STC-Shaped Guitars

I bought this guitar based solely on its specs. I had never heard of these models until a few weeks ago and am not familiar with the artist who designed them. But he did a great job imo.

For my needs this guitar proved to be almost perfect, from the custom profile neck, to the placement of the controls, to the EMGs and featherweight 6.75 lbs.

The neck has the same width as a Gibson 60s neck, but is much more shallow with a flatter (15.75") radius. There is ample room between the E strings and the side of the fb, but it feels like there is a lot of real estate between the strings as well. I guess that is because of the shallow neck. Really comfortable to play.

The control is placed with convenient access, but they left a comfortable distance to allow palm muting. I prefer having the pickup selector switch under the control pot as well. Something I would have never thought of.

The control pot has a feature I really like. When you roll off the volume to clean up the sound there is a resistance point that lets you know you hit the sweet spot. If you want the volume all the way off you use more pressure when you turn the control.

The EMG pickup set 81-B and 60-N offer a nice match and enough balls for my taste as a Hard Rock guy.

My neck and back are tired from playing Les Pauls and this guitar is lighter than most SGs.

The frets are pleked so no issues there, but they do need to be dressed and polished as they are a little sharp along the side.

I have two LPs, two SGs a Strat an AH-10 and AH-20 an Axis and several others to choose from, but the MBM2 is the one I am using as my main guitar guitar now. That is basically why I signed up to do the review.

I use a DAW with ProTools and Amplitube.

This is the second guitar I had custom built for me by Patrick Hufschmid, the luthier and artisan from Aigle, Switzerland. Patrick proves that old world craftsmanship and top quality are alive and well... AMAZINGLY THEY ARE ENTIRELY HAND CRAFTED, NO CNC MACHINES ARE USED TO MAKE THESE! After I received my first Hufschmid guitar, I played it extensively. I HAD many other guitars of various brands, but I always gravitated to my Hufschmid. I realized that was because the Hufschmid guitar had a playability and feel, and a sound, that I couldn't match with any other guitar I owned. I decided I wanted another. Patrick and I spoke and it was decided that he would hand build a strat inspired guitar, with the Hufschmid signature appointments. I absolutely loved the look of my Tantalum, which is made of Sapele mahogany, one of the Hufschmid signatures, so this too would be Sapele. The look, feel and most importantly the SOUND of this wood is incredible. When I received the guitar, it too, like my 1st Hufschmid, was INCREDIBLY RESONANT. It sustains for an exceptionally long time and the entire guitar vibrates like nothing else when you play it. The neck shape, like my first Hufschmid, is perfectly comfortable in my hand... I find this to be amazing as Patrick HAND CARVES each neck according to a picture of the players hand, and his fretwork is meticulous. The craftsmanship is flawless. Patrick designed an amazingly unobtrusive neck heel, and this guitar is incredibly comfortable in every aspect. The specifications are as follows:
One piece premium perfectly quartersawn Sapele mahogany neck and body, FSC certified
Premium FSC certified West African ebony fretboard, 24 frets
25.5" scale, 12" radius
Exclusive Hufschmied "Blue Nut"
Hipshot hardware
Dunlop 500K sealed Super Pots
NOS Russian FT-2 Teflon Capacitor
Glow in the dark side dots
Made to measure Hufschmid pickups, Dark flame maple texture with the script "H " logo
Golden cast headstock " wax seal"
Antique nickel finish Hufschmid Logo coin on the rear of the body
Hufschmid "3D Kevlar" control cavity design
15 coats of hand applied oil based varnish
Clear aerospace grade cell cast cross-linked acrylic control cavity cover, recessed
As I said, this is my second build from Patrick Hufschmid and I am ONCE AGAIN BLOWN AWAY. This guitar is incredible and surpassed my every expectation. Patrick managed to create yet another guitar, that is to me, PERFECT. I no longer want to play anything else and my collection of guitars is being sold off. If you are looking to own a guitar that is unique and innovative, one that sounds incredible and feels effortless to play, request a build slot from Patrick Hufschmid. I am a professional guitar tech and a player of 40 years, Hufschmid guitars are the best I've ever seen.

My guitar is a Californian Elite from 1991. Ebony board with boomerang inlays, optional solid two-piece curly maple body, and factory EMG's with push/pull knob for coil split. It also came factory with a tone knob. The previous owner had Dimarzio cliplocks installed, I switched to Schaller straplocks, other than that it is still original. The old USA Hamer are quality craftmanship, they offered lots of custom options then, but with those options, these guitars did cost some dollars back then. Though it is made of maple, and maple is known as a heavy wood, it doesn't weigh more than a regular Strat. Well balanced, not neck heavy at all. The neck feels ultra thin, this is the standard thin neck profile Hamer used from 1990 on, they had a meatier neck profile before. With that deep cutaway it is easy to reach upper frets, but don't expect lots of sustain in the highest fretted notes, these are for short precise notes. Well, I am not a "shredder", so I don't use those high notes a lot, I did record some classical pieces at home and there I could make use of the higher frets. The hardware is Hamer-branded Schaller FR II and M6 mini, the locking nut is drilled from above. Now to the electronics, the Californian comes with single coil in the neck/humbucker in the bridge position. In the 90's Seymour Duncan were standard by Hamer,EMG's were offered as a custom option then, and EMG's are what have been used on my guitar. In the neck position is an EMG SA pickup. Well, it is in the neck position, but compared to a Strat it is actually positioned between the neck and the middle pickup of a Strat, and it is slanted. The EMG is actually not a single coil pickup, but a stacked humbucker. It uses an alnico magnet bar. The sound is clean and clear, not unlike a real single coil, but it sounds different than a true Fender Strat single coil. They don't hum and are noise-free. EMG's have many critics say that they sound sterile with lack of character and while I know what they mean, they still sound good. Give a listen to Steve Lukather's guitar tone in "Talk to ya Later" to hear EMG SA in clean mode and decide for yourself if they sound sterile. The humbucker in bridge position is an EMG 89, which is actually a 81 and a SA in one housing. The 81 is EMG's high output pickup, and so is the 89. In "humbucker" mode with volume on full there is no clean signal, the pickup will definitely distort. It is by far not a vintage sounding humbucker, it is quite fat sounding with strong high mids. This pickup in "H" mode sounds best with gain sounds. I liked it in clean mode combined with a wah pedal (Dunlop GCB95). Of course, with the push/pull pot you're able to "tame" the 89 and switch it to SA mode. In SA mode? But the SA is also a stacked humbucker. Yes, in fact the 89 is 3 coils, so you switch from humbucker mode to stacked humbucker mode. And this is also hum-free, nifty, huh? With it's strong upper midrange the guitar fits well into the band mix. It never sounds too thin. The amps I used it with are a Fender Prosonic combo, a Marshall 6100 (EL34) with JCM900 1960 cab (G12-75), a Marshall 6101 (5881) with Celestion Gold S-303 speaker and a Mesa Boogie Mark V:35 head with 1x12" Thiele cab (Celestion C90).