evolu wrote:Has anyone played / used / recorded any guitars built by these guys?
I have just ordered a TB500 style guitar from them and have since been suffering from the paranoia that it will play / sound like shit.
I've only ever played the baritone Kevin made for me, so I can't speak directly to the TB500, but I would be very much astounded if it played or sounded like shit. I would be surprised if it played or sounded anything other than excellent.
My baritone does not play or sound like shit. The neck is not as thick as Tim's, and it's quite wide, in accordance with the design Kevin and I came to. I can play barre chords on it with no trouble. The action is actually frighteningly low. The sustain is impressive. When you wail, she barks.
FWIW, my dad is a machinist and has been so since before I was born, to the best of my knowledge. He currently builds prototype microphones for Shure, and in the past he worked on some aspect or another of the B-2 (Stealth Bomber) which I do not precisely know. When I showed my baritone to him, he was very impressed, and commented on the excellence of the machining of this instrument. And mine is very much custom! I can only imagine the production models to be better, however that would be possible.
I didn't play it, but I looked at and held one of his all-aluminum SG's that came across as quite badass. My experience with the production models only includes seeing and holding, but not playing through an amp.
I haven't recorded my baritone yet, but I enjoy playing it, and very much look forward to recording it.
I have heard Tim's baritone played live on multiple occasions, as recently as last week, and it has never sounded bad at all. Nothing even close to bad. Quite the contrary.
I can't say with any certainty, but I would be surprised if there are many people alive who are more familiar with the construction of both Travis Bean guitars and basses and Veleno guitars than Kevin. Maybe a couple-few, but probably not many.
So stop with the paranoia!