peterc52
Well-known member
Really didn’t like the one I hat. Lots of issues
J
jaycal6
New member
Too many QC horror stories. It’s a shame because I like Ola and he seems like a straight shooter. But especially without being able to return them, no way.
DrewJD82
Well-known member
It’s a very comfy medium C on my E-type. Not as thick as the Edwards LPC neck with much more shallow shoulders.
As for QC issues, I can’t help to assume that a lot of them turned into “let’s hate on the YouTuber brand” shit, especially in regards to the cracked fingerboards. If you keep imploring for actual proof, you’ll never get it. Sevenstring.org has a few guys who supposedly dealt with it but have no proof and they never shy away from bashing Solars every chance they get. And then you eventually work your way back to one guy who has pics…..of the Solar he bought used at GC that Solar wouldn’t honor the warranty on and now it’s his life’s mission to shit on Solar.
Mine was a B-stock, the “dent” on the face of the guitar took me 5 minutes to find when I received it and it had $200 knocked off as a result. My buddy (he posts over at TheGearForum) has 5-6 Solars now, only issue he’s run into was a sanding issue on the neck he believes just playing will smooth it out when his thumb runs over it.
Maybe I got lucky and just got a REALLY good one, but the fit and finish on mine was fucking perfect. If they hadn’t told me about the “dent” I never would have noticed it. Disclosing that was for the TGP types. Compared to my ‘97 JEM7V I bought new and it had multiple issues right out of the gate, the thing is flawless. My normal setup routine is to adjust the action, add a pinch of neck relief and intonation, all I did when I got this was made slight adjustments for 10’-52’s instead of 9’s, put it in drop-C and I haven’t touched it since. If I kept it in standard, I wouldn’t have had to do anything to it.
The fretwork, especially-
That said- the Solar logo is lifting around the edges a bit. I couldn’t care less, wicking some CA glue down in there would resolve it, I just don’t give a shit. (Note how clean that truss rod route is….if we’re comparing to higher end guitars, I’ve rarely seen an MIJ Ibanez with a cleaner route….if ever)
I think this thing was like $1230 shipped to my door. Blows away *any* Ibanez Premium I’ve played since those have been out. I’ve been a lifelong Ibanez fanboy, but when I go for my next 24-fret shredder, I’m going straight to Solar and won’t even be looking at Ibanez. Even the 90’s MIJs can’t sway me at this point, not when they’re competing against ebony boards and SS frets.
I tried finding the “dent” on the face of the guitar, I can’t find it now, especially in the midst of the damage I’ve done to it since I bought it. There’s some scars from a butcher knife incident where I drunkenly made an example of “It doesn’t matter what it looks like as long as it plays good” on it….very stupidly.
Edit- the volume pot has gotten scratchy after nearly 2 years of use. While it got scratchy faster than other pots have on new guitars, I can’t find myself caring that much about something that takes 10 minutes to fix or 2 minutes and some pot cleaner.
As for QC issues, I can’t help to assume that a lot of them turned into “let’s hate on the YouTuber brand” shit, especially in regards to the cracked fingerboards. If you keep imploring for actual proof, you’ll never get it. Sevenstring.org has a few guys who supposedly dealt with it but have no proof and they never shy away from bashing Solars every chance they get. And then you eventually work your way back to one guy who has pics…..of the Solar he bought used at GC that Solar wouldn’t honor the warranty on and now it’s his life’s mission to shit on Solar.
Mine was a B-stock, the “dent” on the face of the guitar took me 5 minutes to find when I received it and it had $200 knocked off as a result. My buddy (he posts over at TheGearForum) has 5-6 Solars now, only issue he’s run into was a sanding issue on the neck he believes just playing will smooth it out when his thumb runs over it.
Maybe I got lucky and just got a REALLY good one, but the fit and finish on mine was fucking perfect. If they hadn’t told me about the “dent” I never would have noticed it. Disclosing that was for the TGP types. Compared to my ‘97 JEM7V I bought new and it had multiple issues right out of the gate, the thing is flawless. My normal setup routine is to adjust the action, add a pinch of neck relief and intonation, all I did when I got this was made slight adjustments for 10’-52’s instead of 9’s, put it in drop-C and I haven’t touched it since. If I kept it in standard, I wouldn’t have had to do anything to it.
The fretwork, especially-
That said- the Solar logo is lifting around the edges a bit. I couldn’t care less, wicking some CA glue down in there would resolve it, I just don’t give a shit. (Note how clean that truss rod route is….if we’re comparing to higher end guitars, I’ve rarely seen an MIJ Ibanez with a cleaner route….if ever)
I think this thing was like $1230 shipped to my door. Blows away *any* Ibanez Premium I’ve played since those have been out. I’ve been a lifelong Ibanez fanboy, but when I go for my next 24-fret shredder, I’m going straight to Solar and won’t even be looking at Ibanez. Even the 90’s MIJs can’t sway me at this point, not when they’re competing against ebony boards and SS frets.
I tried finding the “dent” on the face of the guitar, I can’t find it now, especially in the midst of the damage I’ve done to it since I bought it. There’s some scars from a butcher knife incident where I drunkenly made an example of “It doesn’t matter what it looks like as long as it plays good” on it….very stupidly.
Edit- the volume pot has gotten scratchy after nearly 2 years of use. While it got scratchy faster than other pots have on new guitars, I can’t find myself caring that much about something that takes 10 minutes to fix or 2 minutes and some pot cleaner.
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ClintN667
Well-known member
It's really a mixed bag as are most Indonesian guitars. Oddly enough all of the LTD I've played from Indo have been solid as have the Jackson Pro series. To me the QC is along the lines of a Jackson X series or JS32.
I have friends that bought B stock and couldn't find anything wrong then I know a few people that bought some that should have never made it to the warehouse in Spain. When I bought mine Ola was going over and inspecting them. When that stopped during covid that's when everything started going south. It's a crap shoot and I loved the ones I had and I'm a huge supporter of Ola but I wouldn't buy one without playing it first and even then I would be hesitant.
I have friends that bought B stock and couldn't find anything wrong then I know a few people that bought some that should have never made it to the warehouse in Spain. When I bought mine Ola was going over and inspecting them. When that stopped during covid that's when everything started going south. It's a crap shoot and I loved the ones I had and I'm a huge supporter of Ola but I wouldn't buy one without playing it first and even then I would be hesitant.
skoora
Well-known member
Was perusing their site again and they have some 3K guitars. Made in Europe I guess?
angelspade
Well-known member
I still feel like the ESP/LTD line really continues to lead the pack in terms of the reliability / quality control / tone at the low - medium price point.