Kiesel Guitars DC600 regrets.. 

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I just love listening to what you create with a guitar. You, sir, are amazing. Thank you for what you give to anyone who will listen.

My biggest regret on my first Kiesel (DC600H), was not using a salesman. Shoutout to Chris Hong, for making my following two axes, they are amazing.

Bolt-on neck-through you know what man I have a Les Paul Modern with the scooped back and without it I don't think I can easily solo because my hands are not that big. Depends on the guitar but I like the feel of neck-through.

That clean tone low E string was hitting so hard 😍 bass for days lol. Black & Gold Delos is my favorite of yours. Loving these video's. Hope when your done going through your collection you continue the series with other guitars.

Wow man, your playing is excellent. Love the guitar too, thanks for the post.

I had some minor regrets on my first Kiesel build but none of them are deal breakers. I ordered a satin finish on my solid 1 piece Black limba body, a trem for the headless and medium jumbo frets. The guitar is still amazing so I'm not too bummed but i just placed a order for a new guitar. Tung oil finish this time so the wood will pop, Jumbo frets and no trem. Its tough to choose sometimes.

Awesome video Thomas! Hutch was using a fret warp on the 2nd fret on today's morning session stream.. lol.. Years ago i sometimes used to tie a sock around the neck to avoid those noises and to prevent open strings from ringing.. (Before the fret warp invention) But i found it also removed some of the over/undertones or whatever its called, and it made it sound a bit more sterile.. I dont think Blackmore or EVH used it, and i think not using it gives the player a more raw and human sound. But then again for someone like MAB and his double guitar, some sort of fret dampening is a must.

I think that guitar looks awesome even with a satin finish.

That thing about satin being a missed opportunity on that awesome top is the exact same thing I thought the first time you showed this guitar on a video. I feel the same, nothing beats gloss with highly figured tops.

Send it to a pro and have it sanded and re-cleared with gloss. I have many weeks left waiting for my Kiesel. I went satin solid black w/ Jumbo frets. I was going crazy trying to pick a top and color so I went with a nice subdued look. I considered the med jumbos as well but didn't want to risk it and hearing your thoughts on them makes me happy I chose the jumbos. I'll go nuts next time with the finish. I've never had anything but flamed so thinking a nice quilt next time.

That guitar is Beautiful, I would look into a good color sand and buff if you want the gloss on it, That maybe be a inexpensive option.

Beautiful clean tone, did not see that coming

You can turn a satin finish into a gloss finish pretty easily. How they colored it might also play a role in hiding the figuring.

I prefer neck through, but that is mostly nice when you are north of fret 22. But that is a personal thing, I guess.

In the beginning was like you wanted to crush this Kiesel DC-600. Hopefully the poor guitar endured your abuse :-P. Awesome video Thomas!!!!!

You can definitely have any luthier polish it to gloss and do a re-fret

That's a good one. I agree gloss would have looked even better. I love neck-thru myself, just so much more comfort there. What did this one run you?

I didn't recognize you with the short hair and now that you are a grown up. I started playing hair guitar in 1985 when I was 15. Big Vai fan and saw your electronic presser for Bad4Good. I was pretty amazed to see such young guys sounding so tight. Haven't looked yet, but if you don't have it on your channel, you should get it. Nineteen and Nothin' great about a heartbreak were excellent. 2 👍👍 to you guys.

