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tjon901 « Metal V from Epiphone »
Published on 10/22/11 at 20:53Everyone knows the story on Epiphone. Epiphone is the budget line of Gibson guitars. The guitars are made overseas but are made with a lot of the same materials as the more expensive Gibson counterparts. A lot of signature artists are now playing and having their signature models made by Epiphone so more of their fans can afford to purchase them. This is one of the newer signature models from Epiphone. This is the Jeff Waters Annihilation V. Jeff Waters being one of the most influential metal guitarists of all time. This guitar is a typical V with a few extras and mods that make it more handy for metal music. The V has a mahogany body and neck. The guitar has set neck construction with the neck being the thin 60s profile. The fretboard is synthetic ebony that gives you all the benefits of ebony but without the cost. Up top you get 6 Grover tuners and the bridge is one of Epiphones new locking tune-o-matics. The pickups are specially voiced Epiphone pickups made for heavy music. The controls are super simple with just a volume knobs and a 3 way switch. There is also a kill button for funky buckethead type sounds.
UTILIZATION
Epiphone was smart when coming up with this guitar. They used the 50s style Flying V shape which provides better upper fret access. This is good since this guitar has 24 frets. The synthetic ebony fretboard feels nice and smooth like you want from a fretboard. I love how Epiphone is putting locking tune-o-matics on all their guitars now. They say they increase sustain but what I do know is that they do not fall off when you are changing strings so thats always a plus. Having anything on a guitar nowadays held on by string tension is just silly.
SOUNDS
The Jeff Waters pickups have great attack and bite. They are much clearer than typical Epiphoen pickups. They sound really nice and keep their definition when playing fast or with a lot of gain. The bridge pickup is great for string skipping riffs that require a lot of clarity and definition. The neck pickup is clear but also smooth so your leads do not sound harsh. Having the ability to split each pickup is not something you usually find on these types of guitars but it adds a lot of versatility to the sound of the guitar. Having the ability to go from a humbucker sound to a single coil sound which each of the pickups.
OVERALL OPINION
This is a good overall guitar and it is the proper way to do a signature guitar. If you just get the black one no one will really know you are playing someone elses guitar. There are no big gaudy logos on it or huge signatures. It is unique on its own. If you are looking for an Epiphone to play metal with this is a good option. It has a lot of features that are not found on many other Epiphones or other guitars in this price range. These extra features make it great for heavy music but it is also versatile for all the different types of music you may want to play.
UTILIZATION
Epiphone was smart when coming up with this guitar. They used the 50s style Flying V shape which provides better upper fret access. This is good since this guitar has 24 frets. The synthetic ebony fretboard feels nice and smooth like you want from a fretboard. I love how Epiphone is putting locking tune-o-matics on all their guitars now. They say they increase sustain but what I do know is that they do not fall off when you are changing strings so thats always a plus. Having anything on a guitar nowadays held on by string tension is just silly.
SOUNDS
The Jeff Waters pickups have great attack and bite. They are much clearer than typical Epiphoen pickups. They sound really nice and keep their definition when playing fast or with a lot of gain. The bridge pickup is great for string skipping riffs that require a lot of clarity and definition. The neck pickup is clear but also smooth so your leads do not sound harsh. Having the ability to split each pickup is not something you usually find on these types of guitars but it adds a lot of versatility to the sound of the guitar. Having the ability to go from a humbucker sound to a single coil sound which each of the pickups.
OVERALL OPINION
This is a good overall guitar and it is the proper way to do a signature guitar. If you just get the black one no one will really know you are playing someone elses guitar. There are no big gaudy logos on it or huge signatures. It is unique on its own. If you are looking for an Epiphone to play metal with this is a good option. It has a lot of features that are not found on many other Epiphones or other guitars in this price range. These extra features make it great for heavy music but it is also versatile for all the different types of music you may want to play.