NBTSGD

[Phantasmagoria]

New budget T-Style guitar day...


Been holding off buying a Tele for years because I can't stand the look of them. Finally this one is a different enough take on the shape to appeal to me. In fact I think it looks pretty hawt!

Now ..a die-hard Tele fan or a purist might say "Eh, wtf is that???" or "Fugly as hell " or w/e..

Luckily I'm neither of those :lmao:


Try as hard as I may...I cannot find a single bad thing to say about this axe. The fit and finish. fretwork, paint-job etc is absolutely flawless. Sustains for days, holds tune absolutely fine & the neck is super comfy (on the thin-ish side but kinda C shaped rather than D) and plays like butter, Pickups sound sweet af..

It also came w/ hands down THE most perfect set-up I have ever had a new guitar come in with from the factory... ever!

To say this thing plays like a dream is a gross understatement. Did'nt know an action could get this low w/o a hint of fret buzz. It's so low it's kinda disorienting for me to play feel-wise. Gonna take me a while to get used to it... :bigthumb:

Nothing to complain about sound-wise either..sounds really sweet, bold and fat..not at all thin/anemic/tinny at all like I was expecting given the dinky lipstick pup in the neck and single-coil bridge. All-in-all I forsee myself having a whole lot of shred-time & fun w/ this baby!


Slightly out of tune 'cause this is staight out of the box after a quick tune up by ear..

​

 

[PS412]

That does look nicer than a tele.
Enjoy.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Thanks! ...and yes I do plan to :bigthumb:

Here it is after tuning it

w/ my JVM410..

Dialed in a hair too much reverb maybe , but I can't get over how awesome & big & fat it sounds

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Ok... if this axe does have a fault it's that it's noisy. Single coil pups hum a fair bit w/ high gain (50hz)..so ideally I should've used a noise gate for this one which I do have but can't be bothered to hook up

Still...noise or not....it does sound FINE :bigthumb:

Yep, I'm absolutely loving the tone of this axe which is very definitely quite different to the tones from my other axes ..and is very much chock full of classic Tele tones/twang etc w/ the gain turned down...but I turn it up cuz that's my thing..

Another deeply emotional ballad with the selector switch in the middle position and yes ..that middle position sounds sweet as ****..

...ends w/ a bit of deeply emotional yet dissonant Vai-esque 'pseudo-whammy' trix (cuz unfortunately this axe has no whammy bar..) . Cuz of the super-low action sliding around & tapping can be a whole lot of fun & makes me happy as a pig in **** :bigthumb:

 

[Artie]

Nice. I like how they did the 3-way, so the #1 position doesn't "hit" the volume knob.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Wow..is that a "normal" Tele thing. I didn't even know that :lmao:

And they've been around for what 50-60 years?...more even?

I guess that makes it just another clever "innovation" in a long list of clever innovations this guitar has to it's credit :laugh2:


Here's a nippy-ish one w/ my Line 6 DT50 head/Creamback M 1x12 cab and a TC Electronic Mojo Mojo in front...

The neck pup is especially smooth & fast for da shreddz...

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Damn, it must really suck being a 'purist' w/ all the utter shit you have to put up with :lmao:

 

[Artie]

Wow..is that a "normal" Tele thing. I didn't even know that :lmao:

They don't actually hit the volume knob, but so close, might as well call it that. There's plenty of room on the plate and in the cavity to move the volume pot back about a half inch. A couple companies sell a modified control plate to do just that. Rocket Rabbit is one. I think MusicLilly does too.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Yeah well it's asinine that Fender have'nt found it fit to fix that themselves out of the factory decades ago..

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Anyway, here's a demo (Sam Bell) showing more classic tones...

It's very obviously got that Tele sound down pat ...excellent tones :bigthumb:

For just under $350 (what I paid for it) I think they did a hell of a job w/ ths axe. I'd have been happy to buy it if it cost twice what it did. It's more than worth that :bigthumb:

No regrets missing outon the FGN Koa Tele whatsoever. I think this nails the Tele sound better w/ it's more tradtional hardware & pup-types. And looks-wise...eh, can't complain

It's a great way to dip my toes into the Tele water...

Plus, who'd have thought it. This rivals & (though it pains me to admit it...) even beats a few of my Ibanez Saber's as far as the "shred" quotient goes :bigthumb:

It plays like greased lightning :laugh2:

This is actually my second Aria Pro II. I have the "Fullerton" H-S-S Strat too & that's awesome for the price (lawlessly put together) as well especially after swapping out the muddy neck pup for a 'lil 59.

But honestly this one blows it away..as far as feel, playability & tone goes. It's awesome!

 

[Phantasmagoria]

^^ that's "flawlessly" not "lawlessly" :lmao:

Can't edit my damn post w/o going through a huge rigmarole of shit...

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Marshall JVM + TC Electronic Spark w/ the neck pup...Latin Jam

Can't say I've ever tried that before...


It may be something new, but as usual I sound like me. That's probably what I like best about my playing :bigthumb:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I mean ..speed isn't everything...

:lmao:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Latin Jam # 2. Everything being the same except I switched out the TC Electronic Spark Boost for my Boss SD-1

SD-1 lops off a bit of bass as to be expected, but sounds sweet af..nice & 3D & glassy..

Gotta say, the latin jam is already getting kinda tedious after a couple go's ..but I'll do a last one w/ the DOD OD250 in front later...cuz of scientfic comparitive purposes :bigthumb:

 

[Artie]

What AMT amp is that? How do you like it?

 

[Phantasmagoria]

That's my Stonehead ...it's fantastic...

 

[Artie]

AMT has some cool stuff. I just have their wah.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I have their 'Chameleon cab' analog speaker sim pedal & Raspberry reverb. I think they're both great :bigthumb:

The Stonehead is basically their SS 'Bulava' pedal w/. some tweaks/an extra channel & a 50W Class AB power amp. It totally rips! As good as any tube amp I own..

Because of it's weight and portability I've used it for a lot of gigs. Always sounds awesome & has never let me down...solid as a rock :bigthumb:

Now for the final Latin jam installmentw/ the DOD OD 250 in front..

Actually,I might do another in D standard with The AMT Stonehead & my newly acquired brutal stealth machine (blackened Xiphos)

,,,throw in some (lite) whammy trix & see how that turns out. Cuz why not?

Time is my friend..

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Swampy Blues rock w/ the bridge pup

Amp's my Line 6 DT50 (Class A Triode setting..wrong amp pic in the video) pushed w/ my TC Electronic Spark Boost...

 

[GuitarDoc]

I like the fact that they use "form follows function", (which is a foreign concept to the traditional Tele). Offset body, forearm relief, belly cut, and deep cutaway with 24 frets. Excellent! And yet with some of the good things that we like about the trad. Tele, namely tone and versatility.

I like it.