Dean Vendetta CUSTOM XM Review And Update!
Sometimes I feel the need to fashion sound and playability in a way that is not offered in commercial instruments. In most instances, a custom instrument is a luxury, costing lots of money or having excellent connections with good guitar manufacturers and luthiers. My budget doesn't generally allow for anything approaching custom status. So... I make them for myself from stock instruments and specialized parts.
The Dean line of guitars is an EXCELLENT choice for customization. I enjoy customizing my Fender, Squier, Epiphone, and Jackson instruments - but for some reason, Deans are just plain fun to turn into custom axes.
Quick Opinion: One of the best custom guitars I've made or played... Simple, sonically-interesting, plays well, and was a lot of fun to conceive and create. Want one for yourself?
Send me an email through my contact page here. I'd love to make another.
What can it do? Imagine a nice 60's-70's era mini humbucker sound with several split-coil twists. A little dirtier than the Gibson mini humbucker setup, but very pleasing and crunchy in its own right.
Features: What's not to like? Here's the lowdown on the XM Custom:
The host guitar
A Dean Vendetta XM dual-humbucker in "natural" finish (
reviewed here:) ( I love the color on these... I've thought about doing one of the other XM models for that reason...)
Read more information, reviews and pricing for the Dean Vendetta XM at GuitarCenter.com
The sound stuff
GFS AlNiCo V bridge pickup, mini humbucker
GFS ceramic neck pickup, mini humbucker, smooth cover (no poles showing)
DiMarzio PRS-style two-wafer 5-position rotary switch
Switchcraft USA input jack
CTS USA potentiometers
Genuine Sprague Orange Drop capacitor
All-copper USA connective wiring and silver solder
Lots of loving experimentation and effort with these paws
The fun stuff
Medium-ratio green-key Kluson copies (someday some real ones?)
Nice graphite nut
Beautiful hand-made ebony-and-abalone truss rod cover
Re-sanded and nitrocellulose-coated neck profile
DiMarzio speed knobs (Goes to 11!)
Old-fashioned bolt-clamp chicken head knob on the rotary
Schaller strap lock strap buttons
Gibson-creme humbucker rings used as mini-adapters
Quality: Well, my work isn't perfect - I'm not an amateur, but I've only got 4 years experience: I make some mistakes sometimes. That said, a great deal of thought and experimentation goes into the execution of my instrument modifications and customizations. A lot of time goes into getting the sound I'm after. A lot of little parts go into making things better. From the standpoint of the customization parts, the whole thing is high quality, no doubt.
I could have done a better job cutting and dressing the graphite nut. It could still be better if I popped it off and did some more work - problem is, I play it too much and don't want to mess with the success of it.
The pickups are just perfect and are extremely well made. I think the only parts that aren't top notch are the tuners and the bridge. I could drop another $60-$75 on it at some point and really shake things up.
The wiring is good on this one. No extra buzzes, no funky flaky unexpected sounds. Nice solid silver-based solder drops. Not the prettiest solder, but very well-connected. Solid instrument and custom job, overall...
BTW, I did my wiring based on my interpretation of this diagram from GuitarElectronics.com. They're cool people, by the way. I've bought lots of parts from them and highly recommend them for their customer service and selection. Don't forget to add a beer to your shopping cart when you shop with them ;-)
Playability: The guitar is the lightest thing I've ever played (next to an acoustic). The fit and feel is perfect for my body and for sitting. The venerable Stratocaster-style shape is perfect for 24-fret access and the subtle cutaways are really comfortable.
After spending a reasonable amount of time on the neck, the overall playability of the guitar is pretty good. I won't rate up there with a nice USA-made Gibson Standard or USA-made Fender standard, but the XM Custom feels good in the hands and is a pleasure to play.
Sound: I spent quite a bit of time researching what I was after. I started with wanting the sound of the awesome and beautiful Firebird VII (three minis)... I needed a budget donor (but with something
different in body wood), and I still wanted the playability and flexibility for a recording instrument. The addition of splitting and the minis REALLY fit the bill.
How does it sound? Incredible. The American pots, switch, jack, and wiring really make for a good transparent sound set. The mini humbuckers are dirty, skanky, crunchy, grimy, and just perfect for the task. The combination of the AlNiCo V magnet and the ceramic magnet really shines out here. It's not the sound you want for sweet smooth love music. The sound is for making your feet tap and getting your endorphins on.
