# Guitars you really wanted, but turned out to be a disappointment



## ThomasUV777 (Jan 7, 2018)

I was recently pondering about two purchases I made. I fell in love with the KH-2 Ouija when I was a kid and, at a certain point, recently had an opportunity to buy 2, which I did. They arrived, I set them up to my preference, but the neck just want for me. I tried over and over to like this guitar, but it wasn't happening, still love the design tho. It was a bit gut-wrenching to sell'em, but they would've ended up staying in the case never being played.

tltr; What guitar did you really really want, and then turned out to be a major disappointment?


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## Chokey Chicken (Jan 7, 2018)

Gibson explorer, though for me, it's not built poorly or have a neck I don't like, it just sounds too warm and muddled. 

I hate it because it's one of my favorite guitars to play, it just doesn't sound very good. I might try offsetting some of the mud with different pickups, but even acoustically it sounds kind of dull so I'm not sure what good it'll do. I'll never sell it though. I just don't play it as much as I'd like to.


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## Vyn (Jan 7, 2018)

ESP Ninja Amott sig (the one with the mirror pickguard). Flew to another state to try it out with coin in wallet ready to purchase. Played it for 5 minutes and walked out of the shop. It was an awesome instrument, the finish on it was sick but i just couldn't deal with the neck profile.


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## HerbalDude420 (Jan 7, 2018)

The Agile Septor Elite 730 just the scale length and it being 7 string it hurt my fretting hand to much to play also was a bit to much depth to it not enough bite in its tone.


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## maliciousteve (Jan 7, 2018)

Ibanez USA Custom RG. Sold my beautiful RG1550FM -RBT to buy it which was an even bigger mistake. 

However, the USA Custom turned out to be terrible. Every piece of metal was well rusted, the pickups were horrible and it never stayed in tune. Also turned out that the neck wasn't original (though it was an RG770 neck, so not far off) so I sold it about 2 - 3 weeks later.


Gibson Gothic Flying V. Wanted one since they first came out and the opportunity came up for a great deal. Now the guitar sounded incredible, played great and was in good condition. However I could never get the Low E to intonate and quite frankly, I looked like an idiot playing a V.


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## BenjaminW (Jan 7, 2018)

I wanted to get a Squier strat, but now that I've had mine for 4 years, I've never really been satisfied with it to be honest. My two big ideas of improving it are to change the pickups from the stock ones to some nicer ones and replace the neck with a 22nd fret since I am not a 21-fret guy.


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## laxu (Jan 7, 2018)

Strandberg Boden OS. Well, it wasn't what I truly wanted (which was the Skervesen Shoggie I eventually got) but I gave the Strandberg a try because it was cheaper and available right away. If we ignore that I got a total lemon that should not have ended up in my hands, their design has several issues:

Bolt-on heel goes high up the neck, enough to get in my way.
Adjusting action is a major pain. Detune string, remove string, unlock post, raise/lower post, reverse previous steps. Repeat 6+ times.
Tuners are super stiff. I had to use the allen key to turn them at all.
Endurneck does nothing for me. I prefer the more subtle version of it on my Skervesen, those angular edges are not a plus.
Scale length could be 0.5" shorter on the high strings on 8-strings and slightly longer on the low strings on 7-string models. Both my Kiesel AM7 and Skervesen Shoggie 8 feels much better than the Boden OS 8 did.
I would still be interested in a headless bass from them and really want to like their guitars but they are far from perfect. I wish the Boden Js were more available because they are built so much better than the Korean models.


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## USMarine75 (Jan 7, 2018)

Chokey Chicken said:


> Gibson explorer, though for me, it's not built poorly or have a neck I don't like, it just sounds too warm and muddled.
> 
> I hate it because it's one of my favorite guitars to play, it just doesn't sound very good. I might try offsetting some of the mud with different pickups, but even acoustically it sounds kind of dull so I'm not sure what good it'll do. I'll never sell it though. I just don't play it as much as I'd like to.



Definitely depends on what pickups you have and style of music you are playing. I have a USA V with 496R/500T pickups that slays at everything from modern high gain metal to blues. I have a MUCH more expensive LP Custom Shop Figured Custom with Burstbucker 2 and 3 that sounds like hot garbage IMO. Bad for everything and doesn't seem to play well with anything I own. I also have two with their Gibson P90 pickups that are 10/10 (for P90 purposes). And I just bought a 2018 HP SG with Classic and Super '57 pickups which are great for blues and rock, but the low end is rounded and fat (prob what you have in yours?) which does not make for good modern high gain style playing (tight riffing and detuned clarity). Through a Sky King (Fender style) amp with Ethos TWE pedal (Trainwreck) it was an absolute 10/10 for me earlier today... so good I was almost late for work lol. But I wasn't playing Periphery covers either... 

So really depends on what style you are playing and your rig.

For me, it was my Mayones NAMM Setius. I so wanted to love her. The neck finish was amazing and the guitar was flawless. But it just did nothing for me. I usually don't mind thicker necks (I love my Schecter Loomis!), but the neck was clunky and not fast. The tone was so sterile too. Probably perfect to mate with an Axe FX lol.


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## zappatton2 (Jan 7, 2018)

maliciousteve said:


> Gibson Gothic Flying V. Wanted one since they first came out and the opportunity came up for a great deal. Now the guitar sounded incredible, played great and was in good condition. However I could never get the Low E to intonate and quite frankly, I looked like an idiot playing a V.


I had the Gothic Explorer, I found the exact same thing. The low E just would not intonate. Plus, much like the earlier Explorer comment, it really sounded like mud, even after I changed the pickups. It's a shame, I really loved the look of it, and it was the first guitar I ever bought with my own money, but I parted with it more than a decade ago. In my weaker moments I still miss it, but I've parted with a lot of other guitars I've loved much more.


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## Adam Of Angels (Jan 7, 2018)

Just some advice for everyone that visits this thread: even if a guitar disappointed you, you may find that you love another of the exact same model. I've had that happen so many times that I stopped judging brands and models altogether. You can get an amazing Agile, a terrible Suhr, and vice versa.


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## HerbalDude420 (Jan 7, 2018)

Adam Of Angels said:


> Just some advice for everyone that visits this thread: even if a guitar disappointed you, you may find that you love another of the exact same model. I've had that happen so many times that I stopped judging brands and models altogether. You can get an amazing Agile, a terrible Suhr, and vice versa.



For sure agile are still good guitars just I should try and shorter scale length.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 7, 2018)

Chokey Chicken said:


> Gibson explorer, though for me, it's not built poorly or have a neck I don't like, it just sounds too warm and muddled.





zappatton2 said:


> I had the Gothic Explorer, I found the exact same thing. The low E just would not intonate. Plus, much like the earlier Explorer comment, it really sounded like mud, even after I changed the pickups. It's a shame, I really loved the look of it, and it was the first guitar I ever bought with my own money, but I parted with it more than a decade ago. In my weaker moments I still miss it, but I've parted with a lot of other guitars I've loved much more.



I'm starting to realize this as well with a lot of Explorers. They tend to sound muddy and undefined compared to other guitars. Even my current Explorer sounds pretty dark compared to other mahogany-styled guitars. Had to sell my Epiphone 1984 because of this.


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## Chokey Chicken (Jan 7, 2018)

USMarine75 said:


> Definitely depends on what pickups you have and style of music you are playing. I have a USA V with 496R/500T pickups that slays at everything from modern high gain metal to blues. I have a MUCH more expensive LP Custom Shop Figured Custom with Burstbucker 2 and 3 that sounds like hot garbage IMO. Bad for everything and doesn't seem to play well with anything I own. I also have two with their Gibson P90 pickups that are 10/10 (for P90 purposes). And I just bought a 2018 HP SG with Classic and Super '57 pickups which are great for blues and rock, but the low end is rounded and fat (prob what you have in yours?) which does not make for good modern high gain style playing (tight riffing and detuned clarity). Through a Sky King (Fender style) amp with Ethos TWE pedal (Trainwreck) it was an absolute 10/10 for me earlier today... so good I was almost late for work lol. But I wasn't playing Periphery covers either...
> 
> So really depends on what style you are playing and your rig.
> 
> For me, it was my Mayones NAMM Setius. I so wanted to love her. The neck finish was amazing and the guitar was flawless. But it just did nothing for me. I usually don't mind thicker necks (I love my Schecter Loomis!), but the neck was clunky and not fast. The tone was so sterile too. Probably perfect to mate with an Axe FX lol.



This is probably fair. I do have other gibsons that absolutely crush. My LP traditional is hands down my favorite guitar overall. Stock everything and it sounds/plays amazingly. That guitar is how I found out I love fat necks. I can play that thing for days and not cramp up like I do on any ibanez or modern schecter. I have a peavey rotor with an equally fantastic neck, which I play much more than the gibson explorer just because it sounds nicer to me.


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## feraledge (Jan 7, 2018)

Another vote for the Gibson Gothic Explorer. Always wanted a Gibson Explorer, mine actually sounded beastly, but the guitar was made shitty.
The finish was weak, it felt like it was losing value everytime I picked it up. The fretboard was breaking off. The worst was that any amount of sweat and the finish on the back of the neck was like glue. Wrote a bunch on it, super inspired, took it to practice once and wished I had brought a back up. Sold immediately after.


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## Metropolis (Jan 7, 2018)

My first Ibanez back in 2007, which was XPT700. Edge III bridge really sucked ass. Overall very "indonesian" feeling guitar, gloss painted neck.

2011 the first sevenstring, Schecter JL-7 NT. It had old and thick Schecter neck profile, and that was way too thick. EMG 707 pickups weren't great either.

First Prestige Ibanez in 2015, RG652KFX-KB. There was just something about that guitar I didn't feel. It was beatiful though, and one of the best looking guitars I've owned.

And last Ibanez RGA121-NTF. Cosmo black hardware, laquer it has in body and neck combined with rosewood fretboard have kind of icky feeling, volume pot is also too close to the bridge. Probably will end up selling this too.

Every guitar with tune-o-matic and high profile pickup rings has been a disappointment too, because they affect to my picking hand a bit too much. Lots of Ibanez, and I've been thinking getting something else all the time.


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## Leviathus (Jan 7, 2018)

BenjaminW said:


> I am not a 21-fret guy.



Lol, i don't think anyone is, they're few and far between to say the least...


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## Wolfhorsky (Jan 7, 2018)

‚96 Ibby JPM P2 was love/hate party. It sounded really great. Stayed in tune very well. But the thick neck was not for me at all. That over years became a deal breaker and i sold it. Sometimes i miss it tho.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 7, 2018)

Just about every Caparison I've owned or played. 

Around 2004 I was kinda bored with Ibanez. I thought about moving a few UVs and had my mind set on a Dellinger 7. I bought two of them. Huge mistake! The fit and finish was okay at best, the fretwork was solid, but no better than an off the shelf RG1550. They didn't sound very good either. I spent a wad of cash on new pickups and put a lot of time in on the bench getting them to play like the almost $2800 guitars they were at the time, remember this was early 00's. I wound up trading them off, would of lost my shirt if I sold them. Really soured me on the brand. I've played more since and despite a couple artist models they've never spoken to me.

Another would be Strandberg, more specifically a Washberg. I was pumped to get one. I had turned down a Made To Measure spot as I didn't want to wait an additional year or two. I even drove down to Chicago to check them out. Broke my heart. They weren't awful, but they weren't great either. Tons of little flaws. Of the three available I grabbed what seemed like the best. Tried to love it for a week, threw it in a closet and put it up on CL a few days later.


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## CapinCripes (Jan 7, 2018)

When I first started playing I really wanted a bc rich pro x mockingbird as it had just come out at the time. So I saved up for it and finally got it and..... I basically spent more time trying to get it playable than playing it. I suspect that the truss rod didn't work as all the adjusting on earth couldn't get that neck straight. One of the posts for the Floyd also made a terrible grinding noise every time you turned it. I had to sell it for less than a third of what i paid for it because I kept it far longer than i should have. That's my biggest disappointment. I also had a esp standard m-2 maple that felt great in the hand especially the shape of the neck and had no real issues visible to the eye.... until you tried to play it and realized it resonated like a piece of wet cardboard. Total dead plank feeling.


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## r33per (Jan 7, 2018)

EBMM JP7 w/piezo.

When they launched the JP range and saw the 7 string with piezo, I really wanted one. In 2013 I saw a second-hand one for £1600 and bought it up.

Now, it was a good guitar, no doubt. Well made, sounded pretty good - especially through a Mesa Triaxis & 2:90 . However, it just felt like a fight for me. At first I thought it was the extra string (it was my first 7). But then I just hated the term, the pickup selector position, tuning & intonation were never stable (despite setups) and a few other things. I was genuinely disappointed when I finally admitted to myself that it was not the guitar for me.

I was glad to get it sold last year and it pretty much paid for the new Ibby RG752AHM that I bought. For whatever reason, I'm totally at home with that one.


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## NeglectedField (Jan 7, 2018)

ESP M-II. This was a black bolt-on reverse headstock with EMG's & Floyd. I couldn't gel with it. I hope it was just a bad setup or non-optimal string gauge or something.

Les Pauls I've not played in years since owning an Epiphone LP Std. Would try them and I forget how tricky they are if you've been used to superstrats for aeons.


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## cip 123 (Jan 7, 2018)

EBMM JP16-7. It was like playing a fretboard with nothing on the back, hated the size of the neck.


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## Church2224 (Jan 7, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Just about every Caparison I've owned or played.
> .



This x1,000

I had a Horus and it was one of the biggest disappointments I ever played. Neck Profile was not that comfortable, in fact it played like it was just a 2x4 but the rounded off the edges. I have seen better fretwork on guitars as well, plus it did not come in the condition I was promised. 

Sad as I loved a lot of the old Caparison designs. With the pricing they are in the US there are much better options for a guitar here.


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## Sogradde (Jan 7, 2018)

Mayones Regius. Boy, I've been in love with the design for ages but I only managed to get my hands on one last year. While it's perfect in every technical aspect, I just cannot get along with that neck profile. Broke my heart.
However, I also managed to play a Duvell and those feel great to me. I guess one day I'll spend some cash on an Elite 6, who knows.


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## possumkiller (Jan 7, 2018)

BRJ Jekyll 627.
Shamray custom PRS copy. 
Gibson faded flying v. 
2007 RG7321.
RG2228.
Jackson RR...something.
RGAIX7FM. 
RGT42DXBP (I had the red FM version that kicked ass).
Douglas Grendel.
Epiphone SG400.


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## PBGas (Jan 7, 2018)

I had a couple of Ibanez J Custom guitars that were just dead. My other ones were fine. Just luck of the draw with materials. It happens with anything and everything.

I remember buying some kind of Les Paul double cutaway sight unseen years ago and did not like it at all.
I had a few EBMM guitars over the years.....a Luke 3 that was beautiful but just felt like a small guitar. I had a JP12-7 that was a beauty but I hated the sharp unrolled fretboard and the ultra flat radius. It was painful to play.


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## Decapitated (Jan 7, 2018)

This. I just couldn’t get along with it. I will chalk it up to user error. Maybe somewhere down the line I will try one again.


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## Metropolis (Jan 7, 2018)

Quite often it's Ibanez, don't know if it's because they are a popular brand or are there any other reason.


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## A-Branger (Jan 7, 2018)

LTD eclipse

always loved the LP shapes, and loved LTD did ti in a thinner body. I bough an EC256 with a flame mapple veneer in a lemon drop color. Bough a EMG Het set with crome covers so the guitar would still look classic but it had a mean sound.

after honeymoon face I couldnt stand it. Like ti was fine, but eveytime I picked my Ibanez iceman stm1 I kept feeling like "home". Prob was the fact that the iceman was my only guitar for 6 years or so. But I picked up the iceman mroe and more until I was barely playing the eclipse

I always hated the cream binding.... note here: if you feel like you hate something and you think "it should be alright down the track", nope is it not, you would end up hating that aspect more and more.

I never been muhc of a fan of red stain wood like Gibson does. Reason why I picked this guitar is because it looked more orange-ish and I thouhg "it was cool", nope it is not, still red, I still hate it

I guess I dont like the shorter scale, since my iceman is 25.5". Not a massive deal breaker, buuuut it kinda was.

I felt weird with the lack of frets. Even when I dont play them, but for that one song that had that one note I couldnt reach for a melody felt like "aarrrggg"

The guitar felt the most un-balanced on my lap I have ever play. My Iceman sits beautifully on my both legs, and nope I dont mind the square body, kinda like it. but the Eclipse I could never balance it off my right leg, I have to play it on classical most of the time.

felt weird visually/restricted with the LP "top horn" single cut thing and neck access

I dont gell with TOMS anymore

didnt like the toggle switch possition


later I was reunitied with my first guitar, an LTD f50, wich I eventually put the EMGs on it. Felt pretty hommie and I could stand the TOM on it


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## BenjaminW (Jan 7, 2018)

Leviathus said:


> Lol, i don't think anyone is, they're few and far between to say the least...


I'll play a guitar with 21 frets, but I would rather have a 22nd fret on my guitars.


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## MatthewK (Jan 7, 2018)

Just the general idea of more expensive = better. A used American Strat can hold its own against anything I've played and you can buy them in mint condition for less than a middle of the road import.


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## chipchappy (Jan 7, 2018)

Any V ever. I've seen guitarists who love them and make them look so effortless to play but they just sit weird with me. I've tried to do it but I can't. Superstratz ftw


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## Dayn (Jan 7, 2018)

Ibanez JEM77-FP2. I've always wanted a JEM, and I thought the 77-FP2 looked better than the standard 7V.

So imagine my surprise when I actually see one in stock! I _had _to play it. So I did. The store strings weren't the best, but whatever. Except...

It doesn't have an AANJ heel. It has a square heel. Those blocky square heels you find on any Strat or Strat-clone. It really ruined the upper neck access for me. I was gutted.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 7, 2018)

laxu said:


> Strandberg Boden OS. Well, it wasn't what I truly wanted (which was the Skervesen Shoggie I eventually got) but I gave the Strandberg a try because it was cheaper and available right away. If we ignore that I got a total lemon that should not have ended up in my hands, their design has several issues:
> 
> Bolt-on heel goes high up the neck, enough to get in my way.
> Adjusting action is a major pain. Detune string, remove string, unlock post, raise/lower post, reverse previous steps. Repeat 6+ times.
> ...


^this x2. Everything laxu said other than scale length. I owned an OS8 and OS8LE and sold both due to issues that started to really bother me.
I had terrible figuring on my OS8LE, the 808x pickups blew in my OS8, tuners were very stiff compared to hipshot/T4M tuners (even after lubrication), the tuners aren't as accurate as the hipshot ones, the powder coating isn't as durable as the T4M/Hipshot tuners, and the endurneck isn't comfy for me.


Fender baritone Jazzmaster: the stupid jazzmaster trem alone gave me so many headaches, and that's before I started messing around with replacing the pickups/making the frets not feel like razorblades.


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## sezna (Jan 7, 2018)

laxu said:


> Strandberg Boden OS. Well, it wasn't what I truly wanted (which was the Skervesen Shoggie I eventually got) but I gave the Strandberg a try because it was cheaper and available right away. If we ignore that I got a total lemon that should not have ended up in my hands, their design has several issues:
> 
> Bolt-on heel goes high up the neck, enough to get in my way.
> Adjusting action is a major pain. Detune string, remove string, unlock post, raise/lower post, reverse previous steps. Repeat 6+ times.
> ...


Same. I lusted after a Boden for years. thought I loved it but it was just a honeymoon. Eventually sold it for a Vader which plays so much better and is better quality. i’m sure the Shoggie is even better.


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## AdenM (Jan 8, 2018)

The Ibanez RG Premium - all of them, at least pre-2014, haven't played one since. I had owned an MiK RG previously and so as a broke teenager I was super excited that Ibanez was putting a "professional" instrument out at a decent price point again.

Pickups were anemic, mine always had buzz issues, and despite the high end appointments, the guitars just felt cheap - I owned one with an Edge Zero, figured that was my problem, but the hardtail model felt the same way. Sold em off and haven't gone back to Ibanez since.


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## marcwormjim (Jan 8, 2018)

As has been stated elsewhere: Strandberg OS. The turd I was sent shouldn't have ended up in anyone’s hands, and the discounted, “upgrade” replacement I received needed its own share of work to get anywhere near playing as well as the absurdly high price would suggest. I also feel bad for anyone who bought an OS with Lace Alumitones.

In the end, my one Strandberg is finally worthy of being alongside my main guitars, but the experience recently informed my buying a Charvel over a cheaper Strandberg.

Also add to the list the Laguna Greg Howe: Indonesian parts with an “Assembled in the USA” stamp, heavy as hell (Supposedly the weight QC tolerance was quite wide), and the most uncomfortable neck profile I’ve ever encountered. I bought one for $390 during the brand’s sunset clearance, tried to like it for two weeks (including gigging out with it twice), and returned it. I can’t believe Guitar Center had been asking $1000 for it.

We’ll see if my Charvel Govan ends up in this thread.


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## Sephiroth952 (Jan 8, 2018)

Basically every Schecter I've liked aesthetically. No matter how much I like the look of them, every time I pick one up they just don't inspire me in any way.


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## oracles (Jan 8, 2018)

Washburn WM526. I so, so, so badly wanted to love it. I managed to get one on a great deal, and my heart sank as soon as I sat down with it. I absolutely hated it. The only things I liked where the phenolic board and the OFR.

Every Mayones Regius I've ever picked up. The ass end is considerably too wide, and the body edges had it slip sliding all over the place, I was having to fight with it and readjust so it often that it made playing it an absolute chore.


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## SamSam (Jan 8, 2018)

My first seven string was a Schecter Hellraiser 7, old neck variant. Couldn't stand that neck at all. It wasn't just the thickness, but the profile as well, it was far too cumbersome and I really wanted to love that guitar. Subsequently bought a less exciting looking RG7620 which played just as I expected. I certainly wasn't disappointed.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jan 8, 2018)

My most disappointing were my Skevesen and Sabre Guitar customs that arrived unplayable. 

I've owned a bunch of Schecters and Ibanez guitars that played well but just didn't sound good despite pickup changes.


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## prlgmnr (Jan 8, 2018)

Jackson SLSMG, trawled Ebay for one for about a year and then when it came it just didn't do anything for me.

Looked great in white with the jet black ebony board though.


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## Furtive Glance (Jan 8, 2018)

Horizon NT-II. Just couldn't get along with the neck which was a shame. That blue one posted last page looks just like the one I tried (on numerous occasions). Quality was on point, though.


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## jephjacques (Jan 8, 2018)

Any pre-2015 Mayones Regius. Something about their old neck profile was just perfectly uncomfortable for my hand. I've got two newer ones now and they're way better now? Guitars are weird

Skervesens- I've owned a few at this point but ended up selling/trading them all. None of mine had build issues, I just never gelled with them for whatever reason. Guitars are weird

EBMM JP13. Great guitar but for whatever reason it just sat unused for months after I got it. Sold it, bought a JP15, use that one all the time. Guitars are weird


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## Vyn (Jan 8, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Just about every Caparison I've owned or played.
> 
> Around 2004 I was kinda bored with Ibanez. I thought about moving a few UVs and had my mind set on a Dellinger 7. I bought two of them. Huge mistake! The fit and finish was okay at best, the fretwork was solid, but no better than an off the shelf RG1550. They didn't sound very good either. I spent a wad of cash on new pickups and put a lot of time in on the bench getting them to play like the almost $2800 guitars they were at the time, remember this was early 00's. I wound up trading them off, would of lost my shirt if I sold them. Really soured me on the brand. I've played more since and despite a couple artist models they've never spoken to me.
> 
> Another would be Strandberg, more specifically a Washberg. I was pumped to get one. I had turned down a Made To Measure spot as I didn't want to wait an additional year or two. I even drove down to Chicago to check them out. Broke my heart. They weren't awful, but they weren't great either. Tons of little flaws. Of the three available I grabbed what seemed like the best. Tried to love it for a week, threw it in a closet and put it up on CL a few days later.



This makes me sad because I've always wanted to try one!


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## Pablo (Jan 8, 2018)

My EBMM JP...
Objectively, the MusicMan is the best guitar I’ve ever owned. It looked cool and sounded great...However, I though I was getting a Floyd-less Ibanez JPM and the MusicMan was an altogether rather different beast.
Critically, I expected the neck to be a carbon copy the JPM P3 i traded in, which it simply wasn’t - the MusicMan is much wider and flatter. Moreover the frets on the EBMM were much smaller than my preference. Hence, post honeymoon the EBMM went out the door at a massive loss.

My trader’s remorse is still massive and thus I’ve been looking for a clean Ibby P3 on-and-off for the past 15+ years... However, being a picky bastard, I have pretty much given up on my quest long ago.

On a related note, I really want to try one of the newer EBMM JPs with the larger stainless steel frets... I have a horrible suspicion they might just be perfect for me now, as I am _much_ more comfortable playing a variety of neck shapes than I was in the past.


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## angl2k (Jan 8, 2018)

PRS SE 7 string (the old version)

Just couldn't get used to the tiny frets compared to my other guitars with extra jumbo frets. It also doesn't stay in place when sitting in classical position.


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## cwhitey2 (Jan 8, 2018)

Both my disappointments were Ibanez...I think they were just dead guitars.

First was a prestige sa2120fm (I have a NGD floating around somewhere on here). There was something genuinely wrong with the trem unit/area. It did not resonate correctly at all and sounded weird/dull. Had some of the best fret work I have seen on an Ibanez and the fit and finish was great.

The 2nd was a Ibanez RGA Series RGAT62. That thing was wet cardboard all day. I only played it when I was demoing an Archon. I freaking a hated how it felt...just mushy I guess. Would not purchase one, but it could have just been that guitar.


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## ohmanthisiscool (Jan 8, 2018)

LTD MF-207. It was the Musicians friend exclusive, the one with the skull and bones inlays. had EMGHZ pickups and I got it expecting it to be the best guitar ever and it was just kinda jankety. I think my lack of guitar knowledge at the time was the real downfall. If I had intonated it and set it up it may not have felt so cheap, but then again it is kind of a cheap guitar. Id love to have one again and see if I can get it into fighting shape hahah.


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## Womb raider (Jan 8, 2018)

Put me in the EBMM JP camp as well. First a JPXI and later on a JP16. Both were awesome guitars, however, the necks are friggin toothpicks and hurt my wrist to play more than 15 minutes. 
Only other guitar that disappointed was a Skerv. Build was flawless and sounded great, but it was just a "meh" experience playing it for some reason.


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## BentAnat (Jan 8, 2018)

Fortunately, I have never bought one of these, since I am finicky and somewhat believe in "guitar juju" - as in - I tend to (very much psychologically) not like guitars that belong to people I don't like, but here goes.

Jackson Randy Rhoads - some model that we once traced to be built while Randy was still alive. In Baby blue.
It wouldn't intonate to save its life. The neck didn't feel right either.

Gibson Les Paul Custom - After SO much hype and want in my youth, I played a handful of Les paul Customs, and could simply not gel with any of them to a point where I couldn't justify them even at bargain bin prices.

