Minarik Inferno
Tested By Mark Watson

	Minarik Inferno • 1 11/16" nut width • 24 3/4"-scale mahogany set neck • 22 frets • Mahogany body with quilted maple top • Custom tone chambers • Fully bound body, neck, and headstock • Duncan Distortion( bridge), Duncan Jazz (neck) • Tone pros Tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece • Factory strings: Everly Gauge • Colors/Midnite Black or Cherry Sunburst

Minarik Inferno
If you built a fortress from copies of Dante's The Divine Comedy, you'd almost have a stronghold as huge as the mammoth Inferno. Well, not really—but this Texas-sized, flame-sculptured, ornate guitar will definitely bring all eyes toward the stage when you sling it across your shoulder. In spite of its mass, however, the Inferno is surprisingly light—a quality that's mainly due to the use of tone chambers placed throughout the entire body, including inside the flame tongues. And the shape of those flame tongues is no accident, either, as the manufacturer states the flames are cut thicker and closer together on the bass side to enhance lows, and thinner and farther apart on the treble side to elicit “angel like” highs from the top three strings. The Inferno also balances well whether you're sitting or standing.

Instant Gratification   Minarik Inferno Who's it for? Any player who craves to be noticed while sounding incredible. Kudos Amazing tone and playability. Rock-solid Tone Pros bridge and tailpiece. Concerns Some tooling marks between the flame tongues. Price $1,349 retail $789 street Contact Minarik Guitars (818) 383-1254; minarikguitars.com Editors' Pick Award

The Inferno sounds as spectacular as it looks. Acoustically, the tone is lively and resonant, and, when plugged in, the Duncan Distortion and Duncan Jazz pickups provide absolutely wonderful clean and dirty tones. The bridge-position Distortion yields some of the fattest, yet articulate sounds I've ever heard, and the neck-position Jazz covers every vibe from snappy and aggressive to smoky and mellow. Played cleanly or at moderate overdrive levels, sparkling roots tones abound, and you can easily coax this baby into spasms of controllable feedback when you pump up the volume and saturation levels.

The Inferno is a joy to play. You can brutalize the strings without risking squashed timbres, fretting out is non-existent, and the Tone Pros bridge ensures excellent sustain and spot-on intonation. The frets are meticulously trimmed and polished—not a burr or nick to be found—but while the inlays are beautiful and complex, they do have a little more epoxy around them than I'd like to see. The Inferno's midnight-black finish is flawless on the top and back, but there are also some fairly rough areas inside the intricate flame tongues.

Its few cosmetic glitches aside, the Inferno offers unforgettable looks, stunning sounds, and custom-style-for-low-bucks value. This sonically versatile, 100 percent rock and roll guitar is totally deserving of an Editors' Pick Award.