RatingsPros:Great looks. Superb playability. Fine traditional jazz tones. Cons: Very expensive for a factory-made Korean guitar. Street: $2,399 Comins GCS-16-2 cominsguitars.com
| Tones:  Playability: Build/Design:  Value:  |
I confess I’ve never played one of the high-end archtops crafted by Philadelphia luthier Bill Comins. But they’re highly regarded and drop-dead beautiful. They’re also drop-dead expensive, as you’d expect for fine hand-carved archtops. Base models start at $10,000, with custom-spec instruments selling for 20 grand or more.
Comins recently followed the lead of several other ultra-premium luthiers in launching a line of relatively affordable instruments assembled on a South Korean production line. His first venture was the GCS-1, a $1,699 semi-acoustic. This GCS-16-2 is his second Korean model. We reviewed the $2,399 double-humbucker version, the GCS-16-2. (The single-pickup GCS-16-1 lists for $2,199.) Our review model sports Comins’ vintage blonde finish. All GCS models are also available in tangerine burst, violin burst, autumn burst, and black.
Pretty and Petite
Our review guitar may lack a devasting price, yet it retains the devastating good looks of Comins’ upscale instruments. It’s svelte, as archtops go, with a 16" lower bout (hence the numeral in the model name) and a modest 2 3/4" body depth. It’s a nice blend of archtop orthodoxy and personal design touches, such as the substantial asymmetric headstock that echoes the body contours, and handsome multi-ply binding rings the top, back, neck, and headstock. The cream-colored binding and blonde finish contrast beautifully with the black of the tailpiece, pickguard, Wilkinson tuner buttons, ebony fingerboard, and the reflective headstock finish. This is one classy-looking guitar.
Obviously, there’s cost-cutting in relation to Comins’s high-end instruments, and not only in the automated construction. The spruce top is laminate, as are the maple back and sides. (Many high-end and classic archtops, including some from Comins’ line, also use laminate tops and sides.) The fretboard decorations are minimal pearloid dots. The floating bridge’s base is wood, but the bridge itself is a generic Tune-o-matic unit. And while the attractive pickguard and tailpiece have the look of carved ebony, they’re actually Richlite.
There’s no shame in plastic pickguards—many of the world’s most desirable guitars have them. But because we expect parts that look like these to be carved from wood, I felt a flash of downscale disappointment the first time I touched the tailpiece. It was solely an emotional response, and your reactions may differ.
Top-End Tones
Richlite and laminate notwithstanding, this guitar sounds expensive. The custom-wound Kent Armstrong humbuckers are simultaneously warm and articulate. There’s much airy treble openness, even when dialing in mellow, dark neck tones. Note fundamentals are stout and stable. Fine sustain and punchy attack lend mass and power to single-note solos. Meanwhile. excellent string-to-string separation brings clarity to chord-melody playing and contrapuntal voicings. Whether you’re soloing or comping, the guitar’s natural compression lends a suave, polished character. It’s no struggle to maintain balance from string to string and from register to register.
At all settings, tones are complex and detailed. My ears simply got sucked in. The GCS-16-2 nails the sound and attitude of a fine traditional jazz guitar, or at least it would if I were a fine traditional jazz player. I recorded the demo clips using the factory roundwound strings, but premium flatwounds would nudge the guitar even closer toward a mid-century archtop aesthetic.
Primed to Play
With its smallish proportions, the guitar’s body cradles comfortably under your forearm. Novice archtop players accustomed to electric solidbody dimensions are likely to feel more at home here than they would on models with larger bouts.
According to the manufacturer, all GCS guitars make a stopover at Comins’ Philadelphia workshop for fret-dressing and setup before they reach consumers. It certainly feels like it: The GCS-16 arrived perfectly intonated, with a smooth, buzz-free setup. The 25" fretboard is a comfy compromise between Fender and Gibson proportion. Same with the 1.7" nut width. The neck’s medium C-shape would satisfy Goldilocks. The frets feel fab. They’re just substantial enough to let you dig into notes without impeding motion—you can shred yourself silly here, if that’s your thing. My only wish: rounder fret ends, especially on the treble side. Your desires may differ.
