The picture of that in my head looks pretty, and probably is killer, but I'd take a Ran soloist shape with esp reverse headstock over that.

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How much will it cost?

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It is costing me approximately 1780 euros including shipping and case. Im not sure how much the most expensive RAN was but i think this may be up there, and it may be the first RAN in Canada, not too sure though. Either way im excited as hell

I wanna get a 7 string Ran but I don't know wether I should go for the Warrior shape which would be so kvlt and grim or the regular RG shape, which I luuuuuv.

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ordering my 2nd Ran next month....that is unless I decide to buy a new amp

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Alright so I email Dariusz about the whole situaton. I also went to a local lutherie and talked to him about filling the fretboard cracks and routing a neck pup in there . Emails:

"Coury Ditch to Ran

Hey, long time no talk. I got the custom RR with white pinstripes from you about a year ago. Just wanted to update you on some things, over winter I got around 5-6 cracks down the fretboard on the 19-24th frets. I dont know if this kinda thing happens a lot, and I also know Colorado is very dry so that might have caused the cracks. I was gonna take it to a local lutheir and get it repaired along with some other work and I wanted to see if you had any input.

Another thing, while at the lutheir I was gonna have a neck humbucker routed in. I told the shop tech I was gonna try to get ahold of you and get a copy of the orignal routing template for the pickup cavity. I also wanted to see if you had any input on this decision of routing a neck pup cavity in, also is thee anything I should know about the guitar that might affect the process of routing a neck pup cavity in?

Thanks,
Coury Ditch"

-----------------------------------------


"Hi Coury,
right, a little time passed.

The Colorado, is area about the lowest humidity in USA...today, I checked out the weather in your area...now is 16° C of temperature and 12% of humidity, so it`s VERY dry...in these conditions, wood must crack.
40% to 60% relative humidity is considered normal.

At Ran Guitars, we build at 48% relative humidity and 22° C (like most guitar builders). These conditions give the guitars their best chance for survival when exposed to extreme conditions for a short period of time.

You can use the ebony powder with epoxy for filling these cracks up.

About template...if you want, I can prepare the routing template, then the luthier can route a cavity in, without no problem...there are no contraindications.

Best regards
Dariusz Kuczynski"

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"Alright, that explains a lot.

That would be great if you could send a template. Would you make one and mail it? or email me the outline we can print out in a picture?"

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"I`ll make a template and send it to you...to the same address?


dk"
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Great, more excellent service from Big D.

How should one do to prevent the fretboard to crack? I also got ebony on my guitars. Lemonoil? How often? Twice a year?

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I use boar oil on mine roughly about twice a year yeah.

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get a humidifier to put in your case and keep your guitar in your case when your not playing.

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well it no ran.

its not even done yet.

the builder went for a holliday and sent me what he had sofar of the guitar, so its completely unfinished, just in the first stage of playability, lots of things need to egt changed aswell.

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nice what pickups are those ?

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Fucking sweet! You should tell this guy to advertise himself on the web.

DEAR GOD try and tell me that's not ridiculously good service ( :O he checked the fucking weather!!!!!!)

Big D did me a BIIIIIIIIG favor by pushing my construction time down a tad so I could save cash on shipping


Heh, I'm actually planning to go to poland (i have citizenship in America + Poland, which i think technically means the entire European Union) to study for a bit, as the education over there is excellent. Maybe i could get a 2nd Ran made (was thinking about getting a RG/Soloist style w/ AANJ + quilted maple top) and save again on shipping. :P

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seymour duncan fullshred (neck)
seymour duncan distortion (bridge)

im not sure iff il keep the sd fullsghred inthere, its sounding a bit to swet for my taste, the guitar ive been playing before thisone had a benedetto mini humbucker init, that thing gives the most beatifull tones ive ever heard, not alot of output though.

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That looks insanely hawt.

