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MGR/The Cake Master « Aria Magna Series »
Published on 06/15/03 at 15:00I bought my Magna second-hand but in mint condition for £279.00 from the Academy Of Sound in Norwich, England. It was mainly because I found myself attracted to its unusual looks at the time and was impressed with how easy it was to play.
It has a quilted body in orange, very tasteful without giving up any of its eye catching features, that is to say its body curves in to the edges, exaggerated points, generally a very sleek looking guitar.
The Duncan Designed pick-ups really do themselves credit, double single coils, one at the neck, centre, and a humbucker at the bridge.
Standard volume and tone controls are nothing special, but it does have one very nice feature, I've no idea what it was called but there's a switch which seems to only have an effect when tone is at its fullest and the channel changer is set to treble. It makes the sound much fuller, almost like an acoustic, great for playing clean.
Other things of note are the incredibly low action, I remember my friend trying it and trying a bend, promptly exclaiming, "Where'd all the string go!?".
I have left the tremolo arm off on purpose but the shop made a big deal about the bridge, Wilkinson if that means anything to you, doesn't to me.
24 frets is always a bonus too.
The volume control is ineffective in my opinion; it makes little difference till you get to the lowest then it drops to silent, very irritating. Also, and this is most likely simply trouble with my guitar specifically, but there is a little buzz on some of the channels, nothing noticeable but enough to complain about.
It is perhaps a little heavy but not excessively so, I've had worse, and as nice as the low action is it does seem to make bends a little more difficult as mentioned previously.
They might've done a better job embedding the pick ups too, being able to see wires is a little unpleasant but that's just being picky, it would make changing easier if it came to that.
A well-built guitar. There really isn't much else to be said. It has taken a bump or two; the paint cracks easily, which is unfortunate. Other than that it is a solid guitar, never been taken to a gig but I could easily picture it holding up well.
For the money you could do a lot worse, second-hand you might get an Ibanez RG-550 for the same but in my opinion it only equals the quality.
I've never been bored of this guitar, it is my first and there's never a moment I regret buying it. Maybe not the best of guitars if raging metal is your preference, but if what you're in the market for is a good quality guitar for all purposes I would thoroughly recommend it.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
It has a quilted body in orange, very tasteful without giving up any of its eye catching features, that is to say its body curves in to the edges, exaggerated points, generally a very sleek looking guitar.
The Duncan Designed pick-ups really do themselves credit, double single coils, one at the neck, centre, and a humbucker at the bridge.
Standard volume and tone controls are nothing special, but it does have one very nice feature, I've no idea what it was called but there's a switch which seems to only have an effect when tone is at its fullest and the channel changer is set to treble. It makes the sound much fuller, almost like an acoustic, great for playing clean.
Other things of note are the incredibly low action, I remember my friend trying it and trying a bend, promptly exclaiming, "Where'd all the string go!?".
I have left the tremolo arm off on purpose but the shop made a big deal about the bridge, Wilkinson if that means anything to you, doesn't to me.
24 frets is always a bonus too.
The volume control is ineffective in my opinion; it makes little difference till you get to the lowest then it drops to silent, very irritating. Also, and this is most likely simply trouble with my guitar specifically, but there is a little buzz on some of the channels, nothing noticeable but enough to complain about.
It is perhaps a little heavy but not excessively so, I've had worse, and as nice as the low action is it does seem to make bends a little more difficult as mentioned previously.
They might've done a better job embedding the pick ups too, being able to see wires is a little unpleasant but that's just being picky, it would make changing easier if it came to that.
A well-built guitar. There really isn't much else to be said. It has taken a bump or two; the paint cracks easily, which is unfortunate. Other than that it is a solid guitar, never been taken to a gig but I could easily picture it holding up well.
For the money you could do a lot worse, second-hand you might get an Ibanez RG-550 for the same but in my opinion it only equals the quality.
I've never been bored of this guitar, it is my first and there's never a moment I regret buying it. Maybe not the best of guitars if raging metal is your preference, but if what you're in the market for is a good quality guitar for all purposes I would thoroughly recommend it.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com