Stevens LJ 7-String

Price Paid: US $7,000.00

Purchased from: Stevens Electrical Instruments

Features: 10

The two guitars which I am reviewing are Seven string LJ's built by world renowned luthier Michael Stevens, who is based in Alpine Texas.

For those of you still living in the age of BMS (before Mike Stevens), prepare yourselves for a little fluctuation in blood pressure!
The LJ is a single cutaway set neck guitar which first made it's appearance as the flagship of the Fender guitar line back in 1989, when Mike was the head of the Fender custom shop.
These two LJ's that I am reviewing share the following similarities:

Nitrocellulose lacquer finish, Chambered Korina back, One piece museum grade quilted maple carved top, Korina neck, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with 22 6105 frets, 25" scale length, Ivoroid bound top, fingerboard and headstock, Sperzel locking tuners, 3 way toggle switch, 10 degree headstock angle, offset V neck and John Mann 7 point steel tremelo bridges.

The following specifications are particular to each guitar. One guitar has nickel hardware, two custom wound Dimarzio Humbucking pickups, one volume control and two tone controls with a push push pot that splits either humbucking pickup, while the other has gold hardware, two single coil Dimarzio's in the neck and middle positions, with one of Mike's custom wound Alnico P90 pickups (with separate magnets for each string as opposed to the conventional bar magnet and screw formula made famous by Gibson). This particular guitar also features a Fishman piezo Powerbridge setup, as well as having master volume and tone controls, as well as a master volume for the Powerbridge. The master tone control has a push push pot that enables one to bring the middle pickup into any preset combination on the toggle switch. The master volume features a push pull pot which activates the piezo pickup.

Sound: 10

I am called upon to provide a variety of sounds in a variety of musical contexts, ranging from extremely clean and articulate (read country to standards), to extremely textural (lots of digital signal processing,r ead drum and bass), to hardcore (read Bad Brains).
These guitars perform flawlessly in all of these contexts.
The 3 single coil guitar obviously favours the Leo vibe, but it's got much more "ass" than anything Fender ever built, which is in no small part due to materials and construction.
The humbucking guitar will eat any Les Paul up in terms of bottom end chunk factor and upper midrange clarity, and trust me on this. I have had many of the best guitars that Gibson has manufactured during it's "Historical" period, which is not to say that these guitars are weak, I'm simply saying that if you want serious low frequency clarity and focus, Mike Stevens has your guitar. The inside coil split on the humbucking guitar yields some convincing stratiness.

Both of these guitars have an extraordinary amount of ring when played acoustically. The guitars stay in tune remarkably well and John Mann's steel bridges are, without a doubt, the finest 7 string tremelos available.
I've been focusing on 7 string guitars for the past 7 years and I've had a variety of guitars built by a variety of builders and while some have been exceptional, namely those of Dominick Ramos, who is a cult builder out of Catskill NY (518)943-1942, it has been Mike who has taken the 7 String guitar to the next level.

I play with a low A with a .080 and man do these guitars carve some air!!! I use a custom built Bogner class A 20 watt amp that uses 6V6's as well as EL34's as well as a Trace Elliot Custom Shop Speed Twin, as well as a Gibson Falcon. I prefer Hiwatt 4X12 cabinets loaded with Fanes and I use a variety of signal processers, but my primary boxes are the Eventide 4500 and Orville, as well as the Boss SE70.

I have tons of old analog pedals and the Stevens guitars never lose their character,no matter how much I mutate their signal.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 10

There is not a single detail about either of these guitars that didn't catch the ever watchful eyes of Mike Stevens.

These are truly custom built guitars and everything from materials to construction to finish work to setup to tone to playability is without equal in the guitar industry. Just ask Don Grosh or Terry McInturff, and they will tell you the same thing.

Mike Stevens is without equal in the craft of solid body electric guitar building.

Reliability/Durability: 10

I have had the 3 single coil guitar for 2 years and have done a great deal of recording and playing with it and I have had no problems with it.
Would I throw it in the back of my pickup after a gig,without a case? Probably not.
It stays in tune well and I am a chronic whammy bar abuser. Would I use it on a gig without a backup? No, because I don't ever want to have to change a string in the middle of a set, and that would go for any guitar. I always have a backup guitar.

I can definitely depend on both of these guitars. They are without equal in the guitar realm.

Customer Support: 10

Mike is the easiest builder that I have ever worked with and trust me - I drive guitar manufacturers crazy! Just ask anyone at PRS, Tom Anderson, Terry McInturff, Hamer, Gibson, Don Grosh, John Suhr!

Mike had the will and desire to make me exactly what I wanted and he will stand behind his work as long as he is walking the planet Earth.

Overall Rating: 10

I have been playing guitar for 26 years and I am a total guitar junkie. I have had guitars built for me by the biggest names in the business as well as the serious custom builders.

I knew what I wanted when I contacted Mike and he built it. I liked it so much that I bought another one and I also had him build me a Korina 7 string split headstock Explorer with a Tom Holmes tune-o-matic and bar stop.
I have the Gibson 7 string split headstock 36 fret Korina Explorer and needless to say it has limited tonal possibilities. Mike's Explorer is closer to the guitar that made Gibson and Korina household names.

If you love the vintage values (amazing woods, craftsmanship, finish) and modern features (bigger frets and more comfortable fingerboard radiuses) then Michael Stevens is your guitar builder.
I LOVE everything about these guitars! The colours that Mike uses are unique. They are astounding guitars to play and hear. Mike Stevens has spoiled me!

Submitted by Matte Henderson at 04/01/1999 10:56

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