Wanna hear the guitar? You can hear my Vendetta Custom XM in this little ditty I recorded (opens a new window)... All the guitar parts (except the bass, of course) are done with different settings on my Vendetta. This piece of music is highly pre-production, so it's not ready for prime time... but it gets your toes tappin', just the same.
Value: Priceless. This one is likely to be one of the permanent members of my sound library. The sound is just what the doctor ordered, it's light, and it feels pretty good to play. So many sounds in one package... and you gotta love having mini humbuckers in your sound library!
Wishes: I'm ready to make more of these. I'm likely to do an active pickup version (with either EMG actives or Seymour Duncan Blackouts) and perhaps a nice, spanky DiMarzio version...
Labels: awesome, bear, custom, dean, dean vendetta, dean vendetta xm, jimmy bear pearson, mini, mini humbucker, modified, review
ESP LTD M-100FM/M-100/M100FM Review
Sometimes a guitar player just needs the rock-solid tuning of a locking nut combined with either a Floyd Rose tremolo or a Licensed Floyd Rose tremolo. With these little combinations of metal strapped to your axe, you can pull and push to your heart's content – and the guitar stays pretty much in tune.
Also, I'm a guitar nut. I like most guitars and guitar shapes (haven't warmed up to the angular and heavy-handed BC Rich stuff, yet). One of my functional favorites is the venerable Stratocaster shape. There's only one Strat, but it has spawned many different (and very similar) guitar shapes over the years. It would be really nice to have an affordable (read: not $399-$500) Stratocaster with a locking nut and Floyd Rose. One can purchase Fender's version of the Floyd on older, (USA- and Japanese-made) Strats. However, they do tend to bring fairly good prices (lots of folks want a Strat with a Floyd). Bear in mind that I am not comparing, nor will I in the near future attempt to compare a Fender to an ESP in my reviews. I am just using the Fender as a point of common reference.
So what are our alternatives? There are a few in the sub-$300 market, but not many.
One such alternative is the ESP LTD M-100. The current iteration, the M-100FM (flamed maple), is a wonderful choice and an excellent intermediate guitar. (Although my son is an advanced player, this guitar is actually one of his favorites, so don’t let the "intermediate" term fool you.)
The M-100 also makes for an excellent modifiable instrument – one that can be bent to the player’s needs in a great many way. I REALLY like this instrument (and hope to buy one someday). I think most players who seek great tremolo work and locking tuning will find this instrument to be top-notch at a low price!
Free Shipping and more information/pricing can be found here at GuitarCenter.com
Quick Opinion: In a few short words? If you want a Floyd, a locking nut, a comfortable Strat-type shape, and awesome build quality, the M-100FM is a bargain and a dream to play.
Buy one. I bought one for my son (Awesome!), and I will buy one for myself at some point in the future. ESP, you are on my list of favorites now.
Modding: The M-100FM uses a 3-position blade switch. With this type of switch slot and a two-humbucker configuration, the guitar just screams for some interesting pickup combinations! If 4-wire/coil-tappable pickups are installed after purchase, and a Fender 5-way super-switch (also a nice one from DiMarzio with the same blade type and connection terminals) – you can get the standard three positions of humbuckers, plus two different coil taps. Awesome sounding, flexible, no cutting or permanent modifications required.
I like the LH-150 open-face pickups that came in the guitar – for the money, they sound fine and have a broad range of harmonics for heavier music, pinch harmonics/pinch squeals, and other high-gain effects. However, the pickups are easily upgradeable to some pretty spectacular options. Some DiMarzio humbuckers, Seymour Duncan Humbuckers, and even some Gibson humbuckers make for great replacements for tailoring sounds to your needs. If you want to go for the coil-tapping modification, modern DiMarzios and Seymours are already 4-lead. You can get a professional to turn your 2-lead Gibson/Epiphone pickup to a 4-lead for a minimal amount of money: Imagine a coil-tappable, Gibson PAF sound in a Floyd Rose-enabled comfortable double cutaway guitar! Some of the above pickup choices may make it such that the poles don't quite line up with the strings, but the differences in sound make the offsets quite forgivable.
We modded my son's M-100FM with a fairly hot GFS PAF on the neck position and a really awesome Gibson 490T from a 2002 SG – both with chrome/nickel covers. It looks good and sounds fantastic.
