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heads on fire « Not good. »
Published on 01/30/12 at 21:18Basswood Body
Bolt-on Maple Neck
25.5" Scale
Rosewood Fingerboard
42mm Standard Nut
Thin U Neck Contour
24 XJ Frets
ESP LH-150 Pickups
Master Volume, Tone and 3-way Toggle
Chrome Hardware
ESP Tuners
Floyd Rose Special Bridge
UTILIZATION
I am not a fan of this axe. Sorry - this guitar is just too cheaply made. The finish had some small runs in it, the neck would shift if I tugged on it slightly, and the tremolo would not keep in tune- I'm sure the quality of the tuners and locking nut are suspect as well. The fretwork was shoddy, with the ends of the frets still sharp and poking out of the side of the fretboard. The knobs even seem cheap. This guitar just wasn't made well.
SOUNDS
The acoustic tone of the F-50 was very plinky, with not much resonance. The pot-metal tremolo block does not help matters, and the pickups are just anemic. I realize that metalheads need a good first guitar or budget shred axe to jam on, but this one should not be it. Thin pickups with no clarity are the name of the game here, unfortunately, so I wouldn't recommend this guitar for its sounds. Some guitars have bad features, but make up for them with good tone - this is not one of those guitars.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is not very good, to be blunt. I'd recommend to anyone considering it to think about a step up from this - with the type of precision that metal and shred deserve, this guitar will not offer it. For just $50-100 more, some better offerings exist from Ibanez, and if one is set on the F series body from LTD, the next best one currently is at $599. I'd like to see LTD make a leap up in quality akin to the Ibanez level for $50-100 more.
Bolt-on Maple Neck
25.5" Scale
Rosewood Fingerboard
42mm Standard Nut
Thin U Neck Contour
24 XJ Frets
ESP LH-150 Pickups
Master Volume, Tone and 3-way Toggle
Chrome Hardware
ESP Tuners
Floyd Rose Special Bridge
UTILIZATION
I am not a fan of this axe. Sorry - this guitar is just too cheaply made. The finish had some small runs in it, the neck would shift if I tugged on it slightly, and the tremolo would not keep in tune- I'm sure the quality of the tuners and locking nut are suspect as well. The fretwork was shoddy, with the ends of the frets still sharp and poking out of the side of the fretboard. The knobs even seem cheap. This guitar just wasn't made well.
SOUNDS
The acoustic tone of the F-50 was very plinky, with not much resonance. The pot-metal tremolo block does not help matters, and the pickups are just anemic. I realize that metalheads need a good first guitar or budget shred axe to jam on, but this one should not be it. Thin pickups with no clarity are the name of the game here, unfortunately, so I wouldn't recommend this guitar for its sounds. Some guitars have bad features, but make up for them with good tone - this is not one of those guitars.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is not very good, to be blunt. I'd recommend to anyone considering it to think about a step up from this - with the type of precision that metal and shred deserve, this guitar will not offer it. For just $50-100 more, some better offerings exist from Ibanez, and if one is set on the F series body from LTD, the next best one currently is at $599. I'd like to see LTD make a leap up in quality akin to the Ibanez level for $50-100 more.