Kiesel DC700 review. I own a second hand DC700, built 2019. It is my first and only Kiesel. Overall it is a good guitar but there are certain things that made me decide not to order a DC700 new built. First briefly the specs: - Neckthrough ash body with flamed maple top - 5 piece maple neck with two black limba stripes - Thinner neck profile - 25.5 inch - Flamed maple fretboard - 20 inch fretboard radius - Jumbo stainless steel frets - Hipshot trem - No toneknob, 1 volume, 5-way switch - 9-54 set strings, standard tuning B-E Then here my (short) review: Main pro’s: - It is a resonant guitar with a pleasant sound - Tonewoods are good quality - Very smooth neck - No string trees needed - Fretwork seems good - Bright luminlay side dots - Good balance, no neckdive - Nut has a good cut - Firm amd straight pickup installment - Copper shieldings - Built-in threads for electronic cover plate screws. - Electronic cover plate is built inside of the body and not on top of the body giving it a flat surface with the body. Main con’s: - The guitar has too much fretbuzz for my liking. My Ibanez Iron Label 7-string made in Indonesia that I sold had less buzz. It could be that the first owner of my Kiesel didn’t had these issues, because he got the guitar brand new straight from the Kiesel factory with their factory setup. Maybe the problems started along the way. Perhaps the previous owner did not took care of it? I did my best to give the guitar its best setup but still a bit buzzy - The neckwidth is wider than the standard 1.889inch/48mm. It is 1.91inch/48,5mm. That difference might not be a big deal on a 6-string, but on a 7-string… yeah, it makes a difference! Especially with a flatter radius and jumbo frets. Before I got this guitar I tried to find information about the nut width but nothing can be found on their website when it comes to 7-string nut width. Also I asked Jeff Kiesel one time in his livestream and surprisingly enough he did not the nut width by heart. I wished Kiesel would present all the information on their website. - Body is quite big - Playability is not that better than my Ibanez Iron Label 7-string, made in Indonesia. That took me a bit by suprise because you hear these laudable stories that Kiesel plays super comfortable and better than any other guitar. You have to take that story with a grain of salt. - The whammy bar is heavy and very sensitive. The moment you grab it the tone immidiately goes out of pitch. Also very hard to make subtle vibrations. The Ibanez Edge trems are much better giving you much more control. - The whammy bar is very high off the body, like a miles away - The trem block inside the body has 6 holes, to put in the spring ends, instead of 5. This gives an unbalance by default in setting up the springs. - No built-in threads for the tremolo cover plate screws. - The tremolo cover plate is mounted on top of the body instead of inside the body like the electronic cavity cover. I see no valid reason why they do this. It will not touch the springs if you built it right so that cannot be the reason. - the opening of the truss rod is wide in the upper half and normal in the lower. This is very inconvenient if you want to insert the key to adjust your truss rod. Last is that the locking tuners are okay but I prefer the Gotoh lockers that Ibanez uses. They are lighter and also the tuner pins cannot come of. Conclusion is that I will not buy a DC again. Maybe an Aries? Then I hope the nut width is 1.889 inch. Also I’d like to have the option to choose a 25 inch scale length and that is currently unavailable.

Both my guitars are bolt-ons, I'd like to have a neck-through too

I really enjoy your videos man🫡😁

Great playing and informative vid, Thomas! I agree with you in that Kiesel is the way to go for "made to order guitars"! You asked for opinions...so here goes: If you run a "Floyd"--and Kiesel offers the German unit--you won't have a problem with string resonance in "hi-gain". To my eye, the problem with your finish is the translucent color the top is covered with--just too DARK! Bolt-ons RULE!! Sustain and "Snap" properly balanced! Live and Learn...

Man I remember when you were 3 or 4 years old on American morning tv as vais kid you still fucking rock cheers

If you want the flame to look closer to gloss, try polishing the front with lemon oil. I had a schecter c1 platinum in black and that was a solution I came across. If your worried try a test spot.

Check out the Jimmy Clip! It stops the overtones from ringing. You clip it on the strings past the nut.

I’m firmly on team Bolt-On too. Neckthru guitars feel really stiff to me for some reason. Maybe it’s the neck angle, or rather the lack of neck angle that bugs me. I could also be team set-neck, because I really like a set-neck. The only Carvin (Kiesel, for us old guys) is a CT4C from about 2008. Love that guitar.

I’m a total medium jumbo fret guy…I cannot play a guitar if the frets feel like I’m sliding over railroad tracks…fender med jumbo are perfect for me…it’s quite funny how we all have different likes and dislikes…rock on my man 😎

Awesome!!

i love that satin finish, for me its perfect for that wine colour.

Bolt on for sure. Neck throughs, like you said, can look really good with no effort though. Some bolt on look better than that in my opinion though.

Team bolt-on here... Throughout the years I've dealt with snapped headstocks, twisted necks and tapped out truss rods... When that happens with a neck-thru, your options become very limited if you want to save the guitar.

Yes Thomas I agree, no matte finish, and it's got to be a bolt on. I played neck through for over 30 and just a few years ago realized that bolt on is where it as far as playability and feel. And it's difficult to go back to medium jumbo once you have played jumbo.

Team neck through. Simple, no fitment issues, usually stronger necks, no seams, everything you need, nothing you don’t.

