Grateful Dead Music Forum

Had a question regarding the guitars that Rich Hoeg makes...

Are these replicas of the ones Bobby used that were made entirely by Modulus or did Rich make the original as well using Modulus necks?

I had Rich grab one of Bobby's Modulus guitars and replicate it. It is not a solid graphite neck. However, it is built like the Genesis guitars with a graphite T section.
Underneath the fretboard is graphite with a stiffiner
When Rich asked Bobby about the idea even Bob said the guitar will probably sound better than the full graphite neck. Which I think it does. It's definitely not as sterile sounding.

In case you want to buy one without waiting. https://reverb.com/item/27558337-hoeg-b ... 8-bob-weir

^^^
The woods on that guitar are gorgeous.

I'm currently playing a Gibson ES-335 VOS and loving it, but I'm curious about Hoeg's Blackknife guitars. I've noticed that players like Nate LaPointe and Rob Eaton, who have received them through the Grateful Guitars Foundation, don’t seem to make them their #1 instruments. I’ve heard these guitars are stunning, both in craftsmanship and sound, but before I consider spending that kind of money, I’d love to hear some insights.

Are these guitars truly game-changing, or do they fall into the category of being more of a niche, one-trick pony? For anyone who’s played one, does it live up to the hype as a "be-all-end-all" guitar, or would you stick with a classic like an ES-335 or similar? I'd really appreciate any input!

Since I've never played one, I can't answer your question, however, Rob may only play his when DSO plays later 80's shows?

Please tell me more about your 335. It's on my short list.

TIA,
ace

PaulReed69 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2024 5:04 am I'm currently playing a Gibson ES-335 VOS and loving it, but I'm curious about Hoeg's Blackknife guitars. I've noticed that players like Nate LaPointe and Rob Eaton, who have received them through the Grateful Guitars Foundation, don’t seem to make them their #1 instruments. I’ve heard these guitars are stunning, both in craftsmanship and sound, but before I consider spending that kind of money, I’d love to hear some insights.

Are these guitars truly game-changing, or do they fall into the category of being more of a niche, one-trick pony? For anyone who’s played one, does it live up to the hype as a "be-all-end-all" guitar, or would you stick with a classic like an ES-335 or similar? I'd really appreciate any input!

For current makers:
- I had a Tele that Hoeg made a neck for. Didn't bond with it. We went back and forth and couldn't come up with a solution.
- Met with Geoff Gould, founder of Modulus Graphite, and had him build me a guitar somewhere between what I know I like, what Bobby was doing in later years, and the aesthetics of BK guitars. AND LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

https://scontent.ford4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=6787C5FA

mkaufman wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2024 6:29 am Since I've never played one, I can't answer your question, however, Rob may only play his when DSO plays later 80's shows?

Please tell me more about your 335. It's on my short list.

TIA,
ace

Good call about using the guitar for period specific shows...

es-335 - what can I tell you? It's butter...beautiful guitar...to me it nails the '72 tones....Beautiful guitar!

PaulReed69 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2024 8:54 am

mkaufman wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2024 6:29 am Since I've never played one, I can't answer your question, however, Rob may only play his when DSO plays later 80's shows?

Please tell me more about your 335. It's on my short list.

TIA,
ace

Good call about using the guitar for period specific shows...

es-335 - what can I tell you? It's butter...beautiful guitar...to me it nails the '72 tones....Beautiful guitar!

What year, what model (ie: '59 VOS?) and how much does it weigh?

It's a '59 VOS Es-335 from 2021. It weigh a little over 7.5 lbs....really amazing...

discussing grateful dead music and their guitar experiments is always interesting, but lately it’s been annoying me that all sorts of spammy links to third-party sites started popping up in the threads, and now I’m even getting all these plinko reviews in my DMs, with links like https://plinkostakeindia.com and https://plinkodafabetindia.com – that’s just too much! I just want to read about bobby’s tone and exchange opinions, not see a bunch of useless gambling ads. hope the mods pay attention, because the forum vibe isn’t as warm as it used to be

strumminsix wrote: ↑Mon Dec 16, 2024 9:34 am
- Met with Geoff Gould, founder of Modulus Graphite, and had him build me a guitar somewhere between what I know I like, what Bobby was doing in later years, and the aesthetics of BK guitars. AND LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

https://scontent.ford4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=6787C5FA

Can you provide details on what you got from Geoff?

ace