DoctorPaul's Guitar Emporium
2010 Suhr Standard 'Extreme Flame Top'
"Edna"
#12034
Alrighty. Shit just got serious. Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you my Suhr Standard 'Extreme Flame Top'.
I mean ... when I say "I give you" ... I mean I'm going to TELL you about it, not ... like ... actually give it to you. Sorry.
Anyway, this is a 2010 Suhr Standard, with an alder body, bolted maple neck, pau ferru board and the most ridiculous flamed maple top that I've seen in a LONG time. I mean ... LOOK at it. Seriously ... when was the last time that you saw a top like this on even a PRS? Even though Mr Reed-Smith scours the world killing maple trees like a genocidal tree-hating lunatic (some say ...), he rarely finds maple like this. And when he DOES, he stuffs it on some ludicrously priced private stock affair that no mortal can ever dream of affording. Not John Suhr however. I can imagine him in the woodshop, smiling when he found this top, then saying "$2000 extra for a one-off custom order? Nah ... put it on a Standard and charge them an extra fifty bucks ... and call it an Extreme Flame Top or some shit". Whatever the reason, the top on this puppy is a beautiful, beautiful slab of lumber. If I was a little more flamboyant, I'd call it stunning or breathtaking or something, but I'm happy to go with "fucking lush". However, the flames are SO tight, when you take half a dozen steps back it kinda just looks like a mucky brown burst. I'm normally pretty close to it thankfully, so don't care a damn what folks that far away think. Regardless, I'm happy with it.
The back is apparently 'Fireburst Black', which looks VERY much just like black paint to me ... I have absolutely NO idea what is remotely firebursty about it. So yeah ... the back is black, which is pretty boring, until you realise that it is attached to the rest of the guitar (which is awesome), which relieves the black-back-boredom.
Build quality is the epitome of superbness, and everything looks and feels like it has been thought about properly, executed carefully, and done by someone who actually gives a shit about making guitars.
Hardware includes Sperzel lockers, a '510' 2-post trem, medium stainless frets, a pair of JST FL singles and a Suhr Aldrich 'bucker at the bridge. Oh, and the headstock logo is pearl. I know that it is pathetic (so shoot me), but I HATE to see Suhr waterslide logos, it is a cheap way to finish a lovely guitar (in MY head, at least), so I vowed that I would never buy a Suhr unless it had a pearl logo. So, pearl logo = box ticked = win.
What else. The neck is an 'Even-C Slim' with a 10-14 compound radius, which is a bit of a contrast to my R8, R9, club-necked Teles and Wide-Fat PRSs, but it is every bit as comfy as my Charvel CS stuff and actually pretty close to my all-time favourite 'Shannon' neck on my green GMW.
I've used up all of my adjectives and superlatives on this site already, so won't bore you by trying to find more ... I'll just say that it is very nice indeed, and I'm very, VERY happy with it.
Getting this was part of my "Strengthen the Herd" process, and I think that it has done just that ... fewer, stronger, better. Job done.
My due diligence unearthed that this was originally sold at GuitarGuitar (indeed it was specced by them), then a few years later found its way to MorMusic in York, where it was sold for a King's ransom to the geezer that I bought it from. And now I have it, which is nice.
By the way, "Edna" is Gaelic (or some shit) for 'fire', which goes nicely with the whole 'flamey' theme.
