After reading hundreds of reviews of the Michael Kelly Vintage I decided to go for it. Let me just say that I could not be more satisfied. I got the white one and I can't take my eyes off it. Absolutley beautiful! I have played alot of guitars including Gibsons and this is by far the best guitar I have touched. If you payed thousands for your Les Paul I am sure you have your doubts but just try one and you will see what I mean. Unless the frets are made of gold there is ne reason to pay thet much for a guitar and Michael Kelly is the proof! It Sounds as beautiful as it looks!! By the way, I have been playing guitar for 36 years so I know a little bit about them.

I've been playing guitar since 1962 and played professionally for many years. I've probably owned about 80 electric guitars in my life & own about 40 now. These Michael Kelly Patriots are the best guitar surprise I've had in 30 years.

I can only re-enforce what everybody else has been saying: the quality and materials in these guitars are GREAT! Compare this to an Epiphone Les Paul Standard (about the same price) and the MK kicks it all over the lot. Nothing on this guitar needs to be upgraded. The materials are way better than the Epi.

If you're looking for a Les Paul-like guitar for under a grand you'd really be hurting yourself if you don't check these out. I own both the Vintage and the Custom and am extremely happy with both of them. I certainly don't need any more guitars but if I buy another one I'm betting it will be a Michael Kelly.

WOW! I was looking for a Gib LP style guitar that was a perfect blend of Quality, Value and Playability. This guitar is a home run in the price range. I tried every LP style guitar $1,000 and under at Guitar Center. I was looking for a guitar to just beat up and play crazy for a change of pace. This guitar makes me smile every time I pick it up. The set up was pretty good out of box, but I had to tweak the tremelo a bit to even up the intonation. It was pretty easy and I am no Luthier. Overall, I would say the best bang for the buck in solid body electric guitars is Michael Kelly. Best value in accoustics is Breedlove. And yes, I enjoy playing Strats (I own one) and the Classic LP's. Both are great guitars with legendary status. However, when you consider value, quality of workmanship and playability. Michael Kelly guitars should be the last guitar you try at Guitar Center, because it will be the one you will want to keep in your hands when you leave. I think there is another Michael Kelly in my immediate future.

Recently I purchased the Michael Kelly Patriot vintage black. I must say I am very pleased with this guitar. I have played for over thirty years and have had both Gibson and Fender guitars. This guitar compares quite well with both. I spent the last year and a half researching guitars mainly gibson epiphone insearch of a les paul or another campareable guitar. What it boils down to is wood finish and pickups. Gibsons great but way to spendy (hey kids no food but dads got a gibson) and epi does make a good guitar but they use a variety of different woods and you will have to change the pickups and tuners and switches etc.I live in the middle of North Dakota and in order to even pick up a gibson or epi I would have to drive 400 miles aint happening. The Michael Kelly guitars use quality wood mainly mahogany and maple(the vintage is all mahogney at least according to their web, very affordable and the pckups are very well built these are vintage p.a.f.s and have a very warm southern rock blues sound. still the bridge will distort very well also. Tuners are middle road grovers mine stay in tune after many hous of blues. I play mostly blues and jazz. but do play older rock and this guitar is fantastic very versital clean and dirty. For the money I think this is probably one of the best purchases I have made in music.

I recently became a musician again after selling my amps and all but one guitar 10 years ago. Since I kept my trusty Strat I was in the market for a set neck with 'buckers and was starting from scratch. Back in the day I had almost every classic Gibson and some of them were true vintage masterpieces so I knew what to look for. I am kind of perticular about paying a reasonable price for a good instrument so I wouldn't settle for anything less than great quality, solid price, and Michael Kelly were the only guitars to live up to that. I have played this guitar so much that the poor Start only sees daylight if I gig, and actually need a backup. I own two of the Patriot Vintage in white and black and I can't say enough about them. Both showed up perfectly set up with .09's with excellent action and in beatiful shape, no manufacturing flaws whatsoever. Even after a few gigs, they were still going strong without having to make any adjustments. Looks are top notch and even the stock electronics sound great. Coil taps were a plus but I have never needed to use them, as just rolling the volume back a little cleans them up nice. I was looking for a specific sound after awhile so I put a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in the bridge position and a Custom Custom in the neck and WOW, this thing makes the old vintage Les Paul I sold really tame in comparison. Gibson should really reassess their pricing and product line because these knock the socks off of what they produce and for a much healthier price.