Various Fender Strats - I started playing on a Strat knockoff, and always wnated a strat, until I played a USA model as a kid. It didn't sit well at all. I have since then played a handful of MIM and MIJ models, and I just hate the bridge on them. Telecasters on the other hand... much love there.

The worst for me: An Ibanez S Prestige (you know - the one with the burl top). I own and LOVE my RG Prestige, but the S never worked. I played two different ones (same model - out of sheer disbelief that the guitar may not be for me), and no matter what I did to it, I couldn't get it to work for me at all. 
The Bridge was not "nice", the neck felt weird, and the S shape has always been iffy to me to start with.. .This experience broke my heart.


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## cwhitey2 (Jan 8, 2018)

BentAnat said:


> Jackson Randy Rhoads - some model that we once traced to be built while Randy was still alive. In Baby blue.
> It wouldn't intonate to save its life. The neck didn't feel right either.



I have been playing my drummers $200 Roads and it's actually amazing all around for the prince he paid. Needs a little fret work but for $200 it's stellar...

I think a lot of it comes down to personal preference anymore. We have expectations that just aren't met.


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## bostjan (Jan 8, 2018)

My Danelectro, hands down. Seemed really cool on the showroom floor, and played great after I bought it. Trying to set it up after changing tuning, though, revealed how nothing was adjustable - no truss rod, nothing about the bridge, etc...

If you go outside of standard guitars there was one "guitar" that was a huge mistake for me to buy sight unseen: I went through a phase where I really wanted a steel guitar, but I couldn't afford a Shobud, and, back then, there weren't really any cheaper options, so I found a builder who was sort-of-local who could build an instrument for about 1/6th of the cost of a Shobud. Well, it showed in the design. Actually, the workmanship alone was never an issue, but the design of the mechanism ended up being a fatal problem. Instead of a finger mechanism with bar stock rods, the builder used blocks attached to multiple strings with 1/8" aluminum rods, and nothing was adjustable, so to tune your pedal and lever throws, you had to either shorten the rods and retap the threaded ends, or magically make them longer. Obviously, this design simply did not work, and I could never get the instrument in tune. Being that I was around 15 years old, and the builder was about six hours drive away, I simply accepted that I made a mistake in trusting an unknown builder who accepted unbelievably low prices, so I saved up and then bought a real pedal steel guitar from an actual local guy whom I visited to make sure he knew what he was doing (originally I hired him to fix the old instrument, but he said it'd be easier and cheaper to make a new one than to completely gut the old one). I did keep both, since I could still use the old one perfectly fine as long as I only used the A and B pedals.

I've only bought a few other instruments without first playing them, out of the ~100 guitars and basses I've owned in my life:
Fender Am. Std. Telecaster - Actually really well-built.
Agile Sceptor 727 - Heavier than I thought it'd be, but otherwise, no complaints. Solid guitar.
Brice Defiant 53437 - Top veneer is kind of thin, sanded through in a couple spots, but it plays good and sounds great.
BC Rich USA Mockingbird 7 - Phenomenal guitar. The preamp feature ended up being useless, in my opinion, but it's simple to just keep it switched off, so not really anything to complain about.
Oni CF8 - Hands down the guitar of my dreams. Not a single thing I'd change about it.
Oni SO7 - Absolutely a kick-ass, take-no-prisoners guitar. Love it almost as much as my CF8.
Dean Edge 6F - Perfect fretless bass. It was my main bass for a very nearly a decade.
Dingwall NG-2 - Perfect instrument all around. Not a single flaw in it.

So, knock wood, I've been super lucky.


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## prlgmnr (Jan 8, 2018)

@bostjan What are the scale lengths on your CF8?


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## bostjan (Jan 8, 2018)

prlgmnr said:


> @bostjan What are the scale lengths on your CF8?


600 - 660 mm (~23 5/8" - ~26"). It's tuned (low to high) B1 E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4 A4 (like a seven string with a high A).


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## Bdtunn (Jan 8, 2018)

I have to jump on the JP6 train. Mine came with so many issues from the factory it was ridiculous! I sent it back for repair under which I received major attitude from my rep. Turned out to be two dead saddles, piezo was inactive and they replaced it, one tuning peg and the bridge pickup was wired wrong. How this made it past "Qc" I'll never understand. I was so mad at the experience that the guitar always had a black cloud over it. Few months later I bought a jem and sold the jp as I prefer ibanez to well everything


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## TheGuitarPit (Jan 8, 2018)

I wanted a EBMM JPX-7 so bad. Stacked a coupon and a price match and got a brand new one shortly after launch for around $1800. Couldn't believe my luck. Opened the box and was blown away. Insanely cool paint job, fit and finish was perfect. Absolutely beautiful guitar. Played around for a couple hours and realized I didn't love 7 strings, didn't love the way the JPX7 sounded (seemed kinda muddy?) and hated the neck profile on it. It ended up sitting unplayed in the box for years, because I thought it was so cool...but I never played it. Eventually sold it for what I bought it for. What a shame.


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## mastapimp (Jan 8, 2018)

Although i grew up loving the shape and look of a Gibson SG standard, I could never gel with one when I'd pick them up and play them. 

Another personal disappointment for me was trying out my uncle's Jeff Beck signature strat about 20 years ago. I still have nightmares about the neck on that guitar. 

As far as acoustics go, I still haven't found a Martin that's a great player when I compare them to the few Taylors in my stable. Some of the Martin's i've tried have sounded great, but I just didn't enjoy playing them as much as some other, cheaper acoustics.


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## cip 123 (Jan 8, 2018)

Oh I'll add in mayones John browne and master built guitars. 

Let me state I'd still love a John browne model. But when I was picking up my schecter custom shop I played them just to be sure I wanted it. The schecter was used and cost about £1250. The John browne was 2K more and the masterbuilt at least 3K more.

Were they nice? Absolutely, easy to see the craftsmanship and quality.

Were they worth it 2K more? Hell no.

I'm aware mine was used etc etc, so prices are skewed, but the mayones simply weren't worth it at the time.


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## electriceye (Jan 8, 2018)

When I was a kid, I always saw those Carvin ads and got their catalogs. The one that I fell in love with was a koa DC-200. Back around 2008 or so, I found one on the bay and sangged it for, like, $600. In person, it was a beauty. But...the neck was wayyyyyy too thick to be playable for me. I tried, for months. I just couldn't play it. Only upside is that I flipped it for a $300 profit.


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## xwmucradiox (Jan 8, 2018)

I ordered a Blackmachine B2 in 2006 that ended up being a major disappointment because Doug ignored my body wood spec (mahogany) and built what he wanted to build (ash) and then acted like it wasn't a big deal when he sent me pictures of the finished guitar two years later. The guitar that showed up had probably also been played by a bunch of people before it shipped to me because it was filthy. Tons of white filler around the binding, which would have been unnecessary if the body wood had just been correct. It was just an astronomical bummer for something that cost $4000+ and took forever to build. Im sure the guy that owns it now is delighted that its worth $15000 or whatever now though LOL.


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## cip 123 (Jan 8, 2018)

xwmucradiox said:


> I ordered a Blackmachine B2 in 2006 that ended up being a major disappointment because Doug ignored my body wood spec (mahogany) and built what he wanted to build (ash) and then acted like it wasn't a big deal when he sent me pictures of the finished guitar two years later. The guitar that showed up had probably also been played by a bunch of people before it shipped to me because it was filthy. Tons of white filler around the binding, which would have been unnecessary if the body wood had just been correct. It was just an astronomical bummer for something that cost $4000+ and took forever to build. Im sure the guy that owns it now is delighted that its worth $15000 or whatever now though LOL.



This made my insides feel all warm hearing an actual bad experience with blackmachine rather than "They're crafted by a wizard and only sold to the chosen few, unless you'd like to remortgage your house"


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## xwmucradiox (Jan 8, 2018)

cip 123 said:


> This made my insides feel all warm hearing an actual bad experience with blackmachine rather than "They're crafted by a wizard and only sold to the chosen few, unless you'd like to remortgage your house"



Almost none of the people who fawn over them have ever laid hands on one so its easy to think they're immaculate perfect instruments because they're super expensive and this or that guy played one in a youtube video. The B6 made by Feline are probably much nicer than the B2 I had. Its possible that the famous folks' guitars are better made than mine was since theirs are later or were just more important clients. The whole experience just sucked considering I probably had one of the first if not the first Blackmachine in the western hemisphere.


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## pott (Jan 8, 2018)

Strandberg Boden, Washburn-made. I had the one actually on the website for the Custom Shop 6-strings option (red flame top with EMGs).
Sounded absolutely awesome. Neck was great. But:
* I could never get it to play like I wanted. Always just more buzz than I'd like. I am extremely picky about setups, and this did not meet my bar. Guitars costing 3 x less than this easily met my bar
* I once took the neck off and saw that one of the neck mounting holes had been filled/re-drilled. Not great to see on a $3k+ ($4k+ now) guitar, though did not impact the guitar (it was well-built overall). Nut was also poor, so overall attention to detail was not what I'd expect out of a guitar in that price range

MusicMan JP6. I am a HUGE MusicMan fan. That JP sounded super good and played incredibly-well. But it had 0 sustain. Weird. All other JPs I've played or owned were fine in that respect. Just that one.


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## Toxin (Jan 8, 2018)

angl2k said:


> PRS SE 7 string (the old version)
> 
> Just couldn't get used to the tiny frets compared to my other guitars with extra jumbo frets. It also doesn't stay in place when sitting in classical position.


Neck dive or is it just slip off your lap?


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 8, 2018)

Hey, JP folks, what year were your duds? 

I remember around 2009 to like almost 2012 almost every other JP I had my hands on had some kind of issue. Small things, but still noticeable. Then after that they started getting REALLY good.


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## USMarine75 (Jan 8, 2018)

oracles said:


> Washburn WM526. I so, so, so badly wanted to love it. I managed to get one on a great deal, and my heart sank as soon as I sat down with it. I absolutely hated it. The only things I liked where the phenolic board and the OFR.



Same experience here... 

I have a custom shop version of the WI-556 (same as yours, but singlecut)... I haven't formed the bond with it that I thought I would, after lusting for one for about five plus years. I had passed up on one when it was $1799 from MF, and a month later when I was ready to buy the price bumped up to $2499 and I just couldn't pull the trigger at that point. Always regretted it and I have been looking for a green WM526 ever since. Then this came up and I jumped and I thought I'd sell the rest of my collection! Big nope. It's sitting in a case in storage and I'm hoping that at some point I'll give it another unbiased chance and fall in love.


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## Buffnuggler (Jan 8, 2018)

I've been pretty luck on most of my "online" guitar purchases. Haven't ever received one that I just hated it. The very first "nice" guitar I ever bought was a Fender Jaguar, wanted one for years, and it did basically turn out to be a total POS though. Trem was all jacked up, crazy hum, electronics had issues, input jack loose.

I've owned a lot of guitars since and I still have it but for the life of me no guitar (and especially no new guitar) has ever given me problems like my jag did.


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## stevexc (Jan 8, 2018)

This was my Schecter Hellraiser C7, to be honest. I just couldn't get comfortable playing it for any amount of time. Sold it pretty quick for more-or-less what I paid for it.


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## McBrain (Jan 8, 2018)

Definitely the Caparison Horus I bought back in 2008.

I lusted for a Caparison for several years before having the money for one. It was my first “high-end” guitar, so my expectations were huge. Luckily the EU distributer/dealer was in Denmark and really close to where I lived, so I waited for three months and picked it up the day it arrived fresh from Japan. The guy was in a hurry, so I didn’t get to check it out properly before I got home. And I don’t think I have ever been this disappointed before.

It sounded really really dull both amplified and acoustic and lacked bigtime in the sustain department. The neck PU was ok, so I kept that, but in the time I had it, I went through 5-6 bridge pickups, before I settled on a Dimarzio D Activator, that kinda worked. I also tried installing a brass block and an ESP Arming Adjuster end finally ended up blocking the trem to see if that would help with the tone/sustain, but nothing ever really did.

The push/push pot also died after a few weeks and I had to replace the output jack after about a year.

Also I agree with Church2224 about the neck shape. It really did feel like a 2x4 with rounded off corners and I never got used to it. It was also crazy sensitive to temperature changes, so I constantly had to adjust the truss rod.

The next problem was the frets. It had the flat school bus shaped frets often seen on Gibson’s and the strings buzzed like crazy all over the neck. I do my own setups and rarely have trouble setting my guitars up with low’ish buzz-free action, but after a few frustrating days I just gave up.

Oh, and half of the fret ends looked like this:







… and the 27th fret looked like this!






I sent the pics to the distributer who wrote back saying that all the Caparison Horus models he had in stock looked like this. And that the main thing was that the fret wasn't loose. Then he gave me a bullshit talk about all the Fenders and Gibsons costing 5k-8k he had seen with much worse “flaws”.

But he did sent my pics to Itaru Kanno and included his answers in the mail.

This is what Itaru had to say about the fret ends:

_"*Fret ends
We install it in Fingerboard after "Tang" on the both ends of Fret are cut off.
Then, we fill up the part which the groove of Fret of Fingerboard was left in.
We think about the conditions of this photo with the thing that the material which filled up a groove went down a little.
I think about the cause of these conditions with the influence of dryness.
There is no problem if Fret is fixed on Fingerboard.
I think that Fret is fixed on Fingerboard in this photo.

Because the influence of dryness was taken, this guitar has the possibility that Neck bend a little.

*27Fret
First, we make 27 Fret Neck in the square condition in the same way as 24Fret Neck.
Next, cut off the part of 27 fret obliquely.
Then, finish it without modifying the cut end.
And, we modify only the shape of "crown" of Fret.
Therefore, it seems that the groove of Fret and Tang of Fret is like this.
It is a problem if this Fret isn't fixed on Fingerboard.
But, we don't make it a problem if this Fret is fixed on Fingerboard."_

For some reason I kept it, but I ended up paying to have the frets levelled and the fret ends filled. And after 5 frustrating years, I sold it for about half of what I paid for it.


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## USMarine75 (Jan 8, 2018)

McBrain said:


> Definitely the Caparison Horus I bought back in 2008.
> 
> I lusted for a Caparison for several years before having the money for one. It was my first “high-end” guitar, so my expectations were huge. Luckily the EU distributer/dealer was in Denmark and really close to where I lived, so I waited for three months and picked it up the day it arrived fresh from Japan. The guy was in a hurry, so I didn’t get to check it out properly before I got home. And I don’t think I have ever been this disappointed before.
> 
> ...



This makes me sad. Wow.


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## Andromalia (Jan 8, 2018)

An amber 2005 Gibson explorer Pro. 

Disappointment wasn't from the quality, but the guitar didn't live up to the expecations. Smaller body made it weird to play, and it sounds more like a SG than anything else. I still haven't sold it because it's the most beautiful explorer ever made imho, and it plays well, it just sounds not like I expected.


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## A-Branger (Jan 8, 2018)

read it on a post here and remind me of it. Ibanez Jem

I alwyas love the look of them, and if I had the money at one point I would prob had bought the seafoam green, or the blue floral maple neck without even try them.

saw the blue at my local shop once I was like :O !!! aaaaaaand realize I hate middle pickups. Plus the whole pickguard thing with the pickups felt weird. Shame as it was a beautiful guitar


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## AkiraSpectrum (Jan 8, 2018)

LTD Viper Baritone 300 (2001, purchased used):

Had it for a few years and really enjoyed it but couldn't get used to the 27" scale length, it was just a little too uncomfortable for me, and the neck-dive didn't help either. 
Great guitar, but I just find scales beyond 25.5" to be much less comfortable for me to play.


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## soliloquy (Jan 8, 2018)

i've never owned one, but i really want to. and i prolly will never due to me just never gelling with them. they are PRS guitars. with the exception of 2 (a tremonti, and a single cut semi hollow with a bigger body? dont remember what it was), i just cant seem to get along with any of them for whatever reason. they just dont feel 'right' in my hands. and they dont vibrate 'right' in my hands. again, i'm broken as i'm the only one who doesn't seem to get along with em, despite trying really hard to


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## cip 123 (Jan 8, 2018)

Lorcan Ward said:


> Sabre Guitar customs that arrived unplayable.



I'd forgotten about mine. I bought a stockroom piece so was okay with some marks but was just happy to have a maple boarded 7 string Tele.


It showed up and immediately went about getting a refund. Black paint splatters on the body, I could feel the glue join down the middle of the body, tool marks, glue dropped on it, horribly filled chips, chipped headstock, missing strap button, the truss rod was loose and had moved the neck pickup out of place, the pickup also had a hole in the side. The cable only stayed in the guitar due to gravity of the design as the output jack was so crap I could pull the cable out with my pinky. Sharp fret ends too!

Sabre guitars are awful.


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## NotDonVito (Jan 8, 2018)

Pretty much anything with a floyd rose. And I wanted a floyd rose so badly when I first started playing, that was the ultimate feature for me.


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## BentAnat (Jan 9, 2018)

cwhitey2 said:


> I have been playing my drummers $200 Roads and it's actually amazing all around for the prince he paid. Needs a little fret work but for $200 it's stellar...
> 
> I think a lot of it comes down to personal preference anymore. We have expectations that just aren't met.



Absolutely down to expectations and preference.
My brother's Jackson JS32 Dinky is good fun to play (even if the individual parts are rubbish).
It's just THAT 80's, USA build Rhoads was terrible to me.
But I do realise it's 100% subjective.


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## marcwormjim (Jan 9, 2018)

xwmucradiox said:


> Almost none of the people who fawn over them have ever laid hands on one.



You just summarized the history of this site and the brands associated with it.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 9, 2018)

marcwormjim said:


> You just summarized the history of this site and the brands associated with it.



You mean guitars built in super small numbers for those with moderate disposable income aren't regularly available for teenagers in BFE? Shocked!


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## crackout (Jan 9, 2018)

Basically most of the 2016 Les Pauls I bought to find an unflawed one (good luck).

Here's the unholy f*ckmother of them all, a 2016 LP Classic Plaintop.

First look all good, right?




Wrong!

Neck PU off center.





Bridge PU frame bent.





Binding behind the last fret was flaky.





Switch tip was damaged like someone gnawed on it.





Damage on pickguard (going through the protective foil).





Black residue on the fretboard edges.





Bleeding into the binding (all over the body).





Glue residue on the frets.





I really loved the top on this specimen but ended up returning it. The store offered a 50€ discount because of the flaws. Ridiculous.


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## 1b4n3z (Jan 9, 2018)

That Gibson has the bridge positioned off-center, pickups are good  Of course the bridge is much harder to fix

E: Of course I notice those things, because I've had several guitars with that kind of problems. Most have been USA Jacksons (neck-through) and my disappointment comes from there. 7/12 have been unacceptable to me so far


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## xwmucradiox (Jan 9, 2018)

Nothing on that LP is explicitly off center. They just eyeball the bridge setup when they slot the saddles and whoever hammered in the notches on that one didn't have the strings lined up all that great so the spacing is a bit off. There is a good amount of extra real estate on the fretboard that could be utilized with a set of saddles slotted a little wider. Fortunately pole piece alignment on a PAF-style humbucker means very little in terms of pickup pattern and magnetic field. The chewed up neck binding is crappy but the color coat scraping not getting to the very bottom of the binding is common on lots of guitars because they scrape those lines by hand and its a lot worse to go past the binding than leave a 32nd of finish still at the bottom edge. The big cut corner on a lot of gibsons is that they don't properly fit the pickup rings any more so you get those ugly bowed out sides because they're bending an unmatched ring around a carved top.


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## r33per (Jan 9, 2018)

Bdtunn said:


> I have to jump on the JP6 train. Mine came with so many issues from the factory it was ridiculous! I sent it back for repair under which I received major attitude from my rep. Turned out to be two dead saddles, piezo was inactive and they replaced it, one tuning peg and the bridge pickup was wired wrong. How this made it past "Qc" I'll never understand. I was so mad at the experience that the guitar always had a black cloud over it. Few months later I bought a jem and sold the jp as I prefer ibanez to well everything


Agreed!


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## manu80 (Jan 9, 2018)

mayones regius gothic. Great finish but for the sound and the playing feeling....really "stiff" It was in EMG first, then i put some duncan in it even with that, I don't know it reaaly didn't do it for me....


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## Descent (Jan 9, 2018)

Ibanez SR-505 - I went thru 3 bass guitars that were all with serious flaws. Since I ordered from online catalog they kept replacing them for me. Have to give props to Musiciansfriend for sticking with me on this and finally getting things right with a Sterling bass. 
Ibanez pulled that bass off the factory line for about a year, so apparently they also discovered issues with the Indonesian manufacturer.


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## cip 123 (Jan 9, 2018)

Ibanez S470B in Red.

2nd guitar, first "real" guitar, I loved it till I slowly realised how bad this particular one was. First day the lock nut broke, time went on I discovered what bad frets were, they were dirty and corroded in places. Eventually sold it for a PRS SE I think.

I keep adding things as I remember them  Would love to get another red 470 sometime now I know how to take care of guitar problems.


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## teqnick (Jan 9, 2018)

Almost every Caparison i've owned has fallen short of what i'd hoped for. They are well crafted, beautiful instruments, but something is always a tad bit off. Whether it be neck profile or dull sound, sadly, there have been issues.


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## gunch (Jan 9, 2018)

So what exactly happened during the wash berg days, wasn’t the washy USA shop of decent repute up until then?


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## xwmucradiox (Jan 9, 2018)

silverabyss said:


> So what exactly happened during the wash berg days, wasn’t the washy USA shop of decent repute up until then?



It seems to me like they were contracted to do a bunch of things that they weren't used to doing not the least of which was creating instruments as a production line rather than artist one-offs or super limited runs of high end stuff like the $6000 Paul Stanley guitars. IIRC a lot of people had complaints about worming and dents in the bodies and if you apply an oil finish to ash there isn't much to stop that from happening from any tiny speck of dirt compared to a hard poly finish that will stand up to small shop debris.


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## SnowfaLL (Jan 9, 2018)

It's odd, cause the Carvin CT7 was my dream guitar since basaically 2009 (before it was introduced, I'm sure my consistent bugging had a factor in it possibly?) but when I finally ordered one, it was kinda a letdown. Not so much with the guitar not being good, just i dunno.. maybe not the right specs. Who knows. In 2013, my first "big" guitar order, instead of going with the CT7 as planned, I caved to the ST300 last minute to get a really good 6 string with a one piece quilt top for cheaper than a standard quilt top CT7. The ST300 ended up being my "forever" guitar so thats solid but still ended up with a Kiesel CT7 in 2016 and it was so-so. I think it was the final straw to me that I dislike floyds.

Oddly enough though, after getting my Aristides this past year, going back to re-play the CT7 is a very nice change of pace - I like it much more now than I did when I ordered it. Unfortunately, still think it'll be sold in the future cause I dont like keeping too many guitars around, but its one of those "dissapointed when ordered, but learned to love it" instruments.

About real disappointment guitars, I have had tons.. the one sticking in my mind is the Ibanez fanned fret bass.. I realy thought that thing would be amazing, but it ended up being super uncomfortable and not worth my time.


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## MatiasTolkki (Jan 9, 2018)

So I think I'll chime in on my disappointments (I'll narrow it to two):

E-II SV
Don't get me wrong. The SV I had was a solidly made guitar and played fine and had a wicked tone. My issue came from the insanely long neck that made it hard as hell to play with my wingspan, and the body was on the level of a king V, making just about any gigbag useless. Hard to play something when you can't take it anywhere for fear of it getting damaged. 

Kiesel V220
This also is a well made instrument and it has a sweet tone. It plays a lot better than the E-II SV as it has a shorter neck. My issue is that it had some REALLY lazy mistakes that should NOT have left the factory (not finishing the paint on the neck heel, primer showing in various places, input jack having some connection issues with a cable plugged in). I didn't mind it at first, but the mahogany stripes they used on the neck have some discoloration. They gave me perfect looking stripes when they were still Carvin on my JB200; why not here? My only theory is that they save the "perfect" woods for higher end (aka more expensive) builds and because my V220 was a cheaper build (pre-price increase on the V/X models so I only paid around 1400 bucks), they decided to go with a wood grain that had some discoloration. I have NEVER seen discoloration on any of the more expensive builds and i'm sure that some people have gotten some wood grain that didn't look as nice because they went with a simple build and didn't fork out 2500+ for a pimped out Vader or some other model that Jeff strokes his own ego over.


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## xDarkCrisisx (Jan 9, 2018)

I went to a Local Sam Ash for the first time in like 4 year not expecting much, I immediately saw that they had an Epiphone Snow Falcon and had been GASing over it for a while now. I tried to find the most suitable amp for it and when I plugged it in I was met with just utter disappointment, the neck profile was just not meshing with me, the burstbucker pups were not doing what I wanted, and the paint job was not exactly the snow white I had thought. Surprisingly the guitar was pretty well set up so it wasn't that, I came to the conclusion that the guitar just wasn't for me.

Thankfully there is a happy ending to this story. While expressing my disappointment to the guy at the register in casual conversation he pointed out that they did have a Brent Hinds V as well. I said I wasn't really into big necks knowing that his sig had a fat one. He insisted I try it out, and when I threw it on an Orange tube amp they had it was just bliss. I had never been into the Droney/Doom or Stoner sound, but this guitar just sounded like a behemoth. Sustain for days, I could get any tone I wanted out of it (Death, Slayer, Megadeth, Cult of Luna, Mastodon, Opeth) Hell I even started doing blues patterns on it just to see how far I could go. It did have a factory "blemish" that the guy said made that one hard to sell, but otherwise the guitar was perfect. I came back 3 days later to buy the sucker, apparently the price was reduced from $799 to $699 because of the "blemish". All it was is that the first fret inlay was discolored, sort of a brownish hue to it, but I didn't care and knew that this was a guitar I had to have.


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## StevenC (Jan 9, 2018)

xwmucradiox said:


> It seems to me like they were contracted to do a bunch of things that they weren't used to doing not the least of which was creating instruments as a production line rather than artist one-offs or super limited runs of high end stuff like the $6000 Paul Stanley guitars. IIRC a lot of people had complaints about worming and dents in the bodies and if you apply an oil finish to ash there isn't much to stop that from happening from any tiny speck of dirt compared to a hard poly finish that will stand up to small shop debris.


The wormholes, at least, was Strictly 7 not Washburn.


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## arasys (Jan 9, 2018)

ESP Alexi Blacky

I love my Jackson RR1 and wanted a backup guitar as a graduate school admission gift. I got it at an incredible price back in 2012. I am guessing whoever sold it only played it once or twice after realizing V guitars are not his/her thing. 

When guitar arrived it was almost perfect, not a single scratch but few tiny finish flaws here and there but for that price I couldn’t be happier.

Post 2008 Alexi signatures’ body shape in US market is still too bulkier than Jackson RR. It’s thicker, heavier and longer lower wing puts me in an awkward position with the neck. It’s been several years since I got it, but even today when I sit down to play the guitar I can’t stop thinking “holy shit, fretboard is awkward and feels too long” (as MatiasTolkki said above) whereas original RR shape feels a lot more natural in classical position even though both guitars have the same scale and jumbo frets.

Maybe that’s why ESP is pushing Arrow models instead of SV USA nowadays and Alexi’s own guitars have RR like lower wing compared to his signature guitars sold here.

