Mayones vs GNG vs ESP Custom

[glip22]

Gng is not on the same level as esp cs or mayo.

Mayo and Esp CS are the same quality.

I'm more of a mayo guy personally but it's really up to you at the end of the day.

BTW the Setius is probably my favorite mayones model!

I know you have had the tops of everything and you get respect for sure!
What GNG's have you played? There was no comparison to the ten Mayones I owned. Five Duvels, one being a crotch walnut TEW body. Three Duvells, one a Master builder, a Custom One off Setius and another Setius. The regular Setius GTM was as good or better than the one off. A couple of examples were without flaws but most had something. Mayo needs to learn how to do an oil finish correctly. Their satin was excellent though.
The Negrinis were not perfect in the finish but they felt and sounded the best of all the others. Just a few minor spots. He uses a special made thin finish. Best resonance and tone compared to the Mayos. The most flawless build I have played is a Raptor 7 but the GNG is still much better in clarity, feel, and tone.
They are hand carved and more alive than any of the Mayos I owned and I owned some top end examples.
Newer ESP Customs I have reference for.

 

[Hey_bert_whtcha_doin_bert]

I'm a Mayones guy. I've owned pretty much all of it in one form or another. Never a GNG though for what it's worth... but I don't have any desire to look elsewhere though. What I have is what I've always looked for.

 

[FourT6and2]

Gng is not on the same level as esp cs or mayo.

Mayo and Esp CS are the same quality.

I'm more of a mayo guy personally but it's really up to you at the end of the day.

BTW the Setius is probably my favorite mayones model!

I know you have had the tops of everything and you get respect for sure!
What GNG's have you played? There was no comparison to the ten Mayones I owned. Five Duvels, one being a crotch walnut TEW body. Three Duvells, one a Master builder, a Custom One off Setius and another Setius. The regular Setius GTM was as good or better than the one off. A couple of examples were without flaws but most had something. Mayo needs to learn how to do an oil finish correctly. Their satin was excellent though.
The Negrinis were not perfect in the finish but they felt and sounded the best of all the others. Just a few minor spots. He uses a special made thin finish. Best resonance and tone compared to the Mayos. The most flawless build I have played is a Raptor 7 but the GNG is still much better in clarity, feel, and tone.
They are hand carved and more alive than any of the Mayos I owned and I owned some top end examples.
Newer ESP Customs I have reference for.

I have three Duells. The off-the-shelf Duvell Elite I have is great, but yes... has a number of flaws. But they don't affect the playability or sound of the instrument. For example, the little "wings" of the pickup cavities where the direct-mount screws go... the corners are a bit rounded off and uneven. Hard to notice, but I do. There are a few rough edges or chips in the side of the ebony fretboard where the neck meets the body. Look like tooling marks. Agains, doesn't affect anything. But they are there. It's also an older Duvell Elite. I wonder if newer ones are built better...

The Koa Limited Duvell I have is noticeably better. It is a Custom Shop Duvell.

And then the Buckeye MBC I have is even better than the Koa. You can tell a real Master built this thing. Hands down, the best guitar I've ever played. It is utterly flawless in every way.

 

[Tone Monster]

Please please please take this with a grain of salt as of only own one of those guitars, an ESP Custom.
The ESP is nice no doubt, but I have owned multiple Ken Lawrence Customs and they make the ESP's feel mediocre. Just a whole other level. I guess the point of me saying this is to give my opinion that ESP's are very nice, but are not the pinnacle of craftsmanship.

 

[braintheory]

Are you browsing Jon's guitars

No what's that?

He's a dealer for the three guitars you listed. I would see if he has any build slots. He'll tell you GNG and McNaughts are the best guitars he has played. Red Dragon Guitars..

GNG custom pickups are the best I have heard and his guitars have allot of great things going on. Balance, comfort, resonance, tone. His mahogany is the best I have seen. The Italian Poplar is an awesome tone wood. I would get a Morgoth. The contours of it make it fit to your body. His fanned frets have outstanding playabilty if you go that route. Great neck carves. The tone is very rich and super clear. Hit Giulio up on Facebook to chat. You will see how passionate he is. Something special in the final product. Hard to explain but if you play a Morgoth you can sense his violin making skills but in a metal, hard rock kind of way. The way your pick hand hand rests over the strings. Have to play one which is not easy as there are not many around. I think he's built maybe 250, maybe more now, in the last ten years and this is his livelihood.

