Price paid: A$ 180
Purchased from: Cash 'n Trade
Features: This is a 2007 model, I think. Made in Korea. It has 24 jumbo frets at a 25.5 inch scale. I'm not actually sure what wood was used for the body, I'm assuming its some sort of basswood. The neck is a bolt-on maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. The finish WAS a gun metal silver thing, but I'll get to that later. Strat model with a floyd rose licensed bridge, with passive Duncan Designed humbuckers in the bridge and neck. Volume, tone, pickup switch. ESP tuners. No accessories since its from a second hand shop. // 8
Sound: It suits my music style pretty damn well, to be honest with you. I play a blend of death metal and groove metal, with a nice wee jumble of thrash in there for good measure. The pickups are nice enough. I'm using a 1994 DOD Death Metal FX86, one of the original ones, through a Marshall Kerry King head, with a Fender MH cab. It sounds huge, man. Its insane. When I use the DOD, its quite noisy, but ask anyone with that pedal and they'll tell you its a noisy pedal. When I use a Line 6 Uber Metal, it makes barely any noise. Feedback is sometimes nice, y'know? I also use miscellaneous chorus pedals and delays, and it sounds good all through it. Its quite a full sounding tone. Very death metal. If I whack it on the neck pickup, I can do some nice blues solos and such, sounds quite rich. I play in drop A, and this gets some nice clear low tones, as well as the high notes. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: I don't know how the guitar was set up at the factory, but when I got it from the shop, I had to lower the action a fraction, and redo the intonation a tiny bit. The floyd rose came blocked, thank god. Don't want to f--k around with those anymore. The pickups were adjusted perfectly, and the bridge cavity was routed perfectly.
The finish was a bit naff when I got it, so I took it to my dad, and we got a mate to paint it gloss white for a box of beer. It looks sick as now. That old crappy gunmetal colour sucked though. Wouldn't have bought it if I knew that I couldn't change it. Luckily I could, so I did. FANKS DAD. However, there is a tiny bit of fret wear, but it doesn't really affect playability, so I don't really mind.
The neck is perfectly thin. When you're playing fast death chugs, and then moving all around with sweeps, you don't really want a fat neck. The neck is perfect for my hands, because I have pretty typical death metal hands. Big, fat, stumpy, but fast. // 9
Reliability & Durability: This guitar DOES withstand live playing. I've dripped blood and sweat all over this guitar while playing. I've jumped into the pit with it, I've split beer on it. It hasn't faltered once. I've never even had to think about using the backup. I would use it without one since the floyd is blocked, but its never a good idea to not bring a backup. The stock strap buttons are fairly solid, haven't had any trouble with those. The finish'll last for years. The pickups have always delivered the most raw tone I could ever ask of it. I love this guitar. // 10
Impression: As I said before, I play a blend of groovy death metal, and this a perfect match for me. I've been playing almost 7 years, and I have owned various other LTD's and V's and such. I built two guitars with my dad. If this were stolen, I'd be heartbroken and would cry like a little girl. I love everything about this guitar. I just wish it came with real Seymour Duncans, but I'm actually happy with the Duncan Designed. Absolutely in love with this guitar. // 10
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