Overall impression is fantastic. Suits my music style, looks awesome, sounds great even if I would rather have blackouts in it, the difference in the pick ups make it more versatile than the Ibanez I have.
Venom
Reviewed by:
BledGhostWhite, on january 23, 2013 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Music Centre Canada
Features: This is a 2012-made DBZ Venom with the Thoracic-X graphic. It's Korean-made, with 24 frets, a Floyd Rose Original bridge, EMG81/85 combo, and Grover tuners. The body is mahogany, the neck is a very smooth set-in mahogany neck with an ebonized rosewood fretboard. The only inlay is on the 12th fret, and is quite small. The guitar also came with a solid injection-molded case, the necessary allen keys, and my local shop threw in a strap for free. The controls are very straightforward: one volume knob, one tone, and a 3-way selector switch.
The features, overall, are nothing to complain about. For the price I paid (which was quite low), an OFR, EMGs, and the incredible craftsmanship of this beauty justify a 10 here. // 10
Sound: I play mostly technical death metal, and this guitar is an all-out death machine. The EMGs, I personally find to be a bit lifeless, as seems to be popular opinion here on UG. For metal, they are exceptional, but are lacking for clean tones, more often than not, though the 85 in the bridge position can get you by. I play through a Blackstar HT-100 (which is not an incredibly high-gain amplifier), and this guitar compliments it really well. I use a Blues Driver to put a little more gain in the low end, but otherwise, this guitar kicks ass for distorted tones. The pickups get kinda noisy at high volumes, so I'd recommend a noise gate, but that's to be expected. The tone of the guitar is very mid-driven, though it has a very nice tight bottom end. With a little less gain, you can really hear the rich fullness of the woods, but that is slightly obscured by the pickups. I can really only give this category an 8, because the cleans are really quite lacking. If you put in different pickups, I've no doubt this guitar could do pretty much anything, but as it stands, it's better for metal. // 8
Action, Fit & Finish: The factory setup was actually not bad, though it didn't really matter in the end. I play in D standard, so I threw on some 12-56s, and naturally had to reset the Floyd, and even ended up throwing on another spring in the back. After the bridge setup, there were no complaints. The finish is exceptional, with the graphic being absolutely killer. Looking at it with the most scrutinizing lens, it doesn't look pixelated or anything. The ribs, heart, and fade effect all look hand-airbrushed, and the side bevels are both perfectly aligned. As icing on the cake, the headstock is really brutal. The inset DBZ logo looks so cool, and is totally unique. I'm giving this category a 9, because the pickups were a little too high for my liking, but otherwise it was perfect. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I put on some Schaller strap locks for obvious reasons, but the stock strap buttons seemed pretty solid. For live playing, I think this guitar could take quite a beating. That being said, I wouldn't dare be the one dealing it. The hardware seems nice and solid, but I wouldn't gig with it without a backup, especially with the Floyd. That being said, the finish seems really durable, and so far I've had no issues with tuning reliability. All in all, is seems to be a durable guitar, but I suppose only time will tell. An 8 here, because the Floyd Rose can present some problems in live situations. // 8
Impression: For technical death metal, this thing kicks a-s. I'd like to put some BKP Warpigs in it, but for now, the tone does just fine. As previously stated, I play through a Blackstar HT-100, using a Blues Driver, but I also use a 535Q Crybaby for some leads. I've also played this through my Roland 30x Cube and Line 6 Spyder III, though it obviously shines with a better amplifier. If someone even THOUGHT of stealing this guitar, I would have already stabbed them 666 times in the heart before they could finish their thought. I'd like to buy another, but I heard that this particular finish is being discontinued soon. For what I paid for it, there really were no better options. The OFR is just so much fun, and it just feels right in my hands. Honestly, I mostly chose it for the unique finish, but I can't say I regret it at all. It is easily my favorite guitar I own, though I don't really own a lot. Overall, I'd recommend it to anyone who needs a killer metal guitar.
Venom
Reviewed by:
Buffb, on january 27, 2012 1 of 2 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 600
Purchased from: Promenade music
Features: I believe it's is a 2010 model made in Korea. Not sure on the factory and can't seem to find anything specific to detail exactly which one. It has a mahogany v shaped body with DBZ's nice contouring across the top and a set mahogany neck with a rosewood fingerboard. 24 jumbo frets on a 25.5" scale v shaped neck. It has a slightly satin silver finish and as said before this guitar is DBZ's take on the flying V. It has an original Floyd rose double locking trem with a 3 way selector, 1 volume and 1 tone pot. Grover tuners and EMG81/85 active pickups. No other accessories with it which means I am now in need of a case as its very pointy! I am giving this an 8 as I would have preferred the American version for the unique headstock mainly, which is something I don't have but import duty scuppered that plan. All in all features wise it has everything I want on it all of which are on first impressions appear good quality original items. // 8
Sound: I play mainly metal, Metallica, Maiden etc but I also play some blues and classic rock and I bought this guitar because I have experienced 81/85's before and was pleased with the result but wanted to get a V to encourage me to play more standing up than sat on my backside. I am using this with a Roland Cube 40XL and a DigiTech Metal Master pedal. For metal this guitar is awesome, it crunches and pushes the low end out really well and also deals with the high end although it does ring out a bit for which I am knocking a point off for although this is more likely to be the amp and my ability. Getting no excessive noise currently from the pickups with only a small amount of buzz when cranked up full.