The neck is comparably thicker too, which sadly causes me to deal wrist pain after playing for 20 minutes. Personally, I find fretboard markers little bit hard to notice with abalone neck binding while playing across the fretboard.

EMG HZ 2 + JE 1000 style MM04 booster is not too bad with Marshallesque amps, but mostly feels a bit lifeless and too trebly compared to pickups like D Activator.


Do I want to sell it? No, but it’ll be the only one I would take out of the house. Maybe one day I’ll have it repainted and modded by GMW.


----------



## r33per (Jan 9, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Hey, JP folks, what year were your duds?
> 
> I remember around 2009 to like almost 2012 almost every other JP I had my hands on had some kind of issue. Small things, but still noticeable. Then after that they started getting REALLY good.


My JP7 was 2007, according to Joel on the EBMM DoB thread.


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## MatiasTolkki (Jan 10, 2018)

arasys said:


> Post 2008 Alexi signatures’ body shape in US market is still too bulkier than Jackson RR. It’s thicker, heavier and longer lower wing puts me in an awkward position with the neck. It’s been several years since I got it, but even today when I sit down to play the guitar I can’t stop thinking “holy shit, fretboard is awkward and feels too long” (as MatiasTolkki said above) whereas original RR shape feels a lot more natural in classical position even though both guitars have the same scale and jumbo frets.



In my case, sitting down I didn't think it felt TOO long, it was more when I tried to stand and play, trying to play power chords around the 1st-4th frets were so far away from my body that my left arm got tired after only a short time playing (and I play a ton of power chords in those positions). When playing my Carvins or Ibanezes, I NEVER feel like that, so I had to get rid of it. Too bad, it was a really nice guitar but it was impossible to play and having a guitar like that would be a waste.


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## angl2k (Jan 10, 2018)

Toxin said:


> Neck dive or is it just slip off your lap?



Just slipping off my lap


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## raytsh (Jan 11, 2018)

Quite the disappointment for me: http://sevenstring.org/threads/sker...uild-experience-and-first-impressions.325185/ but, I'm looking forward to the replacement.


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## Riffer (Jan 11, 2018)

Agile Intrepid 8 I had years ago
My PRS Custom 24 Employee guitar

Both guitars I'm sure were fine but I just didn't gel with them like I'd hoped :-(


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## LuizPauloDT (Jan 12, 2018)

Wolfhorsky said:


> ‚96 Ibby JPM P2 was love/hate party. It sounded really great. Stayed in tune very well. But the thick neck was not for me at all. That over years became a deal breaker and i sold it. Sometimes i miss it tho.



Did you find the JPM P2 neck thick?
I have a P4 and have never seen any other neck thinner than that. 
Do JPM100s have different neck specs among different models?


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## Metropolis (Jan 12, 2018)

LuizPauloDT said:


> Did you find the JPM P2 neck thick?
> I have a P4 and have never seen any other neck thinner than that.
> Do JPM100s have different neck specs among different models?



There is, older ones were 20,5mm from the 1st fret, and some of them 19mm. It waries by year and model. I once tested out 1997 P2 model, and neck was super comfy, round but thin profile, and very nicely finished.


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## synrgy (Jan 12, 2018)

I (still) have a Raines 7 string semi-hollow LP style archtop that I bought from Ebay. I (stupidly) sold my Epiphone Sheraton to fund the purchase of the Raines.

The Raines is basically unplayable. It's been sitting in its case untouched for most of the 8-ish years I've owned it. I hate myself a little more every time I think about it.


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## Edika (Jan 12, 2018)

I was really looking for the affordable but great spec guitar back in the day. I was after a V too and looking for a metal machine. I was between a few models and ended up getting the BC Rich JrV NJ Deluxe. Now the guitar did sound great but the neck profile was round and thick. My neck would get cramped in no time. It also had a few cosmetic flaws but nothing too great but back then I was in the mind frame of what some people post in the "Are expectations too high on new gear?" thread. I paid such and such and it's supposed to be a S.Korean model so it should be perfect. Plus it needed some setup. I took it to a tech for a drop C setup and the guy in order to avoid fret buzz had set the guitar in a ridicilous height and it also sounded like ass as the EMG's were too far away from the strings. I didn't even want to play the guitar afterwards but I toughened up, read a few guides and set it up myself. It then sounded great but the neck profile I could not get used too. Plus I had to change countries and the case was enormous. So regrettably I ended up selling it as it sounded monstrous (after I set it up correctly) through my Triple Recto without any boost.

The actual worst guitar I ever received on my affordable workhorse quest was the Emperion Norax 7 string. Most of you older forum members know the story and the monumental fuck up that company was. Suffice it to say I got the guitar, inspected it, plugged it in (came with stock chinese crappy pickups and not the BK Warpigs I had ordered it with) played for a while and then packed it up and contacted them about sending it back. I was super excited when I first ordered and it looked good but excitement started to dwindle with the whole delays and photos and errors being passed as a bonus option. The guitar had a lot of issues and would require a lot of work if it was going to stay. Too bad as I didn't mind the larger body (one of the mistakes that they were trying to pass as bonus) as it looked cool and it balanced relatively well.

Jackson DK2M Red Ghost Flames. That was an awesome guitar in terms of playability and sound and I was looking for one for a while. Everything was going well until I started to hear a cracking noise whenever I used the tremolo. I didn't use it much so I didn't notice it that much but at on string change I took of the tremolo and saw a crack in the trem post. I pondered the cost of repair versus getting a USA Soloist which I had my eyes on nd decided to cut my loses. I did stabilize the crack with wood glue as it was of a hairline crack and I did warn about it in my ad and to it's current owner. I did take a loss on the item but it was manageable. 

Jackson SLAT3-7 Gun metal grey. I had played a used one at a store and really liked but the price they were asking was ridiculous (guitar was new about £1100 and they were selling it at £900 long after it was discontinued). The guitar played great but I didn't liked how it sounded at all. I changed strings, I had it professionally set up, I changed pickups twice (actives both times though) and I finally gave up and sold it as a Jackson SL2H USA came about for a great price. I'm not regretting my decision one bit with how great the USA sounds.

Jackson KVX10. My third MIJ Jackson but admittedly the one of the lowest tier ones. Played really nice but it was light as hell and felt like a toy. Duncan Design pickups left a lot to be desired and even though I was planning some mods I decided to sell it for something that would be a keeper. In general my Jackson MIJ experiences were a hit and miss as 3 out of 3 were sold. I heard so many things about these guitars and build quality for the price that I was expecting more. Or maybe "Are expectations too high on new gear?". Anyway I'm quite skeptical getting another MIJ Jackson.

Epiphone LP classic 7. I was GASing for a 7 string LP and I heard great things about these Korean made Epi's. Found one that the price was good and snagged. Out of the box it was the lightest and cheapest looking guitars I've ever owned. It sounded good however even with the stock Epi pickups but a trip to the local tech after seeing that the trussrod was maxed and there was insane buzz revealed that the neck above the area the trussrod could affect had a hump on the fretboard, porbably due to bad storage conditions. The guitar went back and I got a refund but I don't know if I had kept it if it was good. I mean it was a full thickness LP that had neck dive with a Gibson scale just to understand how light the body was. Any plastic part also looked like it was made from the cheapest goop they could master. 

Ibanez VBT700. This was my fourth attempt at a V and this thing looked dope. I think the sorry state i nwhich the guitar came in vs the fact that the ownwer said it was in great condition just put me off. No structural issues gladly on this guitar but all screws were replaced as they were rused over. D-Activators were nice but I got another guitar with them that I liked more so I changed them. The bridge pickup I replaced was supposed to be a balanced sounding pickup and it was just shrill city to my ears. Not bad but that pickup would be better sounding in C or lower. I changed to Blackouts which I loved but the whole experiences plus my GAS for a 7 string LP sent it for an exchange. While I have another Ibanez that I love the profile I didn't care for this one and it was starting to annoy me which was another factor to send it on.

Last, and I still have this guitar but I don't know for how long, is the LTD BS-7 you see in my profile pic. It is perfect in every way but for two things, the neck profile is a bit on the thick side, but I can work with that, and the sound is really upper mid to high frequency focused with minimal low mids and lows coming out from the guitar. Playing it unplugged it has "hairiness" to the sound that comes out in the amp. I changed the Ionizer as it sounded weak as shit in this guitar with a Blackhawk Alnico V and the sound has improved significantly. There's more lower frequencies but the hairiness is there. I've managed to fix the sound using an EQ by reducing frequencies above 2kHz but I'm a bit annoyed as all my other guitars sound great to begin with. I'll experiment more before making a decision. This is guitar is super well build with the least amount of cosmetic flaws in a production guitar. It's heavy and it feels just well made, with great intonation but when plucking it, even unplugged, I'm just not as happy. I have a feeling that most probably is the thick gauge strings that are crapping out the sound as the guitar is in Drop A and I might just put a 10-59 or even 9-54 in Drop A and see if I like the sound then my answer will be given for me. It will be really silly but not unheard off.


----------



## iamaom (Jan 12, 2018)

Pretty much every Fender I've tried, particularly the Fender Prodigy super-strat. Got a bass from the same line and I really liked it and it was made the same year I was born, and wanted a matching guitar. Spent 2 whole years waiting for the right color and year to pop up on reverb or ebay, and it finally did. I only paid $300 for it but godamn, it was pretty heavy for a strat and that neck pocket killed me. I just can't do those blocky heels coming from an RG, it's the only reason I haven't got a custom Warmoth


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## Zoobiedood (Jan 12, 2018)

For me, it was a Steinberger ZT3. An amazing, breakthrough vibrato system (TransTrem 3) attached to the brightest, heaviest, clubbiest guitar imaginable. I swear, the entire manufacturing cost was the TransTrem, because the guitar itself was worth maybe $150 of its $1600 price. I eventually traded it for a great Ernie Ball, but miss what can be done with the TransTrem (bend all strings in tune- they bend at different rates). I don't miss the guitar itself, though.


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## Zeppelinskies (Jan 12, 2018)

For me it was a Blackmachine. Id heard all of the hype about the design etc. And bought one of the new Feline B6 models; one of the first with the 'Blackbird'pickups. I think a big part of it was being over expectant from the crazy hype, but it just sounded average, and not a patch on some of my other guitars. I tried a few pickup swaps but it never got much better, so I traded it away. Never missed it


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## MegaTones (Jan 12, 2018)

As a kid I lusted over ESP and LTD Kirk Hammet models. I ended up finally getting my hands on a KH model LTD shaped like an LP in maybe 2005 or 2006 and it just wasn't what I expected. There was nothing "wrong" with it really, I had just convinced myself that I was going to be able to pick it up and it would solve all my playing issues, which is 100% did not lol.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jan 12, 2018)

cip 123 said:


> I'd forgotten about mine. I bought a stockroom piece so was okay with some marks but was just happy to have a maple boarded 7 string Tele.
> 
> It showed up and immediately went about getting a refund. Black paint splatters on the body, I could feel the glue join down the middle of the body, tool marks, glue dropped on it, horribly filled chips, chipped headstock, missing strap button, the truss rod was loose and had moved the neck pickup out of place, the pickup also had a hole in the side. The cable only stayed in the guitar due to gravity of the design as the output jack was so crap I could pull the cable out with my pinky. Sharp fret ends too!
> 
> Sabre guitars are awful.



Sorry to hear that, there are many customers with the same stories. I've forgotten about mine too since I doubt Christian will ever ship it back to me.


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## TheBurningLegion (Jan 12, 2018)

Ibanez rgaix7fm really hoped for something decent at a grand and the specs but was disappointed by the shitty fretwork and a metal particle in the neck pocket and a filled crack on the body side, some dings on the maple neck, pickup not up to par but holds tuning well and the neck is stable and fast


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## Casper777 (Jan 12, 2018)

Skervesen Raptor.... super sexy, wonderful but turned out like the worst sounding axe I have ever had, whatever the pickups I tried....


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## cip 123 (Jan 12, 2018)

Lorcan Ward said:


> Sorry to hear that, there are many customers with the same stories. I've forgotten about mine too since I doubt Christian will ever ship it back to me.



He refused to give me a refund, and offered to repair it. Not wanting to send a guitar back to a guy who can't even make sure his stock leaves with basic things like strap buttons, I insisted on a refund, contacted my bank. They refunded me on their behalf and said they would collect from him. Never heard from him again.

There is a facebook group for people with problems but I think the consensus is not much will happen. You could contact your bank if you've lost money, Santander (my bank) were very helpful.


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## Jujex (Jan 12, 2018)

My BFR7 JP. Looked great but could not gel with it for the price. Pickups were not good, trem would not stay in tune as it should and just wasn't good enough for the price. Sold it.


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## cip 123 (Jan 13, 2018)

Edika said:


> Last, and I still have this guitar but I don't know for how long, is the LTD BS-7 you see in my profile pic. It is perfect in every way but for two things, the neck profile is a bit on the thick side, but I can work with that, and the sound is really upper mid to high frequency focused with minimal low mids and lows coming out from the guitar. Playing it unplugged it has "hairiness" to the sound that comes out in the amp. I changed the Ionizer as it sounded weak as shit in this guitar with a Blackhawk Alnico V and the sound has improved significantly. There's more lower frequencies but the hairiness is there. I've managed to fix the sound using an EQ by reducing frequencies above 2kHz but I'm a bit annoyed as all my other guitars sound great to begin with. I'll experiment more before making a decision. This is guitar is super well build with the least amount of cosmetic flaws in a production guitar. It's heavy and it feels just well made, with great intonation but when plucking it, even unplugged, I'm just not as happy. I have a feeling that most probably is the thick gauge strings that are crapping out the sound as the guitar is in Drop A and I might just put a 10-59 or even 9-54 in Drop A and see if I like the sound then my answer will be given for me. It will be really silly but not unheard off.



You give me a shout if that Guitar ever goes back on the market 

Also I switched over from all my Ionizer's to Fluence. Just wanted to mention since I put the Ionizer in that BS-7, and all my others. But I imagine the Fluence would be a b*tch to get in that one.

Also yea that guitar is Heavy as hell


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## Edika (Jan 13, 2018)

cip 123 said:


> You give me a shout if that Guitar ever goes back on the market
> 
> Also I switched over from all my Ionizer's to Fluence. Just wanted to mention since I put the Ionizer in that BS-7, and all my others. But I imagine the Fluence would be a b*tch to get in that one.
> 
> Also yea that guitar is Heavy as hell



I will and it's a great guitar that's why I haven't put it up for sale. The routes on this thing are tight and it has the V shaped tabs. While the cavity is big it has only one knob so that would render most Fluence pots redundant and take away from the options those pickups give you. One thing I'll try next string change is just use a thin gauge regardless if the tension will be low. I remember when I first got it, it sounded better with the thinner strings. The BC Rich Stealth I got has EMG's but sounds clear and focused but has a 9-54 set. I'll be setting it up soon with thicker strings so if the sound craps out, then it's just that I don't like thick strings.


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## Mad-Max (Jan 13, 2018)

For me it was my Jackson Pro Series King V that I bought back in early 2014. 

Bought it honestly based on the looks, and really liked just about every Jackson that I played, so I had faith in the playability. I got it, and within the first hour I was thinking, "I'm not really a fan" 

The frets were uneven, the binding on the side of the neck showed cracks where the frets were, and it didn't sound all that great unless I had the action high enough to drive a bus under it. 

I'm sure with a proper set up, it could've met its potential, but I just didn't jive with it at all. I tried to love it, even installed pickups that I liked better than the EMG's it came stock with, but no cigar. 

Ever since it's put somewhat of a bad taste in my mouth with Jackson's Indonesian models, and more specifically the pro series. The new X series they have just feels cheap to me, compared to my X series King V I bought in 2009 that wipes the floor with anything they put out now. Then again, it was made in Japan.

Man do I wish Jackson still made their imports in Japan... *sigh*

I still have a love for Jackson that I don't think will ever go away necessarily, but since their QC isn't really as great as it used to be, I tread carefully and if I want another Jackson, it's more than likely gonna be a USA model. Bottom Line.


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## Mad-Max (Jan 13, 2018)

Edika said:


> Jackson KVX10. My third MIJ Jackson but admittedly the one of the lowest tier ones. Played really nice but it was light as hell and felt like a toy. Duncan Design pickups left a lot to be desired and even though I was planning some mods I decided to sell it for something that would be a keeper. In general my Jackson MIJ experiences were a hit and miss as 3 out of 3 were sold. I heard so many things about these guitars and build quality for the price that I was expecting more. Or maybe "Are expectations too high on new gear?". Anyway I'm quite skeptical getting another MIJ Jackson.



Hmm. Interesting. I literally have the exact same guitar and it's one of the best guitars that I have ever played, and I have guitars twice its price from different brands. 

In fact, I was talking about possibly trying to scour the webs for another one here recently.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 13, 2018)

Have you tried any of the Mexican made Pro bolt-on models? They're actually really solid.


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## Edika (Jan 13, 2018)

Mad-Max said:


> Hmm. Interesting. I literally have the exact same guitar and it's one of the best guitars that I have ever played, and I have guitars twice its price from different brands.
> 
> In fact, I was talking about possibly trying to scour the webs for another one here recently.



The guitar played great don't get me wrong and it looked great as it had a really dark rosewood board. I thought quite hard whether to keep it or not and I had bought pickups and pots to upgrade it. But it was too light and the pickups were usable but the comparison with other guitars I had in terms of sound was unfair. It had kind of a hollow sound to it if that makes sense. I thought in the end that if I went through the whole process of upgrading electronics and still was kind of unsure I wouldn't get my money back for the additional parts so I sold it in hopes of finding something I'd like more.

On the other hand I did play one of the KVMG Pro guitars in a store, the one with the Amber burst and it sounded and played great. The neck wasn't as smooth as I expected for an unfinished neck but there didn't seem to be any functional issues. I tried in that same store the SL2H Pro with the black transparent quilted maple top and wasn't impressed. The neck was better feeling but it didn't sound as great which kind of showed me the inconsistencies of those Indonesian models. Hopefully they're better now in terms of QC.


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## cip 123 (Jan 13, 2018)

Edika said:


> One thing I'll try next string change is just use a thin gauge regardless if the tension will be low. I remember when I first got it, it sounded better with the thinner strings. The BC Rich Stealth I got has EMG's but sounds clear and focused but has a 9-54 set. I'll be setting it up soon with thicker strings so if the sound craps out, then it's just that I don't like thick strings.



I always try to get away with the thinnest possible that I can stand as going too big always makes the bass uncontrollable. Ernie Ball regular slinky 7 is perfect for me, 10-56.


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## Mad-Max (Jan 13, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Have you tried any of the Mexican made Pro bolt-on models? They're actually really solid.


I have, and those I actually do like. Just wish the other shapes they make were in the same ballpark in terms of quality, but they just aren't. Which is bizarre, because you'd think they would want to make ALL their guitars like the Dinky's, but nope.


----------



## Mad-Max (Jan 13, 2018)

Edika said:


> The guitar played great don't get me wrong and it looked great as it had a really dark rosewood board. I thought quite hard whether to keep it or not and I had bought pickups and pots to upgrade it. But it was too light and the pickups were usable but the comparison with other guitars I had in terms of sound was unfair. It had kind of a hollow sound to it if that makes sense. I thought in the end that if I went through the whole process of upgrading electronics and still was kind of unsure I wouldn't get my money back for the additional parts so I sold it in hopes of finding something I'd like more.
> 
> On the other hand I did play one of the KVMG Pro guitars in a store, the one with the Amber burst and it sounded and played great. The neck wasn't as smooth as I expected for an unfinished neck but there didn't seem to be any functional issues. I tried in that same store the SL2H Pro with the black transparent quilted maple top and wasn't impressed. The neck was better feeling but it didn't sound as great which kind of showed me the inconsistencies of those Indonesian models. Hopefully they're better now in terms of QC.


I did upgrade the pickups in mine, for the same reasons you had, but I ended up getting good results doing that. 

Yeah, I even had that Amber Sunburst King V like I mentioned in a post above, but the QC was quite literally awful. I had a guy once tell me the guitar looked like it was 15 years old when I had only owned the guitar for 2 years.


----------



## Wolfhorsky (Jan 13, 2018)

LuizPauloDT said:


> Did you find the JPM P2 neck thick?
> I have a P4 and have never seen any other neck thinner than that.
> Do JPM100s have different neck specs among different models?


Mine was as wide as wizards (43), but extra beefy with more of a D shape. Approx 21 mm at nut and 23 at 12th fret. It wasn’t for me.


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## MegaTones (Jan 13, 2018)

Wolfhorsky said:


> Mine was as wide as wizards (43), but extra beefy with more of a D shape. Approx 21 mm at nut and 23 at 12th fret. It wasn’t for me.



JPMs had 42mm nuts


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## Wolfhorsky (Jan 13, 2018)

MegaTones said:


> JPMs had 42mm nuts


Not mine. I measured it. It was awkward to play for me.


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## Spicypickles (Jan 14, 2018)

I think I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact I don't care for ash bodies. 

Not to start a tone debate, but 3 of the guitars I have (standard scale 7, 26.5 scale 7, and 28.5 scale 8) sound good acoustically, and play really well, but amplified tone is meh. Way too much midrange and high end, and what a feel I can "get away with" playing; it just sounds noisy. I replaced electronics in two of them, but it didn't change that aspect. I'm guessing I'm just a fan of a warmer body wood, with maple necks for the spanky quality. 

My others don't have near the noise factor and I really think it's the wood.


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## Metal Mortician (Jan 14, 2018)

+1 for the Amott Ninja

After years of lusting for one throughout undergrad and after, I found an LTD for sale during my last month of Grad School. I instantly had to have it and even put down part of my student loan disbursement to pay for it. 

Three days later, my father died. After getting back from the funeral and finding the box in my apartment, I tuned up the guitar only to realize I hated it. 

The neck shape and neck heel felt wrong. The body felt light and cheap. Most shockingly, it sounded like mud due to improper solder joints throughout the electronics. 

I really wanted to like it. Everything else I had built by WMI was great. Even threw down $100 for a pro setup. In the end, likely due to the time I got it, I never bonded with it and always had bad vibes when I played it. I ultimately sold it for a loss.


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## Metropolis (Jan 14, 2018)

Wolfhorsky said:


> Not mine. I measured it. It was awkward to play for me.



This list claims that they all were 42mm at nut. Strange that older necks also had small 240mm radius, feel must have been more close to some kind of strat neck than a RG. 19mm JPM neck with 430mm radius was great.

http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/JPM_(neck_type)#JPM


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## MegaTones (Jan 14, 2018)

Metropolis said:


> This list claims that they all were 42mm at nut. Strange that older necks also had small 240mm radius, feel must have been more close to some kind of strat neck than a RG. 19mm JPM neck with 430mm radius was great.
> 
> http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/JPM_(neck_type)#JPM



They weren’t, that radius listing is a separate row in the table for JS necks.


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## eightsixboy (Jan 14, 2018)

My Limited run 752. Was so damn hyped to get it but was really disappointed.

Wonky ass binding, paint bleed across all the binding, really sharp and unfinished fret edges, no fret markers (kept loosing where I was), overly heavy but no tonal benefit, Veneer and not a top.

My AGB version was almost 1/3 of the price and plays way better. I reckon they rushed the hell out of the limited runs or something.


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## A-Branger (Jan 14, 2018)

man thats a beauty of a guitar, and one of the reaaly few RGs I would be happy to jump into. Shame they werent up to standard. And veneer tops?, was this a prestige?



eightsixboy said:


> no fret markers (kept loosing where I was)


it happens at the start. My old and main bass for 10 years had no markers, only the side dots and the 12th fret. Kept trowing me off too at the start, but it didnt took too long to get used to, and later I have 0 issues with it. If not its a feature I like to get on my next guitar/bass if I go custom


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## Crash Dandicoot (Jan 14, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> My Limited run 752. Was so damn hyped to get it but was really disappointed.
> 
> Wonky ass binding, paint bleed across all the binding, really sharp and unfinished fret edges, no fret markers (kept loosing where I was), overly heavy but no tonal benefit, Veneer and not a top.



Weird, I grabbed one of the limited 752s from Killerburst and it's practically flawless - my experience with Fugijen is pretty consistent, too. I do agree on the veneer point, though.

On topic, though, my Gibson USA Buckethead signature Les Paul. Super cool guitar with all its off-the-wall specs, but man, Gibson's build quality is an actual joke sometimes. Glue coming out of frets, sharp fret ends, got awful tuning stability no matter how well set up, etc. Doesn't help that it's an absolute behemoth of an instrument, baritone and 33% larger than a regular Les Paul, and the upper register? Forget it with that heel. 20th fret was an uncomfortable struggle and I pride myself on being able to make large stretches. Finish was cracking in places, binding wasn't consistent, etc. Loved that guitar more as an idea and what it represented than an actual instrument with solid playability. Mid to high end Suhrs, ESPs, Ibanez, etc. that I've owned / used blew it out of the water with precisely zero effort.

On the flipside, my old '80 E/2 Explorer (that I should have never sold) was phenomenal. One of the best necks I've ever had - wish Gibson could get their shit together again.


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## Metropolis (Jan 14, 2018)

MegaTones said:


> They weren’t, that radius listing is a separate row in the table for JS necks.



Oh, my bad. So they had just one neck profile.


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## LuizPauloDT (Jan 15, 2018)

Wolfhorsky said:


> Mine was as wide as wizards (43), but extra beefy with more of a D shape. Approx 21 mm at nut and 23 at 12th fret. It wasn’t for me.





Wolfhorsky said:


> Not mine. I measured it. It was awkward to play for me.



Quite interesting.
The neck of mine is so thin, that it makes the neck of any Music Man JP I have and played feels much thicker. (except the JP13, which feels the same thickness to me, but still slightly wider)


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## Wolfhorsky (Jan 15, 2018)

LuizPauloDT said:


> Quite interesting.
> The neck of mine is so thin, that it makes the neck of any Music Man JP I have and played feels much thicker. (except the JP13, which feels the same thickness to me, but still slightly wider)


I dunno. It was very uncomfortable for me. It was quite a struggle: loved the looks, loved the sound, BUT the neck was hiddeous.


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## drgordonfreeman (Jan 16, 2018)

Any ESP MIJ guitar. They’re beautiful and probably the highest quality available. The necks are too narrow for me, though. As hard as I tried, I just didn’t like the narrow necks, which, while I can’t remember the exact dimensions that are standard for ESP (maybe 42mm width), they were noticeably narrower than the 1 11/16” necks that are American standard widths.


