So after some playing and tinkering and "getting to know" this guitar It's sounding and playing pretty great.
Some thoughts:
This is a bright guitar! Brighter than my jazzcaster/offset tele. I'm keeping the tone knob at around 6-7 for the bridge pickup 7-8 on for the neck if I keep my amp knobs where they normally are.
Tonewise, the neck pickup has that punchy, bouncy, slightly jangly thing going on. Bridge pickup is a little smoother with a guttural low-mid quality that sounds great with overdrive. The series position sounds really good too; it's a little too fat/loose on it's own, but the bass cut knob tames it into a nice humbucker-y tone that's great for higher gain sound. All around I'm really enjoying the tones on tap.
This is a heavy guitar! The heaviest that I own at least. I don't have a good way to weigh it, but I'd guess it's in the 10-11 pound range. Personally I'm not too hung up on having a lightweight guitar, but if I was, this one would be out.
For strings, I initially strung it with 10s since that's what I'd normally use on a tele or strat type guitar, but the tension felt a little low so I moved it to 11s today. The 11s feel just right to me and seem to sound a little thicker/bolder too. The neck pocket is flat with no shim and I don't feel the need for one with the 11s, probably in part thanks to the slightly higher break angle provided by the Descendent tailpiece.
Speaking of the vibrato, it feels great! I've found I much prefer the feel of a JM style vibrato to a strat's. The Descendant is a great example and is a joy to use.
I'm also glad that I bought the Descendant bridge, as I drilled one of my bridge holes just a little bit off, and the way that the legs are designed allows them to compensate for that. Any other bridge on the market that I know of would be slightly crooked (treble side lower) and that would probably have driven me crazy. It's a nicely made, really high quality part!
Really enjoying this guitar! I look forward to the new neck!