Playability: Once strings are installed and tuned, the playability is excellent. The neck is of the slightly thin variety (not paper thin like a Randy Rhodes, but thinner than the average Epiphone or Fender Stratocaster). Access to all 24 frets is a breeze, with the 5th and 6th strings being a bit difficult (as is always true with this particular body design type). The relatively flat profile is consistently-done and is quite comfortable.
I really like the weight and balance of the guitar. The body is light and is generally equally balanced to the maple-and rosewood fretboard. When I use one of my nice 2" guitar straps with my son's M-100FM, I can play for hours before I start to feel the guitar's weight. Although the sound is not relative to a Les Paul/Firebird/Explorer’s heavy-body ever-lasting sustains, there is a great balance between weight and sustain.
The Licensed Floyd Rose tremolo works like a charm, is comfortable, and does its job with great aplomb. I added a fourth spring to the tremolo claw to help with keeping the trem unit flatter to the body. Since my son plays harder and thicker strings, the tremolo tended to pull up too much with just three springs. As a result, the trem does take more effort, but it is also more controllable and less wobbly when doing finely actuated whammies.
Features: The ESP LTD M-100FM guitar is a simple guitar – as most of this variety are. But don’t let the simplicity fool you.
The bolt-on neck is great, the two-humbucker and 3-way blade switch combination are excellent, and the licensed Floyd Rose trem system and locking nut are flawlessly executed.
Unlike some cheaper copies of this type of guitar, the M-100 has a counter-sink cut in the tail of the body to accommodate "pulling up on the whammy" in a significant way. This is not a guitar that has just had a Floyd bolted on for the sake of the feature alone. The set-up is excellent.
The body coating is a durable urethane/clear finish over a quilted (cap?) body with dark red or black stain underneath. The effect is beautiful – particularly with the spartan switch-and-two-knob configuration. The knobs are the simple, non-tapping, 1 tone and 1 volume variety.
I love the reversed headstock (longer low strings, shorter high strings). The tuners are fine and seem to be fairly precise, and the look is neat and attractive.
Quality: My son's M-100FM is very well-made so far as finish and fit are concerned. The clearcoat-on-stain is a mile deep in looks, and is glossier than fresh black glass. The neck is consistent, well-shaped, and fits to the body like a glove.
Like many Korean (and other southeast-Asian) manufactures, the wiring and soldering isn’t as nice as the American stuff. The potentiometers are fairly cheap, too. There is only a minimal amount of shielding present in the body and covers. Some simple ROHS-compliant spray or metal linings would be great (and not too expensive to execute, I'd wager).
I love the way this guitar is put together. Very easy to expand, and most of everything is fairly accessible underneath the pickups and in the rear cavities (trem box and controls box).
Sound: The standard pups sound quite good (well above average for a guitar in this price range that has so many other features – pickups in most less expensive guitars are usually sacrificed along with cheap tuners - this one's pretty good). The bolt-on neck is well-executed, so the sustainability is very good.
Overall, I like the way this guitar sounds at this price point.. If I were on an extremely limited budget and could not afford to mod this guitar, I would find that it would be perfect for heavier, overdriven, and/or distorted music. If you drop it through an all-tube, class-A amplifier with some serious watts, you'll need better pickups.
Value: This guitar has a street value of about $279. Interestingly enough, VERY few of them come on the secondary used market (like eBay, Craigslist, and such). It appears that most people find their M-100FMs to be real keepers!
In my opinion, this guitar could easily be sold at a street price of $329, so I think it is a great value. These are great guitars as primary dive-bombers or as a great guitar library member – well worth the money and well worth keeping.
Wishes: More colors, please - perhaps white or antique white? Also, I'd like the option of a maple fretboard (WOW. A transparent black flamed-maple body or transparent antique white with a maple fretboard would absolutely ROCK!).
ESP, I NEED ONE OF THESE! (Hint hint hint hint hint hint) I like the red or the black just fine, thanks! ;-) Are you folks listening? :-)
Labels: electric guitar, esp, flamed maple, floyd, floyd rose, humbuckers, jimmy bear pearson, licensed floyd rose, ltd, M-100, M-100FM, M100, M100FM, review, rose, tremolo, whammy
Jimmie Vaughan Fender Stratocaster Longer-Term Review and Impressions
My previous review of my Jimmie Vaughan Fender Stratocaster has had hundreds of reads and lots of positive reactions and emails. Thank you all for reading! I've been playing my Jimmie Vaughan for a couple of years now... it's still a seriously wonderful instrument, and is a pleasure to play. I've had other Stratocasters now and then since I purchased my Jimmie Vaughan, but none give me the vibe and feel that Jimmie does. (Most folks call these Strats the
Jimmy Vaughan Strat...)
