OP
Metal89
Ambassador of Orchestral Brewtality
So I'm taking a lunch break but been rocking out on that axe for a bit now. It's a bit lighter than I thought it would be, people have said its a heavy guitar, the body itself feels....I want to say like a chambered les paul? the weight i feel more in the neck. Not a complaint, but an observation. I have arthritis in the back from the time I was an EMT so this is a good thing for me. No sharp ends on the frets that I can feel, I can slide my hand up and down and not feel like im going to bleed. The neck is a slim C shape and it actually feels really good to me, more comfortable than my epi SG's. my epi sg's I do like to play, i never let the size of the neck stop me but with those baseball bat type necks I do feel like I subconciously want to slow down, it takes some getting used to. After tearing it up on my Jackson ever since I got that set up, I was able to just grab this axe and play no problems. it's got a 1,000 series floyd rose on there with R2 locking nut so tuning stability is top knotch. one thing I was kinda concerned about if it was floating or not, I like to be able to pull the strings sharp for vibrato's and i found i like locking the arm to the rear so I can easily do this. And this guitar you can do it! It comes armed with EMG 57-66 and....these things BARK! my only thing is the traditional pole pieces. I love the 81-85 set i have and the bladed type pole pieces it has as it keeps the sustain through the bend for longer. The 57-66 that sustain drops off a bit quicker than the 81-85 BUT this is an obersavtion and personal taste, they still do have a really nice sustain because EMG's have a pre amp which allows them to put much weaker magnets in their pickups. I still love how they sound all in all. the volume knob works as a volume knob should and with these pickups has the same quality as my x pickups do in which you can control the tone via the volume. the selector switch feels high quality, i don't get a "shorting out" sound when I switch pickups. the tuners are grover which I've always liked they alone can hold tune pretty well. I almost forgot to mention. The body is gloss black but the neck is satin, Richie wanted this because he wears a thumb ring on his fret hand with rips away the finish on the neck but he found that he liked that "wood" feel. but knowing that the ripped away finish look can be ugly he wanted the satin neck on this to keep that same feel but not have the "i trashed my guitar" look to it.
All in all.... I'm extremely happy with this, I almost feel guilty for using it purely for the rhythym sections of my song, but it will have it's time to shine, perhaps in my next song. I really think it's going to compliment my Jackson very well tonally. Definitely worth looking into if you want a V, You don't mind EMG's and you don't care about what name is on the headstock.
All in all.... I'm extremely happy with this, I almost feel guilty for using it purely for the rhythym sections of my song, but it will have it's time to shine, perhaps in my next song. I really think it's going to compliment my Jackson very well tonally. Definitely worth looking into if you want a V, You don't mind EMG's and you don't care about what name is on the headstock.
