striped , maple neck with the classic tray style bridge was a very nice touch as is many times found on higher end guitars . I found the guitar to play well and capture the classic feel of a T-style instrument .”
The second Sunday post-NAMM , I asked my buddy , Jacob Cooley to play the Gopher Wood
I met Mr . Lee and played my first Gopher Wood guitar back in 2018 . You can read my review of the G620EQ acoustic guitar and the sound pillar in the April 2019 issue . Since then , there have been many improvements and changes to the Gopher Wood lineup .
Last year they made a giant leap forward and added a full line of electric guitars . I kept seeing and hearing them on Instagram , and I have been completely impressed and I was excited to get my hands on one . This past NAMM show I got to do just that . Wow !
We are worship musicians . Dealing with an electric guitar that you may have never seen , I wanted to give you an immersive look / listen … so , I had it played in two different services and will give you those players ’ responses . Plus , you can see and hear it in the video .
Let ’ s look at the specs . The weight is nicely balanced with an alder body and maple neck and fingerboard . The fingerboard radius is about 9.5 ” with 21 medium frets and a very comfortable slim , C-shape neck with a 42mm bone nut . I love the look and feel of the satin finish on the neck .
The pickups are TESLA Alnico 5 single coil at both the bridge and neck . Standard T-style volume , tone , and 3-way pickup switch with a triple-saddle , vintage brass , string-through bridge and diecast tuners . As I felt with the gig bag for the acoustic several years ago , the 15mm case is well made , well designed , and gives me assurance that the guitar is protected .
My first Sunday back from NAMM , I had my friend , Robert Neuman play the T-Classic in our blended service and then asked him for his impression . For reference , Robert is a seasoned player with 40 + guitars of his own . Here ’ s Robert ’ s response , “ Overall , I found the T-classic V to be sound in general craftsmanship . The finish was flawless . The alnico 5 pickups dialed vintage and modern tones with ease . For me , I found the pickups in combination to be the sweet spot . The skunkin our contemporary venue . I didn ’ t know until Sunday morning that Jacob had chosen to not look up any of the specs of the guitar so he would have more of a “ blind ” experience . Here ’ s his response , “ I purposely did not look up Gopher Wood when I was asked to play and review the T-Classic V . After playing this guitar for about 45 minutes , I just knew that it was outside of my budget . I looked them up , knowing I ’ d be upset with the price , only to find out this guitar costs only a fraction of what some of my other Telecasters cost . This is the first sub one-thousand-dollar guitar that I couldn ’ t immediately determine something that I would want to change out . The switch and knobs felt high quality . Though I ’ m sure it already had a professional setup ( or had it ?), it was very comfortable and fit right into my hand . The quality , feel and price of this guitar puts its value far above some of my current guitars in the upper $ 3,000- $ 4,000 range . I had my rig set up for an American Tele , but magic happened when I plugged in the Gopher Wood . It had just a little extra grit that I had no idea I was missing . I love the pickups . I ’ m seriously considering adding one of these guitars to my collection .”
These are honest responses from unexpecting players . I had the same thoughts and reaction to playing the T-Classic V and it really makes me want to get my hands on the other models . Bottom line , we all want a guitar that feels great and sounds great … when we have both , It ’ s truly a combination for inspiration .
The Gopher Wood T-Classic V has an MSRP of $ 799 and a street price of $ 555 .
Street Price $ 555 Gopher Wood T-Classic V
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