A work in progress - the 'Charvel' guitar

While she doesn't look like much now, this guitar started life as a Charvel . Can't remember the model. Anyway, I sanded this one down to the wood and stained it, which I don't think I'm going to keep. This guitar will most likely be painted a custom color, such as Shoreline gold, maybe even Sherwood Green metallic (fender colors) or even a Les Paul gold top color... not sure yet!

Anyway, the real magic of this one comes from the Neck (LTD, fast action) and the pickups - both Gibson ('57 Classic (vintage style) humbucker, and a '57 Classic plus) in the neck position. They sound fantastic for blues, jazz, even classic rock stuff.

Don't really have much more to say on this one, because it's not complete yet, but it sounds and plays like magic... now I just need to make it look more like that! The action is quite low, and the neck is quick -- but I still can't compare the neck to guitars like my Larivee or my Jackson, they're real shred-necks and this one is a bit slower.

I love the sounds you can make from this one. She dishes out heavy tone every time, and the Gibson pickups are just amazing for blues stuff. I think the fact that the body is a bit towards the heavier side only helps things.

Schecter S-1 Elite

My dad went shopping at a local pawn shop one afternoon, and came back to the studio with this beauty. I think he scored it for around $200. Anyway, it plays great! I was very impressed ; the tone out of the 'Duncan Designed' pickups was meaty, and powerful ; but they sound great clean too. The body isn't super heavy, but is made of solid mahogany and has a set mahogany neck to boot. It's all setup fantastic and very well build in my opinion, and I've played hundreds of 'custom' LPs, Strats, PRS, you name it. Top that with a gorgeous flamed maple top, abalone binding (and inlay) all around the neck and body, grover tuners, and a push pull coil tap -- and you've got one pretty sweet little axe.

Here's the manufacture's description:

"The S1 Elite is a set-neck double cutaway with a figured maple top on its mahogany body. The neck is 3-piece mahogany with a 22-jumbo fret fingerboard and Gothic Cross inlays. Its Tone Pros bridge system strings thru the body for increased sustain and the fullest tone. Other features include Grover tuners, Duncan Design H101 pickups and abalone binding. "

One thing that I've noticed is that this guitar (in terms of bass, compressed mid range tone) stands up to a Les Paul. The neck is a little wide for me, (like a PRS?) thinner than a Gibson but fatter than a strat. They're only $700 retail, so an axe like this for that price is a steal in my book.

The range of tones you can get out of this guitar still floors me. You can get blues, metal, jazz, and classic rock tones out of this guitar in spades, and you could probably get some country tones out of it as well. The pickups have a very full sound to them with plenty of midrange (which I like) and bite. The guitar is made in Korea, but obviously really well built - better than almost all of the other 'foreign' guitars I've played. Then of course you have it's stage appeal --- it's a really pretty guitar to look at, but I won't go into detail there as I'm sure a million others have. It's got amazing inlay, a beautiful top, and I wish they had done the Schecter guitar (name) in abalone as well. That's my only complaint.