Bacchus advice please

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philiprst

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I am new to this forum and wondered if you might be able to help me understand more about the Bacchus Duke series.

I am based in the USA and I am looking for a great LP to replace my older historic Gibson that I had to sell a couple of years ago. I recently travelled to London where I tried a number of MIJ guitars and the best I came across was a recent but used Duke. Now I am back in the US and thought I might try to get one of the new models from a seller Japan.

As far as I can make out there seems to be three basic versions of the Duke: the standard, custom and the oil finished version. The customs I have seen seem to differ from the standards only in having a brazilian rosewood fingerboard. Is this correct or are there some other differences?
 
There's also the Duke Light and the Duke Box, and you can get custom versions of the oil finished Dukes as well - they also seem to have flamey tops. The rule about oil finished Bacchus guitars being lower models does not apply here, and I don't believe it ever did as I have seen 3 Japanese sellers in the past 6 months sell oil finished BLS-59V LPs (older Vintage Series), so if the Japanese think they exist then they most likely do.

The Duke Light is a "studio" LP, the Duke Box is semi hollow and EXTREMELY rare (I think it was only produced for the first wave of Dukes).

Standard spec for the Duke includes a madagascan rosewood fret board, and quite honestly screw all the braz and honduran rosewood etc, the board on my 2009 Duke GT has the smoothest tightest grain I've ever seen, it's a nice colour and it's quite slippery as well. :D

Fret work is unbelievably good, but they do not have big frets like the older Vintage Series and the first wave of Dukes, so for people who like to lay into some big frets, you will have to change your playing style slightly (very easy, just happens by itself after a few weeks - not an issue in reality). The neck is a decent size, but not too big like a Gibson R7, and the taper is slim so the neck is almost the same depth along the entire length - very nice neck and mine is super straight.

Still, that doesn't mean you'll definitely get exactly the same thing. Only thing I would change about my Duke? Just a couple of ounces lighter, some of them seem to be a bit heavy, like 4.5kg plus, so if that bothers you, ask the seller for the weight before pulling the trigger. Also hate the colour of the inlays and the tuning pegs, but that is pretty minor, and I could do something about them if I could be bothered. Finally, they don't come with cases usually, so might be worthwhile getting one for it from the dealer you end up going with.

I can't say enough good things about my Duke, very nice to play, possibly the best guitar I've had, and I intend to get another (a Standard, as mine is a 56 type).

Good luck, keep us posted! :)
 
Question...Are any of the Duke's chambered? Maybe the Duke Light?

In the bacchus factory tour vids on youtube its pretty clear they chamber a les paul style model but you never see it finished so you can't tell which one it is. Also I'm not sure how old the factory tour vid is in the first place.
 
soundcreation said:
Question...Are any of the Duke's chambered? Maybe the Duke Light?

In the bacchus factory tour vids on youtube its pretty clear they chamber a les paul style model but you never see it finished so you can't tell which one it is. Also I'm not sure how old the factory tour vid is in the first place.
It's not a Duke you see on this video, Deviser makes so many special models for shops or others. Maybe a "Duke box" body.
 
Hi
Got this from Japan 2 months ago,All i can say is, its a very good Lp guitar
I would definately buy another Bacchus LP sometime soon.
set-72157619494565370
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jazgaz/4879004226/in/set-72157619494565370

Looks lovely :p Interesting flame on the top. What's the headstock like - is it one of the newer ones?

Dave
 
DaveWW said:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jazgaz/4879004226/in/set-72157619494565370

Looks lovely :p Interesting flame on the top. What's the headstock like - is it one of the newer ones?

Dave

Yes it is a Duke and has the Duke headstock - note the inlays (there's also the last picture in 130013's album).

I have never seen a Duke like that! Looks like you've done bloody well old boy, maybe got one of the ones that would never have left Japan!

How's the weight?
 
It left Japan Alright and now happily resides in London,UK
Snared her from Hisashi on ebay,I could not belive I got her so cheap.
Dunno what she weigh,she is on the heavy side like my Tokai.
She has nice unique chevron flame top could not capture the image good enough on my mobile camera.

I think my Bacchus is Duke Custom like the Duke Standard but with 4A Solid Flame maple top,Nitro Lacquer finish

Bacchus Duke's are Excellent LP type guitar,I would definately buy another Bacchus sometime soon!

8r9aYw
 
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