop caps in my ECJM, it came alive.

Go with a Bilt, or budget for new hardware and pickups.

[smjenkins]

God, I want one of those, like Nels' with the Goldfoils in Sunburst, soooooo bad.

You mean like this one?

https://reverb.com/item/4818845-bilt-vo ... erial-1614

Edit: whoops, that one is an XII

[Gavanti]

BilTs are great. I’ve had three at various times, all really nice guitars. They lose a chunk in resale if you buy new, but that’s true of AV Fenders also. If there’s one that catches your eye, it’s worth it.

[Mechanical Birds]

I basically asked this same thing to Mike Adams once and he told me 100 times out of 100 he'd suggest I go with the Bilt. They're only touched by two guys, maticulously inspected at every phase of production and loaded with top notch hardware, let alone the fact that you can customize it however you want. You want an AV65 JM? Well, you can get it in white. Cool?

The AV65 offsets are some of the best guitars I've ever played, but given the chance to own a Relevator or Zaftig I wouldn't hesitate for a second.

[Despot]

I had a Bilt Relevator for about a year. I custom ordered it from the guys at Bilt (which is basically how you order these guitars, as they're all custom spec) who couldn't have been nicer.

I basically wanted a Jazzmaster in Relevator form - so no onboard effects or other fancy options for electronics - just two Lollar JM pickups. I did order ice blue metallic with dots and binding - basically the AV65 Jazzmaster I would have liked to have been able to buy. I also asked them to carve the same neck profile as the AV65 ... which they did, and even improved on it in a few little subtle ways.

What was so incredible about this guitar (to my mind) was the fact that it was a newly made and shipped from Des Moines to Ireland in March (so from really quite cold to a lot milder but more humid). The guitar was so stable that I didn't need to set it up - I've always had to set up new Fenders - tweaking truss rods etc. The Bilt was 100% right out of the case - all I did was tune it up and play it.

So why don't I have it anymore? I bought a vintage Jazzmaster ... Sully, my 1962 sunburst JM. That guitar is like an extension of my hands more so than anything I've ever played. The Bilt was traded in a long round of trades/exchanges that led to me being able to buy that Jazzmaster (along the line I ended up with a '76 Jazzmaster that now belongs to Ryan Adams).

As much as I miss that Bilt I understand that in letting it go I raised the cash to buy the JM. I'm okay with that given what it led to.

If you're thinking about buying a Bilt - whether it's new or second hand - I'd certainly recommend it. They make great guitars. If you're buying someone else's old Bilt just check it's spec as much as you can - they'll make you anything really, so there's always an outside chance that someone spec'd a super skinny or thin A width neck or something ... but it's unlikely to be too odd. More often than not the common denominator between us all is a B width C shape medium neck!

[marqueemoon]

I've played a few Zaftigs. They're nice guitars.

Some Bilts are a little over the top in the aesthetics department for me though.

[Despot]

The decider for me was the price.

A Bilt Relevator LS (less stuff - the non-effects version) ran to about 1,800 USD at the time. With the additional upcharges (binding and metallic colour) and paying custom charges, due to the FX rate at the time I think I had it landed/delivered for the same in euro (1,800 euro). A 65AV Jazzmaster cost 2,100 euro.

I did the maths and realised that I could custom spec the Bilt exactly how I wanted it and have it for less than if I went out and bought an AV Jazzmaster from a bricks and mortar store here in Dublin.

I didn't go crazy on the spec (IBM and D&B after all isn't exactly going bonkers), but I wanted a very Jazzmaster-y Relevator. If you wanted something very specific they'll do it for you. Want a Gibson carve and neck width? They'll do it. Want any combination of pickups that can reasonably be mounted onto the pickguard - they'll do it (and that's one of the reasons why they cut a swimming pool rout under the pickguard as standard to allow this - either when they put it together, or down the line if you decide to make changes yourself).