The Verdict
Comins’ GCS-16-2 is gorgeous to look at and a pleasure to play. Its vintage-style jazz tones are deep and detailed. In fact, it’s so adept at old-school jazz sounds that I seldom used the bridge pickup, despite its excellent sound. (I’d probably opt for the $2,199 single-pickup version, myself.) There are two ways of looking at the price tag: At $2,399, the GCS-16-2 is by far the most expensive Korean-made production guitar I’ve encountered. But for those of us who can’t afford a fine hand-carved archtop (that is, nearly everybody), the GCS-16-2 provides an impressively comparable experience at a fraction of the cost. This guitar has been sitting around my house all week, and it’s beguiled me. I couldn’t seem to walk past it without pausing to play. The GCS-16-2 is an inspiring instrument that made me want to focus and play my best.
Guitarist Brandon Seabrook, architect of fretboard chaos, and his trusty HMT Tele.
It’s a heady, thrilling idea—but no one who’s followed his zigzagging career will be surprised at the gumption. As he’s cycled through various projects (including the acclaimed power trio Seabrook Power Plant), he’s become a resident chaos architect within the Brooklyn avant-garde scene—exploring everything from jazz-fusion to brutal prog to other untamed strains of heavy rock, typically wielding his trusted 1928 tenor banjo and a modified “heavy metal Telecaster” acoustic-electric from 1989.
But Object of Unknown Function, his first solo album since 2014’s Sylphid Vitalizers, became his own real-life choose-your-own-adventure—a process of rejuvenation by playing with new toys. Along with his usual gear, Seabrook’s main compositional tools this time were a 6-string 1920 William O. Schmick Lyric guitar banjo and a 1998 Jerry Jones Neptune electric 12-string—both of which became vibrant “new relationships,” even if, at first, he felt like he was “stepping out on his guitar.”
“My other guitar [his Telecaster] is the only thing I’ve been playing for the past 25 to 27 years,” he says, laughing. “I was so afraid to try something else: ‘I can’t play another guitar because it’s like an extension of my arm. I know the topography of this neck so well. It’s my sound.’"
Brandon Seabrook's Gear
Seabrook’s 1989 Fender HMT Thinline Telecaster has seen enough wear to rival Willie Nelson’s Trigger.
Photo by Scott Friedlander
Instruments
- 1928 Bacon & Day Silver Bell tenor banjo
- 1920 William O. Schmick Lyric guitar banjo
- 1989 Fender HMT Thinline Telecaster with Sheptone Pickups
- 1998 Jerry Jones Neptune 12-string electric
Amps
- 1962 Magnatone Custom 450
- 1971 Traynor YGM-3
Pedals
- Arion SAD-1 Stereo Delay
- Jam Pedals Dyna-ssoR compressor
- Jam Pedals Rattler distortion
Strings and Picks
- D’Addario XL Nickel Wound 10's
- Dunlop Tortex .88 mm
Accessories
- TASCAM PORTA 3 4-track cassette recorder
But Seabrook fell in love “right away” with the Jerry Jones, and new ideas started flooding out. “The 12-string is such a magic sound, and the Jerry Jones holds the intonation so well that you can detune some of the double-strings to make different intervals, kind of like a built-in harmonizer,” he says. “When you play chords on that and they ring; it’s some sort of majestic, angelic sound—or it can be.” Photo by Scott Friedlander
Seabrook found the 6-string banjo at Brooklyn shop RetroFret Vintage Guitars, intending to shop for a mandolin. He was struck by William Schmick’s construction (“It uses slightly heavier strings, and the neck is wide”) and, more crucially, the surprising intensity it harnesses: “It just sounded so metal to me or something,” he recalls. “So deep and rich and ominous, but beautiful.” These discoveries came at a pivotal time: “I don’t know what happened last year, but I felt the need to get some new instruments. And that opened up a new sound world.”