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## Chiba666 (Jan 16, 2018)

Edika said:


> I was really looking for the affordable but great spec guitar back in the day. I was after a V too and looking for a metal machine. I was between a few models and ended up getting the BC Rich JrV NJ Deluxe. Now the guitar did sound great but the neck profile was round and thick. My neck would get cramped in no time. It also had a few cosmetic flaws but nothing too great but back then I was in the mind frame of what some people post in the "Are expectations too high on new gear?" thread. I paid such and such and it's supposed to be a S.Korean model so it should be perfect. Plus it needed some setup. I took it to a tech for a drop C setup and the guy in order to avoid fret buzz had set the guitar in a ridicilous height and it also sounded like ass as the EMG's were too far away from the strings. I didn't even want to play the guitar afterwards but I toughened up, read a few guides and set it up myself. It then sounded great but the neck profile I could not get used too. Plus I had to change countries and the case was enormous. So regrettably I ended up selling it as it sounded monstrous (after I set it up correctly) through my Triple Recto without any boost.
> 
> The actual worst guitar I ever received on my affordable workhorse quest was the Emperion Norax 7 string. Most of you older forum members know the story and the monumental fuck up that company was. Suffice it to say I got the guitar, inspected it, plugged it in (came with stock chinese crappy pickups and not the BK Warpigs I had ordered it with) played for a while and then packed it up and contacted them about sending it back. I was super excited when I first ordered and it looked good but excitement started to dwindle with the whole delays and photos and errors being passed as a bonus option. The guitar had a lot of issues and would require a lot of work if it was going to stay. Too bad as I didn't mind the larger body (one of the mistakes that they were trying to pass as bonus) as it looked cool and it balanced relatively well.
> 
> ...




As the latest owner of the Ibanez VBT700, you did a good job on that guitar. Great guitar, playability is the best out all my guitars, balances well and sounds great. The ebonized fretboard finished the look off. Just need to find another one now, or a tealth as those thignsare like gold dust


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## Edika (Jan 16, 2018)

Chiba666 said:


> As the latest owner of the Ibanez VBT700, you did a good job on that guitar. Great guitar, playability is the best out all my guitars, balances well and sounds great. The ebonized fretboard finished the look off. Just need to find another one now, or a tealth as those thignsare like gold dust



Yeah the VBT700 played great and looked awesome. The only extreme shape guitar that balanced well from the ones I've owned. Even though it was a great guitar at that point of time I just wanted something else and I'm very happy with our trade as the LTD is the first 7 string I've played that sounded how I was hoping a 7 string would sound. The VBT's are quite rare that's true and the Stealths too. I recently got the 7 string Stealth and while in terms of balance it's not great (very light body) it sounds and plays great!


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## Zalbu (Jan 17, 2018)

VGS Soulmaster 7, or more specifically the Evertune bridge. It's possible that I got a lemon or that I didn't set it up properly but no matter how much I tried to set it up the strings always went into the mode where it doesn't register bends after playing for like 10-15 minutes and it was more hassle to change tunings and restring than my Ibanez with an Edge Zero trem.

I have to admit that I bought in too much from the hype from Youtubers and things like that since I don't exactly need perfect tuning stability since I only play at home and don't record stuff often, and play in tons of different tunings, but the guitar itself was way too heavy, didn't sound particularly good, had a dead spot on the fretboard and I had to resolder the pickup selector after barely a year or two after buying it. Even my old Schecter Omen 6 felt and sounded better, and was better built.


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## theo (Jan 17, 2018)

The Ibanez XTP700 Xiphos, I saw all the promo online before they were released and basically lost my mind over how metal they were (being 18 and highly excitable at the time... you know).

But the guitar on laybuy when a local shop got one in, took AGES to pay it off as I had no clue about managing money back then. Finally got it, loved it to bits. But I was so in denial about how awful the neck dive was.

As the first guitar I ever bought 'new' it'll always have a special place in my heart, but it was terrible to play standing up with.


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## Randy (Jan 17, 2018)

Don't think there are any guitars I've owned that were a complete disappointment. Most of them I've had, I had pretty realistic expectations going in and the did at least one thing "right". Closest I guess would be a Jackson Dinky Rev. Professional, which was a hot guitar and well spec'd but I setup and resetup several times and the action was always meh and the trem always felt stiff and didn't stay in tune. I also swapped pickups in it twice and nothing ever sounded great.

This is getting away from the topic but I was SUPER psyched when the Iron Label line came out. In particular, I was interested in the black HSH saber and matching 7 string model, and I played two of each and they were all terrible. I also played a couple others (I remember the ghostburst S with the reverse headstock and a stained blue burl RG), and literally every one I played felt cheap like a toy, especially the bodies felt... Idk how to describe it, almost hollow but had zero resonance. And I don't mean that to dogpile on the line, Ive heard people that love theirs, I just mightve played a lot of duds; but I the theme of this thread, I went there with money in hand pretty much each time and left disappointed.


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## Curt (Jan 17, 2018)

Recently, the Ibanez RG1027pbf. I was in love with it when I saw it in the store, but I picked it up and played it, and I realized a couple things immediately, not only was the fret leveling clearly in need of touching up majorly, the fret ends on the treble side from the 14th to 24th fret were all sticking out pretty noticeably, the guitar was the least acoustically resonant guitar I've played that wasn't under under $400, add to the the fact that Ibanez can't seem to bring themselves away from the PAF 7 dimarzios, I just couldn't justify putting $1300 into something that was going to need that much work to be up to snuff for me. If I can ever find one on sale for like $800 or so, and manages to have a better resonance than that, I'd gladly pick it up, swap out the pickups and have a fretjob done.

Also, to add to that every guitar I've lusted after that I always think "Man, if it didn't have a T.O.M bridge" Saw an ESP Stef Carpenter tele in a guitar center, like the full on ESP version, I plugged it into a fender mustang, which isn't really a great amp, but that's besides the point. Sounded like I expected a guitar with EMGs to sound through a cheap digital modeling amp. Everything about it was perfect, about it from the neck shape, to the weight, the balance, I even like the quirk of it having a middle pickup and no neck pickup because I'm fucking weird and I like that quite brighter sound for cleans. All perfect, except the bridge. If I could have one with a hipshot bridge, I'd take the LTD model today. Except for not in that god awful green sparkle they're pimping it in now.


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## hairychris (Jan 17, 2018)

Les Paul Custom silverburst (original run) was a bucket list guitar. I've owned one for a few years and it's a disappointment because I find all Les Pauls really difficult to play because of the bridge.

I'm probably going to sell/swap it on with someone I know but I've held on to it for so long because I don't want to part with it!


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## auxioluck (Jan 17, 2018)

I'm not sure I would say these were a disappointment, but more like, "More 'meh' than I was expecting them to be"...

-Played my buddy's Blackmachine B6, wasn't overly impressed with much outside of how huge it sounded for having such a slim profile. Really didn't like the neck size either.
-Tried one of Bulb's Indo sigs a few months back, and really wasn't impressed. I'm sure the US models are swank though.
-Pretty much every USA Strat I've ever played. I personally prefer the Mexi-Strats.
-Bought Vai's signature acoustic years ago, and while it was pretty cool, I just couldn't get into it. Shame too, because I loved the aesthetics.


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## TheUnknownOne (Jan 18, 2018)

auxioluck said:


> I'm not sure I would say these were a disappointment, but more like, "More 'meh' than I was expecting them to be"...
> 
> -Played my buddy's Blackmachine B6, wasn't overly impressed with much outside of how huge it sounded for having such a slim profile. Really didn't like the neck size either.
> -*Tried one of Bulb's Indo sigs a few months back, and really wasn't impressed.* I'm sure the US models are swank though.
> ...



You tried a Jackson HT7 Pro or was it something else ?


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## Edika (Jan 18, 2018)

One guitar I was considering was the Ibanez Iron label RGA's and specifically the RGAIX7U. On spec it seemed great. I went to Manchester for a couple of days and went to a nice guitar store that had it as well as the RG7PCMLT (another guitar I was interested in). 

The RG7PCMLT looked great even though the top left a lot to be desired in terms of figuring. I wanted to try it out but shyness got the better of me as I was not planning to buy it. I don't like asking to try if I'm not planning to buy something as I don't want to waste the employees time and I also don't want to change my mind drastically and go ahead and buy something.

The RGA however looked awful, it looked so cheap and poorly made that it absolutely killed any desire I might have had for this guitar.


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## auxioluck (Jan 18, 2018)

TheUnknownOne said:


> You tried a Jackson HT7 Pro or was it something else ?



It was an HT6 Pro.


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## that short guy (Jan 18, 2018)

For me I think the biggest disappointment was an EBMM JP6. It was by no mean a bad guitar as far as quality goes, but everything else was just wrong for me. The way it felt, sounded, and I rarely like guitars with finished necks. Just not my cup of tea.

So I returned it and continued on the search for something I would like. Lol


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## auxioluck (Jan 18, 2018)

that short guy said:


> For me I think the biggest disappointment was an EBMM JP6. It was by no mean a bad guitar as far as quality goes, but everything else was just wrong for me. The way it felt, sounded, and I rarely like guitars with finished necks. Just not my cup of tea.
> 
> So I returned it and continued on the search for something I would like. Lol



I really loved my custom JP7 when I had it, but after about a year or so I ended up selling it, and it's one of the few guitars that I don't really miss. Hell, I miss my Xiphos 7 more than my JP7.


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## nyxzz (Jan 18, 2018)

that short guy said:


> For me I think the biggest disappointment was an EBMM JP6. It was by no mean a bad guitar as far as quality goes, but everything else was just wrong for me. The way it felt, sounded, and I rarely like guitars with finished necks. Just not my cup of tea.
> 
> So I returned it and continued on the search for something I would like. Lol



I traded away a brand new mystic dream jp6 with piezo and i kick myself every day for being so stupid


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## primitiverebelworld (Jan 19, 2018)

Spicypickles said:


> I think I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact I don't care for ash bodies.
> 
> Not to start a tone debate, but 3 of the guitars I have (standard scale 7, 26.5 scale 7, and 28.5 scale 8) sound good acoustically, and play really well, but amplified tone is meh. Way too much midrange and high end, and what a feel I can "get away with" playing; it just sounds noisy. I replaced electronics in two of them, but it didn't change that aspect. I'm guessing I'm just a fan of a warmer body wood, with maple necks for the spanky quality.
> 
> My others don't have near the noise factor and I really think it's the wood.



+1 i have chapman ml-1 ash and Im experiencing similar problems from the start. Weird frequencies that mesh with fundamental notes. Things got better after going EMG. Lowering pickups improved it but still as you wrote. This guitar belongs to this topic. I expected tone wonders after reading and listening demos and stuff. Ebony fb with swamp ash body seems go-to combo for custom guitars these days so idk...but i love the neck and after a lot of mods its growing on me.


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## ImBCRichBitch (Jan 19, 2018)

Basically any ibanez 6 string for one. The neck shapes are horrendous to me and for the price, i want better pickups (1000+ usd). USA fenders. Mexicans are always better to me. And literally every Les Paul ive ever played. Just not great. From qc, to scale. But for some reason i can play explorers no problem


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## possumkiller (Jan 19, 2018)

primitiverebelworld said:


> +1 i have chapman ml-1 ash and Im experiencing similar problems from the start. Weird frequencies that mesh with fundamental notes. Things got better after going EMG. Lowering pickups improved it but still as you wrote. This guitar belongs to this topic. I expected tone wonders after reading and listening demos and stuff. Ebony fb with swamp ash body seems go-to combo for custom guitars these days so idk...but i love the neck and after a lot of mods its growing on me.



I had an original run Agile Intrepid with the pre-Darren headstock. Ash with bolt on maple neck and ebony fretboard. I also could not get a tone I really liked out of it. I ordered a bloodburst from the first run of Darren headstock models. It had the same specs apart from adding a neck pickup and a rosewood fretboard. The rosewood cured it. That was a really great sounding guitar.


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## Spicypickles (Jan 19, 2018)

primitiverebelworld said:


> +1 i have chapman ml-1 ash and Im experiencing similar problems from the start. Weird frequencies that mesh with fundamental notes. Things got better after going EMG. Lowering pickups improved it but still as you wrote. This guitar belongs to this topic. I expected tone wonders after reading and listening demos and stuff. Ebony fb with swamp ash body seems go-to combo for custom guitars these days so idk...but i love the neck and after a lot of mods its growing on me.


It's funny you mentioned chapman, as that's the 26.5 scale 7 I mentioned in my post, and it's the exact same construction. Ash body, maple neck, ebony fretboard. 

I've swapped pups in the other two guits, but this one is still stock. That'll be the last chance for me keeping it. I love the way it plays and feels, and really like the way it looks but it's a musical instrument, so it should sound good first and foremost.


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## laxu (Jan 19, 2018)

Spicypickles said:


> I think I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact I don't care for ash bodies.
> 
> Not to start a tone debate, but 3 of the guitars I have (standard scale 7, 26.5 scale 7, and 28.5 scale 8) sound good acoustically, and play really well, but amplified tone is meh. Way too much midrange and high end, and what a feel I can "get away with" playing; it just sounds noisy. I replaced electronics in two of them, but it didn't change that aspect. I'm guessing I'm just a fan of a warmer body wood, with maple necks for the spanky quality.
> 
> My others don't have near the noise factor and I really think it's the wood.



I have owned 3 ash bodied guitars, one with northern ash and two with swamp ash and the common issue with all of them have been that the mids are hollow so they've sounded thin compared to my other guitars. Have sold or returned them and will no longer buy ash bodied guitars. Ash looks cool but I don't think it sounds anywhere as good as alder or mahogany in an electric. I do have an bass with an ash top and mahogany body and that sounds great so I guess ash would be better left to just a top for looks.


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## MetalHead40 (Jan 20, 2018)

Kiesel Aries. Great looking guitar aesthetically when it finally arrived, but man the bridge saddles were jacked two ways to Sunday and made for the worst action of any guitar I've ever played. Tried working with them to have it corrected, but they just adjusted saddles and sent it back basically the same. I'm not an engineer, but sure seemed all they needed to do was replace the hipshot with the thicker baseplate version and it would have remedied the situation, but they were too proud to admit a mistake in design and lost a customer for life.


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## Asomodai (Jan 20, 2018)

LTD Viper 1000. 

I have been lusting after one for yonks. Reba from Code Orange uses one which got me interested. Found one on local ads, haggled the price down, went to try it out...

Everything was fantastic about it, sounds great. Neck was my kinda chunk. However the Scale length was far too short and my plectrum kept hitting the neck pickup in a big way, not enough body for me and my crap picking style. Had to let the guy down. 

Just very annoyed that something I had been looking forward too had been so bad with my playing style.


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## Masoo2 (Jan 20, 2018)

MIJ Jackson DK2M

It wasn't a bad guitar, quite from it in fact, people just seemed to really overhype them online which gave me sort of unrealistic expectations for it.

Just a quality workhorse superstrat, that's about all. Nothing amazing, quality is decent, feel is fine, but nothing spectacular or extraordinary.

Kinda wish I didn't sell it but what I bought using the funds from it is leagues better in quality (Stingray 5HH).


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## Chiba666 (Jan 21, 2018)

MIJ Jackson Kelly, great guitar just something wasn't right about it. More me than the guitar I think but body seemed to small and the neck dive was to much. Sold it for a nice price


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## hairychris (Jan 23, 2018)

ImBCRichBitch said:


> Basically any ibanez 6 string for one. The neck shapes are horrendous to me and for the price, i want better pickups (1000+ usd). USA fenders. Mexicans are always better to me. And literally every Les Paul ive ever played. Just not great. From qc, to scale. But for some reason i can play explorers no problem



Yeah, I hate the neck carve of the classic RGs myself (thinner & narrower than Jackson). The RG 7 profile is much better for me as it's a bit fatter... actually, the profile on the 7621 that I had was practically perfect. 



Chiba666 said:


> MIJ Jackson Kelly, great guitar just something wasn't right about it. More me than the guitar I think but body seemed to small and the neck dive was to much. Sold it for a nice price



I owned a Custom Shop Kelly for a while. Lovely guitar, played like a dream if you were sitting down. I had all sorts of problems with it on a strap. Swapped it for an old PRS, both of us came out of that trade thinking that we came out on top! That PRS is getting a lot of use, what, best part of 10 years later!


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## USMarine75 (Jan 23, 2018)

A-Branger said:


> read it on a post here and remind me of it. Ibanez Jem
> 
> I alwyas love the look of them, and if I had the money at one point I would prob had bought the seafoam green, or the blue floral maple neck without even try them.
> 
> saw the blue at my local shop once I was like :O !!! aaaaaaand realize I hate middle pickups. Plus the whole pickguard thing with the pickups felt weird. Shame as it was a beautiful guitar



You can always bottom out the middle pickup or just remove it and replace with a custom HH pickguard.

Also I can't speak to the premium series and whether they compare favorably with an actual JEM? I have Bad Horsie I wouldn't ever part with.



xwmucradiox said:


> Almost none of the people who fawn over them have ever laid hands on one so its easy to think they're immaculate perfect instruments because they're super expensive and this or that guy played one in a youtube video. The B6 made by Feline are probably much nicer than the B2 I had. Its possible that the famous folks' guitars are better made than mine was since theirs are later or were just more important clients. The whole experience just sucked considering I probably had one of the first if not the first Blackmachine in the western hemisphere.



Exactly! I remember I posted on here and some of the other forums about being interested in one way back in the day and asking for opinions. The majority of opinions were negative... People crapped all over them saying they were just dead-wood slabs, with spartan options, and a Parker wannabe headstock lol. Now it seems like everyone has played or owned one and that they are just the best, at least based on all of the online commentary lol.


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## MASS DEFECT (Jan 23, 2018)

Gibson Les Paul Custom. It's such a beautiful guitar. But it's so hard to play. Ended up with an SG. It's just more ergonomic and has more high mids that cuts through the mix.


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## ImBCRichBitch (Jan 23, 2018)

hairychris said:


> Yeah, I hate the neck carve of the classic RGs myself (thinner & narrower than Jackson). The RG 7 profile is much better for me as it's a bit fatter... actually, the profile on the 7621 that I had was practically perfect.


Ive noticed the ore strings it has, the better the shape suits it. That being said, my warlock has a thinner neck than any rg ive ever played and other than it adding some fatigue, the shape (more like a c shape) is a whole lot better. I havent played a 7621 (assuming you mean the mij ones), but ive played basic 7321, 7421, rgds of which i have no memory what models other than the uc one, and rga7s and the necks were grea minus the scale. Plus the MIJ AX7 was absolutely the best ibby neck shape ive ever played. Felt more like a jem


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## MatiasTolkki (Jan 23, 2018)

Guess you guys never played a JPM or MIJ wizard 2 neck. Oh yeah, you guys never got the MIJ wizard II, so you can be quiet about ibanez not making thicker neck profiles.


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## Hollowway (Jan 24, 2018)

I had a Gary Kramer R729 in Violex purple. I have the black F-1 36 fret model from Gary's original NAMM meeting, and it's great. So, when I heard they had this new version coming out, I got all excited. I preordered it, and some of the specs didn't match the final version. Then, the scalloping on the frets was done by some ham fisted blind man late for a date. The frets were all undermined, and the binding in the area was all chewed up. And the 24th fret didn't have two side marker dots, so someone had drilled two holes there, instead. I called Leo (Scala) about it, and he said the drilled side dots were intentional, as a cool "style." He said that the routing was what you'd expect for a $1200 Korean made guitar, and that I was actually getting quite a bargain. He wouldn't let me return it. But whenever I looked at it, I got pissed off, so I sold it at a $400 loss without having really ever played it.


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## daveyisgreat (Jan 30, 2018)

I wanted a Hamer when I was a kid but then about five years ago I got one of the last USA made ones, and it was a total dud. Looked nice though.


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## stinkoman (Jan 30, 2018)

For me was my Warwick 5 string thumb bass bolt on .The neck thru version was my dream bass and hoped it get close enough . I had a first year Warwick corvette with special over wound emg pickups I had to sell it that I loved to purchase the bass. I ended up buying 2 of them made wenge necks made in the same year and both necks had a twist to them. Not a bow but twist if I'm using the right term. The tone was good, but not better than the corvette and the playability wasn't as good as the corvette either.


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## beerandbeards (Jan 30, 2018)

I thought I wanted a Universe. I got my hands on a UV777BK. I thought the neck was really nice but the body was so light I thought it seemed plastic-y. Also, I didn’t like the way it sounded. I don’t know if it was the blaze pickups or what. It lacked balls.

Let me caveat, I had 0 was experience with a seven so that might have weighed on me a little. I do want to check out a 7 again but maybe not a UV.


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## Frostbite (Jan 30, 2018)

Ibanez RG520QS. Found a great deal on one on a local gear swap. Liked it at first but the trem was iffy tuning wise , the neck is just waaaay too thin for me and the fret job was just not great higher up the neck. Just decided it wasn't worth it to put in the work mainly cause I hated the neck so I just put it back up on the gear swap. I wanted one of these older japanese ibanezes for so long and it just didn't live up to the hype


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Jan 30, 2018)

My biggest disappointment was an Ibanez RG852. I bought it on sale for like 800 bucks and was super excited. I thought it would be my forever guitar so I had a custom pickguard made and Dimarzio Ionizers installed. 

I thought I was set. Loved the neck, loved the sound, hated the piece of crap Gibraltar bridge, thought body was too wide, and the headstock had too much extra wood. Their 8 string headstocks have so much extra wood. 

Sold it a week later. Haven't bought an Ibanez since.


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Jan 30, 2018)

Oh also the Vader in my profile pic was disappointing because there was no discernable difference in quality between it and a cheap vader.


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## nyxzz (Jan 31, 2018)

MatiasTolkki said:


> Guess you guys never played a JPM or MIJ wizard 2 neck. Oh yeah, you guys never got the MIJ wizard II, so you can be quiet about ibanez not making thicker neck profiles.



My MIJ 2002 RG421 has a wizard ii and it rules


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## eaeolian (Jan 31, 2018)

Adam Of Angels said:


> Just some advice for everyone that visits this thread: even if a guitar disappointed you, you may find that you love another of the exact same model. I've had that happen so many times that I stopped judging brands and models altogether. You can get an amazing Agile, a terrible Suhr, and vice versa.



This is generally true, unless there's just something (like scale length) that you can't get along with.

I love the Rhoads shape more than any other, but I cannot play one standing up because the body "rolls" forward on me without the lower wing to stabilize it. Regular Vs are fine.


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## eaeolian (Jan 31, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Just about every Caparison I've owned or played.



The only Caparisons I've ever played that I liked were the ones the Evergrey guys had in the mid-2000s. All the others I've played were misses, even though they should be guitars I like.


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## eaeolian (Jan 31, 2018)

I can even throw in another. Noodles (the former mod here) had a original ESP Carpenter that was an absolutely beautiful guitar that played like a dream - and sounded like hammered shit both unplugged and plugged in. Totally dead.


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## lewis (Jan 31, 2018)

at the time was the Ibanez ARZ307 single cut 7 string. Always wanted a single cut and its neck heel was awesome.

It thoroughly underwhelmed and its short as shit scale length pretty much made it being a 7 string totally pointless. Traded it in with an amp and some pedals for store credit on ordering in a slime green Jackson 7 string with maple fretboard.

Was the last time I had or used an Ibanez. The ARZ disappointed me more than my old 6 string Ibanez GIO FFs...


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## USMarine75 (Jan 31, 2018)

Adam Of Angels said:


> Just some advice for everyone that visits this thread: even if a guitar disappointed you, you may find that you love another of the exact same model. I've had that happen so many times that I stopped judging brands and models altogether. You can get an amazing Agile, a terrible Suhr, and vice versa.



Exactly this.

I have a first-year Loomis that plays like a Masterworks. It rivals or outplays any of my high end guitars for several reasons. And I'm not a huge EMG fan, and don't like them in my other guitars including a custom shop Washburn, yet they sound amazing in the Loomis. I suspect not all of them are this good. But that cost me around $700 from MF? I also have a Gibson Robot V, and it took me 5 times to get one shipped to me that wasn't a dud for various reasons, but this one I kept outplays my other Gibson custom shops, and sounds perfect IMO.

So yeah... too many opinions around these parts based on a ridiculously small sample size, or listening to just one loud voice.

And the other really important factor is a great setup. One of the reasons Gibson gets so much hate (besides things like QC) is they ship without a factory setup and without the nut slot being "finalized". So the action is generally horrendous and in the last three I bought they were all 5+mm on the low E at 12th fret. They bind at the nut and require filing or replacement as well to stay in tune. Of course this all greatly affects the playability and I can see where people would come away with a negative experience.


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## Seabeast2000 (Apr 2, 2018)

I just had a flashback for some reason. 
Back in '99 I had a jones for a new MIM '72 Tele Thinline (natural ash top). I won an Eyab auction for one at a not-too-discounted price and it turns out so did 6 other bidders. Long weird story but the guy was a felon apparently, the girlfriend didn't want baby daddy going back to jail so we all got paid back in monthly installments for the next 18 months or so. Beats nothing, because interstate small-claims or whatever was not looking like a good option. 
AAAAANYWAY....I found the Thinline at a local shop, Bizarre Guitar in PHX. Was so psyched. Unfortunately I did not know that after spending my 20s with my old RG570, adapting to vintage skinny frets and round fretboards SUCKED. Sold it.


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## USMarine75 (Apr 2, 2018)

NAMM Mayones Setius. It felt and played like my Schecter Loomis, only not quite as good... for 3x cost. FWIW it did look 10/10 though.


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## Avedas (Apr 3, 2018)

The906 said:


> Unfortunately I did not know that after spending my 20s with my old RG570, adapting to vintage skinny frets and round fretboards SUCKED.


I had basically the same experience after playing my Jackson for 10 years. Went to go try out some strats and teles and such and hated everything I picked up. I actually still want a proper strat except with SS jumbo frets and a 20 inch radius.


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## noise in my mind (Apr 3, 2018)

Jackson USA SL-2H 

Twisted neck and uneven frets. Scared me off of Jackson forever.


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## NateFalcon (Apr 3, 2018)

Im not a Gibson guy...went through a Les Paul phase, I’ve had 6 of ‘em...custom, traditionals etc...I did find a beautiful ‘97 wine red studio that was the nicest sounding/playing of all of them and had surprisingly better build quality than my 2 traditionals. In the end I replaced the shitty tuners and bridge and swapped out the pickups but I couldn’t get over the archaic heel joint and clunky feel -I don’t mind the weight, I just grew out of the design...WAY overpriced, Gibson “tone” is BS, their “nitro” clear and wood quality claims are also BS..my mid-level Ibanez ARZ800 is a far nicer les paul style guitar in every way...I guess the Gibson voodoo didn’t work on me...


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## NateFalcon (Apr 3, 2018)

*dblpst


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## Wolfos (Apr 3, 2018)

Every single guitar at my local long and mcquades! I dont know how but they managed to make all of the guitars play like pure shit. Corrosion, terrible action, intonation, bowed/ twisted necks etc.

I sold them my old beautiful JP7 once when I was hard up for cash, a month or 2 later I didnt even recognize it covered in corrosion, all the frets were oxidized, bridge was cocked off at like a 30° angle...

I know this isn't exactly the purpose of the thread but I had to rant somewhere.


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## Avedas (Apr 3, 2018)

Wolfos said:


> Every single guitar at my local long and mcquades! I dont know how but they managed to make all of the guitars play like pure shit. Corrosion, terrible action, intonation, bowed/ twisted necks etc.
> 
> I sold them my old beautiful JP7 once when I was hard up for cash, a month or 2 later I didnt even recognize it covered in corrosion, all the frets were oxidized, bridge was cocked off at like a 30° angle...
> 
> I know this isn't exactly the purpose of the thread but I had to rant somewhere.