Oh yeah I've looked on red dragons website a bunch of times. Never tried any McNaughts either. Do GNG's typically come stock with they're own pickups? I wonder how they'd compare to my favorite such as Wolfetone and Motor City. How do the Rohan, Morgoth and Brea models compare to each other other than in cosmetics?

 

[braintheory]

Gng is not on the same level as esp cs or mayo.

Mayo and Esp CS are the same quality.

I'm more of a mayo guy personally but it's really up to you at the end of the day.

BTW the Setius is probably my favorite mayones model!

I know you have had the tops of everything and you get respect for sure!
What GNG's have you played? There was no comparison to the ten Mayones I owned. Five Duvels, one being a crotch walnut TEW body. Three Duvells, one a Master builder, a Custom One off Setius and another Setius. The regular Setius GTM was as good or better than the one off. A couple of examples were without flaws but most had something. Mayo needs to learn how to do an oil finish correctly. Their satin was excellent though.
The Negrinis were not perfect in the finish but they felt and sounded the best of all the others. Just a few minor spots. He uses a special made thin finish. Best resonance and tone compared to the Mayos. The most flawless build I have played is a Raptor 7 but the GNG is still much better in clarity, feel, and tone.
They are hand carved and more alive than any of the Mayos I owned and I owned some top end examples.
Newer ESP Customs I have reference for.

Have you compared any Regius models to your GNG's?

 

[glip22]

Gng is not on the same level as esp cs or mayo.

Mayo and Esp CS are the same quality.

I'm more of a mayo guy personally but it's really up to you at the end of the day.

BTW the Setius is probably my favorite mayones model!

I know you have had the tops of everything and you get respect for sure!
What GNG's have you played? There was no comparison to the ten Mayones I owned. Five Duvels, one being a crotch walnut TEW body. Three Duvells, one a Master builder, a Custom One off Setius and another Setius. The regular Setius GTM was as good or better than the one off. A couple of examples were without flaws but most had something. Mayo needs to learn how to do an oil finish correctly. Their satin was excellent though.
The Negrinis were not perfect in the finish but they felt and sounded the best of all the others. Just a few minor spots. He uses a special made thin finish. Best resonance and tone compared to the Mayos. The most flawless build I have played is a Raptor 7 but the GNG is still much better in clarity, feel, and tone.
They are hand carved and more alive than any of the Mayos I owned and I owned some top end examples.
Newer ESP Customs I have reference for.

Have you compared any Regius models to your GNG's?

Completely different. Mayones doesn't have that hand made vibe the GNG has. Not that Mayones isn't an excellent brand. It just got old for me. The Regius isnt very comfortable. Maybe the new carved Core is.
Guilos guitars are all handmade. He went to school in Italy and learned the art of violin making from the masters. He has always been on the search to improve his skills and has done many workshops, etc..
I have not played a Ken Lawrence, but I would put GNG in this category.
I have not tried MC pickups but I have played many others. I have a Balrog set and a crossbreed in my Rohan. Best pickups I have played. They stay very clear under gain. They let the sound of the guitar through and are very expressive with excellent balance and lows. They don't feel like high DC. I haven't put a meter on them. Trust me they are special.
I havent played a Brea but Giulio said its close to Morgoth. I would get a Morgoth. I really dig the Sunset Walk finish and almost had him do that on a 6 but it worked out I got a seven sooner. I would get the roasted neck.

Jon can only get two a year. Cliff at Destroy All has some builds with him but I think it will still be a few months. You can check. If you commit to one of Cliffs, you can spec the build. I think Jon is getting two at Namm but one may be sold and the other he may keep but I am not sure.

They are expensive. Jon would work with you on price. Cliff is not very flexible. He has huge medical bills so I understand.
Another thing to keep in mind is it is a leap of faith as not many know about GNG so I would bet resale will not be easy.

 

[cecilbag]

I've had many ESP customs and always find them to be amazing guitars. You can't go wrong with them