MERUS - 7 String, Poplar Burl, Fluence, Evertune

Its perfect.

Very impressed with the craftsmanship. Can improve by offering more color options on small batches for 7 string guitars

Guitar is really good quality. That there was no locking tuners due to a listing mistake, which is no biggie. Halo refunded the cost of the upgrade and updated the listings. Super responsive and helpful throughout the whole process and the pre-order has been really easy. Quality/Price is really strong with Halo. Definitely recommend!

Guitar arrived perfectly setup, safe, and amazing! Great communication with Halo guitars, kept me informed of everything, answered any questions I had, and I couldn’t be happier. The case fits my Merus amazingly. Worth the (custom) setup! Especially with an evertune! Tuning low to high: ADGCFAD, Gauges: 11.14.18.28.38.49.64

I got the guitar last night and played it this morning until my fingers hurt. It's everything I expected it to be. I went over it top to bottom and I can't find so much as a nick or scratch. Neck-through build with front truss adjustment is definitely the way to go. The Evertune bridge is amazing, I can't believe it showed up perfectly in tune. It took a minute to figure out how to get it into drop-A, but the tuning held perfectly over a 2-hour play session. No weird noises from lose wiring, bad grounding, or rattling hardware. Loving the Fluence Modern pickups and especially the USB-C lithium-ion battery (no more swapping 9-volts!). Solid metal knobs and switch, no cheap-feeling plastic here. Frets are nice and smooth, the action is set just right, ebony fretboard is nice and solid not squishy like rosewood. The only similarly equipped guitar I could find was the ESP E-II M-II 7B which was 2.5x the cost when I ordered and still almost 2x the cost today. Not to mention, the silly sparkle finish that doesn't look anywhere near as good as the green sunburst poplar burl on the Merus. I was worried with all the comments online about Halo quality in the past, but it really seems like they are doing everything they can to overcome those past mistakes and deliver well-built instruments at a very fair price. I'm really glad I gave them a chance.

4.5/5 is more what I would rate this. Great guitar, good fretwork, evertune works great, solid finish on the body and the neck is very comfortable...

Wow what a beautiful guitar!
I like it a lot. The finish is incredible, and it plays like butter. The only negative point is that the volume knob came up loose, but pretty sure it was caused by the transport. At the end, it's an awesome guitar. The service is really good too. I'll probably buy from them a 6 string guitar for my next one.

Recommended

This is my second purchase from HALO guitars.

I previously bought a Salvus with Greg Koch P90s & Evertune that I adore and will always be with me forever, the action and sound and EVERYTHING is PEFRFECT

So I bought a Merus hoping that it would be as well appointed, playable, beautiful as the Salvus and I’m not disappointed.

Now I have two favorite guitars, both from HALO.

Thanks to Jeff and their crew of advanced luthiers these guitars play perfectly.

I was startled by how magnificent yet gorgeous this 7-string is.

The pictures just don’t convey what I have in my hands, it’s quite the lovely work of art.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Amazing instrument, and outstanding customer service. Will certainly do business again with Jeff and Halo guitars.

Great dealer. Beautiful guitar

It's great! Plays like butter! No issues with the electronics... It stays in tune amazingly as well (but also, this is my first Evertune instrument). The finish is beautiful. Love the way the burst was done. Also, it was made and cared for so well too. Thank you guys for making such great instruments.

I have been looking at Halo guitars for a while now. A few of the 6 string baritone guitars stuck out, but then I saw this Merus 7 string and really loved the look. I'm not a Poplar Burl usually, but the green to blue burst was really cool looking. I decided to go for it and get it to replace another 7 string I had with very similar specs. I made the right choice. I can usually find a flaw with every instrument I purchase, but I have not found one with this. The finish is flawless, the fretwork is probably as close to perfect as you can get, and it sounds amazing. Also, rechargeable! I didn't know how much I needed this in my life, but being able to plug in the guitar and charge it instead of replacing batteries is genius. For those who haven't used Evertune bridges before, they require the body to be a little thicker so there is an added weight to this guitar, but it is balances really well. In all, I will be a customer again because of the quality.