L&M in downtown Vancouver is pretty good but the ones in the suburbs are absolute shit. Most the guitars are completely unplayable.


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## soliloquy (Apr 3, 2018)

Wolfos said:


> Every single guitar at my local long and mcquades! I dont know how but they managed to make all of the guitars play like pure shit. Corrosion, terrible action, intonation, bowed/ twisted necks etc.
> 
> I sold them my old beautiful JP7 once when I was hard up for cash, a month or 2 later I didnt even recognize it covered in corrosion, all the frets were oxidized, bridge was cocked off at like a 30° angle...
> 
> I know this isn't exactly the purpose of the thread but I had to rant somewhere.



i have to say, the L&M in mississauga is BRILLIANT! great guitars and service.
L&M in burlington is alright.
L&M in london is decent, but could be better.
L&M in brampton scares me...
L&M in st. john's, Newfound land is surprisingly really well kept. 

surprised i haven't gone to the one in toronto yet....


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## Alex79 (Apr 5, 2018)

I've just never got along with the upper fret access on Strat-style guitars. Sitting down it is fine, but standing I always feel like my wrist has to twist and bend and can't reach the notes properly. 
This led to unfortunately me getting rid my Ibanez Japan RG and, later, an ESP Vintage Plus.


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## Kreprn (Apr 5, 2018)

Jackson ke-2

I have been a jackson guy all my life, but first time i got my hands on a real U.S.A model, it was a huge letdown. The build quality was great and everything was top notch spec-wise, but the guitar just didn’t fit for me. Chunky neck, couldn’t get the action right, VERY dark sounding, little bit muddy even. Also it was heavy as shit. 

I actually had it for a basic setup for a customer alongside with a korea-kelly and how much i hate saying this, the cheaper one just felt better for me. Clearer and brighter sounding, thinner neck and got the strings to the same 2mm level as the usa one. 

Also owned a professional soloist from the 90s’ and didnt like the neck or the tone of it either. Such a shame as i kinda loved the guitar for some odd reason.

Maybe im just a dinky-guy. Slimmer necks and brighter tones!


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## Dcm81 (Apr 5, 2018)

Alex79 said:


> I've just never got along with the upper fret access on Strat-style guitars. Sitting down it is fine, but standing I always feel like my wrist has to twist and bend and can't reach the notes properly.
> This led to unfortunately me getting rid my Ibanez Japan RG and, later, an ESP Vintage Plus.



...I don't get it. There's a HUGE difference in upper fret access on all the different SS shaped guitars with there being SO many on offer.......what shape, in your opinion, inherently gives better fret access?

EDIT: or am I misenterpreting "Strat-style guitars" as Super Strat shaped guitars and you actually mean Fenders and Squiers?


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## vilk (Apr 5, 2018)

Ovation acoustic guitars with the rounded back.

I was like _Oh neat! Ergonomic!_ until I tried to play it in the classical position. BTW, you can't play Ovation guitars in the classical position. Maybe if you paint your thighs with rubber cement first?


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## Wolfos (Apr 5, 2018)

vilk said:


> Ovation acoustic guitars with the rounded back.
> 
> I was like _Oh neat! Ergonomic!_ until I tried to play it in the classical position. BTW, you can't play Ovation guitars in the classical position. Maybe if you paint your thighs with rubber cement first?



I learned guitar as a kid with my dads old ovation with the larger rounded back. I dropped that thing so many times because it slid right off my leg lol. I ended up sticking grit paper to the bottom of it!


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## gujukal (Apr 6, 2018)

LTD KS-7, bought it from gear orphanage on reverb. I always liked the aesthetics of these guitars and I was really eager to try the evertune. The evertune turned out to be a big disappointment since it made the guitar have zero sustain. I compared with my Ltd mh1000nt which is very similar guitar but six string, and it was just night and day sustain wise. Weird you barely hear anyone mention this big flaw with evertune. It was also a b-stock and accordingly to the guy at gear orphanage the only issue was some small scratches on the back. The big issue was the nut which was too low and caused the high e and b to buzz no matter action or neck setup. It also had quite a lot of paint bleed on the binding, which my mh1000 have none of.


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## Alex79 (Apr 6, 2018)

Dcm81 said:


> ...I don't get it. There's a HUGE difference in upper fret access on all the different SS shaped guitars with there being SO many on offer.......what shape, in your opinion, inherently gives better fret access?
> 
> EDIT: or am I misenterpreting "Strat-style guitars" as Super Strat shaped guitars and you actually mean Fenders and Squiers?



On a Les Paul, the neck joint falls exactly where my hand will be if I go along the neck. On Strats I have to twist my wrist to the left.
It might be due to the longer scale and the position of he strap button on the upper Strat horn, because I don't have the problem with SGs either.


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## Dcm81 (Apr 6, 2018)

Alex79 said:


> On a Les Paul, the neck joint falls exactly where my hand will be if I go along the neck. On Strats I have to twist my wrist to the left.
> It might be due to the longer scale and the position of he strap button on the upper Strat horn, because I don't have the problem with SGs either.


Ah ok, brand specific I can fully understand. I just thought at first you meant all Strat-shaped guitars, which had me baffled


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## Edika (Apr 6, 2018)

Kreprn said:


> Jackson ke-2
> 
> I have been a jackson guy all my life, but first time i got my hands on a real U.S.A model, it was a huge letdown. The build quality was great and everything was top notch spec-wise, but the guitar just didn’t fit for me. Chunky neck, couldn’t get the action right, VERY dark sounding, little bit muddy even. Also it was heavy as shit.
> 
> ...



I've recently gotten my hands on a USA Kelly and I did notice the chunkier neck myself in comparison to a Soloist. The one I got is lighter than what I expected it to be if you take into account the shape of the guitar. I even think is lighter than either of my Soloists and doesn't sound muddy. It has the classic JB/59 combo but sounds a bit brighter/airier in D standard than the Soloist I have with the same pickups in E standard.

I've noticed though that the letdowns I have are usually on the specific guitars I've tried. I think I mentioned in this thread before that I couldn't get the Jackson SLAT 7 I received to sound "right". It just sounded muffled and undefined. I had tried another one of those in the past and it sounded brighter and more focused.


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## vilk (Apr 6, 2018)

Dcm81 said:


> Ah ok, brand specific I can fully understand. I just thought at first you meant all Strat-shaped guitars, which had me baffled


Based on what he just wrote and you just replied to I think he does mean that lol unless you can think of many 24.75 scale strats that don't have the button on the upper horn?


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## raytsh (Apr 6, 2018)

Sadly, as it turns out, I'm not happy with my Skervesen Mirage, after an accumulated build time of 21 months... What shows once more that I should play guitars before I buy them and that the longer the wait, the higher the expectations. The guitar is too heavy for me, the neck is too wide and the scale is too long. I will sell it again soon. But, I might very well write a NGD before that.

Though, the guitar itself is the most close to perfect guitar I ever had, regarding concept, craftsmanship and build quality. It's just not for me.


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## groverj3 (Apr 6, 2018)

Ibanez JEM.

The build quality was good, but I had never played a guitar with a middle pickup and I absolutely hated that. The guy I took lessons from when I was in high school was a huge JEM fan, but I thought my $250 (used) Jackson DXMG was easier to play, as was the prestige Ibanez (I forget the model number) I had at that time.


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## alvo (Nov 10, 2018)

Don't mean to revive a dead thread, but my 2 cents.

I saved all my money some years ago to acquire a Mayones Multiscale/Fan Fret Regius 8. It was the Zebrano one with maple fretboard and wenge neck. Well I got it, but it's bridge PUP tones were just bad. The angle of the pickups are just poorly designed and improperly spaced IMO which makes the bass side strings sound more like middle position tone. I got better grind and djent from the closer to bridge bridge PUPS out my straight baritone Carvin DC800 and Ibanez M80M.

The "mid position" bridge tone probably isn't as bad on the multiscale Mayo 7 strings, but still there's more space between bridge PUP and bridge than regular baritones.


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## RiksRiks (Nov 10, 2018)

Caparisons in general. They have killer specs and looks but I felt like I was playing a very plain guitar, it's just my taste though, the neck profile didn't do it for me and the fretboard didn't felt any kind of specially flat or round. I really wanted to like them since I'm a huge fan of their looks and heard of their quality, but they're just not for me!


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## MatiasTolkki (Nov 10, 2018)

RiksRiks said:


> Caparisons in general. They have killer specs and looks but I felt like I was playing a very plain guitar, it's just my taste though, the neck profile didn't do it for me and the fretboard didn't felt any kind of specially flat or round. I really wanted to like them since I'm a huge fan of their looks and heard of their quality, but they're just not for me!



I had a similar experience with a Caparison. I tried out one of their 2018 custom models or whatever they're called a few months ago and while the guitar played great and sounded great, was it 450,000+ yen great? Hell to the no imo.


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## KnightBrolaire (Nov 10, 2018)

Ormsby goliath. 
I preordered it (like an idiot) because I loved the shape and all the specs. It was very solidly built, the pickups sounded great, the neck was comfy, it was actually set up well unlike my strandbergs, but the body shape literally wasn't a good fit for me. I'm not a small guy by any means, but I've never had a problem with other guitars the way I did with the goliath. The upper fret access was atrocious due to the way the lower horn juts out, and the rear cutaway where the tuners are located would dig into my thigh (while I never had that issue with my strandbergs or vaders). I desperately wanted to love the guitar, but I refuse to sacrifice comfort when it comes to playing guitar, so it had to go.
Hopefully I'll have better luck with the hype I ordered.


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## Flappydoodle (Nov 10, 2018)

Spent a lot of time on the Mayones website, but I've played about 10 at this point and not a single one has had a sound or feel that I like. My impression is that they are all bling, and no substance.

Jackson. I researched for ages and think they look cool, great specs etc. When in Tokyo, I played a whole bunch of them and thought they were shit. Played a Mike Shannon master built custom shop Solist and it had noticeable build mistakes that *I* could see, and I'm not a luthier. Also played a whole bunch of USA standard models, and again, build quality issues, shitty tones. Pro series (Indonesia) were just horrible, but still cost £1,000 LOL

Ormsby hypemachine. I think they look pretty awesome. Eventually tried one (handbuilt by Perry himself). It was dead. Not exciting to play. Sounded bland.



USMarine75 said:


> Exactly! I remember I posted on here and some of the other forums about being interested in one way back in the day and asking for opinions. The majority of opinions were negative... People crapped all over them saying they were just dead-wood slabs, with spartan options, and a Parker wannabe headstock lol. Now it seems like everyone has played or owned one and that they are just the best, at least based on all of the online commentary lol.



I think Nolly and Misha can be blamed for a good part of that hype. I've seen their posts on various web forums how it was the best guitar they ever laid their hands on blah blah. It was round about that time when guitar forums started to have real influence, when youngsters were writing metal, and before social media enabled EVERY company to generate buzz. The hype just took off. I've never played one, but my impression is that Doug was probably just an average decent builder making a handful of guitars, and by marketing and sheer luck they got hyped up to be this amazing secret tone recipe etc. And, like most small builders, he couldn't run the business side for shit, ended up being unreliable and disappearing etc.



RiksRiks said:


> Caparisons in general. They have killer specs and looks but I felt like I was playing a very plain guitar, it's just my taste though, the neck profile didn't do it for me and the fretboard didn't felt any kind of specially flat or round. I really wanted to like them since I'm a huge fan of their looks and heard of their quality, but they're just not for me!



I'm just about to buy my second one. Tried loads of models - Brocken, Dellinger, Horus FXAM, Horus M3, Orbit - loved them all in different ways.

The fingerboard radius is compound - 12 to 16. For me, it doesn't "feel" much, just easy to play.



MatiasTolkki said:


> I had a similar experience with a Caparison. I tried out one of their 2018 custom models or whatever they're called a few months ago and while the guitar played great and sounded great, was it 450,000+ yen great? Hell to the no imo.



Haha, I remember us talking about that - the "super Horus", right?

I tried them too when I visited Tokyo this summer. Super nice, but yeah overpriced. But I think I knew that beforehand. The only difference over a stock M3 is the fancy flame maple top, a modified pickup and a FUTone brass block. We probably played the same guitars - at Musicland Key new location, right?


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## MatiasTolkki (Nov 10, 2018)

@Flappydoodle 

Yep, Musicland Key in Shibuya. They are the only store that carries any real selection of them, and even though Shimamura has some distribution deal with them, the Nagoya Shimamura had like one Dellinger 7 string and that's it :/


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## RiksRiks (Nov 10, 2018)

Flappydoodle said:


> I'm just about to buy my second one. Tried loads of models - Brocken, Dellinger, Horus FXAM, Horus M3, Orbit - loved them all in different ways.
> 
> The fingerboard radius is compound - 12 to 16. For me, it doesn't "feel" much, just easy to play.
> 
> ...



I've also played them at MK in Shibuya! And some Shimamuras I've been to. But honest to god, I had a MIC Charvel Desolation Soloist that felt way better for me than any Caparison that I've played. I don't know what it is that didn't connect with me, but I'm glad you like yours!

It is funny how it is, because I actually tried a couple of Mayones and think they are perfect, maybe it's just the PLEK but even the neck profile and the resonance was spot on. Probably too expensive but would consider getting one in the future...

Talking about Hypemachines, I also played one recently and thought it was a really solid guitar! I couldn't help but feeling a little bit disappointed because I though I would like them more than my J series Strandberg and it was not the case, let alone the Mayones I've played, so yeah that one also carried some disappointment...


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## narad (Nov 10, 2018)

Flappydoodle said:


> I think Nolly and Misha can be blamed for a good part of that hype. I've seen their posts on various web forums how it was the best guitar they ever laid their hands on blah blah. It was round about that time when guitar forums started to have real influence, when youngsters were writing metal, and before social media enabled EVERY company to generate buzz. The hype just took off.



Yea, but that's also when they started being specced out pretty decently. Dude had a 0 chance at selling guitars in a >$4k price range with the inlays and wonky bridge riser he used to put on there. Nolly's is still a really nice guitar to my eyes (with the orange-ish quilt) and Misha's had a really nice koa top.


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## Flappydoodle (Nov 10, 2018)

RiksRiks said:


> I've also played them at MK in Shibuya! And some Shimamuras I've been to. But honest to god, I had a MIC Charvel Desolation Soloist that felt way better for me than any Caparison that I've played. I don't know what it is that didn't connect with me, but I'm glad you like yours!
> 
> It is funny how it is, because I actually tried a couple of Mayones and think they are perfect, maybe it's just the PLEK but even the neck profile and the resonance was spot on. Probably too expensive but would consider getting one in the future...
> 
> Talking about Hypemachines, I also played one recently and thought it was a really solid guitar! I couldn't help but feeling a little bit disappointed because I though I would like them more than my J series Strandberg and it was not the case, let alone the Mayones I've played, so yeah that one also carried some disappointment...



Haha ok, let’s make a deal. Next time you play something you hate, let me know. Good chance I’ll love it  



narad said:


> Yea, but that's also when they started being specced out pretty decently. Dude had a 0 chance at selling guitars in a >$4k price range with the inlays and wonky bridge riser he used to put on there. Nolly's is still a really nice guitar to my eyes (with the orange-ish quilt) and Misha's had a really nice koa top.



Yeah, they both look super cool. But all the hype about magical fairy dust and unicorns and secret sauce blah blah got way out of hand, lol.


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## manu80 (Nov 11, 2018)

Some few...
A prestige JS2450 I had.The purple one. great feel and souns, the carbon whammy bar is dope but the finish on a regular 2300 euros price basis is meh. you could see some arks under the clear, like if the wood hadn't been filled, a knick close to the vibrato cavity. And those weren't done by the previous owner. Like no crack in the clear etc...was expecting a better QC.
Also triend some Capa, Mayo/blackat.
Caparison, to me, are too expensive for what they are. thay're nicely done etc but the price tag isn't justified.
Mayo I tried too. it's gorgeous but it's stiff and "neutral" (to my ears) Blackat were the same... well we all have a different feeling I guess....


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## RiksRiks (Nov 11, 2018)

Flappydoodle said:


> Haha ok, let’s make a deal. Next time you play something you hate, let me know. Good chance I’ll love it



Sure will! I guess if we have opposite tastes then you should also tell me what you hate or dislike! Haha 

I haven't played many but Suhrs don't seem to be the holy grail that everybody talks about, so maybe that means you like them?? It's actually really nice to see how everybody has got a different taste and the different brands satisfy different needs, it means guitar designs are heading in the right direction I guess!


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## Flappydoodle (Nov 11, 2018)

RiksRiks said:


> Sure will! I guess if we have opposite tastes then you should also tell me what you hate or dislike! Haha
> 
> I haven't played many but Suhrs don't seem to be the holy grail that everybody talks about, so maybe that means you like them?? It's actually really nice to see how everybody has got a different taste and the different brands satisfy different needs, it means guitar designs are heading in the right direction I guess!



Haha, maybe! Never played a Suhr actually.

The biggest disappointment for me I already mentioned - Mayones. Seems as if you really like them, so maybe worth saving up for


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## MaxOfMetal (Nov 11, 2018)

Folks hype up brands to insanity, and it typically leads to disappointment in some form.

I mean, guitars can only get so good. There's a ceiling on stuff like this. 

If there's one takeaway from this thread it should be that our own preferences and bias have much more to do with perceived quality than anyone would like to admit, especially when it's on big, personal purchases like high end guitars. 

You bought that $4k guitar because you like it. It speaks to you. The fact the quality is good is secondary.


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## guitaardvark (Nov 11, 2018)

I just got rid of mine recently. Strandberg Classic. I was SO excited for a fat strat config on an a headless ergonomic body. 

The quality was an absolute joke. I should have expected this from a guitar made in China, but at the same time, I wanted to expect something better from a guitar with a $1300 new price tag. Mine had damages that weren't listed in the reverb page, so I was able to return it for a full refund. Nevertheless, I would have sold it at a loss because the pickups were unusably bright, the pots and electronics were noisy, it was impossible to get any kind of low action setup, and the bridge tuners were installed slightly crooked, so the E string tuner pressed into the A string a tiny bit and made both of them super hard to turn. It felt like I paid for a $200 Squier with $1000 of intellectual property slapped on it. 

All that said, it was super light and the endurneck and I got along really well.


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## Bdtunn (Nov 11, 2018)

guitaardvark said:


> I just got rid of mine recently. Strandberg Classic. I was SO excited for a fat strat config on an a headless ergonomic body.
> 
> The quality was an absolute joke. I should have expected this from a guitar made in China, but at the same time, I wanted to expect something better from a guitar with a $1300 new price tag. Mine had damages that weren't listed in the reverb page, so I was able to return it for a full refund. Nevertheless, I would have sold it at a loss because the pickups were unusably bright, the pots and electronics were noisy, it was impossible to get any kind of low action setup, and the bridge tuners were installed slightly crooked, so the E string tuner pressed into the A string a tiny bit and made both of them super hard to turn. It felt like I paid for a $200 Squier with $1000 of intellectual property slapped on it.
> 
> All that said, it was super light and the endurneck and I got along really well.



Oh man I had the same thing happen with an OS. I couldn’t get the action to sit to save my life. I had the zero fret brought down and the frets leveled and it still wouldn’t cooperate. Had a hole under the nut (that was not glued on) and had to replace numerous bridge pcs. Loved the neck but just couldn’t get it to where I like it


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## guitaardvark (Nov 11, 2018)

Bdtunn said:


> Oh man I had the same thing happen with an OS. I couldn’t get the action to sit to save my life. I had the zero fret brought down and the frets leveled and it still wouldn’t cooperate. Had a hole under the nut (that was not glued on) and had to replace numerous bridge pcs. Loved the neck but just couldn’t get it to where I like it


My friend had an OS that was far better than my Classic, but I still was not impressed with it, especially given the price tag. I've seen a lot of people even complain about US and Swedish built models. I want to like Strandbergs but the quality just isn't there a lot of the time.


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## MaxOfMetal (Nov 11, 2018)

guitaardvark said:


> My friend had an OS that was far better than my Classic, but I still was not impressed with it, especially given the price tag. I've seen a lot of people even complain about US and Swedish built models. I want to like Strandbergs but the quality just isn't there a lot of the time.



Seems that the only ones that are well built are the Japanese ones, I haven't heard much about the newest incarnation of the American made ones. 

All the Indo and Chinese ones I've played have been various levels of sub-par, but not any serious issues, stuff that can't be easily corrected. The S7G and even Washburn ones were pretty hit or miss, some were really solid, but it was a coin toss on what you'd get. 

I've never played a Swedish one, but I've heard they're sketchy too, but typically good-ish.


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## sirbuh (Nov 11, 2018)

Right now not really feeling the Charvel 550xl. 
Sonically a little flat to my ear. I owe it a pickup replacement at the very least.


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## BLD (Nov 11, 2018)

I bought a used Ibanez Prestige RG1420 10th Anniversary (the greenish-grey flamed maple burst) that was flawless. It looked, felt and sounded amazing! The only problem is the more I played it, the more I realized it was better suited for light gauge strings, and a player with a lighter touch (I’m too Shrek like lol).

I traded it for a Schecter Synyster Gates Custom and some cash (Korean made Neck-thru model with a baseball bat of a neck) that felt great in my big hands but couldn’t match the sound or stability of the Ibanez Prestige...

I also felt that way about every Les Paul I ever played until I found my ‘13 Trad Pro II... My favorite axe growing up (always wanted one), but they always sounded or felt like a turd when I played them... especially for the price!


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## bloodjunkie (Nov 11, 2018)

Moser Templar Genesis

This was my first and only 'custom'(made on order anyway) guitar and I was so stoked to get it. I loved the look and simplicity(single pup, 1 vol knob, unpainted) but when I received it I just didn't jive with it. 

Nothing against the guitar or Neil Moser at all but it definitely made me realize that I prefer almost the exact opposite: painted/glossy necks, 2 pickups, tune-o-matic or trem bridges, and fretboard inlays). The thing was a total shredder but I was more focused on rhythm stuff at the time.

Ended up trading it to a pawn shop for an ESP Viper Standard which I no longer have either. Most of the collection is super-strats and V's now.


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## prlgmnr (Nov 12, 2018)

I was 100% sure I wanted a Vigier 7 string as I love the 6 string Excalibur so much, but I was wrong, for a 7 string I'd prefer a longer scale length and a slimmer neck.


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## Snarpaasi (Nov 12, 2018)

Mayones: One day went to a store that happened have a wall full of Mayones. I must have tried quickly 15 of them and noticed that everyone except one custom Regius (which sounded great and full!) were more or less disappointment. Duvells look cool but they all sounded quite bad compared to other models. Besides the Regius, a KM-7 was a positive surprise.

Suhr: Have tried maybe 8 over the years. Each of them have been quality instruments but still felt "meh ok" to me.


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Nov 12, 2018)

The Strandberg Custom Shop 8 string Boden I had. It was one of the Euro made ones too. I just can't stand the Endurneck and it ultimately made me sell it. It sucks because I love the body and I love everything else. I have since switched over to an Ormsby Goliath


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## MetalHead40 (Nov 12, 2018)

Mayones Duvell Elite. Just returned it because of multiple issues. Must have got a lemon because they seem to be touted as having impeccable fit to finish and QA. This one sure slipped by them.


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## yan12 (Nov 12, 2018)

For me it comes down to necks. Some guitars are really spec'd out to my liking only to have paper thin necks. I am older and need and want bigger necks these days. That said, I just played an Ibanez Kiko 200 at DCGL. The neck is perfect size and shape for me and the pickups sound great...very, very versatile guitar. But the only thing that put me off was the fret work. The guitar is amazing, don't get me wrong, and for most folks it would be an outstanding build. Anyone would be proud to own one. Coming from Schecter USA guitars and the fretwork I get with that product I am having a very hard time finding any guitar that can compete in that area. As I get older it is less about looks and more about tone and playability. 

I really like the Kiko 200 and the specs of the guitar a ton. I even like the color. The fretwork is very good but my standards have been raised by Schecter USA. Suhr, Anderson, J Custom, ESP...all equally well built to me but I don't think anyone can top the fretwork of Shigeki Aoshima. From tele to super strat and everything else, I have yet to play one that I don't want to buy just for the fretwork.


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## BenjaminW (Nov 12, 2018)

My Les Paul Axcess has been somewhat of a disappointment to me. The guy before me re-installed the original pickups and did a crappy job on the soldering so my bridge pickup stopped working on me. Best part of that happening is that I practically swear by the bridge pickup when it comes to my tone. I hope Guitar Center does well on fixing the wire since I can't trust myself poking around a nice guitar yet.


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## Albake21 (Nov 12, 2018)

EBMM Majesty 7. I always loved the Majesty series. I dreamed of owning one and when I finally got one, it was just meh. It wasn't bad, but the neck definitely wasn't for me, I really didn't care for the bridge, and I hated the sound (which could have been fixed with a pickup swap. I was so turned off by it that I just sold it right away.

One more was my Blackat. I went through hell and back to get that guitar from Poland to here in the Chicago and I was very underwhelmed. Again, not a bad guitar, but I just really didn't like it.


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## Lord Voldemort (Nov 12, 2018)

My Caparison Horus was incredibly underwhelming. Not trying to add to the hate, just coincidentally was the most dissapointing guitar I've owned.


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## BTS (Nov 13, 2018)

going to get hate here for sure.... but the Prs mark holcomb. Wanted it soo bad, paid good money for it... just couldnt come around to it. It wasnt any particular thing with the guitar, but didnt bond with it all so that was disappointing.


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## xzacx (Nov 13, 2018)

BTS said:


> going to get hate here for sure.... but the Prs mark holcomb. Wanted it soo bad, paid good money for it... just couldnt come around to it. It wasnt any particular thing with the guitar, but didnt bond with it all so that was disappointing.



Worst PRS I've ever owned. Looked really cool, but the scale length just didn't feel right on a PRS, horrible pickups (particularly the neck), and I hated how fast the satin body developed shiny spots. It's crazy how much people are asking for them these days (although I don't know if any actually sell for those prices)—I couldn't get rid of mine fast enough.


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## Ordacleaphobia (Nov 13, 2018)

BTS said:


> going to get hate here for sure.... but the Prs mark holcomb. Wanted it soo bad, paid good money for it... just couldnt come around to it. It wasnt any particular thing with the guitar, but didnt bond with it all so that was disappointing.



I'd actually kind of echo this but for the SE. I love the guitar, specs are great and when I play it, it plays fantastic; but for whatever reason, it doesn't have that "PLAY ME" factor. I still don't think I'll sell it anytime soon, but I do wish I bonded with it a bit more.


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## Randy (Nov 13, 2018)

BTS said:


> going to get hate here for sure.... but the Prs mark holcomb. Wanted it soo bad, paid good money for it... just couldnt come around to it. It wasnt any particular thing with the guitar, but didnt bond with it all so that was disappointing.



Never bought one but I was psyched for them when announced. I never made it past the very poor transition from the aesthetics of the real thing to the SE. And yes, they're two different animals but I thought the Holcolm SE looked WORSE judged on it's own.


