Melancon?

[Gary F.]

Anyone have any experience with this brand? They look like and seem to give off an Anderson vibe. How do they sound? What differences do they possess in feel and construction? Are they a good value? Do they hold their resale? Curious...

[Stan Malinowski]

Gary,

I have to say I am not a big fan of Melancons. I owned two and did not bond with either. Quality is not even close to an Anderson, Grosh or Suhr. I think Melancons compare more with the average work of the Fender Custom Shop. For the money not a bad value, they cost a lot less than an Anderson, but you get what you pay for. Resale value of a Melancon is terrible. I have seen many Vintage Pros (Anderson Classic style of guitar) go for $800. Briefly this is my experience with Melacons:

1) Vintage Pro - swamp ash body, maple neck/board, Kinman Vintage Noiseless Pickups. First the "light" swamp ash touted by Melancon produced a guitar ith a back breaking weight of 8 lbs 5 ozs. The finish peeled of the fretboard in two places within a month. Tonewise, not impressive. I even changed the Kinmans to Fralins, but still good tone was impossible to find.

2) Pro Artist - Koa Top on Mahog back. 2 Duncan Soapbar pickups. Two cracks developed in the finish of the neck pocket, Melancon admitted they saw this problem on a number of guitars. The guitar arrived with the fretwork that need some attention - leveling and trimming down he edges that had popped.

In both cases the people at Melancon seemed to be a bit too layed back about the problems. They would have repaired the problems if I returned the guitars but could not guarantee a return time. I found it easier to sell them both off.

[killerburst]

From 10 feet away, they do seem similar to an Anderson...

I had a koa-topped P-90 Artist, chambered mahogany body, mahogany neck and pao ferro fingerboard, gold hardware, vintage trem, 6150 frets and 3 Duncan stacked P-90s. It was built to order per my specs. I sold it because it was way too heavy. Much heavier than my solid mahogany Cobra Special. The figure of the koa top was great, but the weight was unbearable. Tones were useable but not really inspiring, for the most part. My personal experience with Gerard Melancon is that he is a great guy and easy to work with. When I got the guitar, I had to send the guitar back for a new nut because the D-string slot was filed too low and the open string buzzed. The did the work quickly and shipped ASAP. But in the end I realized that I personally am more in tune with Anderson's vision of the ultimate guitar than anybody else's.

[tmihm]

I have never played one....but I can tell you that a guy from the PRS forum (Vaughn...some of you probably know him) is THE Strat authority. He's been playing them for 30+ years...and has had dozens of Fender Strats (just sold a '64). He is constatly in search for the 'Holy Grail' tone, and proclaims that his Melacons are the closest that he's played to a vintage Strat.

...for whatever that's worth. ;)

[Stan Malinowski]

A couple of weeks before Vaughan bestowed Melancon as the "Ultimate Vintage Strat" he claimed the Anderson Classic was the "Perfect Strat". I also believe that Vaughan sold his Melancon soon after his evaluation.

People should put less faith into other people's evaluations and more faith into what their own ears tell them. After all you should be the one happy with the tone and feel of your guitar. I used to follow the words of all so-called "Strat Gurus" before I realized I need to be happy with my guitars, not them. I actually own a variety of "Strats" from the Fender Custom Shop, Anderson, Grosh, Suhr and Jack Gretz. I love them all but each is uniqely different in their own subtle way. Tone is a subjective thing while quality is quite a bit more objective.

[jjhboots]

Well said Stan. It can make your head spin if you listen to all the self-proclaimed experts. I am fortunate enough to have some exceptional instruments (i.e. Anderson, Grosh) and I am trying to match them with different amps. Although I am always grateful to reap the benefits of others' experience, I have learned that it just comes down to my own ears and what moves me.

[tmihm]

I guess that since advice was being sought...I'd just put in my $.02. I know Vaughn personally (we've been at each other's homes doing A/B tests...mmmm 3 PRS Private Stocks at one sitting...) and I just figured that if he gave it a thumbs up...it would be worth mentioning for the sake of people's opinions..

He does go through those Strats though...maybe one day.... :)

[Scott Peterson]

I have a Melancon Custom Artist on order; I'll report back on it once it gets here (6-8 weeks?)

FWIW, every Melancon I have played was extraordinary. I have met Gerard at the last two Summer NAMM shows; he is a gentleman and is deeply passionate about his guitars.

They just passed the 1000th Melancon made; Gerard, like Tom Anderson, wants to keep the shop small enough to care.

Every Melancon I have played had killer finishes, top notch attention to detail and played/sounded great.

Good enough for me to order one. That says a LOT coming from me.

And just to also note, I have owned two Tom Anderson guitars; my current one is my #1 guitar.

[wodka]

I own a Melancon Pro T and it is an exceptional instrument. The quality is on par with TA. I only wish they offered stainless frets.

[Hollow Cobra S]

I had a couple of Mels before, but I sold them all after getting my first TA. Melancon doesn't come anywhere near Anderson.