AprioriMark
Hero Member
- Messages
- 1,710
I picked one of these up for 399 on some crazy special AMS was having. It came with EMG 81 and 85 pickups and a black Earvana nut. I figured that those features alone were worth the price of the guitar, especially since I've never tried a guitar with one of those nuts. They retail at 829. I sold my SG a while back, and I thought it might be cool to have a SG-style double humbucker around again, even if it is a cheapo.
The website pic:
A few things about this guitar after playing it a bit. First, it's not very SG-like in the body. It's a LOT thicker and almost into LP territory when considering weight. Also, I don't like the strap button behind the upper horn. I'll be moving that down to the neck joint shortly. Also, the only other negative is that the flame of the maple is not as pronounced as the pictures. It's not bad, but it's not that crisp. So, those are my only negatives, and they're not huge deals to me.
What is a huge deal is how GREAT a guitar this is overall. The EMGs sound great (though not the same as my LP with the same pickups... weird. This guitar is more balanced tonally and less "LP" like, haha). The neck is smaller (similar to a W standard thin, though a different shape... it's much like an ESP I used to own), and the fretwork is KILLER. This thing plays like a charm out of the box. It screams, "turn me up and shred!" The inlay work and binding is top-notch. I'm not finding any craftsmanship that seems cheap. Honestly, if someone told me it was a much more expensive guitar, I wouldn't question it. Cosmetically, the dark chrome hardware looks badass.
I just looked, and the price is back up to just less than 600, and I'm glad I decided to grab it at 400. In fact, it doesn't say anything about the Earvana nut, so I wonder f the new batch doesn't have that.
Yay!
-Mark
The website pic:
A few things about this guitar after playing it a bit. First, it's not very SG-like in the body. It's a LOT thicker and almost into LP territory when considering weight. Also, I don't like the strap button behind the upper horn. I'll be moving that down to the neck joint shortly. Also, the only other negative is that the flame of the maple is not as pronounced as the pictures. It's not bad, but it's not that crisp. So, those are my only negatives, and they're not huge deals to me.
What is a huge deal is how GREAT a guitar this is overall. The EMGs sound great (though not the same as my LP with the same pickups... weird. This guitar is more balanced tonally and less "LP" like, haha). The neck is smaller (similar to a W standard thin, though a different shape... it's much like an ESP I used to own), and the fretwork is KILLER. This thing plays like a charm out of the box. It screams, "turn me up and shred!" The inlay work and binding is top-notch. I'm not finding any craftsmanship that seems cheap. Honestly, if someone told me it was a much more expensive guitar, I wouldn't question it. Cosmetically, the dark chrome hardware looks badass.
I just looked, and the price is back up to just less than 600, and I'm glad I decided to grab it at 400. In fact, it doesn't say anything about the Earvana nut, so I wonder f the new batch doesn't have that.
Yay!
-Mark