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That looks wicked . I have the full shred pickup in the neck of one of my guitars, not to impressed with it. It was a tremendous amount of output but thats about all its good for. When's is it going to be finished? I'm expecting my Ran about August or September and im already incredibly excited so with a guitar that close to completion you must barely be able to contain yourself .

yeah the fullshred sounds to sweet, ints not agrerssive in anyway, it doesnt sound like a real neck pu either i just had it putit in there cuz i had it laying around in my room

its gonna get finished when the builder comes back from a holliday , dont ask me when

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hey guys (and girls if there are any)! I'm new to the forum, so hello to everyone!

I dont have a RAN yet, but I plan to order in a few month. its about time after bugging Dariusz with questions, custom-quotes and whatnot for about a year now

its gonna be custom shaped and all that, and most probably a 7-string (just got into 7-string-playing some 2 months ago, so that MAY change back to a 6 again, but I dont think so). got most of the specs worked out now but there still are a few things to be desided

praise to Dariusz for being so patient and answering all of my (many) questions so quickly!!

Estimated completion date for my Ran: September... a long wait for me!

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I've had my Ran for about a month and a half now, so I decided that after this little honeymoon period that I would show you, the public, pictures of my beauty.

Dinosaur Case
Body
Head
Frets
Bridge
Back
Guitar In Case

Sweet. I love the body colour and kelly shape. the second picture is the best with the shiny mother of pearl inlays

sweet jesus. that looks like a warrior to me.

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On "gitaar4" whats with that really gay looking guitar on the right?

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whahhaha omgomgomgomgomg dude, it is a warrior shape thats y it looks lik eit i think
thats a custom aswell, build by the same builder, xept its my dads own design, i might look a buig gay, its actualy a pretty nice guitar, only dowenside is it has a verry wide neck, imagine a 7string neck with 6 strings onit, anyway, its my dads, he had i build to play fingerpicked chords etc, thats y it has a wide neck.

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does't karl sanders use a ran?

nope, he uses kxk guitars

Ya? Ya...

Check It

No, he plays KxK guitars www.kxkguitars.com I think some dude from Six Feet Under uses them aswell.

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This is just what I've been doing for 10 years. I've never had a crack either. I'm still using the same bottle I bought 10 years ago too.

I also just want to say, I LOVE RAN GUITARS! That is all. I wish I had a Ran guitar T shirt.

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If you get dariusz to send you a picture of the logo on a black background in decent dimensions you can make one for yourself for like $30.

As long as you dont make others for people (unless dariusz allows that for you, it's kinda free advertising) he shouldnt mind.

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Or... you could use the same font they use. Brush Script. Set the kerning (thats the spacing between the letters) so that it's the same as on the headstocks, and there you have it.

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I have a quick quesion about what bridge pickup i should put in my RAN. I currently ordered it with a seymour duncan invader which i love for metal, but i need a pickup to play jazz with too since im in a jazz band. I was wondering about the sd jb. Can this pickup get brootal sounds like the invader and play jazz type songs or should i just stick with the invader in the bridge and put a jazz pickup in the neck? Thank you

I have the Invader in the bridge of my Warlock, but I only use it for metal, so I'm not sure how versatile it is. Can you maybe just roll off the volume knob to get a bit less gain?

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Since some of you were interested in a Ran with strat shaping ....

Yep, another Ran is on its way and if I'm not too much of an idiot regarding message boards, you should see some pics right below this.

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Good stuff My Ran is the 'Cruiser' shape of theirs, so its nice to see more similar shaped ones

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The top on that rocks, Flesh colour! Am I right to assume that the pickups you've choosen are the same as your username?

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Shiiny

I love that real simple look

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Actually it should be white, but due to the transparency it looks like a melange of white and the wood colour on the pics. Not a bad thing though, if you ask me. And you're absolutely right with the PUs.



Me too, that kind of simple, not-over-the-top style was exactly what I wanted. As a plus it looks more and more beautiful every time you look at it. Or I'm getting more and more impatient to actually play it.

O
M
F
G

that is sooooo hot, i really am digging that
its the best ran i have seen, by far, full stop, period, end of story. i have enough RAN RG GAS to power the whole of new york at the moment!

jeez, im the biggest rg whore, and that is fucking nice!
congrats on that, what hardware combo have you got? what neck profile have you got? what woods did you specify?

and just to make sure, did you say you wanted an RG or did you want a strat?

the finish is excellent love everything except the headstock shape

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I like the BC Rich headstock shape. Pointy!

