Comins GCS-1 Report

**Daddydey** · 11-05-2013, 08:42 PM

Got my Violin Burst Comins GCS-1 about a week ago. I'm absolutely thrilled with it. I was hesitant to buy a guitar without laying hands on it, but after a little encouragement from the kind folks on this site, I bit the bullet and decided to try it (I got it from Robinson at Soundpure. He was great to deal with and the transaction went very smoothly. I would definitely recommend using them.)

Now, for the guitar itself. It's hard to describe because it does so many things. As a jazz guitar, it can create lots of different sounds from smooth and mellow, to bright and lively. The demo videos on Soundpure (also on YouTube) are a pretty good indication of the bright/clean jazz sound. However, it can also get down and dirty like and ES-335. The bridge pickup gets downright spanky when played by itself. In the middle switch position, you can blend the two pickups and get a whole bunch of various sounds. I've had a great time blasting out some blues and R&R with it through a small combo that gets a little hair on the sound at lower volumes. Finally, with the coil tap switch, you can get some very sweet single coil kind of sounds. It's not a tele or strat, but the sounds are definitely useful. The tone controls cover a huge range. Full on, the guitar gives a bright thick clear sound (without being brittle). Turned down you can go as far into the muted jazz box sound as you want to go. One thing I really like is the dynamic range. You can play soft or you can really dig in and it responds really well to all of it. There is also a wide frequency response. It has really great bass and really pure, singing (yet still "fat") trebles. Lastly, it is surpisingly resonant acoustically. Most semi-acoustics don't have much to say when not plugged in. This one is pretty nice (not that you'd want to play an acoustic gig with it, but it's fine for noodling around on the couch while watching stupid TV (is that redundant?). Oh, and that reminds me - the other big advantage for me is the sustain. All day long if you want. I think this is due to the mahogany body, neck and center block.

As for playability, it is just fabulous. I was worried that the neck would be too slim for me because most of my guitars have pretty beefy necks (think 50s tele/Gibson style). This neck is much thinner feeling (although I measured it and compared to my Anderson Strat, it's actually the same depth, the shape is just different - it's wider and a little flatter in profile. For the first day or so, I was not really enamored with it, but now that I've gotten used to it, I think it's really great. It's really fast and comfortable. Also, the 12 inch fingerboard radius and 1.7 inch nut width took some getting used to for me (again, my other guitars are more like 7.5-9 inch radius), but again, I really like it now that I've been playing on it for a while. It's really fast and comfortable and there's plenty of finger room for those wonky jazz chords (my strat with a 1-5/8 nut can get a little crowded at times). A friend at school played it for the first time today and he said "I can't believe how easy this is to play. It's very, um, buttery". That's a good word for it. I originally thought of it as slippery. In fact, my finger movement on the strings was so smooth when I first got it that I asked Robinson if he had put coated strings on it, but they're just regular old D'Addario 11's. Even now, a week+ of use on the strings and it still has that slippery feel

So, for me, this guitar is about as close as it comes to a one size fits all instrument. It's exactly what I've been looking for and I have a feeling that some of my other guitars are going to get a little lonely...

And did I mention the price? For around $1500, I think that these things are a steal. As has been said in previous reviews, it's hard to believe that Bill is selling them at this price.

**2bornot2bop** · 11-05-2013, 08:50 PM

Congrats man. She looks like one comfortable playing guitar. I dig the shade. Enjoy!

**Jonathan0996** · 11-05-2013, 08:56 PM

Very nice horn. Congratulations!

What's it weigh?

**Daddydey** · 11-05-2013, 10:08 PM

It weighs 7.6 lbs. Very comfortable weight. Not super light like some smaller sized full hollow bodies, but for a semi-hollow, it's fairly light.

**Eric Rowland** · 11-07-2013, 05:13 AM

Hi Daddy...I've had mine for a year now and I'm still in love with it. Thanks for your excellent review and enjoy your new source of musical inspiration!

**DRS** · 11-07-2013, 12:09 PM

Very nice. Where are these made?

**DRS** · 11-07-2013, 12:13 PM

Checked their website
S Korea.