Insane playing-- awesome 👍

I love my DC600 so I’m very interested to see what this video entails haha🤘🏼

Lol don’t upset the fret wrap police!!!

I too, typically prefer bolt on necks for the purpose of modularity. I have one set neck electric (my PRS), but I've never owned a neck-through instrument. The idea of it does very much feel like trapeze act without a net. I've played a few, and they've typically very comfortable because the neck joint is no longer an issue. That's about the only, truly, measurable advantage they have over their counterparts. Not sure if I believe the hype about the sustain or total advantages it's claim to have. As far as the satin finish, I would've gone with a brighter color to get more contrast in the stains. The color you chose was still cool, but if you want the fame to really pop...

You need to tape it off with painters tape and just gloss the top and leave the rest of the body satin…will look amazing

Actually prefer neck through. You can get a deeper cut on the top bout . I actually use the the upper range of the guitar in that area . Not quite as easy with bolt on style . However easier to deal with tragedy with a bolt on . Snappier too I believe.

Team bolt-on. All neckthrus I’ve played have had a dead feel to them. I love set necks over neckthrus as well.

I've seen a ton of people using little foam wedges or electrical tape to defeat that sympathetic resonance on hard tail or non-locking trem guitars.

I love my DC600! I just wish it had some McRocklin pups! What is your opiinion on the sustain of the neck through opposed to a bolt-on?

In my honest opinion....I think in that color combo and wood top the satin really looks rad. I like it a lot.

I have to disagree on the finish. That satin looks killer on that guitar. I’d be thrilled to buy it from you. I also like the med-jumbo.

I definitely prefer neck through because I have smaller hands and can't really play comfortably up high with a bolt on.

Huge fan of satin finishes, especially on the back of the neck. 😎 I've been known to take steel wool to glossy guitar necks, they play so much better after...

I regret selling an early 90s Carvin DC727 7 string I bought used in 2006... tung oil Walnut body and one piece walnut neck, carvin active pickups, floyd rose, ebony fingerboard on quite a large neck profile. Unique sounding guitar...

my mantra is it's not cheating if it sounds good. Everything is a tool. Same philosophy applies to fret wraps, as it does for picks, capo or anything else that helps you play better like strap or footstand. Nothing is cheating guitar is not a competition with rules.

Speaking purely in terms of design: I love the look of neck-through guitars finished entirely in a solid color, including the neck. It gives the illusion that the whole guitar is one continuous piece of wood. Of course then you have the problem of a (usually) glossy neck. Otherwise you have that artificial border painted between the neck and body, which ruins the continuous look. I'd rather just have a bolt-on with an actual natural border between colors.

Is there a reason people don't just use black foam pads under the stings at the headstock and under the springs in the trem? That's what I do and I have no need for my fret wrap anymore. The wrap still helps with sloppy playing tho but it covers the first fret and that bugs me.

It's funny, I also feel like I tend towards team bolt on, but every time I play a good neck through, I wonder why that is...🤔 I also have a guitar with a figured maple top with a satin finish, I totally thought it was going to be awesome, but every time I look at it I wish it looked crystal clear like lake ice instead of being somewhat hazy.

Playing wise, as long as I can get high fret access, neck through or bolt on, I can play them back to back. Preferably? I’d go with bolt on because if it gets severely damaged, you might as well buy a new guitar after the price you’d pay for a good luthier and even then, it’s still limited. Besides that, great playing. I love my Kiesel 9 string. *Pinches sphenoid sinus for the playing a bass jokes, etc.*

Cool guitar, not into Kiesel much myself, but it sounds tight as all hell. I love the clean tones with the Petrucci suite, seems like this kind of modern (bit plonky maybe?) precision guitar really adds to the sound there. Now though I haven't ever felt the need to use fret wrap myself, I'm open to the idea, but this guitar needs it so badly I would almost say it just should be released with an issue like that On another note, are you related to Eric Idle?

My first Kiesel was a CL7 built for and owned by Chris Lechtford, the artist the model was named after. I regret selling it, but I absolutely love my Zeus M8.

What is that metal doohickey in front of the bridge?

I love how it looks though

Team bolt-on, baby! That string resonating is wild. Seems like a defect? Wonder if it's something in the nut?

I sold on my Kiesel after six months. It just generally didn't meet my expectations, and I found their customer service to be desperately poor at best. The 'Emperors new clothes' of the guitar world.