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Thanks for the response, guys ... feeling somewhat special now.
The thing is, I just didn't want a headstock that is immediately associated with a company that has nothing to do with the guitar.
...
Okay, now it's associated with BC Rich, but on the other hand it's the headstock he used with his standard models. I don't know, headstock shape is imo the first thing that lets you recognize the brand and it was kind of important to me to give Ran this kind of "credit".



Lol, granted, we share that GAS at the moment, since I don't have that axe right now. And I'm the most pessimistic person I know, you wouldn't believe how afraid I am of something getting royaly fucked up during shipment.

To be honest, in retrospect I must admit that I didn't really specify a lot of the options. My exact words on the body shape were "like Ibanez RG (which would be quite similar to your Cruiser, I assume)", which was basically a diplomatic "dude, do whatever you want, as long as I get double cutaways". But, yeah, he took that as "RG shaped" from what I can see on the pics, which is basically what I stated in the order ... in my obscure way of specifying.

The body is basswood with a quilted maple top. Neck is maple with a body-matching quilted maple topped headstock and an ebony fingerboard with black binding.

On hardware I went with Schaller Locking Floyd and Schaller M6 tuning machines. Frets are Dunlop 6105. As mentioned DiMarzio Evolutions are used as PUs, the neck PU is reverse mounted. PU config looks like this:
1 = Neck Hum
2 = Neck Hum splitted
3 = Neck Hum splitted + Bridge Hum splitted
4 = Bridge Hum parallel connected
5 = Bridge Hum

Neck profile is another thing I totally messed up. Halfway through the production I realized that I specified nothing but Width: 1 5/8" ... don't ask me why, I know that wasn't the brightest move. Anyway, I mailed Dariusz for the neck dimensions and this is what he answered:

I figured this would be totally fine, so, yeah, that are the neck dimensions - though anything but specified.

And I paid 1350 Euros including hard case, which should be around 1600 US$ at the moment. Just in case you decide to give in to your GAS.

i think it was a great idea what you did with the logo on the back rather than the front looks better

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whats with the krank cab

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Yeah, these guitars look pretty cool for a good price. Has anyone heard of kxk guitars? This is where Karl Sanders got his signature piece.

http://www.kxkguitars.com/guitars.html

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Yeah they've been mentioned a ton of times. But they're way more expensive than Rans, even with the shipping and US customs charge thrown in. Much better to get a Ran really.

I trust Ran over KxK cause more of my favorite guitarists use them, only one I care for that uses KxK is Karl Sanders. But god damn his guitar is cheesy, and that cheap golden finish is horrible.

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yea, to be honest, kxk look cheesey and gay, but im sure that doesnt effect the playability.

but yea, ran seem awesome, im yet to try one tho. btw, people thinking about customs should also thy out mayones. theyre polish aswell. they have AWESOME looking guitars which do seem to be metal orientated.

check a few out here:

http://www.mayones.pl/katalog.html?...ell-Born&menu=2
http://www.mayones.pl/katalog.html?...Behemoth&menu=2
http://www.mayones.pl/katalog.html?...nikowski&menu=2
http://www.mayones.pl/katalog.html?...20Misiak&menu=2
http://www.mayones.pl/katalog.html?...ontside)&menu=2
http://www.mayones.pl/katalog.html?...0EXG%20I&menu=0
http://www.mayones.pl/katalog.html?...20Custom&menu=0

they make awesome rg copies, so i might go for them over ran. if i was getting a kv, kkv, soloist, or anything pointy, i would go ran
they made an awesome copy of an rg, but i dunno, i think i would like to try something like mayones.

The KxK shop has got some plain looking guitars, but they are a custom shop and thus can make any shape you want with any options. And their prices are less than other USA custom shops like ESP,Jackson,BC Rich, Moser,etc. Well, I would look into them in the future when i get a custom. But the stock models are a little plain.
Mayones seems to have some good quality guitars, but too bad the site is all in polish.

