Post by grayn on Aug 16, 2020 5:50:34 GMT
For many a year, the only decent guitar shop in Keighley, has been Aire Valley Guitars.
The other week, Tony from that establishment told me there was another guitar place in Town.
Turns out it is called Quantum Music Services.
They're not brand new but I'd not heard of them before.
So I checked out their Website and was interested to see that they stock a lot of unfashionable but good quality brands.
Namely Blade, Fret-King, Godin, Tokai, Cort and Vintage.
So I had to go check them out.
It's not a shop with street frontage but is a unit in a "Mantra House".
So I had to negotiate a helpful reception guy before being met by Dean, Quantum's main man.
Once in, the shop is a reasonable size, packed full of gear, on the floor and walls.
Dean was very welcoming and Quantum also have their own Tech/Luthier.
Unfortunately I've forgotten his name but I was informed that he sets up all the shop's guitars.
And I have to say that the 3 guitars I tried, were all set up perfectly.
I had come to try out 3 specific guitars but I was impressed with the amount of tasty stock.
Quantum stock Japanese Tokais but automatically replace the stock pickups with Bare Knuckles or Seymour Duncans.
Dean said he thought Tokais own brand pickups were very hit and miss.
Anyway, the three I'd come to play were a Cort X700, a Cort G290 FAT and a Godin Radiator.
Up until a ccouple of days ago, I was only going to look at the Corts but seeing the Radiators on Quantum's site had really peaked my interest.
So I first picked up the X700, which is pretty much Cort's flagship guitar.
It's a real stunner to look at and kind of puts you in mind of some of Ibanez's models.
An HH super Strat, with fantastic spec and very high quality build.
I liked the way it felt and played and was very impressed with pretty much everything about it.
Next came the G290, which is a little over half the price of the X700 but still has some great woods and hardware.
But to be honest, in every way except one, the G290 just wasn't as good as the X700.
Excellent for the money, it was definitely second best.
Except in one way and that was it's pick ups.
I loved the tone of the G290's pickups and they were also a fair bit hotter, too.
This really surprised me, as the G290 has Cort's own, Voiced Tone VTH-77 Set, whereas the X700 has well respected Seymour Duncans in.
But I still had one more guitar to try, one of Godin's newer Radiators.
And Quantum had all 3 available finishes in stock, in Matt Black, Bourbon Burst and Trans Cream.
It was the Trans Cream that most attracted me
Some of you may remember the old Radiators, that looked kind of cool but weren't all that great.
These newer ones share a similar cool look but are a much better quality instrument.
This is basically a set neck, L.P. style guitar, with wrap around bridge and one very outstanding feature.
A scratchplate that covers 95% of the front of the guitar's body and headstock.
In the case of this satin finished, Trans Cream model, a Tort scratchplate.
I guess this is the Marmite part of the Radiator.
I love it and think it adds so much character and individuality but some will loathe it, I'm sure.
The overall aesthetic I get from this guitar, reminds of the post-punk, New Wave era.
But as a musical instrument, it has a feel and sound of excellent quality and some sophistication.
The pickups, to my ears, have a vintage humbucker vibe, with that lovely balance of warm character and a real clarity.
Very articulate and quite pokey, in fact, pretty much perfect.
As I said, this guitar has been set up by the shop's luthier, with a lovely low but solid action.
A real joy to play and hear.
It does feel small to me, as my other 2 main guitars have much larger bodies and longer scales.
I'd imagined that this Radiator would suit the driving guitar work of the post punk era, which in fact it does.
But it plays and sounds really well, when I'm doing much heavier stuff or Jazz or progressive material.
Underneath it's edgy, idiosyncratic appearance, lies an excellent quality, versatile, HB driven guitar.
So it came home with me, in it's nice quality gigbag and sounds so good through my own set up.
I'm very pleased I visited Quantum Music and hope to do so again.
The other week, Tony from that establishment told me there was another guitar place in Town.
Turns out it is called Quantum Music Services.
They're not brand new but I'd not heard of them before.
So I checked out their Website and was interested to see that they stock a lot of unfashionable but good quality brands.
Namely Blade, Fret-King, Godin, Tokai, Cort and Vintage.
So I had to go check them out.
It's not a shop with street frontage but is a unit in a "Mantra House".
So I had to negotiate a helpful reception guy before being met by Dean, Quantum's main man.
Once in, the shop is a reasonable size, packed full of gear, on the floor and walls.
Dean was very welcoming and Quantum also have their own Tech/Luthier.
Unfortunately I've forgotten his name but I was informed that he sets up all the shop's guitars.
And I have to say that the 3 guitars I tried, were all set up perfectly.
I had come to try out 3 specific guitars but I was impressed with the amount of tasty stock.
Quantum stock Japanese Tokais but automatically replace the stock pickups with Bare Knuckles or Seymour Duncans.
Dean said he thought Tokais own brand pickups were very hit and miss.
Anyway, the three I'd come to play were a Cort X700, a Cort G290 FAT and a Godin Radiator.
Up until a ccouple of days ago, I was only going to look at the Corts but seeing the Radiators on Quantum's site had really peaked my interest.
So I first picked up the X700, which is pretty much Cort's flagship guitar.
It's a real stunner to look at and kind of puts you in mind of some of Ibanez's models.
An HH super Strat, with fantastic spec and very high quality build.
I liked the way it felt and played and was very impressed with pretty much everything about it.
Next came the G290, which is a little over half the price of the X700 but still has some great woods and hardware.
But to be honest, in every way except one, the G290 just wasn't as good as the X700.
Excellent for the money, it was definitely second best.
Except in one way and that was it's pick ups.
I loved the tone of the G290's pickups and they were also a fair bit hotter, too.
This really surprised me, as the G290 has Cort's own, Voiced Tone VTH-77 Set, whereas the X700 has well respected Seymour Duncans in.
But I still had one more guitar to try, one of Godin's newer Radiators.
And Quantum had all 3 available finishes in stock, in Matt Black, Bourbon Burst and Trans Cream.
It was the Trans Cream that most attracted me
Some of you may remember the old Radiators, that looked kind of cool but weren't all that great.
These newer ones share a similar cool look but are a much better quality instrument.
This is basically a set neck, L.P. style guitar, with wrap around bridge and one very outstanding feature.
A scratchplate that covers 95% of the front of the guitar's body and headstock.
In the case of this satin finished, Trans Cream model, a Tort scratchplate.
I guess this is the Marmite part of the Radiator.
I love it and think it adds so much character and individuality but some will loathe it, I'm sure.
The overall aesthetic I get from this guitar, reminds of the post-punk, New Wave era.
But as a musical instrument, it has a feel and sound of excellent quality and some sophistication.
The pickups, to my ears, have a vintage humbucker vibe, with that lovely balance of warm character and a real clarity.
Very articulate and quite pokey, in fact, pretty much perfect.
As I said, this guitar has been set up by the shop's luthier, with a lovely low but solid action.
A real joy to play and hear.
It does feel small to me, as my other 2 main guitars have much larger bodies and longer scales.
I'd imagined that this Radiator would suit the driving guitar work of the post punk era, which in fact it does.
But it plays and sounds really well, when I'm doing much heavier stuff or Jazz or progressive material.
Underneath it's edgy, idiosyncratic appearance, lies an excellent quality, versatile, HB driven guitar.
So it came home with me, in it's nice quality gigbag and sounds so good through my own set up.
I'm very pleased I visited Quantum Music and hope to do so again.
Jo whoever he is.
