NGD - Alder with walnut top & ebony fretboard/stainless frets..

[Phantasmagoria]

Picked this beauty up yesterday at a store. It's a locally made brand and it's pretty awesome!

Alder with a 1/4" walnut cap & ebony fretboard/SS frets. Fit & finish is pretty much flawless & it looks pretty sweet to me.

Apart from one slightly high fret (22nd ...it only buzzes a tiny bit on the B string) which I will fix, it plays like a complete dream & sounds heavenly ....sustains for days too...

Anyway....really cool axe & it did'nt break the bank. No way I'd get this kind of wood/build quality/tone on an Ibanez/Jackson etc costing 3 times the price or more.

Really happy I picked it up :bigthumb:

Specs:

KAD-AM-F100
Kadence Astro Man Electric Guitar, 24 FRETS, H- S – S PICK UPS Rosewood Top with Alder wood Back and Sides
Neck type : D Type neck
Neck Wood : Maple Wood
Body Wood : Top/ side /Back : Solid Rosewood / solid Alder /Solid Alder
Fret Board wood : Ebony
Fret Board Inlay : Pearloid shark fin Inlay
Fret: Jumbo Frets
Bridge type : Tune-O- Matic Bridge
Pickups : Kadence designed H-S-S pickups
Tuner : Diecasting Chrome tuner
Hardware : Black Matt Finish
scale : 648 mm/25.5″
Electronics : 1 Tone & 1 volume & 5 Way Toggle switch
Strings : Kadence designed Nickel wound regular Light .010 – .046
Number of Frets : 24 stainless steel frets
Construction: Bolt-on
Body Finish : Matt
Nut Material: Black Tusq Xl Guitar Nut

 

[dave74]

I'm a big fan of subtle smooth grain-patterns on tops and bodies with natural oil finishes and (satin-coated or not) stained woods.
For some reason I just don't get into some of the fancier "claro" walnut tops. Some remind of a coffee table like Mincer always says. lol
This looks more like our black walnut with a staining of some sort.
Do they source local wood or just order from the popular guitar-specific retailers? Do you all have a black walnut type over there?

It's great to have some "more original" guitars instead of the same-ole main brand industry standard stock models.
Praise to the builder for placing that volume knob just far enough back but still very handy.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Yeah, it's a nice workman-like axe. The first thing that strikes you when you pick it up is how "solid" it feels..chunky & solid (not overly heavy...just a really solid feel)

The top is'nt holographic or 3d shiny ..but it's just awesome to look at....no frills/matte finish, but again..just solid haha..

The same goes for the tone..the singles are every bit as authoratative sounding as the bridge..nothing wimpy about them. Apparently they make the pups themselves too...they have some sort of leather/fibre bobbins & sound fuckin' awesome ..meaty with oodles of chunk and sustain. Neck is chunkier/rounder (C shaped) than most of my other guitars..but comfortable, really well finished & it totally rips!

Here's a better/closer pic of the top (sorry about my shitty '90's plastic camera lol)

Regarding woods .yeah, the sales guy mentioned they were all local. Not sure about the species etc lol, afraid I know bugger all about wood types..

They had another one exactly like it with a darker rosewood top ..but I liked the simplicity/subtlety of this one better, plus I just took to the way it played & sounded ...it was calling out to me

 

[dave74]

The body shape and head shape are really great together. It's unique without so obviously trying to be. Hard to do these days with a million brands on the market.

 

[weepingminotaur]

Just beautiful. What pickups?

 

[Artie]

The body shape and head shape are really great together. It's unique without so obviously trying to be. Hard to do these days with a million brands on the market.

What he said. Nice score.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Thanks guys...I'm pretty happy with it :bigthumb:

The pickups are stock. They actually sound pretty cool...look really nice too with leather (or fibre?) bobbins which is unusual. Apparently the pickups are made inhouse too.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

The body shape and head shape are really great together. It's unique without so obviously trying to be. Hard to do these days with a million brands on the market.

Yeah, that's actually what I though when I saw it too!

And when you strap it on it kinda looks like a Klingon Bird of prey :laugh:

 

[Mincer]

That's a new one! Very cool combination of woods, too. I'm happy to be surprised with new shapes and designs these days. It looks metal without being insanely pointy.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Glad it makes you happy!

& yeah totally ...it's like a pointy for more "mature" metalhead's :laugh2:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Anyways..,,far from metal lol ..but here's a quick listen..

Just plugged it into my little Zoom G1X Four modeler (Plexi patch) & out to Reaper

I will need to fiddle with the bridge pickup height a bit...sounds ok, but I think it needs a bit of adjustment.

 

[chrisplaysmusic]

Do they have a website? What kind of price range are we talking on one of these bad boys?

 

[Synapsys]

https://kadence.in/

About 120 bucks / euros.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Yeah, yeah well thet converts closer to $150 ...I paid about Rs. 13000 ($175) at the store :lmao:

But you have to look at that in the context of what other Indian made guitars cost.

For instance, these guys "Givson" have been around since the 70's ..can't tell you how atrocious some of their guitars are. Though they've apparently upped their game in recent years.

https://www.rajmusical.com/givson-gs1000-electric-guitar.html

Their stuff looks like a knock-off of those old Russian guitars from the 60's... probably is ( and it ^^ costs the equivalent of $40)

No one buys indian guitars here.... they used to be horribly made and look/sound as bad...

"Kadence" is a new brand that I'd never heard about before & as I said, I was very pleasantly surprised, first by the way it looked and then even more so when I played it 'cuz as far as this guitar goes it's (easily) on par with Ibby/Jackson/Epi/Ltd/whatever hardtails costing $500 - $800 or more. Don't let the price fool you.

They will have an uphill task breaking into the market domestically unless they charge what they're charging ..at least to start with. But that price is a fucking steal for what it is. (considering anything from the major competitors in this price will be agathis or plywood)

....that being the case I thought it's the best time to pick one (or maybe two) up now before people wisen up

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Some more close-ups :bigthumb:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Adjusted the bridge pup height ...got it sounding right the way I want it to :bigthumb:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

BUMP..cuz it's got a new sister

Had a pretty hard time getting a hold of one too....they were sold out everywhere, but I got lucky. This is the very last one they had in stock. Had to go way across town to their own "Kadence Store" to pick it up ..dude there said they all sold out in the last week or two... bunch of orders from the US apparently :laugh2:

I should have charged them a commission haha..

Anyway...another killer axe, everything as good as the last ...the walnut one is prettier, but this one, if anything sounds even sweeter..has an incredible top end for solo's. They're both chunky as **** for rhythm. My plan was to swap out the bridge pup for a Fockin Hot Breeze or a SD JB I have lying around ..but now I can't get myself to

 

[dave74]

Nice! Yeah you probably started a run on them.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Did a bit of fret levelling (13th fret A & D strings, 2oth fret D string) ...not that they were fretting out but there was bit of annoying buzz...so I filed them down a hair & now it's gone...plays like butter with a nice fast low action and sweet, sweet tone

Little test run w/ the bridge pup.. :bigthumb:

 

[dave74]

Like them Laboga heads too, they look like little beasts. Never seen those before. I just know him from the k100/v30 speaker cabs.