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## guitaardvark (Nov 13, 2018)

Randy said:


> Never bought one but I was psyched for them when announced. I never made it past the very poor transition from the aesthetics of the real thing to the SE. And yes, they're two different animals but I thought the Holcolm SE looked WORSE judged on it's own.


My problem with the SEs are that the tops vary so wildly. Mine looked absolutely incredible, but I've seen some where it looks like there's not even a quilt. Obviously they're going to use their best wood on a $4000 guitar so I'm not expecting the SE to look as good as or better than the USA one, but just a little more consistency in the wood choice would have done them well.

I agree with everyone else that I just wasn't able to gel with mine, despite the guitar not really having any dealbreakers (was thick and heavy, and bridge felt really far forward, neck was thicker than I'm used to, but I wouldn't call these dealbreakers). I thought the pickups were excellent, but they were way too close upon arrival and sounded all weird and quacky. The Maryland setup was a huge letdown.

Overall the SE is still a great guitar, but only if you like PRS and aren't a PRS purist.


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## Randy (Nov 13, 2018)

guitaardvark said:


> I agree with everyone else that I just wasn't able to gel with mine, despite the guitar not really having any dealbreakers (was thick and heavy, and bridge felt really far forward, neck was thicker than I'm used to, but I wouldn't call these dealbreakers). I thought the pickups were excellent, but they were way too close upon arrival and sounded all weird and quacky. The Maryland setup was a huge letdown.
> 
> Overall the SE is still a great guitar, but only if you like PRS and aren't a PRS purist.



YMMV, I guess. I've played a lot of SEs, some of which actually broke into being some of my favorite playing guitars period (an early SE single cut, p90 loaded korina and the traveling SE7), with the only dud I ever played being the Paul Allender. At the time I thought it might've just been a dud but it crossed my mind at the time that it just happened to also be the most 'feature laden' of the PRS SEs that I'd played, and that being a budget guitar and stuffed with premium features wasn't a good mix. 

Like I said, I haven't even played a Holcomb SE so take it with a massive grain if salt, but I'm just wondering out loud if the specs were just muffed or if they tried to do too much with it. I definitely thought trying to pull off the quilt and the burst to mimic the proper Holcomb model was a stretch, so I've gotta wonder if they stretched similarly on the specs that effect playability.


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## dhgrind (Nov 13, 2018)

gibson golden axe bill kelliher explorer - arrived with the bridge pickup cover caved in, had to pay to get it fixed, the nut was cut wrong and the strings would bind constantly even after trying to get some "luthier" to fix it. the pick guard was mounted off axis, the holes for the pots were drilled off axis, same with the pickup selector. Wouldnt stay in tune if its life depended on it even with numerous string stretches.Fret ends were trash. Neck heavy, paint where it didnt belong, poorly routed control cavity, which had wood shavings in it still, with a rats nest of garbage wiring. The output jack was loose, and lost connection.

Loved the look of the guitar but holy shit it was THE worst guitar i've ever owned only second to a $200 dean flying V. and this was 1500$

Kiesel Vader - correct specs as i ordered them. Awful customer service when my saddles were causing the strings to snap/go out of tune/ and make pinging noises when doing bends (dont bend those strings then huh) 
It was a 27in scale way too long, the radius was stupid flat too. never again. 

Aristides 070, near perfect guitar, once again the scale was too long for me and the neck profile is what killed it for me. everything else was like 99.5% perfect with the exception of small paint spots on the board etc. If aristides allowed for custom neck profiles i probably would've just gone back and gotten a 6 string.

i think i've leared my lesson, hoping Daemoness build comes out correct. 

inversely the best guitar i've bought was a blind purchase on a prs s2, purchased for way below used market value and continues to be my favorite guitar as looks/build quality goes.


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## guitaardvark (Nov 13, 2018)

Randy said:


> YMMV, I guess. I've played a lot of SEs, some of which actually broke into being some of my favorite playing guitars period (an early SE single cut, p90 loaded korina and the traveling SE7), with the only dud I ever played being the Paul Allender. At the time I thought it might've just been a dud but it crossed my mind at the time that it just happened to also be the most 'feature laden' of the PRS SEs that I'd played, and that being a budget guitar and stuffed with premium features wasn't a good mix.
> 
> Like I said, I haven't even played a Holcomb SE so take it with a massive grain if salt, but I'm just wondering out loud if the specs were just muffed or if they tried to do too much with it. I definitely thought trying to pull off the quilt and the burst to mimic the proper Holcomb model was a stretch, so I've gotta wonder if they stretched similarly on the specs that effect playability.


The only noticeable corner-cutting that I saw were the tuners and the nut. Mark has both of those things upgraded on his personal SEs. Other than that, they are good guitars for the money. It just didn't sit right in my hands, mostly because I'm used to Ibanez where the bridge is relatively far back on the body.


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## Velokki (Nov 13, 2018)

Funny thing that people are mentioning the PRS Holcomb.

I was actually buying one here in Finland, but the seller was a scammer. Thank god I didn't transfer funds. The bad thing is that I got really, really excited for it, and I felt so bad for not getting my hands on it.

Then came the announcement of the SE Model! Well, I grabbed one of them. I thought even the body wasn't too comfortable, but what was a total dealbreaker was the god-awful tuning stability. I swear, it was super, super bad. And based on a hundred accounts from different people, the nut must be the worst nut ever put into a guitar of that price range.
Gladly I could return it.

Also, I had a PRS SE Custom 24, which had amazing pickups, but the nut was horrible there as well. Also, I think the tremolo was very cheap, which contributed to the problem. Gladly I got it for dirt cheap on a christmas promotion, and sold it years later for over a 100€ profit, haha.

Have a total allergy for SEs after those experiences.

Also, my ESP Horizon was a big disappointment. The previous user couldn't get the guitar to sound good, or at least he sold it because he didn't want to fight the floyd. It must've been a problem with the nut, since even when the intonation was good on 12th fret and open strings, chords on the lower register sounded wrong. Also, the tuning would fail often, even though it was an OFR. I was just constantly fighting the guitar. Looked awesome, played great but just couldn't work with it.

Also, Fender Eric Johnson. Oh my god, the tones and feel of the neck were unbelievable. Having tried different strats in the quest to find my perfect strat, I had finally found the one for me...

...or so I thought. The frets were so worn down, I could barely do hammer-ons. I thought it was just that specimen, but turns out as I tried new ones in a guitar store, that the Johnson strat's frets are really, really low even by design! Later I got an American Elite Strat and am very happy with it.


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## gnoll (Nov 13, 2018)

ESP M-II.

I love the look of that guitar, and the satin necks on the neck-through ones are sooo nice. But I couldn't deal with the Floyd Rose combined with the scale length. I've realized I just get along much better with 24.75" fixed bridge guitars.

Argh, just thinking about it makes me want to buy one again though... even if it's just to open the case every once in a while and look at it...


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## jco5055 (Nov 13, 2018)

Damn after checking out this thread I'd be hesitant to get a Caparison, at least without not trying one first.


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## guitaardvark (Nov 13, 2018)

jco5055 said:


> Damn after checking out this thread I'd be hesitant to get a Caparison, at least without not trying one first.


Or any guitar at all


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## jco5055 (Nov 13, 2018)

guitaardvark said:


> Or any guitar at all


I’ve actually bought 5 guitars and only one was a “I wish I wouldn’t have”, which was a bc rich stealth and the issue was the horrendous neckdive but other than that it’s peobably the best guitar I’ve owned yet.

To be fair all of the guitars were either gifts or $500 at the most so it’s not a bad risk compared to buying a caparison, but I also have a 070 on it’s way and I’ve never played an Aristides before


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## guitaardvark (Nov 13, 2018)

jco5055 said:


> I’ve actually bought 5 guitars and only one was a “I wish I wouldn’t have”, which was a bc rich stealth and the issue was the horrendous neckdive but other than that it’s peobably the best guitar I’ve owned yet.
> 
> To be fair all of the guitars were either gifts or $500 at the most so it’s not a bad risk compared to buying a caparison, but I also have a 070 on it’s way and I’ve never played an Aristides before


Yeah, more often than not, if you research a brand/guitar enough, you can generally know what to expect and be happy with your purchase. However, with my last three big online purchases (PRS Holcomb SE, Ibanez S5521Q, and Strandberg Classic), I just didn't gel with any of them despite there being absolutely nothing wrong with the former two. I'm ever so mildly GASing for a JP16, but at this point I wouldn't buy one without trying it unless it was an absurdly good deal just because I might not like it despite it being a fine guitar.


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## jco5055 (Nov 14, 2018)

Yeah not trying to turn this into an Aristides thread but I’m sure I’ll at the very least like it a ton since it’s a pretty “basic” guitar in terms of shape, neck profile etc so there’s no risk but it may not be an amazing level of comfort/playability like some people find ergo models a la Strandberg are for them.

But my apt is currently at under 20% humidity thanks to the heat kicking on so I’m happy I didn’t spend thousands on a guitar with wood to subject it to that haha


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## Casper777 (Nov 14, 2018)

Ibanez Jems... I like everything on the paper, owned 3 and sold them all... can't bond with it... always had the impression to play someone else's guitar...


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## possumkiller (Nov 14, 2018)

Apart from a couple of strats that I got purely for stratting around with, every high end guitar I've bought since I sold my custom shop KH4 in 2007 has been disappoint. I just haven't been able to find the same attention to detail in fretwork and setup that it had. It was one of those guitars you just immediately bond with and plays so well it practically plays itself.


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## Flappydoodle (Nov 14, 2018)

BLD said:


> I also felt that way about every Les Paul I ever played until I found my ‘13 Trad Pro II... My favorite axe growing up (always wanted one), but they always sounded or felt like a turd when I played them... especially for the price!



Les Pauls IMO are the most variable guitars out there. When I bought mine, I went to a big store and played literally every single Gibson Les Paul they had - studios, classic, traditional, standard and customs. They varied massively, from huge sounding, loud and punchy to just dead planks with shitty dull tone. Setup was just whatever from the factory, and largely similar. I really think it's down to differences in the wood and how well that particular guitar was constructed. I ended up buying a Studio, pretty much the cheapest guitar, which sounded absolutely massive. 



Snarpaasi said:


> Mayones: One day went to a store that happened have a wall full of Mayones. I must have tried quickly 15 of them and noticed that everyone except one custom Regius (which sounded great and full!) were more or less disappointment. Duvells look cool but they all sounded quite bad compared to other models.



Glad I'm not the only one who had this experience with Mayones.



jco5055 said:


> Damn after checking out this thread I'd be hesitant to get a Caparison, at least without not trying one first.



You should try any guitar before buying - especially an expensive one.

I've played a lot of Caparisons now, and every model is really different. The Horus and Dellinger FXAM sound and feel totally different, even though the only difference on paper is 3/4 of an inch in scale length. The FXAM and M3 versions, aside from the obvious difference of the Floyd, also sound and feel completely different. There's also guitar-guitar variation, even within the same model. 

So really, it's not even about a particular brand, or particular model. It's down to "do I like this specific guitar in my hands right now?"


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## vibrantgermancities (Nov 14, 2018)

Echoing a lot of the comments, I've got a couple...

*Mayones Regius* - always, _always_ loved the look of them, but the shoulders on the neck weren't my cup of tea and the excessively sharp body edge was a bit of a pain. Still, that thing sounded _incredible_. Stuck with it for about 3 years before selling it and picking up my 408.

*EBMM JP6 *- again, I'd always wanted one of these because everyone makes them sound terrific, and they _are _comfortable. Still, I'm not sold on the selector switch and every single one of them that I've personally tried - without exception - has just sounded lifeless and sterile. Did I buy one anyway? _Of course I bloody bought one anyway_. Needless to say, if anyone in the North West of England fancies a JP6...


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## Avedas (Nov 14, 2018)

Albake21 said:


> EBMM Majesty 7. I always loved the Majesty series. I dreamed of owning one and when I finally got one, it was just meh. It wasn't bad, but the neck definitely wasn't for me, I really didn't care for the bridge, and I hated the sound (which could have been fixed with a pickup swap. I was so turned off by it that I just sold it right away.


I couldn't get along with that neck at all either. It just felt kinda sticky and it seemed like it was always getting in my way. I never bought one, but after trying a few I gave up on it.


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## Ordacleaphobia (Nov 14, 2018)

guitaardvark said:


> Or any guitar at all



I think it's got a lot to do with the damage that hype causes.
The whole first part of this thread topic is "Guitars you really wanted," these are usually guitars that we want SO bad, that we'll stretch our budget, buy when we know we shouldn't, expect to be the greatest guitar ever, tunnel vision for, etc. As we've seen more often than not, reality tends to not live up to hype, so I'm sure a lot of these guitars mentioned in this thread were actually not bad, but we all just _expected_ a lot more from them.



Randy said:


> YMMV, I guess. I've played a lot of SEs, *some of which actually broke into being some of my favorite playing guitars period* (an early SE single cut, p90 loaded korina and the traveling SE7), with the only dud I ever played being the Paul Allender.



I did this too. I had a unicorn SE Cu24 that played better than any guitar I think I've ever owned; I'm struggling to think of one. Coincidentally, it was also my first PRS, so after a couple years I sold it thinking I would upgrade to a big boi Cu24 aaaaaand....was disappointed. I must have tried a dozen of them, and _*none*_ even came close to that SE. That guitar singlehandedly made me realize that any guitar from any brand/series/model can be an absolute gem.


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## prlgmnr (Nov 15, 2018)

vibrantgermancities said:


> *EBMM JP6 *- again, I'd always wanted one of these because everyone makes them sound terrific, and they _are _comfortable. Still, I'm not sold on the selector switch and every single one of them that I've personally tried - without exception - has just sounded lifeless and sterile. Did I buy one anyway? _Of course I bloody bought one anyway_. Needless to say, if anyone in the North West of England fancies a JP6...



Even though I should be thinking "not anymore, given what he's just said"....instead I'm thinking "what colour? what year? piezo or no?"


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## fps (Nov 15, 2018)

I had the chance to buy a new guitar, like brand new. I tried several Fender American Professional strats, and compared with the Specials and Mexicans they just sounded quite dead and lifeless. Eventually I got a used 2012 American strat, pickup swap cos staggered poles are an anachronism, sounds beautiful, warts and all stratness (softer high E, neck pup high E struggling to line up, buzz in 1 3 and 5 etc), lovely lovely sounds.

Someone mentioned PRS Custom 24s, I tried one out when trying out a Bogner Red, and it was my ultimate playing experience. I can't remember the exact model though, and the others have tried have not had that same feeling, they've been too compressed sounding!


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## vibrantgermancities (Nov 15, 2018)

prlgmnr said:


> Even though I should be thinking "not anymore, given what he's just said"....instead I'm thinking "what colour? what year? piezo or no?"



This is exactly the problem with this sort of thing. Even if I sell it, I’ll still see one in a few months and think ‘oh, that looks nice...’


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## Kodee_Kaos (Nov 15, 2018)

Gibson SG Gothic. I was enamored by SG's; had an Epiphone SG special at 14, and saved up to buy the REAL thing. Finally found a used Gothic SG on eBay. The thing was a yoooge POS. Firstly the case was moldy or something, it had an awful stale stench that would not go away. Tried baking soda, letting it air out, air freshners, etc. Second, the guitar itself was a POS. One of the worst fretjobs I've ever encountered. Dead frets everywhere and the edges felt sharp. The sound was muddy and anemic, none of that signature SG bite. I was expecting the dressed-down emo version of an SG standard, but it was basically the guitar version of a badly embalmed corpse. 

It was my first and last Gibson. Ended up selling it and getting a Viper.


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## Kobalt (Nov 15, 2018)

Schecter Banshee 6 Passive.
I've owned a few Schecters, from different time spans, and they were all INCREDIBLE values for their prices. The Banshee 6P was absolutely stunning, but I had high hopes that the thinner neck profile would make me forget Schecter's narrow neck specs and that didn't do it...I was also very disappointed by the SD Nazgul, that thing was unnecessarily loud and needed a built-in high-pass filter.


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## narad (Nov 16, 2018)

jco5055 said:


> But my apt is currently at under 20% humidity thanks to the heat kicking on so I’m happy I didn’t spend thousands on a guitar with wood to subject it to that haha



If only there was some kind of $30 device that could alter the humidity of an environment!


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## MaxOfMetal (Nov 16, 2018)

narad said:


> If only there was some kind of $30 device that could alter the humidity of an environment!



It's not even like humidity (abundance or lack thereof) is much of an issue. Modern guitars are far more resistant to humidity than people think. 

Guitars are really good at acclimating to whatever climate they're in, especially as they age. 

I've lived on the coast of southeastern Florida and in the desert of Arizona, and once your guitar is used to it, which doesn't take long at all, humidity and temperature don't matter all that much.

What causes issues is vast changes in short periods of time, but few areas experience that to a degree where you'd have to worry.


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## Nlelith (Nov 16, 2018)

btw, I can't use humidifiers in my apartment, because my city is founded upon a very salty river, and vaporizing tap water results in a thin salt coat on each and every working electronic device (I have no idea why they attract this salt from the air). I could buy distilled water or a tap filter, but both are abysmally expensive here. So I'm stuck with 10% humidity for the entire winter.  Sorry for derailing.


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## lewis (Nov 16, 2018)

Dean guitars.

absolutely garbage. I used the explosion razorback in my first band to record, I personally had a Dean V with flames all over it (including gaudy flame inlays)

both felt like they were made out of balsa wood. So light and cheap feeling. Also felt hollow somehow?
Just dreadful. No way would I ever gig with a dean guitar. They would fall to bits.

Back in my early 20s they seemed awesome to look at, but the reality was such a let down.

special mention to BC rich. I owned a nice warlock and the thing literally broke itself overnight for no reason. All the electrics just died.


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## dr_game0ver (Nov 16, 2018)

From the one i've tried:
BC Rich Draco: great finish, neck a bit to big, sounded good but 800$ for that is a big nope. Also, have the stupidest shape ever.
A couple of Fender CS, both signature models: had no personality, sound dull and boring as hell. One of them was a 7K$ model...
Squier CV strat: great but the layer of laquer is ridiculous. That thing is an armor.
LTD EC: All of them. I don't like them. Nor a real LP, not quite a SG...
Maybach guitars: Huge neck and i hate relics guitars.
Ibanez RGA420: A 2.2K$ with the same PUs and Sh*t edge zero as the 400$ models...
Every RR shape guitars: cannot be played sitting down, cannot be played standing up because of neck dive.
Ibanez S540: Overpriced and most of them are in terrible condition.
Godin 5Th avenue: sound like a 300$ acoustic. You can find much better in that price range.


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## Kobalt (Nov 16, 2018)

lewis said:


> Dean guitars.
> 
> absolutely garbage. I used the explosion razorback in my first band to record, I personally had a Dean V with flames all over it (including gaudy flame inlays)
> 
> ...


And somehow, it's really hard to believe players as hard as Dimebag and Dave Mustaine endorse(d) such guitars.


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## Kaura (Nov 16, 2018)

Only one that I've kinda had problems was my Fender Jim Root Tele. Nothing really wrong with the guitar itself. I was just too stupid to set it up correctly so it always played kinda wonky. Also, not really a fan of the combination of mahogany and EMGs. It sounded pretty dark and flat. Great for speed metal, probably but I mostly played some metalcore on it and it didn't have the crunch I was going for at the time.


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## jco5055 (Nov 16, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> It's not even like humidity (abundance or lack thereof) is much of an issue. Modern guitars are far more resistant to humidity than people think.
> 
> Guitars are really good at acclimating to whatever climate they're in, especially as they age.
> 
> ...



Chicago might be one of those haha...but I'm going to pick one up anyways this weekend.


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## jco5055 (Nov 16, 2018)

lewis said:


> Dean guitars.
> 
> absolutely garbage. I used the explosion razorback in my first band to record, I personally had a Dean V with flames all over it (including gaudy flame inlays)
> 
> ...



Does this include the USA series? I've heard that the USA series are actually very high quality guitars, but for example if you go to their website it takes a little searching to find them, meaning if you go and just click on "electric guitars" it takes you to the mid priced and lower stuff. You need to look at the drop down menu and actually select "USA series" instead of electric guitars, bass guitars, etc.


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## lewis (Nov 16, 2018)

Kobalt said:


> And somehow, it's really hard to believe players as hard as Dimebag and Dave Mustaine endorse(d) such guitars.

























and Trivium left dean after Dean left because their sig guitars used to just break themselves.
I remember talk that Matt's ML slipped over on stage and the whole headstock came off.


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## Kaura (Nov 16, 2018)

lewis said:


> I remember talk that Matt's ML slipped over on stage and the whole headstock came off.



In case someone hasn't seen this...


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## theicon2125 (Nov 16, 2018)

Kaura said:


> In case someone hasn't seen this...




Yikes. Was that just held on with scotch tape and a dream? It didn't even fall on the back where you would think the shock would hurt the tilted part of the neck/headstock.


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## Seabeast2000 (Nov 16, 2018)

Those aren't broken headstocks. They are the Sad Wings of Destiny.


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## dr_game0ver (Nov 16, 2018)

...If you type "Ibanez broken headstock" on google you will find the same results...


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## Albake21 (Nov 16, 2018)

dr_game0ver said:


> ...If you type "Ibanez broken headstock" on google you will find the same results...


You're going to get that with literally any company since that's how google works and you are actively seeking it...


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## Bdtunn (Nov 16, 2018)

I’ve owned three deans and had to send three deans back for full refunds.....


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## guitaardvark (Nov 16, 2018)

lewis said:


> Dean guitars.
> 
> absolutely garbage. I used the explosion razorback in my first band to record, I personally had a Dean V with flames all over it (including gaudy flame inlays)
> 
> ...


I've always been curious what a high end Dean feels like since I've only seen absolute garbage from the company. My sister has a Dean Custom Zone in hot pink which is bar none the single worst guitar I've ever played. She actually forgot to take it with her when she moved out which speaks volumes.


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## narad (Nov 17, 2018)

Albake21 said:


> You're going to get that with literally any company since that's how google works and you are actively seeking it...



That's what he's saying ;-)


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## KnightBrolaire (Nov 17, 2018)

i think dean is one of those companies like bc rich where they flooded the import market with piss poor quality guitars and basically turned multiple generations of guitar players off to the idea of ever touching another dean. They also make some of the dumbest fucking designs to grace the guitar world since bernie rico was still alive *cough* razorback*cough*


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## lewis (Nov 17, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> i think dean is one of those companies like bc rich where they flooded the import market with piss poor quality guitars and basically turned multiple generations of guitar players off to the idea of ever touching another dean. They also make some of the dumbest fucking designs to grace the guitar world since bernie rico was still alive *cough* *razorback**cough*



I mean Dimebag created that rather than Dean for his own sig line. And im not going to take anything away from him even if Dean are garbage.

Their execution should have been better though. Also, I am almost certain Dimebag would not still be using Dean guitars now if still alive. They are just shit.


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## KnightBrolaire (Nov 17, 2018)

lewis said:


> I mean Dimebag created that rather than Dean for his own sig line. And im not going to take anything away from him even if Dean are garbage.
> 
> Their execution should have been better though. Also, I am almost certain Dimebag would not still be using Dean guitars now if still alive. They are just shit.


there's other examples from dean that are horrible imo (cadillac, ML, splittail). My issue more stems from their stupid headstock and their over reliance on the ML/dime shapes for their import lineup. They have just about every possible variation of those 2 models and flooded the market with shit quality import guitars, just like BC rich did with shitty warlocks/beasts/ironbird imports.


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## lewis (Nov 17, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> there's other examples from dean that are horrible imo (cadillac, ML, splittail). My issue more stems from their stupid headstock and their over reliance on the ML/dime shapes for their import lineup. They have just about every possible variation of those 2 models and flooded the market with shit quality import guitars, just like BC rich did with shitty warlocks/beasts/ironbird imports.


well said.
The only thing shape wise even dumber than both that Ive seen is Moser.
I remember the Vendetta series showing promise as a sort of Schecter type looking guitar, then they slapped terrible graphics all over them and ruined them completely.

EDIT:









They seem like midlife crisis "biker dad" type guitars now.

EDIT 2: skull knobs /\ HAHAHA


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## KnightBrolaire (Nov 17, 2018)

lewis said:


> well said.
> The only thing shape wise even dumber than both that Ive seen is Moser.
> I remember the Vendetta series showing promise as a sort of Schecter type looking guitar, then they slapped terrible graphics all over them and ruined them completely.
> 
> ...


the new guitars by ed hardy line.


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## Edika (Nov 17, 2018)

I was really intothe Dean Angel of Deth guitar. I managed to try one of theor VMNT non graphic models in a shop and was thoroughly unimpressed. Of course the guy did plug it in a Line 6 spider so I couldn't tell how the Livewire pickups sounded. The guitar felt cheap and unispiring though.

Thinking about the guitars that had gone through my hands, I got a Ravenwest LP type with a carved top. Suppossedly macassar ebony frerboard but it looked suspiciously like rosewood. The lightest mahogany body that managed to neckdive a 24.75' guitar. Pickups were decent and the instrument not bad for what I paid. But I think if I went for an Agile LP with similar cost back then I would have got a better guitar as the Ravenwest felt cheap.

The Carvin DC747 I used to have wasn't what I expected in terms of sound. I couldn't get the low B to sound right no matter what I tried. I swapped pickups to a Dimarzio D-Sonic 7 and AirNorton 7 that helped a lot. But the low B either sound boomy and undefined or scratchy and thin depending on how I EQ'd my amp. Probably using a a Triple Rec without a boost wasn't helping but I was quite naive back then. It was a great in terma of playability and comfort though. And it looked killer. I regret selling it and would buy it back if I found the current owner was selling it.


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## elkoki (Nov 17, 2018)

For the longest time I had wanted an Ibanez RG Prestige or just some sort of Ibanez Prestige super strat. I have been a long time fan of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai..... I finally got a Prestige a few months back, I was so excited, but come to realize that they're not really for me. This guitar is so well made, the frets are great, great trem, lightweight body... But something about it for me just isn't very inspiring... It has the classic RG tone, but i've come to realize i'm not really fan of that tone and it doesn't really suit what I play most of the time. I will probably sell it off soon and get something different.


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## diagrammatiks (Nov 17, 2018)

Ormsby. 

my Goliath was just drunk
piss poor customer service
banned from ever buying another

I guess that's a win for me.


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## RiksRiks (Nov 18, 2018)

Flappydoodle said:


> Haha, maybe! Never played a Suhr actually.
> 
> The biggest disappointment for me I already mentioned - Mayones. Seems as if you really like them, so maybe worth saving up for



You know something, I just went to the esp custom shop here in Osaka and they had a Regius that I played, and I was horrendously underwhelmed, by far my less exciting experience with one. Next thing you'll know is that I bought a Caparison or something lol.
On the other side I played a EBMM JP something and it was pretty good in general.
Finally, I also played an ESP Original series snapper and meh, for the price I'd rather buy something else (about 360k yen?) 
So yes, always try to try guitars before you buy them!


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## Alex79 (Nov 18, 2018)

You will always find the odd "bad apple" with every manufacturer, but I have heard a lot of bad things about the Dean import guitars as well. Their US stuff seems to be better.


