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Post by john on Dec 24, 2016 14:46:43 GMT
I'll keep this short and let the pictures do the talking. The back & neck are stunning. It's more of a dark plum than burgundy and the binding contrasts it perfectly. I'd be happy if the whole guitar was in this finish. One minor fault with the flame top is the joint is off-set by about 5mm from center. This doesn't bother me at all. Everything else is straight and in line. The fret board needed oil but other than that it played perfectly out of the box. Intonation is spot on and holds tune pretty well. I'll change the strings to EB's but that's just a personal preference. Inlays are good. The satin hardware covers everything, strap buttons, Grovers, even the screws are duller than normal. The back is nicely finished and smooth. All in all the finish is flawless. I cant see the scarf joint at all. Alignment is as near to perfect as you can get. Rosswells look and sound well. Frets are nicely finished & polished with no sharpness. The cavity is tidy enough and although not shielded the cover is. Small pots as usual but enough room to fit full size and still space for a battery if I ever change it to active. Overall I'm well impressed with this. It's very different to what I usually play but I really like it. It sounds like a Les Paul with sustain that lasts forever and shifts from hard rock tones to creamy blues with ease. All that without the Les Paul bulk & weight. Apart from the flame top being off center the only thing wrong is the truss rod cover only had one hole & screw at the pointy end, not one in each corner as shown. Not a problem but it was bent up at the neck end touching the strings. I just reversed it and its fine. Bonus is I got rid of the white "Deluxe" writing. I know Quality has been a topic in here lately but I couldn't be happier with this for under £200.
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Post by Atreus on Dec 24, 2016 20:20:50 GMT
This is awesome. Like my SC-Custom Active VB. I like it and it's feeling better than my Jackson. HB has become a really good luthier, but only under Thomanns quality supervision I guess. The Wilkinsons are really well. Good chosen and have a lot of fun with this nice guitar.
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Post by john on Dec 25, 2016 7:18:53 GMT
Thanks lads. This one's hit the sweet spot with me. I don't think a guitar can get much better at this price point.
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608 posts
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Post by oghkhood on Dec 25, 2016 7:41:44 GMT
Yep, here's one more cutie from HB. The finish looks like to be a step ahead of what we were used to, if that was even possible on such low priced guitars
A piece of advice : change the pots and cap. For about 10€, there's a great improvement in it. You don't even need to use CTS pots, but mid price will already be more progressive, and almost any other cap wil do the job better than the OEM one
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Post by john on Dec 25, 2016 8:27:40 GMT
Definitely a nice piece of wood oghkhood. That's probably the only thing I'll do but no rush.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2016 9:48:39 GMT
Wow John! that's a fine guitar! If it came with P90's I would be all over it! But I'll wait to see if HB comes up with a hollow body P90 instead. (And I still need a Tele guitar at some stage).
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3,968 posts
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Post by salteedog on Dec 25, 2016 10:43:08 GMT
Wow John! that's a fine guitar! If it came with P90's I would be all over it! But I'll wait to see if HB comes up with a hollow body P90 instead. (And I still need a Tele guitar at some stage). But you already have a hollow body P90 tele
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2016 11:03:17 GMT
Wow John! that's a fine guitar! If it came with P90's I would be all over it! But I'll wait to see if HB comes up with a hollow body P90 instead. (And I still need a Tele guitar at some stage). But you already have a hollow body P90 tele Semi-hollow or maybe it's just a routed cavity with maple cap.
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Post by john on Dec 25, 2016 11:09:50 GMT
But you already have a hollow body P90 tele Semi-hollow or maybe it's just a routed cavity with maple cap. I think you need to see a Doctor Who specializes in P90 obsession papache.
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Post by DerAlex on Dec 25, 2016 11:10:58 GMT
john, very nice guitar! Too many great guitars from HB atm. Regarding pots: I definitely can recommend Alpha pots and 50s wiring - it´s insane what improvement you get with that. For caps a good low-price alterantive are TAD Mustard caps. I will test out different caps once I get my order from the US with some hopefully interesting caps and pots (including NOS caps, let´s see if the voodoo holds up to its legend). :-) Do you know which kind of material the nut is? The specs on the Thomann site do not mention it.
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Post by DerAlex on Dec 25, 2016 11:15:09 GMT
Wow John! that's a fine guitar! If it came with P90's I would be all over it! But I'll wait to see if HB comes up with a hollow body P90 instead. (And I still need a Tele guitar at some stage). I will hopefully receive some Warman HBP90 PUs next week so this could be an option for you papache. They are humbucker sized so can be a direct drop-in replacement.
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325 posts
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Post by wildturkey on Dec 25, 2016 11:15:51 GMT
Very nice ! It looks like a cross between a PRS Santana and a Joe Perry Boneyard.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2016 12:02:26 GMT
Semi-hollow or maybe it's just a routed cavity with maple cap. I think you need to see a Doctor Who specializes in P90 obsession papache. Just my preferred pup that's all played single and buckers but none of them create such lovely sound as P90's to my ear. P90's also drive my tube amp so well. Not too little like single coils and not too much like humbuckers. I'm glad I swapped my SC550 at Thomann for the TE-90QM. If I hadn't done that I might have neve ventured into P90 territory
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2016 12:03:30 GMT
Wow John! that's a fine guitar! If it came with P90's I would be all over it! But I'll wait to see if HB comes up with a hollow body P90 instead. (And I still need a Tele guitar at some stage). I will hopefully receive some Warman HBP90 PUs next week so this could be an option for you papache. They are humbucker sized so can be a direct drop-in replacement. I was looking at those for my L-450+ neck pup. Please do post a sound sample when you get a chance.
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