Members paul44 Posted February 12, 2009 Members Share Posted February 12, 2009 Has anyone tried a Peerless? I'm looking in particular at these two beauties... Tonemaster Custom Monarch I'd really like to know how the necks feel -you know,chunky,skinny etc... They have some real beauties,check 'em out...http://www.peerlessguitars.co.uk/# Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowbrow Posted February 12, 2009 Members Share Posted February 12, 2009 That's who makes the Gretsch Electromatic series. I would expect comparable (or better, since it's the house brand) quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -Assy- Posted February 12, 2009 Members Share Posted February 12, 2009 If they are solid wood and not plywood, i am sure they are grand instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crisco Posted February 12, 2009 Members Share Posted February 12, 2009 Here's a Peerless made Sam Ash house brand guitar.. The Carlo Robelli RB-55. On the sales tag were the words 'Peer CRB-1955BK' on the case handle. This guitar is now sold by Peerless as the Gigmaster Custom. From what I've read at Gretschpages.com this model is mostly based on the short lived Gretsch G-3131 Anniversary model, built at Peerless before January 2003, about the time FMIC took over Gretsch and all Korean manufactured Gretsch's ceased for the time being. Remarkably, guitars such as this RB-55 inspired Gretsch to build a $599 price point full sized such as the 5120 to squish the copies that were being built. The pickups on this RB-55 are exactly the same as the 5120, sans the Gretsch nameplate on the pickups center. This guitar was built in May 2003. I sold it over a year ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Carbohydrates Posted February 12, 2009 Members Share Posted February 12, 2009 Wow, interesting. Check this out, this is a Gretsch 5120 Electromatic: http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/index.php?product=G5120&cat1=&cat2=&q=&st=1 And this is the Peerless Tonemaster Standard: http://www.peerlessguitars.co.uk/#/tonemasterstandard/4523593833 The differences? According to their respective spec sheets, the Peerless has a solid spruce top as opposed to the Gretsch's laminated maple, and some of the hardware is gold instead of chrome. Also, block inlays and headstock binding. It's also about $50 cheaper. Less money AND a solid wood top makes it sound pretty attractive. e: The electronics are different, too. The Gretsch has Master Volume, Neck Vol, Bridge Vol, and Master Tone. The Peerless has 2 vol, 2 tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paul44 Posted February 12, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 12, 2009 Thanks for all the info guys.Crisco,what was the neck profile like on your Carlo Robelli? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crisco Posted February 13, 2009 Members Share Posted February 13, 2009 Thanks for all the info guys.Crisco,what was the neck profile like on your Carlo Robelli? 20 frets, short acoustic like handling. Very Nice feel & played like butter.My only turn off was it didn't agree with my Marshall stack and squealed like a pig. Makes me appreciate the semi-hollow Dot/335 build.The abalone bindings all over the guitar were the bling factor. It had them top to bottom (face).Footnote: The toggle switch cap was a standard Gretsch metal type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wulver Posted February 13, 2009 Members Share Posted February 13, 2009 Wow, interesting. Check this out, this is a Gretsch 5120 Electromatic:http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/index.php?product=G5120&cat1=&cat2=&q=&st=1And this is the Peerless Tonemaster Standard:http://www.peerlessguitars.co.uk/#/tonemasterstandard/4523593833The differences? According to their respective spec sheets, the Peerless has a solid spruce top as opposed to the Gretsch's laminated maple, and some of the hardware is gold instead of chrome. Also, block inlays and headstock binding. It's also about $50 cheaper. Less money AND a solid wood top makes it sound pretty attractive.e: The electronics are different, too. The Gretsch has Master Volume, Neck Vol, Bridge Vol, and Master Tone. The Peerless has 2 vol, 2 tone. Solid tops aren't necessarily a good thing from an electric perspective, though. the tend to resonate better, and thus create greater hollowbody feedback. Think so, anyway. It'll be better acoustically, of course. And that Tonemaster is utterly amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 59_lespaul Posted May 20, 2013 Members Share Posted May 20, 2013 Due to the good reviews Peerless got up to now and the cool specs of their guitars I decided to buy a Tonemaster Custom. The rare white model was offered by the European distributor as a one-time ebay special. I ordered it and the guitar arrived quickly. First impression was good. I had a meeting with my favorite luthier a few days later. So I took it to him for inspection and setup. After a few seconds the fun was over: he showed me that the guitar's neck (fretboard) was very uneven and it was impossible to fix it via the tussrod because it had an s-shaped curvature. Major issue. So I showed it to another luthier and he told me exactly the same: major issue, needs fret removal, grinding, new frets. Costs about 300 EUR+ (ca. 400 US$). So I contacted peerlesseurope to solve the issue. Several times. I always got friendly but useless replies such as "I will chase the factory again to get a resolution and get back to you this week." In fact they didn't and after several attempts I gave up. Although according to European law a 3-year warranty is mandatory, they left me alone. I paid the neccessary repair myself and I sold it on ebay with a further loss of about 350 EUR. That's a total loss of 650 EUR (ca. 800 $) In the meantime I had ordered a Tonemaster Standard via a local music shop from the German distributor. It arrived and showed the fretboard dissolving from the neck - see picture. The shop sent it back. The German distributor tried to put the blame on the postal service which is nonsense since the guitar came in a case which didn't show a single scratch. Finally I went for a Gretsch Electromatic. Recently found a statement of a Gretsch offical on the web: "Gretsch guitars with serial numbers that start with "KP" were produced at the Peerless factory in Korea. Unfortunately their consistency of quality fell short of our requirements which is why we no longer have them produce guitars for us." Bottom line: ------------ - no consistency in quality (that CAN happen once) - no serious quality control (that shouldn't happen) - inadequate customer support (now that is inacceptable) Bottom line: "consistency" is the word. I have no doubt the positive reviews are true. But if you buy one, better take a luthier with you. For sure I wouldn't buy one via internet. Just my 2c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted May 21, 2013 Members Share Posted May 21, 2013 Sorry to hear about your negative experience with Peerless and glad you're apparently satisfied with your Gretsch but this thread is over 4 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted May 22, 2013 Members Share Posted May 22, 2013 -Assy- wrote: If they are solid wood and not plywood, i am sure they are grand instruments. Some are solid, some are ply. Mind you, some of the expensive Gibson and, afaik, Gretsch stuff is ply too (if memory serves, it's not only more stable, it's less prone to feedback), solid wood alone is no more a guarantee of a better guitar than a glued in neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted May 22, 2013 Members Share Posted May 22, 2013 Carbohydrates wrote: Wow, interesting. Check this out, this is a Gretsch 5120 Electromatic: http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/index.php?product=G5120&cat1=&cat2=&q=&st=1 And this is the Peerless Tonemaster Standard: http://www.peerlessguitars.co.uk/#/tonemasterstandard/4523593833 The differences? According to their respective spec sheets, the Peerless has a solid spruce top as opposed to the Gretsch's laminated maple, and some of the hardware is gold instead of chrome. Also, block inlays and headstock binding. It's also about $50 cheaper. Less money AND a solid wood top makes it sound pretty attractive. e: The electronics are different, too. The Gretsch has Master Volume, Neck Vol, Bridge Vol, and Master Tone. The Peerless has 2 vol, 2 tone. They're available here for a little less than the Gretsch models too. Intriguingly, they also seem to offer a better left handed range. I'm disappointed, though, to discover that particular model has the Gibson style wiring - one of the real weaknesses of Gibson, imo, has always been the lack of a master volume. YMMV, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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