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## NotDonVito (Nov 18, 2018)

Kaura said:


> Only one that I've kinda had problems was my Fender Jim Root Tele. Nothing really wrong with the guitar itself. I was just too stupid to set it up correctly so it always played kinda wonky. Also, not really a fan of the combination of mahogany and EMGs. It sounded pretty dark and flat. Great for speed metal, probably but I mostly played some metalcore on it and it didn't have the crunch I was going for at the time.


Dude my old Schecter C7 had a mahogany body and neck with an EMG 707 in the bridge. Every chug was a wet fart of disappointment.


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## Ordacleaphobia (Nov 19, 2018)

diagrammatiks said:


> Ormsby.
> 
> my Goliath was just drunk
> piss poor customer service
> ...



Wow, they actually banned you from the books?
That must have been a spicy phone call


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## diagrammatiks (Nov 19, 2018)

Ordacleaphobia said:


> Wow, they actually banned you from the books?
> That must have been a spicy phone call



You can look up my thread there was no phone call or really any communication of any kind. Returned the guitar. Kicked out of the Facebook group.


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## crowbar1115 (Dec 1, 2018)

I wanted a USA Custom Shop BC Rich 7 String Virgin in Purple for years!! Then by magic that exact guitar showed up on eBay and it was signed by Kerry King!!

I owned it for a total of 10 days. It was a gorgeous, unplayable hunk of absolute trash with the least sustain of any guitar I've ever owned. It even smelled awful. Haha


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## odibrom (Dec 1, 2018)

EDIT: sorry, never mind... carry on...


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## Lepinkäinen (Dec 6, 2018)

My first PRS Custom 24. Everything was perfect except it had total deadspot at G-string octave and same note at B-string was harmonic overtone only. Sometimes woods just don't resonate. Learned valuable lesson that even high-end stuff is subject to variance in material. Now I always test hi-gain sustain on every note slowly in addition to random noodling.


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## Velokki (Dec 6, 2018)

Lepinkäinen said:


> Now I always test hi-gain sustain on every note slowly in addition to random noodling.


This is great advice.

Scientifically though, should every note ring as long and as loud as another? Or is it physics that, for example, the fret 14 on the high E string shouldn't resonate nearly as much as for example, the 5th fret on the A string?


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## cwhitey2 (Dec 6, 2018)

Velokki said:


> This is great advice.
> 
> Scientifically though, should every note ring as long and as loud as another? Or is it physics that, for example, the fret 14 on the high E string shouldn't resonate nearly as much as for example, the 5th fret on the A string?


 The shorter the length the less continuous motion/ vibration an object can have.

#notascientist


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## Flappydoodle (Dec 6, 2018)

Just an FYI, artists like Mustaine and Amott aren't *actually* playing the shitty signature guitars that are for sale...


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## Lepinkäinen (Dec 9, 2018)

Velokki said:


> This is great advice.
> 
> Scientifically though, should every note ring as long and as loud as another? Or is it physics that, for example, the fret 14 on the high E string shouldn't resonate nearly as much as for example, the 5th fret on the A string?



I'm don’t know about physics in this subject, but wood is inconsistent material and different notes sustain differently even on guitars that have no obvius deadspots, still some notes sound better than others on almost any guitar.

Easy way to find out if the note is deadspot is to push guitar neck gently directly against wall. That will change the resonance of the neck and suddenly note rings differently.

And of course notes from way different position sound different, I'm talking about notes close to each other on fretboard that can have massive difference.


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 9, 2018)

Flappydoodle said:


> Just an FYI, artists like Mustaine and Amott aren't *actually* playing the shitty signature guitars that are for sale...



Not sure what Amott is using now exactly, but when Carcass was going out on their first reunion tour I bought the expensive backstage/side stage package and was able to see both his and Steer's guitars up close. 

Half of Amott's were just Korean built Deans. He had a few USA ones, but half the show he used a MIK Schenker black and white V. 

Steer had a couple of ESPs, but also a few LTDs. All Eclipse II/EC1000 Vintage models.


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## mpexus (Dec 9, 2018)

Eric from Testament said he prefers the Sig Korean Import to the Custom Shop he has... He says its sounds better to him. Cant find the interview now.


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## laxu (Dec 9, 2018)

Velokki said:


> Funny thing that people are mentioning the PRS Holcomb.
> ...And based on a hundred accounts from different people, the nut must be the worst nut ever put into a guitar of that price range.
> Gladly I could return it.
> 
> Also, I had a PRS SE Custom 24, which had amazing pickups, but the nut was horrible there as well.



Cheap nut has been a staple of pretty much every cheaper guitar for as long as I have been playing. Thankfully it's also a cheap thing to upgrade to bone or Graphtech, even the preslotted ones will usually fit very well.

So I would not rule a guitar out just based on that, I fully expected cheaper guitars to need some work. As long as they don't need to have the frets leveled right out of the box then it's acceptable for the money saved.

As for Dean, I had a MIK Dean EVO doubleneck that sounded great and played but of course was an unwieldy beast. Stupid purchase but I genuinely liked the guitar. Thought about cutting it in half and building two guitars out of it. Should have done that instead of selling it.

The old Czech made Dean EVOs were also really good. I also really liked the aesthetics of the Dean Hardtail but could never find neither the US or MIK version to try.


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## Bdtunn (Dec 9, 2018)

mpexus said:


> Eric from Testament said he prefers the Sig Korean Import to the Custom Shop he has... He says its sounds better to him. Cant find the interview now.



Willey g (Mustaine’s tech) said he takes a few Korean models on the road as he finds them lighter. 
Butttttt personally I’m not sold that they are really telling the truth. It’s a great add to sell that level guitar. Buttttt that’s just my opinion.


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 9, 2018)

Bdtunn said:


> Willey g (Mustaine’s tech) said he takes a few Korean models on the road as he finds them lighter.
> Butttttt personally I’m not sold that they are really telling the truth. It’s a great add to sell that level guitar. Buttttt that’s just my opinion.



It's not really a new concept, taking cheaper guitars on the road. 

Steve Vai would take a number of RG350 and RG450 models on the road to thrash and give away or donate. Satch would do the same. Or all the touring artists who take LTDs on the road instead of ESPs.

You don't need some super high end guitar to play a show. If anything it's better to subject something more disposable to the risks of the road. Especially when you have your own tech to set them up and a rack full of backups in case something doesn't work. 

Most artists who came to fame before the 00's cut their teeth playing guitars that, compared to even entry-level stuff today, was pretty awful.


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## Bdtunn (Dec 9, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> It's not really a new concept, taking cheaper guitars on the road.
> 
> Steve Vai would take a number of RG350 and RG450 models on the road to thrash and give away or donate. Satch would do the same. Or all the touring artists who take LTDs on the road instead of ESPs.
> 
> ...



I should have said if they do I’m sure their tech has hot rodded the living hell out of them. I’ve had a Mustaine dean and it fell apart (like actually fell apart hahaha....but seriously it did)
Same way Hammett used to beat the hell out of the Ibanez back in the black album days. 
Thinking it over I’m pretty wrong with my above post haha weird someone on this forum admitting that


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 9, 2018)

Bdtunn said:


> I should have said if they do I’m sure their tech has hot rodded the living hell out of them. I’ve had a Mustaine dean and it fell apart (like actually fell apart hahaha....but seriously it did)
> Same way Hammett used to beat the hell out of the Ibanez back in the black album days.
> Thinking it over I’m pretty wrong with my above post haha weird someone on this forum admitting that



If "hot rodded the living hell out of" means, a good setup, then yes. 

I'm sure they pick the better examples, they're not just buying blind on Amazon or going into some random Guitar Center in Ohio. But it's not like they need something special to belt out a couple of tracks they've been playing for 25+ years live.


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## Flappydoodle (Dec 10, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Not sure what Amott is using now exactly, but when Carcass was going out on their first reunion tour I bought the expensive backstage/side stage package and was able to see both his and Steer's guitars up close.
> 
> Half of Amott's were just Korean built Deans. He had a few USA ones, but half the show he used a MIK Schenker black and white V.
> 
> Steer had a couple of ESPs, but also a few LTDs. All Eclipse II/EC1000 Vintage models.





MaxOfMetal said:


> If "hot rodded the living hell out of" means, a good setup, then yes.
> 
> I'm sure they pick the better examples, they're not just buying blind on Amazon or going into some random Guitar Center in Ohio. But it's not like they need something special to belt out a couple of tracks they've been playing for 25+ years live.



I'm being even more direct than that. I have it on VERY good authority from an artist with a big guitar manufacturer. They make a guitar in the custom shop and slap an LTD/SE/etc logo on it. Can't say much more than that.


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## Velokki (Dec 10, 2018)

Flappydoodle said:


> I'm being even more direct than that. I have it on VERY good authority from an artist with a big guitar manufacturer. They make a guitar in the custom shop and slap an LTD/SE/etc logo on it. Can't say much more than that.


That's the reality I expected, but not one I wanted to hear!


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## fitroturbo (Dec 14, 2018)

For me it was a JACKSON SLSMG MIJ,wanted one for the longest time (6-7years)finaly find one this year for 300$ CAD and just never felt it ,sounds really good ,but the neck profile was not weath i was used with other MIJ JACKSONa little to thick for my taste


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## vilk (Dec 14, 2018)

fitroturbo said:


> For me it was a JACKSON SLSMG MIJ,wanted one for the longest time (6-7years)finaly find one this year for 300$ CAD and just never felt it ,sounds really good ,but the neck profile was not weath i was used with other MIJ JACKSONa little to thick for my taste



Same thing happened to me. I had a DKMG Dinky that I loved until it was stolen, then years later I got the SLSMG assuming that it would have a similar feel to the neck, but it's not even close. When you look up the differences between a dinky and a soloist, usually all you see is the glaringly obvious bolt on vs neck-thru, maybe someone talking about how the dinky body is 7/8 the size of a soloist, but I had never realized that their necks are totally different shapes. My SLSMG neck profile was super "shouldery".


Just curious is anyone knows, is that the way all soloists will feel as compared to a dinky? Are they like officially different neck profiles? Because I love my dinky but I also love a neck-thru guitar, so I always see soloists and think _I want that!!_ but then I remember that it might not be anything like my Japanese dinky...


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 14, 2018)

vilk said:


> Same thing happened to me. I had a DKMG Dinky that I loved until it was stolen, then years later I got the SLSMG assuming that it would have a similar feel to the neck, but it's not even close. When you look up the differences between a dinky and a soloist, usually all you see is the glaringly obvious bolt on vs neck-thru, maybe someone talking about how the dinky body is 7/8 the size of a soloist, but I had never realized that their necks are totally different shapes. My SLSMG neck profile was super "shouldery".
> 
> 
> Just curious is anyone knows, is that the way all soloists will feel as compared to a dinky? Are they like officially different neck profiles? Because I love my dinky but I also love a neck-thru guitar, so I always see soloists and think _I want that!!_ but then I remember that it might not be anything like my Japanese dinky...



Just about every Dinky I've encountered has had a thinner neck than nearly every Soloist I've had my hands on. 

There are exceptions, especially when speaking of older USA Soloists and some of the cheaper Dinkys which tend to flip that dynamic around.


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## fitroturbo (Dec 14, 2018)

I'm use to the older MIJ dinky neck ,early to mid 90's ,really thin and wide .ID say that the newer SOLIST are an in between of the DINKY'S and THE SLSMG as neck thicknes,to me that is


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## TunedToB (Dec 18, 2018)

Around 8 years ago I was in college and came across a BC Rich Exotic Series Mockingbird for a steal price. Me being the "buy now, think later" college student that I was, I bought it with the intent of making it my main Drop C guitar.

Boy, did it look goooood with its spalted maple top and (I believe) 13-piece neck-through neck. But I quickly learned it played like ass and was riddled with lots of really bad problems like a warped neck, faulty wiring, and the WORST fret and nut job I've ever experienced in a guitar. Shame, coz it actually sounded really thick and chunky but I couldn't get rid of it fast enough.


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## MrBouleDeBowling (Dec 22, 2018)

My Dean Razorback V 255. I was 17, it was the most badass guitar I had ever seen and HAD to get it. I had to sell a lot of my gear to be able to afford it.

I got ripped off. The paintjob was an absolute mess and had waves formed under it. I don't get how a guitar like that could pass quality control. The guys that worked there must have been drunk or something. The soft V neck took time to get used to. It played good but became really unconfortable after an injury to the left index finger that never healed right. The licensed Floyd Rose was a disaster to maintain. I got it blocked. I should've got a refund at day 1, but the dumbass 17 year old that I was wanted to keep it no matter what.

I always had a soft spot for it nonetheless because out of any guitar I have ever owned, it was by far the one that sounded the best. To this day, none of the guitars I bought since could beat it. My ESP EX is close, tho.

I sold it last year. I "kinda" miss it because of the nostalgia and the tone it had, but every guitar I own now plays a hundred times better and had an almost flawless quality control.


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## ThePhilosopher (Dec 22, 2018)

The old Jackson DR7 always had a cheap feel to it.


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## Mega-Mads (Dec 23, 2018)

I absolutely love superstrats and i've owned several. There's just a thing about them combined with my anatomy, which gives me pain in my picking-arms elbow.


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## mlp187 (Dec 23, 2018)

An original RG550, a long tine ago when i was young and even more ignorant. It was probably my fault. The neck would move quite a bit, and i never checked anything other than the mounting screws being tight. I sold it. 

On the flip side, i recently played a used RG1XXV, expected it to be garbage. I took it home and it’s now my primary six string, and set the bar for playability for new acquisitions.


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## jl-austin (Dec 23, 2018)

Godin Redline, the body just isn't comfortable. Back to Ibanez.


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## canuck brian (Dec 26, 2018)

My steinberger GM felt like a lifeless rock.


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## Velokki (May 5, 2020)

Let's revive this thread shall we?

I'll start with my ESP SV II. The one from 08 with the golden hardware and all? I bought one of those in serious GAS... aand meh. Floyd was stiff and uncomfortable, even though I changed the springs to much lighter ones and dropped the string gauge. The neck was also way fatter than I expected. I like fatter style necks, but it was just not comfy to play, especially on the higher register. Aaaaaand it's a V... so forget the comforts of a superstrat.

Sold it forward a month later :/


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## mpexus (May 5, 2020)

Have a cheap Wolfgang Standard HT that cost me new 280€ and I totally felt in love with the Neck, Pickups and all the Ergonomic attached to it. Always wanted a Bumblebee so when I saw the Bumblebee Wolfgang Special Hard tail at a store I asked to try it out and was ready to take it home. What a disappointment... Neck is much fatter and the lack of contours on the Body makes it a nightmare for me and Im not even a fat person... I was so let down even my wife noted 

In fact from that day on guitars without a belly cut are a no no to me, then add not having an Arm rest and...


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## The Mirror (May 5, 2020)

Got one.

As some may know around here I am pretty much a PRS only player for at least 10 years now.

Thing is that with my metal band I play usually in Open C (on 6 String) and Bb tuning (on 7 string), so I though: Well fuck it. Imma gonna get myself the PRS 277.

The logic was clear for me. I play almost exclusively in baritone range anyways and I really don't need the top string of my 7 that often (We don't really do many solos and if they exist then it is always possible to transcribe them without the top string). Getting one (or even two) baritones should help with tension.

Turns out that the guitar is fantastic. I just hate baritone scales. Longest guitar I own has a 26.5 scale and as I found out that is as high as I can go without feeling uncomfortable.

I tried it for 3 months but it never felt in any way good playing the thing. I went back to a 25.5 6 string and a 26.5 7 string and I do perfectly fine with that.

In the end it turned out great nevertheless: The second guitar player in my band was formerly a bass player. He absolutely loves the baritone as regular guitars still feel tiny to him. Gave him the thing for a nice discount. Win-Win.


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## Alex79 (May 5, 2020)

Mega-Mads said:


> I absolutely love superstrats and i've owned several. There's just a thing about them combined with my anatomy, which gives me pain in my picking-arms elbow.



Me as well! I had an Ibanez RG550 and a ESP Vintage Plus. Both are fine to play while sitting, but a pain when standing.


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## Choop (May 5, 2020)

I used to own a couple Gibson LP studios, and eventually picked up an LP Traditional thinking I would like it more than the studios, but it turned out that playing it just made me miss the old studios more haha. The neck profile wasn't as nice for me, the pickups weren't as usable for the kind of stuff I play, and honestly I like the weight relieved feel of the studio. I guess it was mostly disappointing because the guitar didn't really play or sound like a guitar that costs twice as much as the studios it replaced, even if it was still a relatively nice guitar.


----------



## Carl Kolchak (May 5, 2020)

MIJ Prestige.


----------



## mbardu (May 5, 2020)

Carl Kolchak said:


> MIJ Prestige.



Dude, this is SSO, do you want to get banned


----------



## Metropolis (May 5, 2020)

Carl Kolchak said:


> MIJ Prestige.



Why, and which model? I get always back to Ibanez, don't know what it is. Maybe it's just some weird familiar feeling, ergonomy and weight that fits to my hands, and I like their snappy tone which is due to bolt on neck. 17" neck radius is easy to shred on, but not as comfy in low register. My RGR652 is just a simple straight forward metal machine with DiMarzio D Activators.

Solar A2.6 was bit of a disappointment. Bridge was meh, fretboard wood had still moisture and shrunk against frets, which led to small cracks in it. Didn't care the neck shape too much, which was also little bit too thick for me. At least more expensive models have better hardware and Hipshot hardtail should be a drop in replacement. Weight and balance were not too good for me, overall finish was fine for the price. Maybe @Ola Englund should release some models with different neck profile...


----------



## Carl Kolchak (May 5, 2020)

Metropolis said:


> Why, and which model? I get always back to Ibanez, don't know what it is. Maybe it's just some weird familiar feeling, ergonomy and weight that fits to my hands, and I like their snappy tone which is due to bolt on neck. 17" neck radius is easy to shred on, but not as comfy in low register. My RGR652 is just a simple straight forward metal machine with DiMarzio D Activators.
> 
> Solar A2.6 was bit of a disappointment. Bridge was meh, fretboard wood had still moisture and shrunk against frets, which led to small cracks in it. Didn't care the neck shape too much, which was also little bit too thick for me. At least more expensive models have better hardware and Hipshot hardtail should be a drop in replacement. Weight and balance were not too good for me, overall finish was fine for the price. Maybe @Ola Englund should release some models with different neck profile...


https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/ibanez-rg5328-total-failure-disappointment.341767/


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## Cabinet (May 5, 2020)

Ibanez RG Prestige 3770z (MIJ). It was my first big budget guitar I got around 2010. Great hardware, but I was not impressed with the basswood body/rosewood fret board combination. At the time, I did not know enough about wood types to accurately assess how it might have sounded, so buyer error was very real. Additionally, the paint has scratched off over the years with my playing (on the back, where it rests against my body) and the wood has been exposed.


----------



## jboroff (May 5, 2020)

Gibson Explorer (muddy sounding), Gibson SG, (thin and weak sounding) and as much as it pains me to say it because it is an absolute work of art, my Mayones Regius. Someone mentioned it earlier but the neck profile doesn't work very well for me. Otherwise it is a beast.


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## Metropolis (May 5, 2020)

Carl Kolchak said:


> https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/ibanez-rg5328-total-failure-disappointment.341767/



That's a combination of bad consumer experience and probably so called lemon. Quality control failed in couple of things at some point and it happens even when guitar costs nearly two grand. What I've seen and played more recent Prestige models none of them had sharp fret ends or anything other negative to say about them. If you like it otherwise send it back and get another one. In my opinion you should get almost perfect instrument in that price range.


----------



## Edika (May 5, 2020)

I've read several posts mentioning the Gibson Explorer as muddy sounding. The Gothic Explorer I have is anything but muddy. It is not the brightest sounding guitar but clarity is not a issue. The 500T makes the guitar sound like a sledge hammer and for sure it's not the most articulate pickup but it's not muddy. I did try a set of Black Winters which were clearer but I preferred the sound of the Gibson pickups. I have only played another Gothic years back which sounded equally great, a Voodoo which first made me interested in Explorers and a regular model which did sounded warmer but not muddy. Anyway I'm not discounting other people's experiences but muddy and Explorer have not been my experience so far.

EDIT: One thing I see mentioned several times is neck profile and I did have that issue in the past. Now I have guitars of various profiles from a Gibson 50's baseball but to an Ibanez wizard neck. No issues playing any of them but the Gibson neck does fight me back a bit more. I have jumbo frets, vintage frets, medium jumbo and various sizes. Can't really tell the difference anymore. The longer you play guitar and the more you vary the profiles the easier it is to get used to different profiles and not being trapped to being only to play one type of neck and frets.


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## Merrekof (May 5, 2020)

Ibanez RG2077xl.

Jumped on it the very minute I saw it online, put some better pickups in it but I never really liked the 27" neck.


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## KnightBrolaire (May 5, 2020)

mbardu said:


> Dude, this is SSO, do you want to get banned


only applies to USED prestiges tho


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## Carl Kolchak (May 5, 2020)

Metropolis said:


> That's a combination of bad consumer experience and probably so called lemon. Quality control failed in couple of things at some point and it happens even when guitar costs nearly two grand. What I've seen and played more recent Prestige models none of them had sharp fret ends or anything other negative to say about them. If you like it otherwise send it back and get another one. In my opinion you should get almost perfect instrument in that price range.


Great! I won Jap lemon lottery! I feel special now.


----------



## Matt08642 (May 5, 2020)

I've been "meh" about my Fender Player series Strat for a bit now, but I don't think its a knock on the guitar, more just that I don't vibe with single coils right now


----------



## High Plains Drifter (May 6, 2020)

Prestige RG752FX and Kiesel UltraV-7. Had high hopes for both but could never gel with either. Sold them both and have never missed them since.


----------



## Musiscience (May 6, 2020)

Merrekof said:


> Ibanez RG2077xl.
> 
> Jumped on it the very minute I saw it online, put some better pickups in it but I never really liked the 27" neck.



This exact same thing happened to me with a RGD2127FX and a Schecter KM7. Great guitars, nothing wrong at all with the QC or quality, but just couldn't get along with the 26.5 inch scale length. I guess this is just something that you either like or don't and if you don't there is no getting used to it.


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## Matt08642 (May 7, 2020)

High Plains Drifter said:


> Prestige RG752FX and Kiesel UltraV-7. Had high hopes for both but could never gel with either. Sold them both and have never missed them since.



My 752FX was also something I was really let down by till I got the frets leveled and set it up the way it was meant to be + Put the original PAF7 in the bridge position. Spent a while trying other pickups (Crunchlab, Titan) and hated how they sounded in it, but the PAF7 (which I never even gave a chance) works really well with it


----------



## bostjan (May 7, 2020)

Sort of along these lines, when I first saw the Schecter Avenger 7 string, I thought it looked super cool and, at that time, any 7 that wasn't a superstrat was a big deal for me. But then I picked one up off a store shelf and it had that weird V-shaped neck...


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## dmlinger (May 7, 2020)

I always wanted the Gambale Ibanez sig. Scored a FG100DY in excellent condition a few years ago. Amazing guitar but couldn’t vibe with the tiny frets. Sold it for a small profit and never regretted it.


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## High Plains Drifter (May 7, 2020)

Matt08642 said:


> My 752FX was also something I was really let down by till I got the frets leveled and set it up the way it was meant to be + Put the original PAF7 in the bridge position. Spent a while trying other pickups (Crunchlab, Titan) and hated how they sounded in it, but the PAF7 (which I never even gave a chance) works really well with it



With me it was pretty much the neck shape and feel. I've got or have had at least a dozen 7's and even though the Ibby set-up was pretty decent outta the box, I just never jived with it. It was a decent guitar for the money but maybe I thought that a MIJ guitar would have some kind of magical feel to it... and it just didn't. I've been much more impressed with the necks and fretwork on my Schecter, Jackson, ESP/ LTD, and Carvin sevens.


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## mbardu (May 7, 2020)

Throughout all my youth, the PRS Custom 24 was always the guitar I was dreaming of.
But it turns out I don't really like them after all. Not really there in cleans like a strat or superstrat. Not mellow or warm like a short scale guitar. Sticky necks with "meh" profiles.

Now, since the ~2015, they're going in a direction that I appreciate more, plus i do love some "special models" like rosewood neck builds or McCarty thickness models; not to mention non Cu PRS guitars blike the SC58 or P245. But the "basic" PRS Cu24s of the 2000s were a huge disappointment for me (even after trying quite a few). So much anticipation, loved the look, loved the idea of it. But the guitar themselves were neither here nor there, and I actually prefer a good 25 inch scale Carvin over those.


----------



## Charlie Foxtrot 3rd (May 8, 2020)

Charvel pro mod san dimas style 2-7 okoume, looks killer sounds average. And the finish just flakes off if you breathe in its general direction, refuses to stay in tune. Pretty disappointed


----------



## BornToLooze (May 8, 2020)

My dad bought me a Gibson Les Paul for a Xmas present my senior year of high school. It was originally going to be a Les Paul Studio, but I wound up playing every Gibson Guitar Center had, and I clicked with a Standard. It had some issues that would make some people have an aneurysm when it comes to a $2500 guitar, but it was the one, it was worth just fixing the issues.

Pretty much every guitar I've gotten since that one, from $100 LTD to custom shop ESP and Charvel has been a disappointment. For the most part, they've all been great guitars, they just don't measure up.






Edika said:


> EDIT: One thing I see mentioned several times is neck profile and I did have that issue in the past. Now I have guitars of various profiles from a Gibson 50's baseball but to an Ibanez wizard neck. No issues playing any of them but the Gibson neck does fight me back a bit more. I have jumbo frets, vintage frets, medium jumbo and various sizes. Can't really tell the difference anymore. The longer you play guitar and the more you vary the profiles the easier it is to get used to different profiles and not being trapped to being only to play one type of neck and frets.



Then only thing that really bothers me much anymore on guitars is where the controls are. Like my Whitey Charvel, the volume is where the first tone knob is on a Strat, which is honestly so much of a better spot, but it's such a Straty feeling guitar, I expect the volume to be in the same spot as every other Strat.


----------



## broj15 (May 8, 2020)

Honestly, every 7 string guitar I've ever owned. I've tried everything from prestiges to low end jacksons & ltd's and pretty much everything in between, and a myriad of specs and I've never found one that made me wanna leave behind my sixers. That definitely has more to do with me than it does any of the guitars I've owned though. Even with that in mind I've still caught my finger hovering over the add to cart button on a few 7 string guitars.

Edit: It's not even a playability issue for me either. Other than an old ('06/'07 iirc) schecter C7 hellraiser with it's giant baseball bat neck they all played pretty good and felt comfortable, but I feel like when it comes to actually writing music I can be way more creative without the extra string.


----------



## FedericoTeti (Jun 12, 2020)

I saw this and I had to comment. The biggest disappointment for me is my strandberg neck thru boden 6 trans.

Feels cheap, I dont know. I bought aftewards a harley benton (GG copy) and feels higher quality. Then I got a Ibanez AZ 2404 and it feels like the strandberg should feel. 

