Post by swkswk on Aug 14, 2015 12:12:30 GMT
Hello everybody !* I'm Matt from France... somewhere near Belgium 38 years old soon, average-joe-guitarist (If I can consider myself as a guitarist )
[* I'll introduce myself in welcome section ASAP]
I got many guitars, I started to play at 13/14 y.o... stopped for some raisons at 20... start again now since a year.
At 13/14 years old.. you're not very rich, so I got many piece of crap I loved. Squier, Ibanez, Jackson, no-name... very often entry level models or middle range in the best case.
I only kept from this period a very old Matsumoku LP.
As I wanted to play guitar again, I ordered from Thomann a cheap Telecaster (the cheapest) and a USB cable in order to play with 'LePou'.
Month after, pawn-shop guitars after... I decided to buy a good model, still from the Thomann's brand (because I was pleased with my cheap Tele).
So... I bought a HB CST-24... just looking the description : mohogamy body, graphite nut, good pickups, wraparound that look good etc. (I'm not a tremolo addict).
As I'm better tinkerer than guitarist, I 'tweaked' the beast the very same day I received my package :
- I installed 2 push-pull pot' in order to split HB coils
- A treble bleed circuit with orange drop
- Orange drop for tone as well
- Put some copper foil *everywhere*
- Changed the jack for something gold covered (useless, let's say so )
- Changed *every* wires for top notch things
I got everything from MOUSER (a famous electronic supplier) for a fistfull of change..... CST audio pot etc. just the best.
(The infamous Matsumoku LP on the right )
Talking about the guitar :
In fact, I realized that it was a "copy" of PRS.. two or three days after I received the axe, when I realized that this diapason length was not that usual etc.
Mine was a "Stock-B". Someone found a flaw on it or I don't know... I just found a little spot on the varnish, that's it. I can live with it.
It's a very spectacular guitar. As I tweaked the guitar a lot, I can say that the top is *not* photoflame or something. The top seems to be 5 or 7mm thick (maple).
Every cavities are painted with a kind of black primer (at first, I tought about carbon conductive paint, it's not). It's very clean and neat.
The guitar is not super light, it's well balanced considering it's mohogamy.
I can't tell you about settings, action etc. I plugged it 5 seconds and then installed all my mods and tuned from A to Z.
Neck is in 2 pieces, body looks the same.
Frets need some file work... not that much, I can play like that but I want something smoother. No big deal.
Everything looks very nice... astonish top, nice binding etc. It's even to much for me... I like K.I.S.S things I worry way more about tone.
The result :
- My best guitar ever.
I know it's all a matter of taste, perception etc. --> To me, it's very hard to beat. You can't go wrong with such a low price. Even at 250/300€ it's still a bargain to my opinion.
The neck is confortable and fast, action is low... intonations are *perfects* with 10/46 gauge (just tune the first and the last string ! )
Push-pull coil splitting is a *must have*. In single coil, I had exactly the same *quality* of sound as my Strat 'partcaster' very well equiped (150€ fender pickups etc). It's not the *same* sound, but I *sold* my strat after that.
In HB mode, it beats my Matsumoku LP... I can achieve the same tone, better than my LP. I don't consider changing pickups !! (Vintage DiMarzio in bridge position of my LP !).
Sound is quite "straight", very "accurate" (it's hard to speak about sound) and LPish anyway... in single coil, it's Fenderish clean...
You know what ? It's *frustrating* !! I don't want any more guitar, I just consider buying a black CST in order to put P90...
Nota : I changed all electronic, excepted pickups... it made quite a difference to my ears. I plugged the guitar very quickly in order to check... sound was a bit muddy and not "exceptionnal" to my ears. I tought in myself "I bought a good piece of body, I'll throw the pickups to the bin..."
With treble bleed, orange drop, CST audio pot... this guitar is a KILLER !
[* I'll introduce myself in welcome section ASAP]
I got many guitars, I started to play at 13/14 y.o... stopped for some raisons at 20... start again now since a year.
At 13/14 years old.. you're not very rich, so I got many piece of crap I loved. Squier, Ibanez, Jackson, no-name... very often entry level models or middle range in the best case.
I only kept from this period a very old Matsumoku LP.
As I wanted to play guitar again, I ordered from Thomann a cheap Telecaster (the cheapest) and a USB cable in order to play with 'LePou'.
Month after, pawn-shop guitars after... I decided to buy a good model, still from the Thomann's brand (because I was pleased with my cheap Tele).
So... I bought a HB CST-24... just looking the description : mohogamy body, graphite nut, good pickups, wraparound that look good etc. (I'm not a tremolo addict).
As I'm better tinkerer than guitarist, I 'tweaked' the beast the very same day I received my package :
- I installed 2 push-pull pot' in order to split HB coils
- A treble bleed circuit with orange drop
- Orange drop for tone as well
- Put some copper foil *everywhere*
- Changed the jack for something gold covered (useless, let's say so )
- Changed *every* wires for top notch things
I got everything from MOUSER (a famous electronic supplier) for a fistfull of change..... CST audio pot etc. just the best.
(The infamous Matsumoku LP on the right )
Talking about the guitar :
In fact, I realized that it was a "copy" of PRS.. two or three days after I received the axe, when I realized that this diapason length was not that usual etc.
Mine was a "Stock-B". Someone found a flaw on it or I don't know... I just found a little spot on the varnish, that's it. I can live with it.
It's a very spectacular guitar. As I tweaked the guitar a lot, I can say that the top is *not* photoflame or something. The top seems to be 5 or 7mm thick (maple).
Every cavities are painted with a kind of black primer (at first, I tought about carbon conductive paint, it's not). It's very clean and neat.
The guitar is not super light, it's well balanced considering it's mohogamy.
I can't tell you about settings, action etc. I plugged it 5 seconds and then installed all my mods and tuned from A to Z.
Neck is in 2 pieces, body looks the same.
Frets need some file work... not that much, I can play like that but I want something smoother. No big deal.
Everything looks very nice... astonish top, nice binding etc. It's even to much for me... I like K.I.S.S things I worry way more about tone.
The result :
- My best guitar ever.
I know it's all a matter of taste, perception etc. --> To me, it's very hard to beat. You can't go wrong with such a low price. Even at 250/300€ it's still a bargain to my opinion.
The neck is confortable and fast, action is low... intonations are *perfects* with 10/46 gauge (just tune the first and the last string ! )
Push-pull coil splitting is a *must have*. In single coil, I had exactly the same *quality* of sound as my Strat 'partcaster' very well equiped (150€ fender pickups etc). It's not the *same* sound, but I *sold* my strat after that.
In HB mode, it beats my Matsumoku LP... I can achieve the same tone, better than my LP. I don't consider changing pickups !! (Vintage DiMarzio in bridge position of my LP !).
Sound is quite "straight", very "accurate" (it's hard to speak about sound) and LPish anyway... in single coil, it's Fenderish clean...
You know what ? It's *frustrating* !! I don't want any more guitar, I just consider buying a black CST in order to put P90...
Nota : I changed all electronic, excepted pickups... it made quite a difference to my ears. I plugged the guitar very quickly in order to check... sound was a bit muddy and not "exceptionnal" to my ears. I tought in myself "I bought a good piece of body, I'll throw the pickups to the bin..."
With treble bleed, orange drop, CST audio pot... this guitar is a KILLER !