You'd have to learn to read polish i'd guess. Which I can do, but I doubt you can

Is having the nut width 1 5/8 bad? i left that there since i dont know much about nut width and i just think since that's default it's easiest for dariusz to do.

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Sweet looking Ran guitar additions. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do mine.

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Now let's say I were in the market of trying to have a 7 string guitar with a BC Rich Beast body made, EMG 81s, 24 frets, and an original Floyd thrown in it... any idea what ballpark price it'd be from Ran?

As far as types of wood and paint and such, I haven't decided yet. I was just wondering if anyone might know, since I know a lot of you have dealt with Ran before...

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1500-2000

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I would say < $1500 total with shpping and Customs tax. The paint and other options might change it for more or less.

I have never seen a Ran cost more then $2000 total to the US though. Mine was about $1600 total but $220 of it was from the Kahler bridge I bought and shipped to Poland.

Soulinsane custom shop.

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Philkilla custom shop.

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niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice

[QUOTE=Soulinsane]I have never seen a Ran cost more then $2000 total to the US though. Mine was about $1600 total but $220 of it was from the Kahler bridge I bought and shipped to Poland.


Mine cost 2500 , i dont know whether thats good or bad haha. Im not sure if this is the most expensive Ran yet.... Im pretty sure its the first to Canada though..... 6 months and counting

I seriously hope you're going to buy me new pants for this, my raging boner just tore mine in half.

My dream Ran is pretty basic, but would cost me 1040 €. It's a very basic invader with 1 bridge humbucker(PAF Pro and some sort of gain booster) and a schaller Floyd. With offset block inlays, ebony fretboard, Invader headstock, and either ferrari red paintjob or black glossy one and black hardware. Simple and neat. I might try to get this in about 2 years or perhaps earlier. But hell I'd sure love a grey quilted maple top, that would be lovely too.

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I did send Ran an email yesterday regarding this guitar:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d...tedKKVTribe.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d...o/FlamedKKV.jpg

I hope they can do that paintjob... If so, I´ll order one in may.

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i know this has been mentioned before but how many month's does it take dariusz to build it?

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Let me know if they can do that, I want a complex paintjob on my next one so it would be nice to know if the painters are good enough.

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Yeah, I'd like to know if they can do that as well. I'm thinking of getting a nebula for my next possible Ran (jn the far future).

My Next Ran Idea


thats rough...but I want white body binding as well...any other ideas?


not totally set on the Inlay at all....unless that would look cool with the aluminum inlay...which I think it could.

Also, it will be a baritone as well....which should be sick...6 string BTW.

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Your idea's alright Phil, it looks a bit shit as a concept, but it would look awesome in real life. One thing I would change though, would be to link the headstock with the body somehow. Maybe have it the same colour, or maybe just the logo in the same colour.

Here's my next Ran idea:

http://metaltabs.com/forum/attachme...tachmentid=7654

Ran's have gone up in price, have they not?

I´ll let You guys know what D says about he flames. I think and hope that they can do it. They´ve done some serious paintjobs through the years so... They pulled the camo off damn good and it wasn´t hard, he said. I hope for the best!

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Great.

Camo paint jobs are somewhat easy to do though, something like my proposed design or your flame KKV would require a skilled air-brushing artist...at least I think so...

I think he has raised the time to about 5 months, mine is taking 6 because the body and inlays are pretty complex.

turbo rico, i think you would be better off going to shamray for that custom flame design kkv. after looking at their dime copy here, i now know they can do ANY paint job you want!

I can bet that the average Shamray is great deal more expensive than your average Ran.

Edit: Shamray charge $225 for a flame paintjob. I also made a quote for a similar guitar to my Ran, and it came to roughly £1270, whereas the Ran was roughly £880. (Both prices include a fitted case).

thanks for the info

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Shamray´s great. I was in contact with them before I contacted Ran. But they got delivery time like one year and they cost more. I got some tips on other Luthiers in Poland but I still think Ran is the best when it comes to quality, paintjobs, price and delivery time. We´ll see...

