Mayones Duvell Review

Welcome to our Mayones Duvell review. The Duvell is the European boutique guitar maker’s take on the classic superstrat shape. While much more affordable than the Regius, the Duvell is built to the same standards as a Regius or Setius.

Why are they much more affordable then?

It’s simple…

Mayones removed the time consuming, and therefore costly aesthetic appointments you find on the Regius. For example, the intricate binding work you find on the Regius is not present on the Duvell.

Does this affect tone or playability of the guitar? In our experience, it doesn’t.

The Duvell comes in two flavors, one is the standard which has fixed specs and the other, which we are reviewing today, is the Elite model.

Features:

This Duvell Elite features the following:

Eye poplar top
Ebony fretboard
Profiled Mahogany back
Bolt-on neck joint with a 6-screw mounted on ferrules
5 piece wenge and bubinga for added stability
16″ radius
25.4″ scale length
24 extra jumbo stainless steel frets
Ultra bright Luminlay side dots, in blue
Hipshot locking tuners
Hipshot bridge
H-H / Seymour Duncan Nazgûl (bridge) + Sentient (neck)
1xMaster Volume (push-pull for coil splitting)
3-way lever pickup switch
Bourns electronics
Transparent finish, with natural wood fully viewable
Transparent natural matte finish on the back
Matte neck finish
Graphtech nut
As you can tell, the guitar is loaded with great features, and Mayones hasn’t skimped out on including just about anything that affects the function of the guitar.

Hipshot hardware along with the Graphtech nut mean you won’t be worrying about staying in tune. The stainless steel frets aren’t about to wear away anytime soon either.

Little appointments, like the Luminlay side dots are a nice touch that you often see other manufacturers forget about.

The neck shape on this guitar is a very comfortable C, that isn’t excessively thin like the Parker shape. It isn’t nearly as thick as a strat C either. In my opinion, it’s medium/thin, which should work for most players. The C shape is my favorite too, as I find D shape necks lead to a lot of hand fatigue when they are too thin.

Tone:

In our experience, exotic woods don’t always equate to good tone, in fact, they often have the opposite effect. I have played one too many guitars that are pretty to look at, but not much else. There’s a reason that luthiers and brands largely stick to tried & true combinations!

Is the Duvell Elite one of the aforementioned dead tone sandwiches?

Nope.

To my surprise, the Elite’s eye poplar top, mahogany body, wenge/bubinga neck and ebony board make for an exotic wood combination that is beautiful, but works well too tonally. Mayones obviously spent some time experimenting with different wood combinations to find something that worked instead of just taking a bunch of gorgeous woods and slapping them together. It’s something we have to commend them on because far too many boutique brands are guilty of making gorgeous dead tone sandwichs. Using exotic woods that actually sound good is a result of years experience that can only be gained by the costly and time consuming process of trial and error.

The Seymour Duncan pickups were a good choice too, they have been gaining popularity rapidly in the last few years, and for good reason as their newer offerings are a definite step above their older models (not that the older models are bad per say!).

Tonally, this guitar packs a punch because of the above features. It cuts well and stays very clear when tuning down. If you’re playing metal, I can’t think of a better choice off the top of my head.

As many of you know, a guitar that does one genre exceedingly well often won’t do other genres nearly as well, which is the case with the stock Duvell. If you’re looking to do something other than metal with the Duvell, it’s doable, but there are probably better choices in the Mayones line up for that.

Additionally, I would recommend ordering a Duvell with a different fretboard and maybe top if you want something more tonally flexible. Ordering with different pickups might help with this too.

This doesn’t mean that this guitar can’t do other genres, just that you aren’t about to get ridiculously clean sounding cleans like you can with a single coil equipped strat.

Build Quality:

Mayones are pricey, but for good reason – the luthiers at Mayones pay attention to every little detail!

The neck pocket on this Duvell is tidy, tight, and well thought out. Too frequently, we see boutique luthiers putting out guitars with wonky neck pockets, which is unacceptable at the price some brands charge.

There are no weird flaws to be found on this guitar, the nut is cut perfectly, fretwork is as good as it gets, and the finish work is flawless.

I know it’s weird, but one of the first things I check on every guitar is the inside of the control cavity. Why? Well, if a manufacturer cares enough to pay attention to something the end user might never see, then I can assure you they likely care even more about the things that the player sees. The inside of the Duvells control cavity is neat, with no excess solder or messy wiring. The cavity is shielded with foil, instead of paint, which is much better because shielding paint loses effectiveness over time. Additionally, the screws have metal inserts, which is another nice subtle touch that some people might miss.

Final Verdict:

If you’re looking for an ultra-high quality metal machine that doesn’t skimp out on anything related to playability and tone, then the Duvell is for you!

They aren’t cheap, but no quality instrument is ever going to be cheap.

Personally, I rarely order new guitars, but I placed an order for a Duvell Elite with a pale moon ebony fretboard after playing this guitar. That should say enough.

By the way, don’t forget to read our guide to all Mayones models! Click here to see it. As authorized Mayones dealers, we can also set you up with the Mayones you’re after at the best price possible. Check out our current stock here.