man-in-moon
New member
I talked my wife into taking a road trip. So I could try out some different stuff. I went to a smaller store about an hour away. Luckily there wasn't anyone else in the guitar room so I got to test everything without bothering anyone.
The store sets everything up pretty well makes sure they have good strings and are intone. I tried about 20 guitars ranging from epiphones and sterlings up to American fenders and some gibsons. I kept the limit to $1500 max. I plugged everything in to a 5150 III 50 watt combo. This is a short list of the most impressive and most disappointing ones.
2017 SG standard ebony
Had nice features and a good setup but sound awful it was in the 3 worst sounding guitars I tried. It was dull and lifeless no sustain at all. The epiphone g400 blew it away.
2017 SG standard cherry
Sounded good and played good. Setup was nice with no fret buzz. Sustained real well fit and finish were good. Had a little trouble keeping it intune but it wasn't too bad.
2017 les paul tribute
Nice honey burst finish that's about it. Fret buzz everywhere. Sharp fret ends all of the pots were scratchy. Sounded dead almost as bad as the ebony SG.
Charvel pro mod San Dimas
Sounded great and played great. It's the first charvel I have got to play. The neck was smooth and fast. The frets were spot on as was fit and finish. With the Duncan's it is a very versatile guitar. The Floyd rose stayed in tune perfectly no matter how I abused it. I was pleasantly surprised how well it did cleans and blues licks.
EVH Wolfgang special OD green
It was very similar to the charvel. Everything was spot on. It covered the same styles the only advantage I can give it is the D-tuna actually worked. Other than that they were even.
The sleeper
Ltd bill kelliher BK600
My wife was the one who actually wanted me to try it I just wrote it off as another ltd EC. But I was wrong it was by far the best playing and sounding guitar I tried. I was surprised to see it was full thickness and not thin. It looks better in person than in pics.
The tone is where it shined. The lace pickups were hot but with the coil taps pulled off good cleans as well. With gain it just had a thump that all the others lacked. On the highest gain channel it was instant jerry Cantrell tone. With a few tweaks it was nailing mastodon and C.O.C. Tones.
On the lower gain channel it was getting some real nice thick classic rock tones. Sitting in a stool you could feel the guitar vibrating in your chest and legs. The locking tuners held tune perfectly. The only complaint I can give it is I'm not a huge fan of the super thin necks.
I figured it would be an easier choice. I was set on getting an SG but after trying everything the EVH and the ltd were the winners. So I left with nothing but I'm going to decide between the 2 and go back in the next few days.
The store sets everything up pretty well makes sure they have good strings and are intone. I tried about 20 guitars ranging from epiphones and sterlings up to American fenders and some gibsons. I kept the limit to $1500 max. I plugged everything in to a 5150 III 50 watt combo. This is a short list of the most impressive and most disappointing ones.
2017 SG standard ebony
Had nice features and a good setup but sound awful it was in the 3 worst sounding guitars I tried. It was dull and lifeless no sustain at all. The epiphone g400 blew it away.
2017 SG standard cherry
Sounded good and played good. Setup was nice with no fret buzz. Sustained real well fit and finish were good. Had a little trouble keeping it intune but it wasn't too bad.
2017 les paul tribute
Nice honey burst finish that's about it. Fret buzz everywhere. Sharp fret ends all of the pots were scratchy. Sounded dead almost as bad as the ebony SG.
Charvel pro mod San Dimas
Sounded great and played great. It's the first charvel I have got to play. The neck was smooth and fast. The frets were spot on as was fit and finish. With the Duncan's it is a very versatile guitar. The Floyd rose stayed in tune perfectly no matter how I abused it. I was pleasantly surprised how well it did cleans and blues licks.
EVH Wolfgang special OD green
It was very similar to the charvel. Everything was spot on. It covered the same styles the only advantage I can give it is the D-tuna actually worked. Other than that they were even.
The sleeper
Ltd bill kelliher BK600
My wife was the one who actually wanted me to try it I just wrote it off as another ltd EC. But I was wrong it was by far the best playing and sounding guitar I tried. I was surprised to see it was full thickness and not thin. It looks better in person than in pics.
The tone is where it shined. The lace pickups were hot but with the coil taps pulled off good cleans as well. With gain it just had a thump that all the others lacked. On the highest gain channel it was instant jerry Cantrell tone. With a few tweaks it was nailing mastodon and C.O.C. Tones.
On the lower gain channel it was getting some real nice thick classic rock tones. Sitting in a stool you could feel the guitar vibrating in your chest and legs. The locking tuners held tune perfectly. The only complaint I can give it is I'm not a huge fan of the super thin necks.
I figured it would be an easier choice. I was set on getting an SG but after trying everything the EVH and the ltd were the winners. So I left with nothing but I'm going to decide between the 2 and go back in the next few days.