I have only briefly played it on a clean setting but it seems to give a nice crisp sound that in no way feels out of character even with its metal look. I currently own the Ibanez MTM-2 and an Epiphone LP Standard Plus and sound wise I think the Ibanez just pips the DBZ but that is down to the blackouts it has which are better than the EMG's in my opinion. Pinch harmonics combined with the floyd rose scream out on this guitar though and it really does seem to love divebombs with no loss of tuning even after a few hours of playing around. In summary low end awesome but it does ring out a little on the high end stuff so again I will give this an 8 as its not quite as impressive as the Ibanez sound wise for metal but as a rock guitar the difference between the 2 pickups gives it a versatility that the MTM doesn't have. // 8
Action, Fit & Finish: Guitar was setup fairly well although the action was a little high for me and the g string was dead. Nothing a bit of tinkering didn't sort out so only a minor inconvenience. TNT ignored the fragile stickers and managed to ding the headstock which was hugely disappointing but I can't fault the store or DBZ for this and they compensated me for this and I have fixed the dent at no cost and it is now not a noticeable issue. Pickups were set up great as was the Floyd rose and the finish was as I have experienced from previous DBZ's I have owned and that is faultless. They are a really high quality instrument for reasonable money. Again scoring an eight due to having to tinker with the action slightly. // 8
Reliability & Durability: No issues at all with this thing withstanding live playing. My only concerns would be the pointiness of it as already there has been the incident mentioned previously so to keep it looking a1 it will need treating well but aren't all pointy V's like that? Hardware is solid, strap buttons are solid and the finish looks like it will last. I would definitely gig with it and I would always take a backup when using a Floyd rose due to set up times and at the end of the day you never know when a string will break. Scoring this an 8 again due to the points! // 8
Impression: Overall impression is fantastic. Suits my music style, looks awesome, sounds great even if I would rather have blackouts in it, the difference in the pick ups make it more versatile than the Ibanez I have. As an out and out metal guitar I would say the MTM-2 just better sit but as an overall rock guitar I would say the DBZ is more suited due to the versatility. Wish I had ordered a hard case with it spit arrived perfect but that's stupid TNT's fault nobody else's. If it got nicked I would replace it as have loved the look of this guitar since I first saw it 2 years ago. Love the Floyd rose as again have wanted this feature for a while to give me something to help develop my own style.
The points concern me and the one thing that will always draw me to this axe is the look, it is a beautiful piece of kit. If I had the money I would get the snake skin one as it is that impressive. I just need to get a tube amp now my style is coming so I can see just how goodie can sound as whilst my modelling Roland is good, I think the tube would really push this guitar and show what it is truly capable of. Overall I would give this an 8 and I hope you all feel that's fair. For me it's a 10 but for a review that doesn't help anyone. I love it, you might not! // 8
The bird of prey is in reality the same guitar but with the extra wing. I considered it as it was cheaper for the bird of prey but I. Just wanted a standard v so payed the extra. I have only played the bc rich mockingbird so I can't compare the 2 brands fairly. This is my 3rd dbz and not had a bad one yet so I would pick it over a bc rich. Just personal!
I was considering this as a replacement for my B.C.Rich V...
The Rich has better build quality.
Quite the contrary, BC Riches are made in Far East and recently sport a terrible building quality. DBZs are extreme axes, I agree, love it/ hate it type, again I agree, but they are far better made than any BC Rich. Also, better than Deans (knowing that DBZ means Dean B. Zelinski, who after selling Dean Guitars twice, has founded DBZ only a few years ago.)
Have upgraded the amp to a blackstar ht-5 and this thing sounds incredible. Not ringing anywhere near as much and coupled with the bad monkey OD pedal it is sweeter than ever. I would now say this is bette than the MTM-2. Sound wise this would now be upped to a 9/10
I really don't get the voting on this one, overall rating of 7.2, not counting that the original reviewer bumped up his score to 9 in a comment? It's a great guitar, EMG 81/85 and an OFR can hardly go wrong, and it certainly hasn't over here. It's only a problem if you dislike active pickups/V shaped necks.
Just an FYI:
These have the Korean made Floyd's (FRx000) not the German made ones. Most company's refer to them as a (FRO) Floyd Rose Original which is the new OEM OFR. This doesn't bother me at all but it may bother other people, so I'm just throwing that out there. Most all new/newer guitars $2,500 USD and under will have the Korean Floyd's on them not the German.