I think I used about 2 times (1 hour tops) and the screw in the whammy bar cut inside. Very disappointing considering I paid 3k for this guitar (and it´s indonesia made... go figure)


----------



## Thaeon (Jun 12, 2020)

EBMM JP7. It was fast. Playable. Sounded unreal. Neck was WAY too thin.


----------



## USMarine75 (Jun 12, 2020)

LTD KS-M7. 

Not the fault of the guitar per se.

MusiciansFriend sent me one that looked like it had been on tour with Unearth. It was beat, the Evertune was jacked up, and the action was stupidly high. It either ships with super heavy gauge strings or the previous "owner for 44 days" restrung it. I got the feeling someone messed with the Evertune, jacked it up, and then returned it. There was so much wear on the parts and scuffs on the body and pickguard.

I set up an exchange but then ended up canceling the new one that was back ordered after a couple months of waiting because something else came up. Shame because I only paid $1199 new and now they're $1599.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Jun 12, 2020)

USMarine75 said:


> LTD KS-M7.
> 
> Not the fault of the guitar per se.
> 
> ...



MF pretty much admits that all they do is make sure it's pretty much the right instrument before sending out open box stuff.


----------



## USMarine75 (Jun 12, 2020)

MaxOfMetal said:


> MF pretty much admits that all they do is make sure it's pretty much the right instrument before sending out open box stuff.



Except it was supposed to be brand new. 

And yeah I've gotten some absolute scores from them over the years. I actually assumed there was a scam going where they would mark mint returns as tier 2 or 3 when it was just a return (tier 1) so one of their friends or they could buy a new item at a huge discount. I bought a tier 2 Engl FB100 for $1300 when they were $1799 and it came in original box, wrapped in the factory plastic bag, none of the styrofoam was damaged, and it had the book and spare new 12AX7 tube. I also got a JEM77VBK for $1399 when they were $2199 (iirc). The only issue was the case smelled like cat pee haha.


----------



## protest (Jun 12, 2020)

The biggest disappointment for me was the Majesty. Basically a perfect guitar...except the neck profile cramped my hand. I was thinking about just getting a new hand.


----------



## Albake21 (Jun 12, 2020)

protest said:


> The biggest disappointment for me was the Majesty. Basically a perfect guitar...except the neck profile cramped my hand. I was thinking about just getting a new hand.


That was exactly my experience with my JP16. Loved literally everything about it, but my hands just weren't having it. I fought with myself for so long about selling it until eventually I gave in. Still miss it haha


----------



## jco5055 (Jun 12, 2020)

protest said:


> The biggest disappointment for me was the Majesty. Basically a perfect guitar...except the neck profile cramped my hand. I was thinking about just getting a new hand.



yeah i didn't have cramping but the neck is pretty thin, I think I may need a thicker neck because I've had some issues with my Aristides 070SR neck wise and it seems pretty thin to me.


----------



## oracles (Jun 12, 2020)

Every iteration of the JP I've played has felt like a child's toy. A well built one, but a toy none the less. They've always felt undersized and the neck profile and I absolutely don't get along.


----------



## Disappear_85 (Jun 12, 2020)

For me t was the Edwards EX 125 D, based n the ESP MX 250 explorer. it was very light weigh, it felt like a plastic toy.
the finish was open grain kinda finish, the clear coat was satin butit was too thin, it started to flake and fall away. the light weight body wood gets damaged and gouged easily and caused the neck to dive.
Sounded decent with actives, but didn't like it with passives.

Sorry for my Bad English.


----------



## eaeolian (Jun 12, 2020)

Leviathus said:


> Lol, i don't think anyone is, they're few and far between to say the least...



People who swear that 22nd fret changes the tone are literally the only ones. They are all insane - Fender doesn't even move the neck pickups!


----------



## eaeolian (Jun 12, 2020)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Just about every Caparison I've owned or played.
> 
> Around 2004 I was kinda bored with Ibanez. I thought about moving a few UVs and had my mind set on a Dellinger 7. I bought two of them. Huge mistake! The fit and finish was okay at best, the fretwork was solid, but no better than an off the shelf RG1550. They didn't sound very good either. I spent a wad of cash on new pickups and put a lot of time in on the bench getting them to play like the almost $2800 guitars they were at the time, remember this was early 00's. I wound up trading them off, would of lost my shirt if I sold them. Really soured me on the brand. I've played more since and despite a couple artist models they've never spoken to me.



Seriously. I don't get the love. Henrik from Evergrey had *one* I thought was great. Otherwise, I have no idea what the hype is about. I've owned several much better Japanese Jacksons.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Jun 12, 2020)

eaeolian said:


> Seriously. I don't get the love. Henrik from Evergrey had *one* I thought was great. Otherwise, I have no idea what the hype is about. I've owned several much better Japanese Jacksons.



Yeah, I think it was just to have something "different" back then. They did look badass. The headstock is great, finish options were awesome, the clocks are cool, and 27 frets has its novelty. Back when Dellingers were $1200 it wasn't bad, but it's like overnight they doubled in price without any quality gains. 

Recent ones have been much better, especially after the buyout/rebirth, but they're still crazy overpriced by the time you get to the good stuff.


----------



## kerryymm (Jun 15, 2020)

Gibson Les Paul Voodoo... I saw it when they first launched it and thought it looked so cool... fast forward a good few years, and I scored one for a good price on eBay.

First disappointment: opened the case and it looked really plasticky - like a piece of something made to look like open-pore swamp ash, rather than actual swamp ash.

Used it for a gig, and couldn't get on with the control layout: I was using LTD EC1000s at the time, so I was used to 3 knobs, not 4. Sounds silly, but it was just an annoyance. All in all, I decided that I'd rather use my LTDs, so the Voodoo went back on eBay. There was a happy ending though: it's one of the only two guitars I've ever sold and made money on


----------



## AkiraSpectrum (Jun 15, 2020)

kerryymm said:


> Gibson Les Paul Voodoo... I saw it when they first launched it and thought it looked so cool... fast forward a good few years, and I scored one for a good price on eBay.
> 
> First disappointment: opened the case and it looked really plasticky - like a piece of something made to look like open-pore swamp ash, rather than actual swamp ash.
> 
> Used it for a gig, and couldn't get on with the control layout: I was using LTD EC1000s at the time, so I was used to 3 knobs, not 4. Sounds silly, but it was just an annoyance. All in all, I decided that I'd rather use my LTDs, so the Voodoo went back on eBay. There was a happy ending though: it's one of the only two guitars I've ever sold and made money on



Bummer.

What Voodoo model was it? The MKI versions from 2005-ish or the MKII 2016-ish version?


----------



## kerryymm (Jun 15, 2020)

AkiraSpectrum said:


> Bummer.
> 
> What Voodoo model was it? The MKI versions from 2005-ish or the MKII 2016-ish version?



It was a good few years ago now so it must have been the mk1 version...


----------



## AkiraSpectrum (Jun 15, 2020)

kerryymm said:


> It was a good few years ago now so it must have been the mk1 version...



Easiest way to tell is the fretboard. MKI had blank ebony fretboard with red skull inlay @5th fret. MKII had richlite board with red dot inlays.

MKI










MKII


----------



## kerryymm (Jun 15, 2020)

AkiraSpectrum said:


> Easiest way to tell is the fretboard. MKI had blank ebony fretboard with red skull inlay @5th fret. MKII had richlite board with red dot inlays.
> 
> MKI
> 
> ...



Definitely a mk1 in that case


----------



## Mathemagician (Jun 15, 2020)

eaeolian said:


> Seriously. I don't get the love. Henrik from Evergrey had *one* I thought was great. Otherwise, I have no idea what the hype is about. I've owned several much better Japanese Jacksons.



I played exactly one Caparison in the last year after always wanting to try one in the 00’s and frankly it confirmed why I’d held off. It was an ibanez but somehow bulkier? Thick shoulders + wide string spacing + a bigger heel. Nah fam not for me. Fastest GAS cure ever.


----------



## bzhang9 (Jun 15, 2020)

Mathemagician said:


> I played exactly one Caparison in the last year after always wanting to try one in the 00’s and frankly it confirmed why I’d held off. It was an ibanez but somehow bulkier? Thick shoulders + wide string spacing + a bigger heel. Nah fam not for me. Fastest GAS cure ever.



very few bolt on necks feel less bulky than a wizard neck + AANJ, maybe a JP but that's about it


----------



## Jzbass25 (Jun 15, 2020)

protest said:


> The biggest disappointment for me was the Majesty. Basically a perfect guitar...except the neck profile cramped my hand. I was thinking about just getting a new hand.



I personally love the neck profile but I still may give an edge to the JEM. My only issue is that I've had trouble nut binding


----------



## couchguitarplayer (Jun 15, 2020)

I will get hurt for this but:

PRS SC245 Artist package. The guitar looked stunning. It was dissapointing in the playability for me. It had a wide fat neck which felt weird. I'm more used to Ibanez, Jackson and fender necks. The tone was still really nice for classic rock and blues but definatly not a tight machine. Just not my cup of tea.






Suhr Modern Pro. Again quality was there. Playability was awesome. The problem for me was the tone. It has a basswood body and it sounded a bit thin. I remember having hard a time getting good tones through my mesa TC-50. Never had issues with that before. Loved the Gotoh floyd though.





Ibanez RG3120 Prestige. One of the sweetest Ibanez I've ever had. Playability was great but I didn't like the tone. I know I could have swapped the pickups but I let it go for a kiesel.


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## Mathemagician (Jun 15, 2020)

bzhang9 said:


> very few bolt on necks feel less bulky than a wizard neck + AANJ, maybe a JP but that's about it



Yeah and I don’t like ibanez necks are all, so this was even worse. The AANJ is great sure, but the everything else is not my bag.


----------



## CrushingAnvil (Jun 15, 2020)

Vyn said:


> ESP Ninja Amott sig (the one with the mirror pickguard). Flew to another state to try it out with coin in wallet ready to purchase. Played it for 5 minutes and walked out of the shop. It was an awesome instrument, the finish on it was sick but i just couldn't deal with the neck profile.



I played one when I was 18-19 and was like "nope". Even with a less refined set of preferences I knew it wasn't the guitar for me.


----------



## vibrantgermancities (Jun 16, 2020)

oracles said:


> Every iteration of the JP I've played has felt like a child's toy. A well built one, but a toy none the less. They've always felt undersized and the neck profile and I absolutely don't get along.



Having posted about the JP when this thread first came up, this has probably better captured my thoughts on it. The neck is just _tiny_ and I really can’t get used to it. Again, build is flawless, but give me some kind of heavy badly-constructed heap of mahogany any day. 

(seriously, give me one.Trading a JP in the current climate is nigh-on impossible)


----------



## jco5055 (Jun 16, 2020)

I don't think I have ever been "disappointed" by like high-end stuff, but more like "this is good, but I would never go WOW about it". That applies for honestly most stuff I've played, whether it's a $4000 USA Jackson Rhoads or a Majesty or a Mayones Duvell and Regius, or even a Suhr. I honestly think that Aristides is the only guitars I've played of the $2k and up variety I was like "I don't want to put it down". 

I will say that I had a MIJ RG7620 and frankly I kind of miss it, it had a certain mojo to it that I'm not sure I've experienced since.


----------



## Eyelessfiend (Jun 16, 2020)

My Gibson Baritone SG. I love SG's and my main guitar at the time was a standard SG. I got a really good deal on it when they were new due to some QC problems but they were fixable/livable(one of the side dots was slightly skewed and the switch was faulty). The disappointing part is its hard to physically play due to the neck dive and huge neck profile. While I knew SG's did this, the 27 inch scale made it too much to handle. Also, finding pickups for this thing has been hell. The 500t/496r set was fizzy. The SD EMTY set was good but too loud/muddy. I now have a Nazgul/Full Shred set and I think thats as good as its getting. I have owned more baritones since and prefer 27inch scale, just not on a Gibson.


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Jun 16, 2020)

vibrantgermancities said:


> Having posted about the JP when this thread first came up, this has probably better captured my thoughts on it. The neck is just _tiny_ and I really can’t get used to it. Again, build is flawless, but give me some kind of heavy badly-constructed heap of mahogany any day.
> 
> (seriously, give me one.Trading a JP in the current climate is nigh-on impossible)



I'd say this is more of a reflection of general EBMM Neck spacing, they all have extremely narrow neck spacing. So they can feel very tiny in the hands, I generally prefer smaller spacing like on the Jackson HT7's.


----------



## vibrantgermancities (Jun 16, 2020)

Jonathan20022 said:


> I'd say this is more of a reflection of general EBMM Neck spacing, they all have extremely narrow neck spacing. So they can feel very tiny in the hands, I generally prefer smaller spacing like on the Jackson HT7's.



It’s funny you should mention that; I actually used to own an Axis Super Sport that I also never really got on with... if only that oil finish didn’t feel so good. Maybe I shouldn’t buy that Luke I’ve always wanted...


----------



## MASS DEFECT (Jun 17, 2020)

vibrantgermancities said:


> Having posted about the JP when this thread first came up, this has probably better captured my thoughts on it. The neck is just _tiny_ and I really can’t get used to it. Again, build is flawless, but give me some kind of heavy badly-constructed heap of mahogany any day.
> 
> (seriously, give me one.Trading a JP in the current climate is nigh-on impossible)



Same experience with JPs. My hand would just be cramping after a few minutes. And I always wonder how can Petrucci play with these things. That neck and fretboard is definitely the thinnest and flattest one I have encountered. 

But yes. The build quality is very good.


----------



## couchguitarplayer (Jun 18, 2020)

MASS DEFECT said:


> Same experience with JPs. My hand would just be cramping after a few minutes. And I always wonder how can Petrucci play with these things. That neck and fretboard is definitely the thinnest and flattest one I have encountered.
> 
> But yes. The build quality is very good.



This is so interesting. JP guitar have always been marketed as ergonomical perfection. My experience is with JP6, JP12 and JP15. I always loved the neck feel. To me it was super slick and loved the feel of the fretboard. The issue for me was the dumb piezo switch on the upper horn. It was always in the way of my tapping technique. I know I could buy a non piezo version...I might someday. I'm a sucker for the new roasted necks...


----------



## kaossurge (Jun 18, 2020)

Everything Epiphone/Gibson, I find that every major brand makes a better single cut for the money.


----------



## soul_lip_mike (Jun 18, 2020)

ESP Lynch Kamikaze.


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 18, 2020)

PRS SE SVN. Long scale PRS 7-string? Finally? Hell yeah. 

Didn't like the sound, though. Very smooth high end, when I prefer more aggressive guitars. Even tried some brighter, more aggressive pickups and I was still never happy.


----------



## DrakkarTyrannis (Jun 19, 2020)

Oh that's easy..the ESP F-400FM

At the time I was playing FB-200s and since they were discontinued I figured I'd step up to a "higher end" model.

Instantly I hated it. For one I was used to baritones so the scale felt off..this was the guitar that taught me that I absolutely hate EMGs. It was thin, shrill, metallic and just sounded awful. The guitar was supposed to be trans black but was really trans purple, which I suppose was alright but I didn't like it as much in person. The neck was SUPER glossed and I hated it.

I ended up ditching ESP F guitars altogether and never looked back.


----------



## Thaeon (Jun 19, 2020)

Jonathan20022 said:


> I'd say this is more of a reflection of general EBMM Neck spacing, they all have extremely narrow neck spacing. So they can feel very tiny in the hands, I generally prefer smaller spacing like on the Jackson HT7's.



It’s not just the string spacing for me. It’s how thin is is too.



MASS DEFECT said:


> Same experience with JPs. My hand would just be cramping after a few minutes. And I always wonder how can Petrucci play with these things. That neck and fretboard is definitely the thinnest and flattest one I have encountered.
> 
> But yes. The build quality is very good.



probably because he’s like 5’4”. I met him once. He’s not tall. LOL


----------



## MASS DEFECT (Jun 21, 2020)

Thaeon said:


> probably because he’s like 5’4”. I met him once. He’s not tall. LOL



He is around 5'11 or 6 I think. He was taller than Satch when I went to one of their events.


----------



## Thaeon (Jun 22, 2020)

MASS DEFECT said:


> He is around 5'11 or 6 I think. He was taller than Satch when I went to one of their events.



I’m just shy of 5’10”, and he’s shorter than me. I have a picture with him somewhere...


----------



## Rollandbeast (Jun 22, 2020)

KIESEL DC7X most expensive guitar I bought and the one I liked the less lol I think even my rg8 played just as good
Really didnt like the neck profile felt really thicc to me compared to my other 7's , frets were not leveled properly ( couple dead spots ) I owned it for 3 weeks and sold it lol


----------



## Exit Existence (Jun 22, 2020)

Interesting thread. I don't have any major major horror stories but definitely bought a few mid priced signature models that I hoped would be better.
One was an Epiphone In Flames Bjorn les paul custom. I really like white les paul customs, and it having an ebony board and EMG's was attractive to me. It came with insanely high action with a huge amount of neck relief and tons of fret buzz, the bridge was jacked all the way up. I figured it was just the setup and I didn't deal with it for a long time to my mistake, beyond the return period (It was a crazy time in my life so It just sat in the case for a few months) Couldn't get the setup right (usually pretty good at that stuff), took it to a pretty good tech who did 2 fret level attempts on it and it's still kind of a dog. On top of that it had some finish issues where they masked around the binding poorly in curved areas (Normally wouldn't mind but it was an expensive Epiphone)

The other was a Jackson Misha Pro series 7 string. He did a clinic at our local place (They didn't advertise it all so he did it in front of like 8 people, poor dude lol) and I was always interested in one of his sigs so I picked one up for a good deal and he signed the back of the headstock (which was cool of him). Guitar isn't horrible but just not the quality I'd expect from the pro series line of Jackson mostly in finish and feel of the neck and nitpicky stuff like routing and electronics ect.


----------



## Slaeyer (Jun 22, 2020)

I bought a JP13-7 some years ago and was really underwhelmed. Sound wise it was okay but not matching its price point. Mostly I didn't like the illuminators and changing the pickups would have required routing.
Also the neck was really small compared to the endure-like neck profile I was used to. As I had issues with my left hand at that time I really did not bond with that guitar and sold it quite fast.
Half a year ago I found a nice JPX-7 (even one in black sugar) and really love it. Might be due to the pickups (CL & LF) and changing to different neck profiles in the meantime. But I really love it now.

I also had a Skervesen 4AP build for me. I was lurking for years until I finally placed an order. Build process was fine and everything, but in the end the result was a guitar that did not bond with me.
Craftmanship was okay but it had its weaknesses (stain bleed, small chips on the side of the routings, et cetera), but the worst was that even though it was chambered it did not resonate as much as I expected and sounded too steril for me.
The chambering also made it a little neck heavy which I found quite uncomfortable being used to a very well balanced headless. I sold it and hope someone else gets happy with her


----------



## jephjacques (Jun 22, 2020)

Every headless guitar I've ever tried. Custom shop (Washburn and Sweden) Strandbergs, various Mayones Hydras, a Skervesen Shoggie...perfectly good guitars, I just did not gel with them at all.


----------



## jaxadam (Jun 22, 2020)

Thaeon said:


> I’m just shy of 5’10”



So is that 5'9"?


----------



## jco5055 (Jun 22, 2020)

Petrucci's height is an enigma, I've seen him traditionally listed at like 5'11 but sometimes he looks like he could be it with guys like Satch but then I'll see a pic with someone else like Vai and he looks like he's 5'7 max.


----------



## Thaeon (Jun 22, 2020)

@jaxadam In 2.5mm soled shoes I'm 5'10" So call that however you want.


----------



## Velokki (Aug 6, 2021)

Remembered one of these cases. ESP LTD Hex-7, the first Nergal signature. I really liked the aesthetics, satin finish with the emblem and all.
I ordered one to our local shop, but oh lord it was so neck-heavy and unpractical it's not even funny. Cool looks but everything else was pure nightmare.


----------



## Adieu (Aug 6, 2021)

Thaeon said:


> @jaxadam In 2.5mm soled shoes I'm 5'10" So call that however you want.



Maybe you mean 2.5" boots?

2.5mm is 0.1" = worn down 99 cent store sandals


----------



## CanserDYI (Aug 6, 2021)

I grew up playing the metalcore archetype, black Epi LPC with gold hardware (i realize its not an LTD but I digress). It went with me everywhere I lived breathed and ate on that guitar. Got stolen from outside a gig one night and I always missed it. Fast forward almost 15 years and my wife and I fall into a bit of money and she says go ahead, buy your guitar back but get a Gibson this time. Man that was a sorry guitar. Couldn't stay in tune for the life of it, even after extensive nut work, it was buzzy and noisy and heavy and pretty much everything I could NOT want in a few grand guitar. That went back and I bought a schecter and was so much happier.


----------



## asopala (Aug 6, 2021)

jco5055 said:


> Petrucci's height is an enigma, I've seen him traditionally listed at like 5'11 but sometimes he looks like he could be it with guys like Satch but then I'll see a pic with someone else like Vai and he looks like he's 5'7 max.



I'm just under 5"11, and I've stood next to him a few times. I have maybe a cm or two on him.


----------



## mbardu (Aug 6, 2021)

asopala said:


> I'm just under 5"11, and I've stood next to him a few times. I have maybe a cm or two on him.



Yeah but what soles was he wearing tho?


----------



## asopala (Aug 6, 2021)

mbardu said:


> Yeah but what soles was he wearing tho?


Just regular old shoes. It wasn't at a show, it was a couple clinics.

I was also wearing regular old shoes.


----------



## Thaeon (Aug 6, 2021)

Adieu said:


> Maybe you mean 2.5" boots?
> 
> 2.5mm is 0.1" = worn down 99 cent store sandals



No, I wear barefoot sneakers. I mean 2.5mm. Sometimes 1.8mm.


----------



## josh1 (Aug 6, 2021)

Ibanez RGMS7


----------



## Adieu (Aug 6, 2021)

Thaeon said:


> No, I wear barefoot sneakers. I mean 2.5mm. Sometimes 1.8mm.



Is that the tacky sock-glove-looking thing?


----------



## mmr007 (Aug 6, 2021)

I wanted one of these more than anything. Got one and I effing hated it. So sad.


----------



## DrakkarTyrannis (Aug 6, 2021)

ESP F400FM






At the time ESP F baritones were my thing and I thought this was gonna be the upgraded "pro" step up. Nah. I ended up not liking how it looked in person, I didn't like the super glossy neck, and that was my first guitar with EMGs and it started my hate for those pickups. I think I only had it for a couple weeks if that.


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Aug 6, 2021)

Squier J5 Tele. Sounded killer. Looked phenomenal. Couldn't stand the lack of tummy cut. Felt like I was playing a slab.
PRS SE SVN. Finally a 7-string baritone PRS SE... that didn't sound good to me. No matter the pickups, it was too smooth and lacked any aggression.
LTD EXP-200. This was actually an ESP EXP with an LTD logo since it was made in Japan. But this was the opposite issue of the SE SVN. Was all cut and no balls. Felt huge, sounded puny.
Epiphone '84 Explorer. Dead plank.
PRS SE Nick Catanese (the red one). See above; dead plank.

I also got a Schecter E-1 that I thought was a dead plank, but I think this was actually an issue with pickups. Tried putting a Dimarzio Super 2 in the bridge, and I learned later on after putting it in another guitar that this pickup is *awful* for high gain rhythm playing. Also had a PRS SE Torero that I think was actually a half-assed mod. Someone replaced the stock EMGs with SD Black Winters, but never installed the ground. Leads me to believe they didn't replace the stock pots either


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## John (Aug 6, 2021)

Martin guitars have been largely underwhelming in my experience. I've dabbled with an OM which was on my bucket list for some time. Also a dreadnought and even a parlor from around 1907-1908, for example. From what I've gathered, they're just not for me- ranging from being to earthy to dull for my tastes regardless of whatever I've used with them. A pity, especially for the parlor that was holding up despite its age.


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## Thaeon (Aug 7, 2021)

Adieu said:


> Is that the tacky sock-glove-looking thing?



That’s one of the Barefoot options. It’s not what I wear. They are comfortable though. There are quite a few companies that make barefoot shoes. Merrell, Xero, Five Fingers, and a few others.


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## noise in my mind (Aug 7, 2021)

sl2h


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## Bloody_Inferno (Aug 7, 2021)

The first line of RGD2127Zs. 






When they came out, I was in Japan at the time so the first thing I did was try one out. I really wanted to like it but we just didn't get a long. The neck was the biggest factor. Maybe it was just that one model. A few weeks later I just happen to find an RG1527M with a massive price mark down thanks to Golden Week. It played so much better and ended up buying that instead. 

I still want an RGD and would love one or more in the collection. And so far I'm liking the new Prestige/Axion Label models. I'll have to snag one up.


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## Hoss632 (Aug 7, 2021)

Gibson/Epiphone Les Paul's. Was obsessed with them growing up. Love the look, love the sound on most of the albums i was listening to they were used on. Then I played one and it was an instant turn off.


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## BornToLooze (Aug 7, 2021)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Epiphone '84 Explorer. Dead plank.



I had one that was the same way. I've talked about my hate of Epi Les Pauls, but I have an Epi acoustic that's *chef's kiss* so not enough to turn me off of Epiphone. I got one of the '84 Explorers to fill the hole from a Gibson Explorer I stupidly got rid of, and it was the same way. I figured at the worst, it would sound just like every other guitar with EMGs, but no, it was just a dead sounding guitar, and I traded it for an Epi Goth Flying V that was even worse. And when I first started playing bass I got an Epi Thunderbird that just quit working after like 3 days so I returned it and got a Squire.

But now I have an Epi Wilshire and Embassy, and other than some neck dive on the Wilshire, they're both kickass guitars. I don't know if Epiphone just can't do Gibsons as good as Gibson can, but every Epiphone I've had that was traditionally an Epiphone has been a solid guitar, whereas the Epiphones I've had that had Gibson versions always seemed like some end of the day Friday guitars.


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## laxu (Aug 7, 2021)

I've had a couple of Yamahas that I really wanted to love but they did not work out. I had an absolutely gorgeous H/S/S Yamaha Pacifica 812WX with a quilt top but could never bond with it and it had a dead spot on the fretboard. I also had a nice Pacifica 1511 Mike Stern signature where I swapped the humbuckers for a proper Tele pickup and a humbucker size P90. Sounded nice but the vintage radius neck did not work for me.


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## NeubyWanKaneuby (Aug 7, 2021)

I had a Gibson LPC 68RI... it was the antique pelham blue (but looked green).
Gorgeous guitar
Great tones
Completely uncomfortable for me to play.
I sold it, and am still very sad that guitar didn't work for me.


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## wheresthefbomb (Aug 7, 2021)

Every guitar I have GASed for has disappointed me, but so it goes.

The cool thing about buying <$500 guitars is expectations are nice and low, very little room for disappointment.


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## Kyle Jordan (Aug 7, 2021)

I can say that even though I loved both guitars, I was still slightly disappointed overall by my Ibanez S540FM and my UV777BK. Both were great guitars and had things I absolutely adored, (the UV’s neck is one of my top 3 necks and the S body is the most comfortable guitar body I’ve ever played) but some things about them detracted and they just didn’t add up to work as well for me as I’d hoped.


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