OPT Guitars - Cyfres 1
The “OPT Cyfres 1” delivers a lot of bang for your buck, a boutique experience within the grasps of us mere mortals.
Who are OPT Guitars?
OPT Guitars are a small, one man operation based in London, UK. ‘Owen Peter Thomas’ is the owner and builder of all OPT guitars, a brand with an ethos of quality in construction and artistic flair in design, but an an affordable price point. With over 20 years of experience in building, modifying and repairing guitars Owen has decided to take the leap into launching his own line of guitars, the first being the ‘Cyfres 1’ a no-nonsense T-style with an artsy finish.
Owen got in touch with me through a mutual friend to ask for some feedback and initial thoughts on the instrument before it lands in the hands of other players. I had the pleasure of spending a night playing and talking about the instrument with the builder before being entrusted with his ‘baby’ Refreshingly, Owen was insistent in asking me for completely honest feedback, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Before I get started I should say, I have no affiliation with the brand and am in no way being financially or otherwise compensated. This review is my unbiased and honest thoughts on a new guitar. Enjoy.
The Specs:
Guitar Body:
T Stye
Subtle aged sleek satin finish, Premium Nitro Alkyd
Material - Alder - 2 piece
Body Thickness 44.45mm
Guitar Neck:
Roasted Maple / Rosewood fretboard
Scale length 25.5
Truss rod - two way
Fretboard radius 9.5”
Frets - 22 medium jumbo
C shape neck profile
Nut:
Polished unbleached bone 42mm
Pickup(s):
Gretsch HS High sensitive filter-tron, Alnico
Pots:
CTS Pots solid shaft
Volume 500k/ Tone 500k
Linear taper
Caps:
Cornell Dubilier ‘Orange Drop’ 0,022@100v
Tuners/Bridge/Hardware
Vintage deluxe Chrome Ping Well machine heads
Heavy knurl chrome barrel knobs
Stainless steel block saddles
Gotoh String trees RG15 RG30
Switchcraft mono jack
Accessories:
Elixer Nanoweb 10-46
Standard gig bag 0.45in padded (waterproof)
Carry tin inc spec sheet & Allen key
First impressions
Some clips of first playing the Cyfrus 1
Clean tone - Fender hot rod deluxe (flat e.q) room audio
Light O.D - Fender hot rod deluxe (flat e.q) room audio - MXR Custom badass modified O.D (flat eq, gain @ 20%)
First thoughts
The neck is sublime to play, sleek fast, and with that worn in feel that I personally love, the fret work is generally great as you would expect from a small operation like OPT. a couple of spots that could do with a quick tidy perhaps (5th &12th) but that is me being pretty picky. The bridge is super comfy and non intrusive, the tuning stability is spot on, even when trying obscene bends; The intonation is surgically good and my initial worries about a single bridge filtertron pickup quickly subsided and gave way to me just having fun and enjoying the instrument, the sound is bright and mid focused but not ice picky and shrill like some others that I have tried. The roll off on the volume cleans up nicely without major volume loss and the tone control sweep is tasteful which is great (and super necessary) for a single pickup guitar. I did keep reaching for the pickup selector partially out of habit but also because I bet this would have sounded killer with a warmer pickup option. I am keen to see how this sounds in a rehearsal, my suspicion is that because it is so focused in the mids it will cut through a dream against the bass and rhythm guitar, hopefully without being overbearing in the highs.
OPT - Cyfres 1 audio
Audio clips of the Cyfres 1 can be heard from the Soundcloud link below.
Gear used = Fender Hotrod Deluxe, Ibanez TS9(OD), ProCo RAT. (Distortion)
Captured with a Shure SM57 & CAD GXL 2200 & SSL 2+ interface
No audio has been edited in post production
1st playing of each clip is with the tone control all the way open
2nd playing is with the tone control rolled all the way off
In conclusion:
The OPT Cyfres 1 delivers a lot of bang for your buck, it feels like a boutique experience that’s within the grasps of us mere mortals. I love the look and feel of this guitar and want to want it so much, but for me having a few more tone options would be the difference in wether I’m sneaking this guitar into the house under the cover of nightfall (Wives, we don’t really do this……*shh) or not.
Would I buy this guitar?
I would buy an OPT guitar in a heartbeat! I know that this builder cares a LOT! about his instrument’s and I would be confident that I would receive a top quality product for my hard earned cash, and what is being delivered for this price point is stonking value. Having tried a few of Owen’s builds I can say that the consistency across the builds is brilliant, as is the attention to detail and playability. I am however holding out for an OPT guitar with a few more options before I play the game of guitar/wife roulette once more.
I can’t wait to see future builds and developments from Owen @ OPT Guitars and hope to bag a saucy T shape from him some day soon.
Support a guitar hero by following OPT Guitars HERE
The Lowdown
After living with the Cyfres 1 for a few days and using for recordings and rehearsals, I can say that my first impressions regarding build quality and reliability stand true. I have had no issues with tuning stability between recordings, tuning changes and good old British weather temperature changes. The guitar is super comfortable to play, lightweight and robust feeling, I would feel confident gigging this and using it as a workhorse instrument.
The good:
OK let’s get this out the way, the guitar is a sexy mama! I’m in love with the clean white satin finish, the raunchy tiger scratch plate and matching rear cavity cover. The comfort and quality of the instrument is a huge selling point for me, everything feels reassuringly sturdy and reliable, from pots, knobs and tuners to strap pins and the bridge, oh, and that neck, mmmmm. The Cyfres 1 sounds great too, the filtertron cleans up nicely and does the clean thing and the overdrive thing admirably well, I think the note clarity on overdriven tones is where this sounds its best, although judge for yourself, I think it does the sparkly cleans and some heavier distortion sounds convincingly too. The tone pot rolls nicely too and feels almost like a half cocked wah when rolled all the way off. Finally I think the price is something worth celebrating too, although I can’t give you an accurate price at the time of writing this Owen has said this will be under the £1000 bracket. (assuming around £899) inc. gig bag and accessories and to me this feels like a lot of guitar for the money, particularly for the level of attention to detail in the setup, the unique design and aftercare provided by a small business.
The bad:
This is tough because Owen is such a nice bloke and clearly passionate about what he is doing and I am truly willing him to make a success of the business, but a few constructive criticisms could help the brand develop, so here goes.
The filtertron does what it does well, but I found myself frequently reaching for another tone that I simply couldn’t access. Could I get through my regular gigs with this guitar? absolutely, but I would like some other tonal options. I think this may be a limiting factor for some players, particularly as the smaller pickup cavity would make it somewhat of a chore to swap to something else if the filtertron isn’t your bag. and I get it, to get something at a lower price there is going to be some sacrifices but I would happily foot the bill for some extra options.