Swope Guitars Geronimo

[Angry Jonny]

I attempted a post to this thread a second ago and somehow it got lost in the ether, so I'll try again:

I LOVE the design of this guitar, Chris! The Dakota Red/White Guard/Black Pickups version is just killer. The pickups are also great in that they are not what we are used to hearing with so many guitars--over-wound, mushiness, etc. While I like Wildwood and Greg Koch's abilities, his style doesn't really do this guitar justice.

The past few months since I first saw this guitar, I've been a little obsessed over it, so don't think your guitar hasn't inspired a few of us. It's equally the cool of a mustang while also being kind of butch and badass. Evokes late 70s/early 80s new-wave and post-punk thoughts. I hope you don't let the criticism here make you rethink it too much. It's really cool.

Keep making that Dakota Red one. One day it will be mine.

[Guitaronimo]

The past few months since I first saw this guitar, I've been a little obsessed over it, so don't think your guitar hasn't inspired a few of us. It's equally the cool of a mustang while also being kind of butch and badass. Evokes late 70s/early 80s new-wave and post-punk thoughts. I hope you don't let the criticism here make you rethink it too much. It's really cool.

Thanks for the kind words Angry Johnny. I like to think I have no problem with constructive criticism. I was, admittedly, a bit oversensitive with some of the not so constructive comments at first. That said, I have made a couple of changes since that Pilot Run that Wildwood has. I changed the knob layout. I scraped up enough money for an injection mold for my covers. That sucked, but I no longer am making the covers myself by vacuum forming... that really sucked! And I now have the pickups suspended from the guard with 3 screws, like a telecaster bridge pickup. That was actually the way my first two versions of this guitar were, though they were totally different pickups. Anyway, I went back and forth with a couple of test guitars and I could not discern a sonic difference. In the end, I felt more players would prefer the option of easily being able to adjust their pickup height to their own preference without having to lift the guard. So the Pilot Run guitars that Wildwood has are unique. Though, I'm sure that there will be minor changes over time if I'm lucky enough to be successful with this. I've got Geronimos with a couple of other dealers now so there will soon be more video to check out. I'm also having another video made that should be very different from Greg Koch's style. Let me know when you buy that Dakota Red one!

[FIREBOT]

Pricing... yes. I, too, have no idea how Bilt can turn a profit. More power to them if they can. Or they may have enough capital behind them to be able to take a loss for years in order to establish their brand in the marketplace. And more power to them if that is the case as well. I dig their guitars and they deserve to succeed.

Resurrecting...

I think the answer to this is "Iowa". I lived and worked in Chicago for a while, but my company at the time had some offices in Iowa and I had to visit occasionally. It is crazy how low the cost of living is. I'd say it was 1/4 to 1/5 the cost of living in Chicago... and Chicago is less than 1/2 the cost of living in LA. I bet their overhead is way under control.

Also, in the years since this thread, I've seen many Swopes in person at the Chicago Music Exchange... totally impressive guitars. The new bass design is awesome too. I might try to pick up a used one next time I shed a few guitars. I'd probably pay the new price on the bass if it was light enough.

[Mechanical Birds]

looks cool but i hate the use of existing hardware. i want people to come up with cool new trem designs and stuff but it never happens ever

[BobL]

Can you imagine the additional resources and skillsets you would need to design, test and produce a different tremolo? One that likely won't be as good as the best stuff already available? Why reinvent the wheel?

[mackerelmint]

looks cool but i hate the use of existing hardware. i want people to come up with cool new trem designs and stuff but it never happens ever

Deed Poll has been tackling that problem.

[Mechanical Birds]

Yeah the trems on his mockups are exactly what I'm talking about - it doesn't have to be a completely new functional tremolo, I'd just like them to be more aesthetically pleasing is all. The trem units on some Bilt guitars are exactly what I mean. use a strat trem, whatever, i'd just like to see some new takes.

[FIREBOT]

The trem units on some Bilt guitars are exactly what I mean.

Bilt just uses Mastery stuff... great stuff, but they didn't design or engineer it.

[Robbo]

Still not really fan of the Geronimo's aesthetics. The GTO, on the other hand...oh, yes.



And if you're after a more Tele-like vibe, there's the MG.

[Mechanical Birds]

The trem units on some Bilt guitars are exactly what I mean.

Bilt just uses Mastery stuff... great stuff, but they didn't design or engineer it.

Maybe now that's all they use but go look at some of the older relevators and they used trems with a completely different base plate that nobody else has used. Looks infinately cool.

[FIREBOT]

The trem units on some Bilt guitars are exactly what I mean.

Bilt just uses Mastery stuff... great stuff, but they didn't design or engineer it.

Maybe now that's all they use but go look at some of the older relevators and they used trems with a completely different base plate that nobody else has used. Looks infinately cool.

Those were just Fender AVRI trems (if I'm not mistaken) mounted to a plate they made that was designed to echo a Fender Maurauder prototype from the 60's. ... not to belabor the point, but hardly an original design or piece of engineering work. Designing a new original bridge, or worse, a tremolo is a crazy amount of work and cost. Almost nobody does it anymore. Staytrems are more of an evolution than a new design... a good one, but still. Mastery, like em or hate em, did come up with a new bridge design, but it seemed to be a shit-ton of work.

[BobL]

Should have an MG in my hands next week... pretty excited to give it a go. I'd been looking for another guitar and leaning towards another tele (my main is a K-Line, 2nd a 335), but wanting something a little different, and this seems like exactly that.

Getting a great deal on a used one - this one, in fact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmVnOCaowRY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BobL]

If anyone is listening...

I got my MG earlier this week. I own a couple other high end electric guitars (K-Line Truxton and Gibson '58 RI ES-335), and have owned a ton (Gibson CS, Fender CS, BiLT, Koll, etc), and I think this is the best playing guitar I have owned - neck is super comfortable, fit/finish are just first rate. They are, in my opinion, worth the price tag, especially when you look at the other guitars at that price point - most comparable guitars from fender/gibson are going to cost you another grand. The pickups are their own thing - not like any others I've had. I feel like they are a combination tele/strat/jazzmaster depending on how I play/which strings - very musical.

[countertext]

If anyone is listening...

I got my MG earlier this week. I own a couple other high end electric guitars (K-Line Truxton and Gibson '58 RI ES-335), and have owned a ton (Gibson CS, Fender CS, BiLT, Koll, etc), and I think this is the best playing guitar I have owned - neck is super comfortable, fit/finish are just first rate. They are, in my opinion, worth the price tag, especially when you look at the other guitars at that price point - most comparable guitars from fender/gibson are going to cost you another grand. The pickups are their own thing - not like any others I've had. I feel like they are a combination tele/strat/jazzmaster depending on how I play/which strings - very musical.

"PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN"' as they say.

[BobL]

Haven't taken any of my own... but it is this one:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmVnOCaowRY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;