I received a sugar moon Fiore this week. I own a maple fretboard SS so I thought it might be useful to jot down my thoughts.
Both guitars are obviously different with one guitar being a modern super strat and the other being a vintage inspired strat style guitar. I’m hoping this post will help document some of the more nuanced differences that may not be readily apparent from a spec sheet.
Feel
The neck carve on the Fiore is definitely fatter and more rounded than the SS. The shoulders on the Fiore feel less pronounced to me than the SS and I find it more comfortable for my fretting hand as my thumb floats from the back of the neck to the side on the Fiore (I play classical style for legato and fast picking, I bring the thumb over the side for vibrato and big bends). The finish seems identical on the neck for both guitars (please note the neck finish on maple fretboard silver sky is different than rosewood).
The fretboard radius is 10” on the Fiore and 7.25” on the SS. For my preferences, I feel both guitars are nearly equally comfortable on barre chords. Lead wise the only difference I feel is that the curvature on the SS fretboard makes my vibrato style change a bit. The way I hang on the note is completely different, not worse or better just different. The smaller frets on the SS took about an hour to get used to and make slides easier to pull off in my opinion.
Tone
The Fiore is way more versatile. The humbucker sounds and the tele type sounds from the additional wiring is just awesome and completely usable. All the pickups are balanced on the Fiore similarly to the SS. The Fiore is a darker sounding more mid focused guitar to me than the SS which is very mid-scooped and fairly bright. The single coils on the Fiore are definitely bigger than the SS. Same pickup positions on the guitars sound different. The Fiore humbucker sounds like a humbucker for people who don’t like humbucker, the clarity is almost single coil like.
The 2 point bridge is a lot looser than the decked 6 point tremolo on the SS. Tuning stability is solid even with fairly extensive use of the bar and is just as good if not better than the SS. Flutters and other whammy tricks are easy to pull off on the Fiore. However, the bridge is noisy and has a tendency to feedback under high gain. You’ll notice on a lot of YouTube demos that no one showcases staccato metal riffs or anything like that on either guitar. Occasionally you’ll see a video on the Fiore with a rock/hard rock sound but it’s either lower gain or a consistent palm mute with minimal to no stops. If you lighten your picking hand, toss in a noise gate, etc you can coax a metal sound from this guitar but if that’s what you’re after Id suggest you’re better off with a Custom 24.
I feel there’s enough difference between the SS and the Fiore that they’re distinct tools in my stable of axes. I don’t see the Fiore as a SS with a humbucker. I think that’s a good thing but your mileage may vary. Oh and it doesn’t really matter but I vastly prefer the full size bird outlines on the Fiore vs the mini birds on the SS.
I was debating between the Studio and the Fiore a few weeks ago. I ultimately went with the Fiore due to pickup wiring, maple neck/fretboard, 25.5” scale and the 2 point tremolo. I’m very happy with my choice. I hope others find this post useful. Cheers!
Both guitars are obviously different with one guitar being a modern super strat and the other being a vintage inspired strat style guitar. I’m hoping this post will help document some of the more nuanced differences that may not be readily apparent from a spec sheet.
Feel
The neck carve on the Fiore is definitely fatter and more rounded than the SS. The shoulders on the Fiore feel less pronounced to me than the SS and I find it more comfortable for my fretting hand as my thumb floats from the back of the neck to the side on the Fiore (I play classical style for legato and fast picking, I bring the thumb over the side for vibrato and big bends). The finish seems identical on the neck for both guitars (please note the neck finish on maple fretboard silver sky is different than rosewood).
The fretboard radius is 10” on the Fiore and 7.25” on the SS. For my preferences, I feel both guitars are nearly equally comfortable on barre chords. Lead wise the only difference I feel is that the curvature on the SS fretboard makes my vibrato style change a bit. The way I hang on the note is completely different, not worse or better just different. The smaller frets on the SS took about an hour to get used to and make slides easier to pull off in my opinion.
Tone
The Fiore is way more versatile. The humbucker sounds and the tele type sounds from the additional wiring is just awesome and completely usable. All the pickups are balanced on the Fiore similarly to the SS. The Fiore is a darker sounding more mid focused guitar to me than the SS which is very mid-scooped and fairly bright. The single coils on the Fiore are definitely bigger than the SS. Same pickup positions on the guitars sound different. The Fiore humbucker sounds like a humbucker for people who don’t like humbucker, the clarity is almost single coil like.
The 2 point bridge is a lot looser than the decked 6 point tremolo on the SS. Tuning stability is solid even with fairly extensive use of the bar and is just as good if not better than the SS. Flutters and other whammy tricks are easy to pull off on the Fiore. However, the bridge is noisy and has a tendency to feedback under high gain. You’ll notice on a lot of YouTube demos that no one showcases staccato metal riffs or anything like that on either guitar. Occasionally you’ll see a video on the Fiore with a rock/hard rock sound but it’s either lower gain or a consistent palm mute with minimal to no stops. If you lighten your picking hand, toss in a noise gate, etc you can coax a metal sound from this guitar but if that’s what you’re after Id suggest you’re better off with a Custom 24.
I feel there’s enough difference between the SS and the Fiore that they’re distinct tools in my stable of axes. I don’t see the Fiore as a SS with a humbucker. I think that’s a good thing but your mileage may vary. Oh and it doesn’t really matter but I vastly prefer the full size bird outlines on the Fiore vs the mini birds on the SS.
I was debating between the Studio and the Fiore a few weeks ago. I ultimately went with the Fiore due to pickup wiring, maple neck/fretboard, 25.5” scale and the 2 point tremolo. I’m very happy with my choice. I hope others find this post useful. Cheers!
