U.S. Masters LeGrand Floyd

[Prages]

Up for review is a U.S. Masters Guitar Works LeGrand Floyd.

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/BodyFront.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/FrontFull.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/Floyd.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/HeadstockLogo.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/BackofHeadstock1.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/Birdseye.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/Neck1.jpg

This is a high end Strat copy made by U.S. Masters in Middleton, WI. I really don’t know much at all about the company, but I’d say they are much like a lesser known Anderson or Suhr. You can visit their website here: http://www.usmasters.com/

This was my huge pawn shop score, and in the couple of weeks I’ve owned the guitar, I’ve contacted the company and gotten fairly limited information about the guitar. Here’s what I do know:

Body: Alder (2 piece)
Neck: Special oil type finish on birdseye maple with a thick Pau Ferro fretboard.
Bridge: Original Floyd Rose
Tuners: Sperzel non-locking staggered height.

The guitar is right around the average weight for an alder bodied Strat…I’d put it around 8 pounds, though I haven’t actually weighed it. The company was unable to tell me what year the guitar was made.

The frets on this guitar may be stainless steel. I’m not 100% sure, but I’ve read some reports where they do use stainless steel fretwire, and these frets have absolutely no wear on them, so that leads me to believe they may be stainless steel. They are also perfectly finished. I haven't measured the radius, but it seems to be a compound radius...probably 10"-16". The guitar plays like a dream.

I’ve tried to get pics of the fret ends, but I don’t know if you can tell in the pics just how well finished they are.

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/FretEnds1.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/FretEnds2.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/FretEnds3.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/FretEnds4.jpg

You may be able to tell how thick that fretboard is in some of the pics too.

I was surprised when I took the measurements to find that the nut is 1 5/8” wide. I generally prefer 1 11/16” nuts, but this neck was so comfortable that I really assumed it was 1 11/16”. I didn’t remove the strings to get an accurate measurement of the thickness, but I did put a caliper on the first and 12th frets and it measured about 7/8” thick on the first and right at 1” at the 12th. The neck shape seems to be a deep C shape, though to be honest, I don’t really know much difference between the C, D, and U shapes. It’s definitely not a thin neck, and it’s definitely not a V shape.

The heel is sculpted for easy upper fret access, and also contains a lip to keep the neck from shifting. It’s held on with 4 allen screws.

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/Heel1.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/Heel1a.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/Heel2.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/Heel3.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/Heel4.jpg

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/HeelSide.jpg

The truss rod adjustment is at the heel and has a spoke wheel adjustment so you can adjust it without removing the neck or the pickguard.

http://www.thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/USMasters/TrussAdjust.jpg

The guitar wasn’t stock when I bought it. Someone had put a Kent Armstrong humbucker in the bridge position. I found that pickup very bright and thin sounding, so I replaced it with a Dimarzio Tone Zone. Made a world of difference. The bridge position is now full and warm, but still has plenty of power to cut through a mix.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with this guitar. I think it’s gonna be in regular rotation for a long, long time. The only mod I have planned is to get a new pickguard and set it up with a master volume/master tone configuration. The volume knob location on Strats just doesn’t work for me…I tend to anchor my pinky and end up turning the volume down accidentally. I played two shows with it last weekend, and while I didn’t turn the volume down accidentally, I was always a little bit more careful with my pinky placement than I normally am, and I still found the knob got in my way from time to time. That’s an easy fix though.

These guitars are quite pricey. I was told the list price on this guitar is $3000. However, since they are relatively unknown, used prices seem to be reasonable. The pawn shop where I got this had no idea what it was and sold it to me for $275. That’s almost unheard of, but I’ve seen a few on eBay over the last few weeks for under $1k.

[warren0728]

that has to be one of the best pawnshop deals i've heard of.... AOK

great review on a really nice looking guitar....

[Prages]

that has to be one of the best pawnshop deals i've heard of.... AOK

great review on a really nice looking guitar....


Yeah, it was definitely my best pawn shop score to date.

If I could do that on a regular basis, I could just start flipping stuff and retire. :D

[warren0728]

that has to be one of the best pawnshop deals i've heard of.... AOK

great review on a really nice looking guitar....


Yeah, it was definitely my best pawn shop score to date.

If I could do that on a regular basis, I could just start flipping stuff and retire. :D

it's a lot harder to score pawn shop deals now with the internet and ebay....i did pick up a peavey classic 20 for $100 but that's about it....

[Mark Wein]

Nice review!

Of the whole guitar I find the neck joint the most interesting...that really seems like a great way to keep thing stable. I'm surprised no one else has thought of that sooner.

I am surprised that they can't get you more detailed build information based on the serial #, though....

[Prages]

Nice review!

Of the whole guitar I find the neck joint the most interesting...that really seems like a great way to keep thing stable. I'm surprised no one else has thought of that sooner.

I am surprised that they can't get you more detailed build information based on the serial #, though....


The guy I spoke to said that database had been lost. idn_smilie

I've got another email into them now to see about a replacement pickguard. After looking closely, that pickguard has a squared neck cut like a Tele, plus the cutout for the truss adjustment. It might be tricky to get one that fit just right from Warmoth. If they can't sell me one with the control layout I want, then I guess I'll either have to do a tracing and get it from www.pickguards.com, or buy the blank material from Stew Mac and cut one from scratch. I've never done one from scratch before. The only thing that really bothers me is I'm not sure I have a router bit that'll bevel the edge, and the blank material costs as much as a pre-cut pickguard.

[Prages]

Of the whole guitar I find the neck joint the most interesting...that really seems like a great way to keep thing stable. I'm surprised no one else has thought of that sooner.

Between the Floyd and the solid neck joint, I didn't have a bit of tuning trouble at my gigs.

Of course, I very rarely have tuning trouble with any of my guitars, so I don't know how much the fancy neck pocket actually helps with that, but it can't hurt.

I misspoke in the review. Those aren't allen screws holding the neck on. They are some kind of square head screws. I might have to pick up a special tool from the auto parts store if I ever need to get the neck off. thwap

[Mark Wein]

Nice review!

Of the whole guitar I find the neck joint the most interesting...that really seems like a great way to keep thing stable. I'm surprised no one else has thought of that sooner.

I am surprised that they can't get you more detailed build information based on the serial #, though....


The guy I spoke to said that database had been lost. idn_smilie

I've got another email into them now to see about a replacement pickguard. After looking closely, that pickguard has a squared neck cut like a Tele, plus the cutout for the truss adjustment. It might be tricky to get one that fit just right from Warmoth. If they can't sell me one with the control layout I want, then I guess I'll either have to do a tracing and get it from www.pickguards.com, or buy the blank material from Stew Mac and cut one from scratch. I've never done one from scratch before. The only thing that really bothers me is I'm not sure I have a router bit that'll bevel the edge, and the blank material costs as much as a pre-cut pickguard.



Do you have a laminate trimmer? I'm not sure I would try cutting the pickguard with a full sized router...I'd probably get one from warmoth and then trim the neck pocket to fit...

[Prages]

Telecaster911 has offered to make me one if I can't buy one from US Masters. O0

[Mark Wein]

Sweet!

[warren0728]

Telecaster911 has offered to make me one if I can't buy one from US Masters. O0

excellent.... hi5 chears