Solar Guitars S1.6FRBOP+

Right from the start, the packaging looked solid. The guitar was double-boxed, and since I also ordered a case, everything arrived in the large Thomann box. However, the outer box was quite scratched, and unfortunately the case had a few small dents because of that.

As for the guitar itself, despite being double-boxed, the tone knob was bent on arrival. When turning it, it was scratching against the body. I had to carefully bend it back into place and pull it up about 1mm so it wouldn’t rub against the finish anymore. Not the best first impression.

Next issue: the bridge humbucker was misaligned to the left by about 3–4mm, which is quite noticeable. The low string barely passes over the pole piece. When I contacted support, I was told that this was intentional because of “intonation,” which honestly doesn’t make sense, as pickup alignment has nothing to do with intonation.

The locking nut also doesn’t seem to sit perfectly centered. It looks slightly shifted to the right. From the back, it even appears as if it’s sticking out. On closer inspection, it seems like the neck may have been sanded unevenly. The nut might technically be centered, but the neck edges don’t look symmetrical, which gives the impression of careless workmanship.

For a 1300€ guitar, these kinds of details are disappointing. It feels more like a result of poor quality control than a design choice.

Now for the positive side:

The neck is fantastic. It feels smooth and fast (I personally dislike lacquered necks), and it’s very comfortable for long playing sessions. The frets could have been finished a bit better, as the high E string can occasionally slip off the edge of the fretboard, which affects playability.

The Floyd Rose system is excellent. It stays in tune very well. I was initially worried because many reviews mentioned tuning stability issues, but that’s not the case with mine. Even with heavy bends and aggressive use of the tremolo, it returns to pitch perfectly.

The guitar came with a decent factory setup. The intonation was spot on, although the action was slightly high for this type of instrument. Again, this makes me question how carefully it was inspected before shipping.

Overall, I’m somewhat disappointed because of the issues mentioned above. For this price range, I expected better quality control. However, I decided to keep the guitar because it looks absolutely beautiful with the open-pore finish, and the sound is excellent.

In the end, I’m giving it 3 out of 5 stars. It’s a great instrument in terms of tone and feel, but at this price point, it should have been inspected more carefully before leaving the factory.