mavrick102000
Shredder
- Messages
- 2,278
I can't recall the last time I was in there. It's been several years though. And I figured I'd pickup a few sets of strings since I was in that part of town.
Had a pretty good time trying some less expensive guitar options, I was surprised at the selection available.
Tried several guitars.
PRS SE's. Action was a bit higher than I like on most of what I played, but they would be giggable. Switches feel real cheap.
Played a few Schechter 6 string hardtails. Seemed decent, 14 or 16" radius didn't bother me - it used to unless above the 12th fret. Needs setup, and major string cleaning, but sounded and played fine. Not being used to reverse headstock and trying to tune up was a bit confusing at first.
Strandberg experiment - They had 2 Strandbergs. The one with Fishmans went back on the locked rack quickly - No thanks - too unnaturally compressed.
The Plini, with his pickups I think might be Suhr's. That was nice. Typical 20" radius, fanned frets, endurneck. Pretty darn comfortable for such a unique neck design. I think I could like it quite a bit. If I ever went in this direction, I think the non-trem bridge is the direction I'd go. Having a floating trem, with the position of the tuners could take a bit of getting used to - it's easy to bump off pitch while tuning.
They are oddly light and it's like some bizarre optical illusion without a headstock. At first glance from behind it looks like 1/3 of the neck is missing....LOL.
Charvel ProMod DK 24 something or other - , both white, maple fretboards, one fixed bridge, one floating Gotoh. Both had white Duncan SSH configurations. Both played well, and other than the Plini Stranberg was about the best overall fit and finish. If the one with the floating trem would have been a FR1000, I might have had a problem walking away for about $1K. I don't really need another super strat, but the FR might have changed my mind, just because. The output of these Seymour Duncans and the one Schecter are why I said the output on the PRS SE's seemed weak in comparison - not an entirely fair test, but it's what I experienced.
Played around with some synths and midi controllers.
The newer Yamaha Montage.MX8 - 88 Key Synth - what a beast of a workstation. You better read the specs or take a tape measure to make sure you have space in your music room, this is not something for on top of the desk unless it's the only thing on the desk.
The highlight of my visit:
I haven't played through any real tube amps in ages, like since 2010. All the guitars I tested were in the Platinum room where they keep the pricey stuff.
Friedman BE100 Deluxe & SLO 100 through their respective 4x12 cabs.....Holy Shit!!! HAHAHA..
Sounded F'ing enormous and I didn't even get the overall output level above about 3.75, Channel Master around 3. Well, I did once on the clean channel on the BE - plenty of volume and thump there.
I sat off axis so they didn't take my head off, or my hearing. Lot's of fun.
One of the guys there, I've known for years, he said don't worry turn it up as much as you can stand. I should have asked him for a clean boost or a TS pedal to hit the front end a little, but they were still glorious.
4 was about the max I was comfortable with.
No Bogner's or Mesa's that I would have liked to play through (Badlander, JP2C or Mark 7)
Overall a fun trip, just to pick up some strings.
ETA: Checked the specs on the Duncans and they're medium output so not really hot. I'm guessing the PRS SE Hollowbody didn't have the latest SE 85 /15's in it, looked a bit older, although in great shape.
Had a pretty good time trying some less expensive guitar options, I was surprised at the selection available.
Tried several guitars.
PRS SE's. Action was a bit higher than I like on most of what I played, but they would be giggable. Switches feel real cheap.
- Erzra Verde - (almost all other necks) feel odd after owning a Suhr for several years. If I owned one, I'd oil rub it to make it feel a hair smoother.
- One of the Semi Hollowbody's - Very decent, pickups seemed weak after playing some other guitars (more on that later)
- McCarty Double Cut and Single Cut - They need to have a 60's neck option, tad bit fat and I have a Gibson LP with a medium chunky neck.
- Used Holcomb 7 - Just to try a 7 and a flat assed radius (20"). The radius didn't bother me much, but damn that neck is wide. Pickups sounded decent for more modern stuff. RE: 7strings What the hell is the deal? It's one extra string and looks/feels like I'm trying to reach for two extra strings - very odd. I think if I want something tuned down, I'd just go multiscale with fanned frets and stick with 6 strings.
Played a few Schechter 6 string hardtails. Seemed decent, 14 or 16" radius didn't bother me - it used to unless above the 12th fret. Needs setup, and major string cleaning, but sounded and played fine. Not being used to reverse headstock and trying to tune up was a bit confusing at first.
Strandberg experiment - They had 2 Strandbergs. The one with Fishmans went back on the locked rack quickly - No thanks - too unnaturally compressed.
The Plini, with his pickups I think might be Suhr's. That was nice. Typical 20" radius, fanned frets, endurneck. Pretty darn comfortable for such a unique neck design. I think I could like it quite a bit. If I ever went in this direction, I think the non-trem bridge is the direction I'd go. Having a floating trem, with the position of the tuners could take a bit of getting used to - it's easy to bump off pitch while tuning.
They are oddly light and it's like some bizarre optical illusion without a headstock. At first glance from behind it looks like 1/3 of the neck is missing....LOL.
Charvel ProMod DK 24 something or other - , both white, maple fretboards, one fixed bridge, one floating Gotoh. Both had white Duncan SSH configurations. Both played well, and other than the Plini Stranberg was about the best overall fit and finish. If the one with the floating trem would have been a FR1000, I might have had a problem walking away for about $1K. I don't really need another super strat, but the FR might have changed my mind, just because. The output of these Seymour Duncans and the one Schecter are why I said the output on the PRS SE's seemed weak in comparison - not an entirely fair test, but it's what I experienced.
Played around with some synths and midi controllers.
The newer Yamaha Montage.MX8 - 88 Key Synth - what a beast of a workstation. You better read the specs or take a tape measure to make sure you have space in your music room, this is not something for on top of the desk unless it's the only thing on the desk.
The highlight of my visit:
I haven't played through any real tube amps in ages, like since 2010. All the guitars I tested were in the Platinum room where they keep the pricey stuff.
Friedman BE100 Deluxe & SLO 100 through their respective 4x12 cabs.....Holy Shit!!! HAHAHA..
Sounded F'ing enormous and I didn't even get the overall output level above about 3.75, Channel Master around 3. Well, I did once on the clean channel on the BE - plenty of volume and thump there.
I sat off axis so they didn't take my head off, or my hearing. Lot's of fun.
One of the guys there, I've known for years, he said don't worry turn it up as much as you can stand. I should have asked him for a clean boost or a TS pedal to hit the front end a little, but they were still glorious.
4 was about the max I was comfortable with.
No Bogner's or Mesa's that I would have liked to play through (Badlander, JP2C or Mark 7)
Overall a fun trip, just to pick up some strings.
ETA: Checked the specs on the Duncans and they're medium output so not really hot. I'm guessing the PRS SE Hollowbody didn't have the latest SE 85 /15's in it, looked a bit older, although in great shape.
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