So, I was asked if I wanted a guitar as a 17th birthday gift (17th birthday, not the 17th gift), and I replied a very certain hell yes.
I was given a general price range and told to name three guitars so that I could stil be surprised. The three I picked were Loomis TOM, Xiphos 7 and a Schecter 6-string. I was acheing for a 7-string though and made this clear.
So, as I hear the doorbell today and freak out and pray to the gods its my guitar, but alas, it's only my sister walking in. That is, until I hear "What's this big box?"
I haul ass to the door to see said box, and lo and behold, I am greeted with:
Jackson case?! The fuck? Uh oh...
(my friend who is a liscenced guitar tech mentioned to me they don't always ship in the company's case. complete coincidence that he was there when I opened her up). Also excuse the view of my dog's ass.
Now, my birthday's not for another two weeks, but New Guitar Day is TODAY.
^ Me being nervous... in socks.
Oh my... (excuse the blur)
My impression thus far:
Beautiful, beautiful paint job. The colors are amazing. Changes from black to a dark forestish green and sometimes hits a weird purplish grey. The sparkles that you see in so many pictures aren't very apparent and only show up with a flash from a camera or close observation. While I was playing it, the person watching kept remarking on how cool the color changes were. The body is awesome, and the guitar is quite light. The neck is thin and beautiful. Originally, I was planning on changing out the chrome knobs for black ones, but I have changed my mind.
The low B completely GROWLS. This is my first 7 string, but compared to the one I tried out, this decimates.
The bridge, one of the things I was originally afraid of (because of the looks) is actually really cool looking in person.
The pickups are pretty damn good, I'm going to have to work on accuracy on the upper frets because of their quality. With distortion, it sounds pretty damn good and once again, the guitar has a very very mean sound. I played some Gojira, Hate Eternal, Behemoth, Lamb of God and some Slayer on it, and it all sounded great. Vibratos sounded particularly nice. On clean, this thing is beautiful sounding. Chords ring out. I'll probably slap in EMGs or Blackouts once I get the money.
Of couse, I'm still in a bit of awe at this thing, and I'm having trouble believing it's mine.
Thanks 1000x to all the people who reccomended the Xiphos and showed theirs off. Thanks to Unconventional for the help with everything. And thank you Drum City Guitar Land for kicking ass.
As for the neck dive
Not as bad as I anticipated, and not as bad as people make it out to be. Since the guitar is relatively light, it's not a big deal holding it up. I'll fix it at some point, being that I do vocals and guitar, but for now it's no big deal.
Anyone reccomend any good death metal songs that I can learn on 7-string?
I'm currently looking at God of Emptiness by Morbid Angel.
I will leave you with a corny metal pic:
