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Crazy Quilt
3D Averest electric solidbody guitar
By Chris Gill of Guitar World Magazine
What is it about figured maple that makes a man’s hear beat faster, legs tremble and wallet empty? From the late-Fifties Les Paul Standard to the recent wonders offered by Paul Reed Smith, guitars with figured tops remain number one on many guitarists’ most-wanted lists. Figured maple not only looks extremely cool – especially the way the pattern changes in a hypnotic, three-dimensional fashion when you move the guitar under lights – but also delivers some of the sweetest solidbody tones known to mankind. Talk about a win-win situation!
Founded in 2006 by Troy Dana, 3D Guitars is a relative newcomer to the high-end guitar market, but the company has an unusual advantage in being located in Olympia, Washington, near the source of the maple used to build its guitars. As a result, the company can handpick the trees it wants to use. 3D also harvests, mills, and dries the maple itself. This gives the company a competitive advantage few can match, as proven by the Averest model that 3D sent in for review. The guitar boasts some of the most beautiful quilted maple I’ve ever laid eyes upon. The Averest may look stunning, but do its sound, craftsmanship and playability live up to its external beauty?
Features
The Averest has a classic, curvy single-cutaway body shape similar to a Les Paul, but wheras a Les Paul Standard gives you a single slab of maple on top, the Averest features generous slabs of quilted maple on both the top and back, sandwiching a mahogany core. Even with all that heavy hardwood, the guitar is surprisingly light, weighing about 10 pounds. As if all that gorgeous quilted maple wasn’t enough, the headstock is decorated with a matching quilted maple veneer, and the body is bound with an unstained strip of figured maple.
The deep crimson red finish on my example perfectly complements the striking detail of the quilted maple. Certainly, Troy Dana chose the name 3D for his company based on the deep three-dimensional illusion created by the exquisitely figured maple he hand selects for each instrument.
The Averest’s neck is crafted from a carved piece of mahogany, and the fingerboard boasts a jet-black slab of ebony decorated with colorful abalone trapezoid inlays. With 22 frets and a 25 – inch scale, the Averest delivers bright, punchy tone, thanks to the slightly tighter string tension of its longer scale.
3D did not skimp when selecting hardware for the Averest. All of the hardware – the pickups, bridge, tuners, truss rod cover, output jack, pickup selector switch and even the knobs – is gold plated, and the knobs are topped with more of that colorful abalone. My test guitar came with Gotoh tuners, although Waverly tuners are also available. Made by TonePros, the bridge is wraparound-style combination Tuneomatic stop tailpiece, and the two humbucking pickups are handwound and custom-made by Seymour Duncan.
Performance
As anyone who’s dated a supermodel can attest, hot looks don’t always mean high performance. Fortunately, all that gorgeous wood and luxurious hardware have not gone to waste on the Averest: it sounds every bit as good as it looks. As you’d expect from a solidbody with the classic maple/mahogany combo, the Averest delivers crisp, punchy attack and near never-ending sustain with a delicious midrange warmth that’s as rich, smooth and creamy as melted butter. Also, the Averest’s playablility is about as good as it gets. In fact, the guitar seems to play itself when you hold it in your hands.
The three knobs provide individual volume control for each pickup and a master tone control. You can also pull up on the volume control knobs to split the coils for each pickup and get a brighter, single-coil-style sound. While the three-knob configuration may not be traditional (by Les Paul Standard standards, that is), its certainly versatile, although I still wish there were separate tone controls for each pickup to make it easier to switch from a bright, percussive bridge pickup tone to a singing, sustaining “woman” tone (with the tone backed down) on the neck pickup.
The Bottom Line
You’ve probably heard the phrase “expensive, but worth it” countless times, but it’s a phrase that fits the Averest perfectly. If you’re looking for a collector-quality instrument but want something that you can play every day instead of a wall-hanger or conversation piece, the Averest is a great way to go – if you’ve got the bucks.
Click here for the latest review of The Averest Guitar by Guitar World Magazine!
