Dauminator
New member
For the Christmas of 2018, I got an Xaviere XV 550 that I had been looking at. It’s a les Paul hollow body copy with F-holes, zebra pickups, and diamond inlays. What attracted me to it the most though was the finish: for $270 (after shipping), could the guitar really be that good??
THE GOOD: The finish did not disappoint. Just as good if not better than the picture on the website. Although the F-holes are not perfect, it’s so small you can’t see unless it’s pointed out up close.
The pickups are GFS crunchy pats, which are better than I thought. The bridge pickup is okay, nothing special but I really like the neck pup. It’s really bluesy but can also handle gain. The tuners are decent too, they’re no Grover’s but they get the job done.
THE BAD: The pots are kind of on and off, the volume is okay but the tone really is just on and off. The headstock is pretty boring too, and the abalone name isn’t very colorful. The setup is poor, and although I am no expert, setting it up is rather difficult. Also, the wires are definitely noticeable in the F-hole where the pots are. There are clips for some wires but not all of them.
THE UGLY: The frets. They don’t hurt, but they stick out of the sides of the neck, making it not very smooth. The frets are definitely Jumbo, but also uneven, which is what I’m pretty sure makes the setup difficult, as if the action and truss rod are low there is nothing but fret buzz. I have a feeling though once frets are worked out this guitar can be decent
CONCLUSION: No, they haven’t really gotten better over the past decade. Most of the other forum posts I’ve noticed are from 2010ish, and thought this might help. Luckily, I bought this guitar with the intent of learning how to work on guitars and upgrading it, and it’s exactly what I got. But even if I botch the frets at least I have a gorgeous guitar hanging on my wall!
THE GOOD: The finish did not disappoint. Just as good if not better than the picture on the website. Although the F-holes are not perfect, it’s so small you can’t see unless it’s pointed out up close.
The pickups are GFS crunchy pats, which are better than I thought. The bridge pickup is okay, nothing special but I really like the neck pup. It’s really bluesy but can also handle gain. The tuners are decent too, they’re no Grover’s but they get the job done.
THE BAD: The pots are kind of on and off, the volume is okay but the tone really is just on and off. The headstock is pretty boring too, and the abalone name isn’t very colorful. The setup is poor, and although I am no expert, setting it up is rather difficult. Also, the wires are definitely noticeable in the F-hole where the pots are. There are clips for some wires but not all of them.
THE UGLY: The frets. They don’t hurt, but they stick out of the sides of the neck, making it not very smooth. The frets are definitely Jumbo, but also uneven, which is what I’m pretty sure makes the setup difficult, as if the action and truss rod are low there is nothing but fret buzz. I have a feeling though once frets are worked out this guitar can be decent
CONCLUSION: No, they haven’t really gotten better over the past decade. Most of the other forum posts I’ve noticed are from 2010ish, and thought this might help. Luckily, I bought this guitar with the intent of learning how to work on guitars and upgrading it, and it’s exactly what I got. But even if I botch the frets at least I have a gorgeous guitar hanging on my wall!