**Daddydey** · 11-07-2013, 12:49 PM

Don't let the South Korea origin put you off. I do a little guitar building now and then and know a lot of local builders here in Seattle (including Steven Andersen, the renowned archtop builder - who is sadly, way out of my price range...), so I have a pretty good sense of what goes into building a quality instrument. The Comins pass the quality test with flying colors on all counts. All of the materials are top notch including the hardware (one main area where less expensive foreign instruments often cut corners - cheap wood, cheap tuners, bridges, pickups, etc.), and the workmanship is impeccable. The fit and finish are as good as it gets. The fretwork is fantastic (which is another indicator of a poorly executed instrument and common on many less expensive imports). In fact, it's as good or better than most of the instruments that I've played, even substantially more expensive boutique instruments. The ONLY thing I noticed awry after my initial detailed inspection, was a couple spots of glue squeeze-out inside the body where the rims are glued to the back. I doubt that anyone but a luthier would even notice this and it's a VERY minor nit having no impact at all on appearance, playability or durability.

Interestingly, when I was considering the similarly placed D'Angelico models (related to mine in that Bill C was in on the design and manufacture of those instruments originally, and they're built in the same factory), the guys at the store were gushing about them and said of the 3 they different models that they had in stock, "we can't find ANYTHING wrong with those". Now, of course, they're sales guys, but I know them and they're pretty straight shooters about that sort of thing. You could tell by the way they were talking about them that they were impressed as musicians, not just as salesmen. Plus I looked pretty closely at the 3 and totally agree with their assessment.

So, yes, they're made in Korea, but in my view, their work is as good as almost any other manufacturer I've seen, ESPECIALLY in this price range. They look and feel like an instrument that would be twice the cost.

Hope I don't sound too much like a Comins salesman (I have no relationship with him or his business at all other than being a happy customer), but I am excited about this instrument and being a guitar geek, well, you all understand that affliction and it's attendant need to blather on about our babies... =;-)

**DRS** · 11-07-2013, 01:53 PM

I know that Korea makes great stuff. I just need to know because it lets me gauge value for my own reasons.

**callouscallus** · 01-27-2014, 11:23 AM

@eric Rowland, are any of those clips at your soundcloud the comins? I'm thinking of picking up a used one

**Johnson81** · 01-27-2014, 02:37 PM

Congrats and thanks for the review. Just got an email from Bill, he is releasing a hollow body from the same South Korea shop this year, looking forward to seeing the reviews on that one.

I got my GCS-1 a year ago. I also have an Ibanez as-200 and a Gibson CS 336. While the Gibson is my favorite of the three, the Comins holds it's own. The great thing is, they are all completely different guitars in sound, feel, and playability. For the price, the GCS is by far the best value of the three.

**Eric Rowland** · 01-27-2014, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by callouscallus

@eric Rowland, are any of those clips at your soundcloud the comins? I'm thinking of picking up a used one

Hi callous...the clips "The Shadow Of Your Smile" and "Affirmation" are the Comins with the Guitar Rig 5 "Pat's chorus" plugin. I also have a GK3 hex pickup on the Comins that I run into a Roland GR55 synthesizer that's on one of the clips. I'll make another clip of the natural sound of the Comins later today. I just love the way the Comins feels and sounds. It is so comfortable to play. It was setup beautifully at the factory and I haven't had to do a thing to it. I even like the strings they used. You can get all of the classic sounds of a semihollow out of it.

**callouscallus** · 01-27-2014, 05:35 PM

Cool, I listened to affirmation this morning and really liked the sound and playing. Do you have to roll down the treble to get that sound? The only worry I have about the comins is it being to bright. I'd appreciate any other clips you felt like doing, I'd be curious what the neck pickup with tone not rolled down at all sounded like

Thanks!

**Johnson81** · 01-27-2014, 07:10 PM

I can assure you, even with round wounds, it's not a bright sounding instrument. I normally play it on my Henriksen with the EQ flat and the tone knob opened all the way up (neck pickup). It works wonderfully. I play a lot of duets with a horn player where I play walking bass lines with chords. The balance and definition across the range of the guitar is great. Plenty of warmth in the bass notes.

I hate having to read reviews like this before purchasing a guitar, I understand your situation all too well!

**Eric Rowland** · 01-27-2014, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by callouscallus

Cool, I listened to affirmation this morning and really liked the sound and playing. Do you have to roll down the treble to get that sound? The only worry I have about the comins is it being to bright. I'd appreciate any other clips you felt like doing, I'd be curious what the neck pickup with tone not rolled down at all sounded like

Thanks!

Yeah I rolled down the treble on the neck pickup (about 2 or so..I like a little bit of attack) but I always do that on any guitar. I like a dark round creamy sound (a la Metheny). I'll do something later that will sound test the Comins for you esp the neck pu with the tone not rolled down at all. You're welcome!