Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have this guitar in the left-handed model but I have seen a number of these guitars and they are fairly consistent.
First the Body:
The body is sort of a Les Paul style...but smaller. And for my taste too small. It makes me look big and I'm not very big. But the balance is fine and none of the controls get crowded nor do you feel like you're going to fall off the edge of the guitar when you're playing. Still when set against the human form there is something underwhelming about it. The body finish is very thick and low gloss. The top, while having a quality piece of wood on it, also doesn't really pop. But it looks very nice. The light wood binding all around is fitted well and finishes are...midgrade.
The Neck:
I have the most mixed feelings about the neck. The inlays are top notch. Lovely perloid and abalone. Smooth and clean. Very well done. The fret wires are another story. They seem to be raised slightly above the actual fretboard by a small but noticeable gap. The edges are not totally consistent with a couple rough terminations. Because of the wood biding on the side of the fretboard it's not a real issue. The playability is unaffected by these things and it feels very workman-like overall. The intonation is pretty on and each note rings evenly and true. Not a fast fretboard but a good one.
The Electronics:
Here's where my biggest disappointment with this guitar sits. Using the same pickup in both the neck and bridge position is almost always a terrible idea. It certainly is here wherein the output at the bridge pickup is markedly less than that of the neck pickup...no matter how much adjusting you do. Furthermore if you're going to have a coil tap switch you should place foil or copper in the electronics cavity to suppress the induced hum. It's not pronounced on this guitar. There is foil backing the plastic cavity cover. The tone knob does nothing and should never be used. The pickups themselves are serviceable but very midrange in tonal character- sort of bright and honky. The switches are good and the pots have a good resistance.
Overall:
It definitely has looks. And up close it doesn't really get much less pretty. It needs a redesign on the electronics- better pickups (matched to position), isolation from interference, and a tone knob that does something. They should tighten up the fretboard production with attention to the wires and the finish. For the money I'm split...having gotten mine for less than half it sells for on Amazon....I still don't know if it's a bargain or not. Please bear in mind my point of reference is high-end high-quality guitars...but I've played tons of crap ones too. At $600-700 these are approaching high-mids in price and don't quite measure up in that price range when it's all said and done. They're almost there and I'm sure some people will think it's a great deal and a great guitar. But I personally feel a highend epiphone or the like would be money better spent.
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