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Audiofanzine FR
Published on 12/12/08 at 14:45
(Originally written by yungsoo/translated from Audiofanzine FR)
- Made in China.
- 22 frets, original pickups replaced with a Dimebucker SH-13 (bridge) and a SH-1 (neck).
- Floyd Rose-like tremolo by Washburn.
- Controls: 2 x volume, 1 x tone, 3-way toggle switch.
- Bolt-on neck with black paint. It's neither too thick nor too slim, I like it.
I give it an 8 but it would be less if it were not for the SH-13 pickup.
UTILIZATION
- Very pleasant neck. It's quite different from my BC Rich Warlock (Platinum series) and it allows me to play things I couldn't play before! (nice feeling).
- Quite easy upper frets access in spite of the bolt-on neck. I guess a set neck would have been more convenient.
- I like its ergonomic shape, but that will probably not be the case with everybody. I personally love it!
When sitting (with a knee between both bottom wings) the playing comfort is excellent, the guitar stays in position and the tremolo bar is easy to access.
- The Dimebucker easily produces a good heavy metal sound lol.
This guitar is sold with a very convenient but rather bulky flightcase. You won't take it everywhere with you (it's a pity for a such guitar). -1
SOUNDS
- I play mainly Trivium, Pantera, Metallica and so on.
The sound is perfect for Pantera and Trivium but it's too tight and dry enough for Metallica! (but it's very accurate)
- I play a Marshall MG15 CDR and I get a pretty good sound! (I will soon buy a new amp).
- The clean sound surprised me: I had an EMG81 pickup with an awful clean sound. Now I get a better (but not perfect) one. The bridge pickup produces a very round, Metallica-like clean sound (think Master of Puppets' interlude).
The distortion sound is great: big, very accurate and dry, with a much more present low-end compared to my EMGs (although they also sound very good).
In distortion mode with my crappy Marshall the guitar generates too much noise, unlike the EMG pickups that produced almost no noise at all. One point off because of this.
- Overdrive and distortion tones are very good with a huge distortion intensity!! A real delight for heavy metal freaks!
OVERALL OPINION
- I've owned it for a couple of months and I'm very satisfied with it!
- It is the guitar of my dreams, but it is quite bulky so it's not easy to transport.
- I previously had BC rich (see above) which is a good moderate guitar. I tried out a lot of heavy metal guitars: Dean Dixie Rebel (similar look).
ESP KH-4 (excellent, rare and expensive guitar).
ESP KH-202 (quite good but you'll have to change the pickups).
ESP Ltd F-250 (great but you'll also have to change the pickups).
ESP Ltd Alexi 600 (very good guitar but upper frets are difficult to access). The EMG-HZ pickups sound good.
Ibanez MTM-1 (excellent heavy metal guitar with EMG pickups that sound great, but the tremolo is not a real Floyd Rose...).
Excellent value for money, very good guitar but quite rare.
I would buy it again. With twice the budget, I would have bought a Dean or the KH-2.
- Made in China.
- 22 frets, original pickups replaced with a Dimebucker SH-13 (bridge) and a SH-1 (neck).
- Floyd Rose-like tremolo by Washburn.
- Controls: 2 x volume, 1 x tone, 3-way toggle switch.
- Bolt-on neck with black paint. It's neither too thick nor too slim, I like it.
I give it an 8 but it would be less if it were not for the SH-13 pickup.
UTILIZATION
- Very pleasant neck. It's quite different from my BC Rich Warlock (Platinum series) and it allows me to play things I couldn't play before! (nice feeling).
- Quite easy upper frets access in spite of the bolt-on neck. I guess a set neck would have been more convenient.
- I like its ergonomic shape, but that will probably not be the case with everybody. I personally love it!
When sitting (with a knee between both bottom wings) the playing comfort is excellent, the guitar stays in position and the tremolo bar is easy to access.
- The Dimebucker easily produces a good heavy metal sound lol.
This guitar is sold with a very convenient but rather bulky flightcase. You won't take it everywhere with you (it's a pity for a such guitar). -1
SOUNDS
- I play mainly Trivium, Pantera, Metallica and so on.
The sound is perfect for Pantera and Trivium but it's too tight and dry enough for Metallica! (but it's very accurate)
- I play a Marshall MG15 CDR and I get a pretty good sound! (I will soon buy a new amp).
- The clean sound surprised me: I had an EMG81 pickup with an awful clean sound. Now I get a better (but not perfect) one. The bridge pickup produces a very round, Metallica-like clean sound (think Master of Puppets' interlude).
The distortion sound is great: big, very accurate and dry, with a much more present low-end compared to my EMGs (although they also sound very good).
In distortion mode with my crappy Marshall the guitar generates too much noise, unlike the EMG pickups that produced almost no noise at all. One point off because of this.
- Overdrive and distortion tones are very good with a huge distortion intensity!! A real delight for heavy metal freaks!
OVERALL OPINION
- I've owned it for a couple of months and I'm very satisfied with it!
- It is the guitar of my dreams, but it is quite bulky so it's not easy to transport.
- I previously had BC rich (see above) which is a good moderate guitar. I tried out a lot of heavy metal guitars: Dean Dixie Rebel (similar look).
ESP KH-4 (excellent, rare and expensive guitar).
ESP KH-202 (quite good but you'll have to change the pickups).
ESP Ltd F-250 (great but you'll also have to change the pickups).
ESP Ltd Alexi 600 (very good guitar but upper frets are difficult to access). The EMG-HZ pickups sound good.
Ibanez MTM-1 (excellent heavy metal guitar with EMG pickups that sound great, but the tremolo is not a real Floyd Rose...).
Excellent value for money, very good guitar but quite rare.
I would buy it again. With twice the budget, I would have bought a Dean or the KH-2.