[Gitarre] GNG Brea 6

[Silenzer]

Hello all,

the hole review will be in English, because Giulio doesn't speak German. In any case, you can ask questions in german, if you want to ask me something. I will also invite Giulio to answer your questions and read everything.

Buyers group?

Basically anybody that can afford a high end model (American, Japanese, etc.), could also look for one of these guitars. Pro is definitely the high customizability. Nothing is impossible, but you also need to know what you exactly want. It is always a little bit of a gamble and surprise with anything that is custom built. Still maybe that extra penny gives you exactly what you wanted all along! Giulio is famous for his high gloss finishes and his inlay work. He can turn nearly any picture into an overlay for the guitar. In fact for me my journey for another guitar ended with my one here.


Building process


First advice I would give is: plan ahead!

I noticed Giulio over Dr. Viossy on youtube. I contacted him via e-mail and decided to check his guitars out at guitar summit, where he exhibited some of them. Although 3 models were present, sadly no brea was there. This is due to the fact, that morgoth is the most popular model. Most of his guitars are also made on order, which explains why there is no big stock. Only for exhibitions like NAMM special models are made to show, what he can do for you. Hence I tested the fire and ice , which was never sold, but stolen in America with other custom guitars. Meanwhile there is a new version of the fire and ice, if you want to check it out. I used an Engl Powerball II to test it. The guitar was very versatile with a super warm neck pickup and this icy cold bridge pickup. The compound neck from baked maple felt also very good. Later these impressions would have a great impact on the decision for my guitar. The inlay work was really superb. In fact you can't see much inlay work on mine, but you should check out his facebook site, if you are interested in hole pictures as inlays. If interested he can also show in CAD the models.

Another 2 weeks went by until I finalized my decision. I had a lot of ideas in my head, but needed some guidance. So I traveled to his workshop in Switzerland. In the workshop I could see only tools for handmade processing of wood. We talked about all my idea and he gave me good advice. He had an excel sheet, which lead us through the planning step by step. I told him about exactly what tone I wand and which options I want. He told me all about the pros and cons of each decision. Especially for woods he helped me a lot on the decision. While being there I decided for a very nice top.


Waiting time was approximately 1,5 years and building another 6 months.


Pricing
There is a base price for each model and modifications cost accordingly. It really depends on what you are going for and which woods you pick. Hence I won't name prices and please don't ask. Just send a request to Giulio for a free quote.


Specs

25,34"
Baked Flamed Maple Neck
Maple Fretboard
Mahogany Body
Italian exhibition grade poplar top
Sperzel locking tuner
Graphtech Piezo Floyd Rose System
5 Way Switch for magnetic PUs
3 Way Switch for Piezo, Piezo+magnetic PUs or magnetic PUs
Volume Poti with Push-Pull for direct out (bypasses everything and wires bridge to output straight)
GNG PUs Fire (little bit warmer than the original one) and Ice
Glow in the dark dots
Straplocks
Stainless Steel frets
Set neck with smooth transition and deep cut out
flame spectroscopy finish at the front
oil finish at the back

Video:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=108676170818728

Pictures:

Processing and Construction


The guitar is well built with attention to detail. He remembered carefully every wish I had and made it possible. Only my font had lines too thin to be processed, which needed to be changed a little bit. It was fine for me. I was mostly nervous about if the colors would fit nice to each other, because I was going for this flame spectroscopy picture with different elements burning. In the end it worked really well and he added nice colors. Everything on the guitar is really smooth there are no sharp edges. I can play it for a very long time without problems. It stays in tune very well, which might be also due to the floyd rose construction. I noticed these guitars are always very stable for me. Frets are also well made and super smooth.

Fretboard radius feels really comfortable and is a compound style. The thickness is really flat and can be compared to my Loomis 7 string, but a little bit thicker. It's right in the middle. For exact numbers, it would be best to ask Giulio. For me it's about how the guitar feels.

Sound:

There will be sound samples coming, but I don't have too much time right now to do a proper sample. I could only offer sloppy shred cover of evil eye, which is also 1 year old.

The neck PU sound like a violin and sings very nicely. It is best used in solo parts or high notes. It really sings and can be also nicely used in clean parts.

The bridge PU a metal style beast with sharp fangs. It sounds really cold and brutal. Direct out enables it to have even more highs. With direct out it gets louder and cuts brutally through the mix.

The piezo sounds like a real acoustic guitar with the proper amp. Combined with the magnetic PUs, you can get this nice dream theater sounds, where acoustic and electric are blended.

Conclusion

+Construction and Processing
+Sound
+Customization options
+Affordable pricing, but remember taxes!
+never stops to invent and improve
+triber community avaible for the more professional players

+/- Waiting time - There is only one person working in the shop. So you get exactly that great quality, but you have to wait for it

++/--You can also go full crazy custom mode, if you have the money

With this I want to thank everybody, who read until this line. I hope you enjoyed it and welcome you to come up with questions.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[giba]

Hi Silenzer,

vielen Dank für deinen Bericht über eine mir recht unbekannte Marke.
Ich hatte damals deinen Beitrag gelesen, dass du seine Gitarren auf der Messe probiert hast und hohe Ansprüche stellst. Es freut mich, dass sie deine Erwartungen erfüllt, vor allem nach so einer heftigen Wartezeit!
Rein von der Konstruktion wäre sie nichts für mich, ein Floyd Rose kann ich gar nicht richtig bedienen...optisch ist sie aber absolut klasse! Ganz tolle Decke, schöner Farbverlauf und auch der Hals/Korpus Übergang sieht super aus.

Verbaut GNG immer selbstgewickelte Pickups, oder verwendet er auch Pickups anderer Marken?
Ist der geringe Unterschied ggü. einer „Fender-Mensur“ spürbar?

LG

Christian

 

[Silenzer]

Hi Christian,

er verbaut auch andere PUs, aber tatsächlich verlangen es Leute recht selten. Sustainer gibt es auch z.B. Claudio Pietronik hat da wirklich schöne Lieder, die er damit spielt. Hier mit EMGs:

Meistens werden auch TT frets genommen, aber darauf habe ich verzichtet. Falls das jemanden interessieren sollte. Hierbei besitzt er die Lizenz zur Konstruktion. Er fräst und setzt die frets selbst ein.

Ja die Wartezeit ist schon ein bischen zährend gewesen, aber nach so 6 Monaten wars dann nicht mehr so stark im Kopf. Dann war es erträglicher, aber das ist auch das Leid von seinem 1 Mann-Betrieb. In Amerika hat er einen Vertreiber, der immer wieder Gitarren möchte. Zusätzlich geh er auf viele Shows und dann kommen doch ein paar Kunden auf der ganzen Welt zusammen.

Übrigens gibt es auch bis zu 10 Saiten im Angebot. Die Shen habe ich auch schon gespielt und lässt sehr ausgefallene Ideen zu. Von Vorteil ist, wenn man sehr große Hände hat. Für mich war sie noch normal spielbar.

Freut mich, dass der review und die Gitarre dir gefällt.

Für mich ist es in der Tat spürbar, aber ich bin da vermutlich auch empfindlicher als Andere. Also gerade beim schnelleren Spielen oder beim Benden habe ich es schon gemerkt. Für mich ist es einfach komfortabel gewesen udn deswegen habe ich es gewählt.

 

[RED-DC5]

Die sieht mal richtig toll aus, wünsche viel Freude damit.

Grüße