I'm going to deviate a bit from my standard review format for this particular write-up. The Jimmie Vaughan Fender Strat is an extraordinary instrument, and has been an extraordinarily good influence on me and my music. I have used my Jimmie Vaughan on three albums now (soon to be a fourth). It is indispensable and an absolute joy to play. Imagine an instrument with an old warm soul – warm and complete – even though it is only a couple of years old. That old soul is harnessed in the Jimmie Vaughn signature Fender Strat.
What follows is my (humble) opinion about this fine instrument – based on real-time experience and hundreds of hours of play. I've made sounds from six different genres with my JV Strat...
Free Shipping and more information about the wonderful Jimmie Vaughan Fender Stratocaster here at GuitarCenter.com
Playability: When one picks up a JV Strat, something sparkles in one's imagination and in one's consciousness. It is light-weight, extremely well-balanced, and has a great mixture of features and parts. I want to be very clear that I am not gushing praise on this instrument due to a relationship with a vendor, manufacturer, or for any other reason – I've played this instrument a great deal, and I look forward to each opportunity to play my JV Strat.
The neck is still one of the best features of the instrument. It is a nicely-graduated V profile, with great wood, a great carve, and great finishing. The neck has a nice tint, and its finish is a wonderful balance between satin and gloss. When my hands sweat from playing in a hot room, the finish on the neck does not feel grabby or overly slippery. I wish all my Strats had this same neck and neck finish. The fretboard width at the nut and at the saddles is just right – I can finger-pick, hybrid pick, chicken-pick, strum, and more – all in complete comfort for both my hands.
The body contour, weight, and balance is about as comfortable and playable as any guitar I've ever had the pleasure to play. Even the consistent, smooth, and beautiful finish of the paint on the body makes the guitar more playable - it's like holding a brand new guitar, even after a couple of years of wear.
Features: One of the strengths of the JV Strat is its diversity of features. It has a great, upscale neck. It has awesome wiring. It has great-sounding pickups. It has wonderful vintage-style tuners (with old-style string-in-post machine heads).
All these features, plus a vintage-looking pick guard and an awesome vintage-style tremolo/whammy make for a Stratocaster package you'll enjoy for years to come. Other than some funky knobs, I've left my JV Strat completely stock – and it will stay that way: it's just right, just like it is.
Sound: Playability and sound are the JV Strat's strongest suits. By far, the wiring and Tex-Mex special pickups in the JV Strat sound distinctive, strong and vintage at the same time, with dynamic sound diversity to spare.
The JV Strat can play along with country, rock (any), jazzy warm music, smooth music, and even hard rock music. A flip of the pickup selector and a change of gain/eq cause the JV Strat to seem like tons of different guitars. The Jimmie Vaughan Stratocaster is versatile enough to even please my son (he prefers hard-rockin' nads-to-the-wall double-humbuckin' guitars). I asked him one day which Fender he'd like to get his hands on (if I were to ever let any of them out of my cold, stiff hands ;-)). Without hesitation, he said, "I have always wanted to keep Jimmie.” 'Nuff said!
Value: The Jimmie Vaughan signature Fender Stratocaster is not the least-expensive Strat in Fender's stable. It is, however, very high in value as compared to other non-USA Stratocasters. With a JV Strat, you get good build quality, great electronics, a superior neck, and good finish in one nice package. I still think it is very much worth its street price. Looking back over the past couple of years, I would definitely say that I would buy it all over again, only to find joy in guitar playing again.
Wishes: I have come to love the simple, vintage-look pick guard. I have no wishes to change this guitar. I wouldn't change a thing – except that I wish I had a second Jimmie Vaughan Strat to play – I don't want these to go off the market before I get my hands on another. It means too much to me to be without it.
Labels: acoustic guitar, fender, jimmie vaughan, jimmy bear pearson, jimmy vaughan, pearson, review, signature, strat, stratocaster
RSS Feed For Jimmy Bear's theguitarreview.com