[MrSandMan]

Notice the DOS (Dot On Shaft) ads on Gear-Monkey and Gear-Vault? They are a big reason how Gear-Monkey can afford to do "special things" for the community. The Dot On Shaft folks are not only great contributors of the forum, but they are wonderful people that put forth genuine pride and integrity in what they love; instruments and music. 

With that said, I scored a Carparelli S2 from the good people over at Dot On Shaft and all I can say is WoW! The fit and finish on this instrument is precision. The AAA Tiger Quilt top is the most beautiful top that I have ever seen (and give's Gibson USA a run for their money). The abalone inlays is a work of art. The attention to detail invested on this instrument is unbelievable. For the fret blocks, they used abalone and mother of pearl and blocked them together to make the inlay, which adds even more beauty to the guitar.

Another amazing feature is the contour of the neck where it joints with the body (see pictures), it's comfortable and allows easy access to the 22 frets (Gibson is more difficult to reach the upper frets). The guitar is well balanced, playing while standing up is a very comfortable feat... not to mention the guitar comes equipped with strap locks (don't have to worry about dropping it).

The guitar's solid mahogany is nice and heavy, I personally love heavy guitars and the weight is a welcomed! The bridge pickup is nice and hot while the neck position cools it down and adds creamy-ness to the tone. The tuners seem to stay in tune very well. I tuned it twice since I took it out of the case (since it arrived yesterday), being winter here, the cold will fluctuate the wood as it warms up. With that said, the guitar has stayed in tuned ever since, even after bending the strings aggressively; jump-jive-and-wail.

And here's the kicker, the guitar arrived perfectly set up. The action is precisely close to the frets while having no fret buzz at all. Maybe Gibson's techs should take lessons from the Dot On Shaft crew, I have never played a Gibson with this good of playability out of the case.

It's hard to take your eyes off this guitar, the beauty of this guitar spellbinds your mind as your eyes melt right into the AAA top and abalone artwork. I don't know DOS can sell these so cheap? The man hours and craftsmanship that goes into these guitars is just incomprehensible, let alone the quality hardware integrated. Simply amazing!

See for yourself (I took these today).



Carparelli S3


Quilt


Back side


Contour of the neck / body


Headstock


Back of headstock


DOT ON SHAFT Carparelli S2


DOS Carparelli S2


Albone and Mother of Pearl inlays


My eyes melt right into the tiger quilt