Team neck through all the way but I do love my Wolfgangs

Quad tracking is why you have both a Bolt on and a Neck thru.

I have a 2006 Carvin 747 with double pole pickups. It would be sacrelige to change them out in my opinion.

The forearm contour looks very minimal on the DC model. How do you like it? Is it enough slant for comfortable playing?

i think the satin looks way better then gloss almost all my guitars are satin

That is a SICK finish

Do you like the sound of the bolt on over the neck through? You don't really say why you prefer the bolt on, other than you grew up with them.

6:32 XD dude, wtf, mind blowing riff

You can definitely get a refret to jumbo.

bro how do i get a finish like that with the 2 colora

I'm totally with you on the bolt on necks. I have neck throughs, set necks and of course bolt on's and I prefer the bolt on's. And yes.. I completely agree with you on the gloss. Right when i started watching this and saw this guitar, I literally said out loud.. man you know how awesome that flame top would look it was gloss and not satin.. Satin is cooler w solid colors, but even then I'm still a Gloss dude..

Thomas...I have a Question about your DC600! What is that piece of hardware between your Bridge Pickup & the Tremolo??? Thanks Mate! Your Awesome!!! :) :)

the pop in that top + subtly in satin I think actually enhances the look sir.

YES I dig this Kiesel. What is the color?

satin looks way better than gloss to me. only problem is that it can shine

The satin finish looks great! Which color is that?

What pedal does the effect @ 0:13 ?

What many people say about neck-thru is that they “have more sustain.” Ola England made a video on it testing it for that theory and any other possible differences. So, in HIS test, the bolt on actually sustained longer if I remember correctly. In my own preference, I usually go neck-thru if I want something for easier access on the heel for leads. However if I’m getting a guitar for rhythm like a 7 or 8 string, I tend to just go bolt on. Since it’s a cheaper option and I don’t spend as much time on the high notes as I do on lower in extended range guitars. Also, a neck-thru is usually much heavier.

i prefer neck thrue for the style but the problem is if you break the neck it may be dificult to repair the guitar then with a bolt on guitar you can just change the neck and dont have to buy a new guitar

There was a used Keisel dc600 for $2999 at my local guitar center. I tried it. And wasnt impressed.

Please tell me what the name of that finish is? Flamed maple, satin matte finish but what's the color?????

I should probly watch the whole vid first...🤣 but, is that the fishman triple play? I want to see YOU demo some things that can do. Team neck-thru here 🙋‍♂️ I THINK I notice more sustain. 🤷‍♂️ Also feel it gives a more expensive vibe. 🤔🤣 Not a make or break aspect though.

Team bolt on all the way they just feel snappier and more resonant. I know those terms can be just stupid buzz words that dont really mean much but having the neck through be that big mass of wood just feels deader in my hands. When plugging it in and putting a bunch of distortion on they both sound the same but in the room the feel and sound is definitely different.

Much better build than most Kiesels...most of them are garish as hell.

You are the go to man.....

i feel like i've heard a lot of people switch the voices around from stock.

Im not a fan of neck through. Sure it looks slick and feels great. But if you like chunky rhythms bolt on just sounds better to my ears. Ive owned over 20 carvin guitars before becoming kiesel. I have an aries bolt on coming. Cant wait to be back in the family. great DC either way.

I love bolt ons. Found some great bolt ons on the hub

Can you get a neural dsp plugin on a focusrite solo

What's the difference between the DC600 and an Aries with no bevel ?

What is that in front of the bridge? Cool guitar too.

Can you tell me what the body name is that you chose on this? Maybe the color, too? Thx.

how are you getting those glitch effects?

Live and learn, but it still looks great. I have a DC600 on order, which will be my first Kiesel. I scrutinized the specs for weeks before placing my order. I prefer the feel and sustain of neck throughs, but they can be bright and sterile with certain woods. Mine is going to have a mahogany neck and chambered body, with a flamed maple top and ebony fretboard. I'm hoping that will give it rich and resonant tone.

Did exactly the same wiring mod to mine. Much better!

Hey what’s the color on the guitar?

Bro u got perfect tones wonder what’s included in ur settings

I'm up in the air on that model.

These Kiesels always wind up at Guitar Center used in 6 months

Bolt on for me man!

I prefer Bolt-On, too! 👍🏼🎸🤘🏼