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man i would love to have a ran guitar

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Just got an email from Big D, he said the kind of paintjob I wanted was no problem, for an additional 160 euros of course.

wow, thats pretty cheap, looks like shamray are a bit of a rip off then!

I gonna quote my self here..
Got mail right back from D and he said that they can make the Flames paintjob! WEEE! Don´t know about price yet but they can do it, that was what I wanted to know. Need to work some more to get the first 50% for it. And decide wether I gonna go with OFR or kahler 2315...

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IMO, floyd, period.

Never played a Kahler, but since I like Floyds so much I'll just say a floyd. Cause they're simple to set up, and you wouldn't look like a KK fanboy.

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yeah, but if anyones a kk fanboy its him! he even looks the part

are you going to get the tribal on top of the flame?

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Oh lol... he's the guy selling a camo Ran right? I saw his pics at the site... yeah, looks like KK.

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at the end of one more month I get pictures of my Ran...then i have to wait another fucking month.


I dont know how that's gonna end up, but i bet by the end i'll be a chronic masturbater.

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cant wait to see the pics what did you order

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Too late...
Kahler is really good and very easy to play fast on. My BC Rich KKV Tribe with Kahler is still the fastest guitar I´ve ever played. I´m used to Floyds, been playing Floyd since 94 (had fixed bride before) but I really like Kahler. They´re easier to set up than OFR, IMO.

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No, I think I´ll skip the tribals and just go with the flames. I think that will look cool enough...

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Damm I can start to imaging how awesome a Rdv will look with flames...

I really hope I can put my deposit down for my next one....

Ozz

I´ve been working my ass off this month to be able to put down the first 50%. When I saw the BC Rich Flames KKV I fell in love... I just gotta have one that looks like that. And I need an amp... some pedals, I want some other cabs with V30 elements and the lists just goes on and on... Gonna work 245 hours plus 20 hours as a guitar teacher this month. I´m tired!

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Invader (full V, none of this Offset V bullshit all you other guys do
j/k, i have a rhoads myself)
24 fret maple neck w/ ebony fingerboard, painted, bound, matching headstock
Neck-thru
Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz
Black w/ White Pinstripe outline
String-Thru + Tune-o-matic

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That's right, full V's are for real men , RR's are for emo chicks like this:

http://rock.ism-rainbow.net/images/alexi_laiho.jpg

good idea, thats what i was hoping

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It´s always cool to see girls playing guitar. She damn ugly though...

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I think that will look the best, just flames. Maybe I should have HELL as inlays... Just to make it more "evil".

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So, I've decided to order another Ran, Big D quoted me 1280 euros for this design:

http://metaltabs.com/forum/attachme...tachmentid=7654

It's going to be exactly like that, but without the black pickup bezels. Bolt-on construction, as a one piece maple neck wouldn't really work as a neck-thru.

Wicked, looks good

My ran that i've ordered, the finish will be see-through red, so you see the neck through maple/mahogany/maple neck through it

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What are the chances one RAN being able to make an 8 String?... I've requested a 7... but would love an 8.
Cant wait for my RAN

Actually i'm a big alexi fan which is why i got the black + white pinstripe finish, although my fanboyism has worn off. Good thing I like that finish. (diamonds for inlays instead of sharkfins...i thought out that guitar before going all OMG ALEKZI LOL...see if the new LTDs werent all overpriced i'd buy them)

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shit...this is one big fucking thread

they look like rip offs.

Send them an E-mail, i'm sure they'll make an 8-string for you, of course it'll cost you as with any guitar shop, but i doubt it'll be as expensive as any well known ones (ESP, Ibanez, Jackson etc...).

At NAMM there was a prototype RG 8 string on display, similar to the customs used by the Mesuggah boys. I don't know it it was gonna be a sig miodel or what, but you may be able to get one without having to go custom, in a while.

Taken from the Ibanez site

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go back to dartmouth dickhead, shit hole of the country

So just cause the body shapes are similar to other ones they're rip offs?

Why would you have to make new shapes to become a quality guitar company?

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