He eventually linked up with two key collaborators, producer David Breskin (John Zorn, Bill Frisell) and engineer Ben Greenberg (who plays guitar in noise-rock band Uniform), at the small Brooklyn studio Circular Ruin. That setting was ideal for the physical experience he hoped to capture: “I used contact mics on the guitar, and [sometimes on my body], to have a subtle sound design. It’s in there—you can kinda hear it [on the album] sometimes.”
One reason for that impact: This is, by and large, the most intimate record of Seabrook’s career—a downshift from the wall-to-wall wildness that has defined so much of his work. That said, make no mistake. Almost no one else could create the pogoing guitar madness of “Perverted by Perseverance,” which sounds like ’80s King Crimson being subjected to water torture. (“I actually was revisiting the ’80s King Crimson stuff while I was making this album,” he says. “I just came back to it after years of not hearing it. That’s straight-up Telecaster prepared with some alligator clips, and then I use my radio tape recorder on the pickups.”)
Object sometimes leans into a more traditional “solo” vibe, like on the dissonant, highly improvised banjo piece “Unbalanced Love Portfolio”; at other points, it piles instruments into towering overdub soundscapes, like on “Gondola Freak,” a heart-accelerating swirl of harmonized 12-strings.
Object of Unknown Functionis the guitarist’s first solo record since 2014’s Sylphid Vitalizers.
“I’ve been playing a lot of solo things over the past 10 years, and that’s on banjo and guitar,” Seabrook says. “I was kinda hesitant to make an album of that stuff, although some pieces are totally stripped-down to just me. But I thought I could make a more compelling studio listening experience now that I have a little more of a palette that these instruments are offering. The solo album I did 10 years ago had lots of layers, but I wanted to be a bit more vulnerable on this record and have some songs stripped-down and some full.”
The resulting project is a “blender” of all the things Seabrook loves, thrown together in a way that sparks his imagination. “I’m just trying to sound like the influences I have, whether it’s ’80s King Crimson or Eugene Chadbourne or Van Halen or Joni Mitchell—all these things I hear certain fragments of, and maybe it’s only for a measure or a section,” he says. “I guess I am conscious of messing with form. I love the juxtaposition of certain things.”
Seabrook is a long-time mainstay of the Brooklyn jazz and avant-garde scene, where, in addition to leading his own ensembles, he’s worked with a wide range of artists that includes Nels Cline, Anthony Braxton, Mike Watt, and Mostly Other People Do the Killing.
Photo by Luke Marantz
“I used to be even more of a hailstorm on the audience psyche,” he continues. “I just recorded a new album with this quartet of synthesizer, violin, bass, and guitar, and I want to bring more lyricism and less feeling of intentional surprise. I’m getting there slowly. A lot of the music I listen to is really lyrical, like folk music or soft rock. I try to put elements of that in here. I guess I do want to make weird twists and turns, but I do put a lot of thought into how to weave them and make them coherent.”
It’s not like Seabrook has suddenly recorded an Eagles album, but these more refined moments signal a desire to keep challenging himself—and his audience. “I think it’s getting older and being more vulnerable, more confident in your choices,” he says. “When I was younger, I never wanted one second of space. Now I just want to be more connected to the things I truly love. It’s a journey. I never want to think somebody wants to hear a certain thing from me.”
YouTube It
Video Caption: In this mind-melting performance of “brutalovechamp,” captured May 20th, 2023 at Brooklyn’s Public Records, Seabrook is joined by the epic proportions octet, including everything from cello to recorder.
