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tjon901 « Reddish Petrucci Signature »
Published on 01/09/12 at 10:35The MusicMan Petrucci model has been a very popular model with guitar players for a while now. It is a truely modern design that takes a lot of the better aspects of other Musicman guitars and puts them into a single model. The model is continually evolving as well with a new version coming out just about every year. This is the original model in the red finish. The finish kind of reminds me of a Wine Red burst but with a plain top. This guitar has a basswood body with a bolt on maple neck. The neck is nice and thin with a rosewood fretboard and 24 jumbo frets. Up top on the 4x2 headstock you get locking tuners and a non locking nut. The tremolo is a non locking unit but it holds tune well. The pickups are Petruccis preferred set of Dimarzios. Depending on when your model was made these can be different. This example was a bit older so it came with a Dropsonic in the bridge and an Air Norton in the neck. The controls are simple with a volume and tone with a 3 way toggle switch.
UTILIZATION
The playability on these guitars is great. Petrucci plays with a super low action and sets his guitar up with the neck as flat as possible. To be able to pull this off you need precise fit and finish on the neck. The radius is about 15 inches which is pretty flat. The neck is similar to an Ibanez neck and this is understandable since Petrucci use to play Ibanez guitars. The bridge is a nice solid piece. It kind of reminds me of PRS tremolos. It is very solid and stable even without a locking nut. The lack of locking nut makes the guitar a bit easier to tune and whatnot. The basswood body means the guitar is super light. Newer models have other tonewoods that are a bit heavier.
SOUNDS
Petrucci always has a good sound thanks to his huge rig. The pickups in this guitar are the set of pickups he used early in his Musicman days. The Dropsonic was the big new thing at the time and nowadays people have moved on from it. It had its problems. It was an asymetrical design which means it sounds different by the way its oriented. Petrucci orients his with the blade facing towards the neck for a thicker sound. The problem with this pickup is that it is really noisy. Tone wise the pickup to me is a mix between the x2n and the tonezone. It is hot and bright with crazy harmonics. This leads to a bit of noise as expected. The Air Norton in the neck doesnt have any of the problems. It is a classic Dimarzio neck pickup. It has a very smooth modern lead tone. It has the output to keep up with a hot bridge pickup like the Dropsonic but has the smoothness to not sound harsh when playing leads and single note lines.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitars are great solid shred guitars for people who want something that can do more than just metal. They can do metal fine but they have a more subtle look and a very versatile sound. A lot of these models also come with Piezo as well but if you get one without that you can save a bit of money. To me these guitars are like grown up Ibanez's. They dont need the pointy edges any more but they still have all the playability. The stock pickups are night and day better than what you get on most Ibanez guitars as well.
UTILIZATION
The playability on these guitars is great. Petrucci plays with a super low action and sets his guitar up with the neck as flat as possible. To be able to pull this off you need precise fit and finish on the neck. The radius is about 15 inches which is pretty flat. The neck is similar to an Ibanez neck and this is understandable since Petrucci use to play Ibanez guitars. The bridge is a nice solid piece. It kind of reminds me of PRS tremolos. It is very solid and stable even without a locking nut. The lack of locking nut makes the guitar a bit easier to tune and whatnot. The basswood body means the guitar is super light. Newer models have other tonewoods that are a bit heavier.
SOUNDS
Petrucci always has a good sound thanks to his huge rig. The pickups in this guitar are the set of pickups he used early in his Musicman days. The Dropsonic was the big new thing at the time and nowadays people have moved on from it. It had its problems. It was an asymetrical design which means it sounds different by the way its oriented. Petrucci orients his with the blade facing towards the neck for a thicker sound. The problem with this pickup is that it is really noisy. Tone wise the pickup to me is a mix between the x2n and the tonezone. It is hot and bright with crazy harmonics. This leads to a bit of noise as expected. The Air Norton in the neck doesnt have any of the problems. It is a classic Dimarzio neck pickup. It has a very smooth modern lead tone. It has the output to keep up with a hot bridge pickup like the Dropsonic but has the smoothness to not sound harsh when playing leads and single note lines.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitars are great solid shred guitars for people who want something that can do more than just metal. They can do metal fine but they have a more subtle look and a very versatile sound. A lot of these models also come with Piezo as well but if you get one without that you can save a bit of money. To me these guitars are like grown up Ibanez's. They dont need the pointy edges any more but they still have all the playability. The stock pickups are night and day better than what you get on most Ibanez guitars as well.