Tell me about your Balaguer

gybe!

gybe!

Active member
I am contemplating a Balaguer Select Custom build, most likely either Thicket or Growler based….
But, would love to hear others experiences here. How was the end result? How was the sound? Lively or dead wood?
 
Absolutely killer guitars

I hated the look of the espada I had so I sold it

But it was an incredibly good sounding and playing guitar

If I had the means I would own a typhon or V
 
gybe! said:
I am contemplating a Balaguer Select Custom build, most likely either Thicket or Growler based….
But, would love to hear others experiences here. How was the end result? How was the sound? Lively or dead wood?
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I placed an order for a custom Dark Matter back in 2019 (before they shifted to all being called Balaguer guitars)

I spec'd it out to be as close to the same thing as my 1989 Hamer USA Californian (went with mahogany body, roasted maple neck, ebony board, ss frets, hipshot trem, h/s etc.)

All in it cost me about $1,500 total and the guitar came out exactly how I wanted; since getting it it's pretty much all I've played besides my LPC

Guitar is very light weight, super comfy and compact and kills for both brutal shit and cleaner stuff (never had even a bit of desire to change the stock pickups)


I've been told it looks like the bludgeoned head of Mussolini which is one of my favorite descriptions ever

Haven't played any others but if they're generally as good as mine then you'll be in for a treat kimg

58442666_10219217513167959_1572713201550753792_n.jpg
 
gybe! said:
Anybody else?
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Someone here used to be a luthier for them. Forgot who. They make them at World Music in Korea. Which historically has been top notch, but my last few 2024 guitars from them (World, not limited to balaguer) have had some minor finish issues. I believe they had gotten overwhelmed with the return of other brands taking up factory time. May or may not clear up.

The wood selection has always been excellent and grain patterns well fitted to the body shapes, imo. 3 of my 5 recent ash body guitars are one piece bodies and all use actual swamp ash from the southern US. Lightweight and acoustically vibrant. I have dealt with a few other brands that use their manufacturing facilities and have gotten updates throughout the build process.

If you decide to go that route, grill them and ask to see options for wood selection. Unless they're beyond busy, they should be able to do this without issue.
 
Unless something changes they’re NOT made at WMI.

The guitars are built quite well. I’ve owned a couple. I’d own another.
 
NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
Do you know where at? Cort?
The Select Customs say South Korea and look like WMI serial waterslides to me, but I would be open to more info.
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Joe has been pretty vocal about it being a small independent shop since day 1. They’ve always been SK though for the Semi Customs. The standard line is Indonesian / China.
 
Well damn. Balaguer will only do a 16” radius which is a bit of a deal breaker for me. Real damn shame as I love just about everything else out of what I had specced out (including an ebony neck). 27” thicket baritone, ash body, ebony neck and board

Any other suggested places for something similar?
 
I had a Hyperion, which looked great and sounded great. Their pickups are really, really good -- it's a rarity when I don't immediately swap out the pickups. This was a MIK model and was built incredibly well.

The neck dive was something I couldn't handle long-term, so I sold it.
 
gybe! said:
Well damn. Balaguer will only do a 16” radius which is a bit of a deal breaker for me. Real damn shame as I love just about everything else out of what I had specced out (including an ebony neck). 27” thicket baritone, ash body, ebony neck and board

Any other suggested places for something similar?
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Kiesel off the top of my head. You're probably pretty limited if you're after an "old school" radius.
 
I really liked the one I had. Solid build and not a single qc issue. Sounded great and Joe is a stand up guy. I just couldn't gel with the neck carve and I'm extremely picky. Would like to try another one day, this was years ago. It was one of their budget builds fwiw.
 
mystixboi said:
Jeremy is correct... it's a small shop of 8 or so luthiers and 2 master luthiers. they are not affiliated in any way with WMI or Cort. They are a smaller shop, but make some great stuff.
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Can you name his current employees? I thought he let go of like all of his QC people, luthiers, and customer support people a few months back? I'm pretty sure it's just like two people besides Joe right now desperately trying to keep the doors open. Not really sure I'd trust a company that recently gutted their staff.

Also, can anybody pinpoint exactly where these are being ghost built? Both on the S. Korean side and the USA side? There's that pic floating around of them being right next to Agile guitars, so at the very least, someone who works on Agile stuff is working on these.

My opinion - if you want one, buy used so you'll get one back when they actually had a QC team. Guitars themselves are okay. What made them decent was the QC, and I'm pretty sure that's gone now. But some have serious design flaws that make me question how they approved of the designs.
 
Code001 said:
Can you name his current employees? I thought he let go of like all of his QC people, luthiers, and customer support people a few months back? I'm pretty sure it's just like two people besides Joe right now desperately trying to keep the doors open. Not really sure I'd trust a company that recently gutted their staff.

Also, can anybody pinpoint exactly where these are being ghost built? Both on the S. Korean side and the USA side? There's that pic floating around of them being right next to Agile guitars, so at the very least, someone who works on Agile stuff is working on these.

My opinion - if you want one, buy used so you'll get one back when they actually had a QC team. Guitars themselves are okay. What made them decent was the QC, and I'm pretty sure that's gone now. But some have serious design flaws that make me question how they approved of the designs.
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Agiles are made at WMI.
Everyone who uses WMI seems to also use the term "small builder team"
The waterslides on Korean built Balaguer guitars are WMI serial waterslides, but not made at WMI apparently.
WMI was small years ago with only a handful of employees.
They've been around since 1985. Oddly enough, from Balaguer's website...

"Q: Where are the Select Custom Series guitars built?
A: Our Select Custom Series guitars are built within a custom shop in South Korea by a small team of trained luthiers that have been in business since 1985. Once completed, they are inspected via our very stringent Quality Control process before being set up and shipped."



In my opinion "within a custom shop by a small team of trained luthiers" does not = entire employee roster. I would put money on WMI. If I owned my own brand I would also be reluctant to divulge them being built there as well, given the costs I have been quoted vs the MSRP of guitars built there (about 1/3 landed).
 
Code001 said:
Can you name his current employees? I thought he let go of like all of his QC people, luthiers, and customer support people a few months back? I'm pretty sure it's just like two people besides Joe right now desperately trying to keep the doors open. Not really sure I'd trust a company that recently gutted their staff.

Also, can anybody pinpoint exactly where these are being ghost built? Both on the S. Korean side and the USA side? There's that pic floating around of them being right next to Agile guitars, so at the very least, someone who works on Agile stuff is working on these.

My opinion - if you want one, buy used so you'll get one back when they actually had a QC team. Guitars themselves are okay. What made them decent was the QC, and I'm pretty sure that's gone now. But some have serious design flaws that make me question how they approved of the designs.
Click to expand...
That’s news to me. I haven’t been up on my
BG knowledge in the last few years though
 
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