New Axe

Brian Coonan

Power User
When I saw this, I thought it was the nicest looking guitar I've seen in a long time - one that I felt I HAD to have (as opposed to the normal wanting of nearly every guitar I see!) - got a great deal on it from Sam Ash and got it yesterday - this weekend will be putting it to the test to see if it's really something I SHOULD own. hahah. But wow, in person - it is truly a beautiful guitar (imo).

EBMajesty.jpg
 
I've got to try one of those at some point. I think I'd love the ergonomics of the body design but I'm not sure I'll like the neck carve or the preamp. Happy NGD!
 
@AndyOrr
Hey Andy - since you asked I thought I would offer my opinion.

First off - the guitar wasn't set up very well at all when I got it - intonation was off to the point where chords weren't clean and I was told that a 'professional set up' would be done prior to receiving it. There was also an issue with the nut - barely moving the tremolo produced that 'tink' sound you hear when you have an issue there. All the videos and reviews tout how these guitars stay in tune even with heavy tremolo use, but I didn't really experience that at all - not even without tremolo use. I found myself tuning this a lot more than I'd ever want to.

Outside of that though - the guitar is a beast - it plays great and sounds amazing. With all the electronics, you really can get any tone you would be looking for and the piezo is awesome. The tremolo is probably the smoothest one I've ever used - super sensitive, but in a good way. You can use it for a really nice vibrato or for full blown screaming dive bombs (although, I couldn't because it would put everything out of tune - even after a LOT of stretching the strings out).

The cut aways on the the body are awesome - you really get easy access to the 20-24th frets on the low strings without getting your hand all cramped up trying to get there - you can play those notes just as if you were playing them anywhere on the fretboard which was a cool thing - never really experienced that before.

The push-push buttons are super cool - the gain boost on the master volume and the coil tap on the tone when you have the middle position on the toggle selected. Great feature.

The locking tuners are super nice and very smooth. Doesn't take a lot of turning to get you where you need to go.

All that being said - the guitar isn't for me. The body shape is smaller than is comfortable for me, and for whatever reason, I just didn't feel inspired to play it - maybe it was all the tuning and intonation issues that contributed to that, but when I was playing it, I kept wanting it to feel like my PRS. So not a negative to the guitar at all, just a personal preference.

Overall, my review is that the guitar is an awesome machine for the right person and if you (or anyone) has an interest - I would just suggest that you go and play one and spend some time with it before purchasing. It's a different feel than I've ever played on before, but not in a bad way - just in a different way. There are MANY features on this guitar that I'd want in another guitar - stainless steel frets, the push-push buttons, the locking tuners, etc.

I'll be sending this one back to Sam Ash today - if you're interested in it, you can probably get a great deal on it - just make sure they set it up, or plan on doing that when you get it. Personally - I didn't feel like I should have to spend another 100-150 to get a $3500 guitar set up.

Peace!
 
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