Back in March 2022, we caught up with Cory Wong in the middle of an international tour to film a Rig Rundown. This time around, we found Wong with his Fearless Flyers pals sticking in one spot, at Cory Wong’s Syncopated Summer Camp. The four-day, four-night summit, held in Nashville, brought together ace players like Ariel Posen, Larry Carlton, and Sonny T to offer clinics on all things rhythm. Aside from the camp, Wong and his fellow guitar Flyer, Mark Lettieri, both had new releases to celebrate: Lettieri’s recent solo record, Can I Tell You Something?, dropped in July, and Wong’s Live in London and Starship Syncopation came out in May and July, respectively—plus, the Flyers’ new EP was released in February.
Both Lettieri and Wong toured us through the guitar gear they brought along for the camp.
Brought to you by D’Addario.The Wong Way
Wong’s starter is, unsurprisingly, his Fender Cory Wong Signature Stratocaster. This is an off-the-rack model, and the sapphire blue transparent satin lacquer finish demonstrates the beautiful alder beneath it: “Sometimes a guitar is made out of the right piece of a tree,” says Wong. Other features on the model include deluxe locking tuners, a 6-screw tremolo system, Seymour Duncan Cory Wong Clean Machine pickups, and an American Ultra Modern “D” neck profile.
Founder's Keepers
At John Mayer’s suggestion, Wong had Fender create him a “founder’s model” of his signature guitar, with some just-so appointments that can’t be had on the standard production instruments. Those include a bound fretboard and a unique, one-off finish.
But Wong doesn’t get too attached to his guitars. He often auctions them off to benefit a non-profit that gets free guitars into the hands of kids who need them.
Another Wong novelty: his fingers don’t sweat much, so he only changes his strings about once every three months, despite plenty of playing time. When the time comes, he uses Ernie Ball .010s from either the Slinkys or Paradigm series.
Neural Network
Through a Shure GLXD16 wireless system, Wong runs his guitar into his Neural DSP Quad Cortex, which runs a beta version of his Archetype: Cory Wong plugin, based off of a melding of a Dumble and a Fender Twin. The signal hits an onboard envelope filter and rarely used pitch shifter, then exits out the effects loop into a Wampler Cory Wong Compressor, Jackson Audio The Optimist, and a Hotone Wong Press. The signal goes back into the Quad Cortex, where there’s a preset phaser, stereo tape delay, and modulated reverb, plus a freeze effect. Two XLR outs run to front of house, while two run to Wong’s Mission Engineering Gemini 2 stereo cabinet.
Fiore di Latte
Lettieri flies with his signature PRS Fiore (and wears a matching shirt to boot). The model, which he began designing with PRS in 2019, has a swamp ash body, maple neck, 25 1/2" fretboard, nickel frets, and a pickup system that allows for 11 different combinations—the ultimate studio weapon. He runs it to his board with Revelation Cable Company cables. Lettieri strings it with Dunlop .010s, and strikes them with Dunlop celluloid picks.
Lettieri Goes Low
Lettieri also calls on this PRS SE 277 baritone guitar. He’s swapped the pickups for a Lollar P-90 in the neck position and a gold-foil in the bridge. He tunes it to A standard and runs .014–.072 strings on it.
Little Wing
Lettieri sticks with tubes, running into a PRS HDRX 20—a 20-watt combo intended to capture the roar and power of Hendrix’s Marshalls in a more practical package.
Chopping Block
Guitar pedals weren’t the intended application for Lettieri’s pedalboard—it was meant for chopping veggies, but that didn’t stop him from slapping his stomp tools on the cutting board.
His signal first hits a Keeley Monterey Custom Shop Edition, followed by an MXR Deep Phase, J. Rockett HRM, J. Rockett Melody OD (Lettieri’s signature), Pigtronix Octava, and a Dunlop DVP4, all powered by a Strymon Ojai. A TC Electronic TonePrint Plethora X5 pedalboard handles coordination and switching between the devices.
Shop the Fearless Flyers Rig
TC Electronic TonePrint Plethora X5 Pedalboard
Keeley Monterey Custom Shop Edition