Tell me about the Morses..? Y2D and standard...

[Pott]

I love the looks of the Y2D. I'm usually not one for signature models but this is one of the very few decently affordable and available MMs in Europe...

There is absolutely no way for me to play one, on account of no shops having them. So I was wondering what the general concencus is here; I am not used to Poplar guitars, with or without maple cap nor with these pickups at all (Duncan or Bareknuckle person!).

I've just read that it was considered the 'fat' MM... which I would have normally associated more with the Reflex. But without trying it...

So... impressions on the Morse if you're used to Strats or the dual P90s Axis? Thanks!

 

[fbecir]

The standard Morse is really a very versatile guitar. It's a Game Changer
With the humbuckers you can have the big hard rock sound, with the single coils you can have the Strat sound. The neck humbucker is perfectly voiced for a violin sound.
But, the Morse needs to be tamed : you can spend hours changing the pickup heights in order to obtain the perfect balance between your sounds. I know ... I spent a few hours of my life with my Morse and a screwdriver
After that you have to tame the switching ... not so hard but don't expect do be fluent with it in one week.
You need to invest some time but at the end it's really rewarding.
The only sound you can miss is the bridge P90 sound. I approximate this sound with the combination bridge humbucker + bridge single coil.

For the pickup heights you can use the Steve Morse settings (Tommy, Steve's guitar tech, gave us the exact settings a few hears ago). But I think you have to find your own voice. Like Steve, my humbuckers are low (far away from the strings) but my bridge single coil is near the string. In fact, I have the same volume with my bridge HB and with my bridge SC (Steve does not do that ... but I am not Steve ).

The Morse rules

 

[shredhed]

My Y2D is a very versitile guitar. The front pup is to die for. The neck is large, which i like. Think a beefy Strat size, but unfinished so it's silky smooth. Mine is the FR version anf Floyds usually cause some loss of tone, but mine still sounds amazing.

The body has no contours. At first that put me off, until I tried one. Steves reasoning on this is that his picking hand/arm angle is where he wants it if there is no contour, and I have to agree. After playing it, at first it was weird as I had never played anything similar except a LP. But my right hand technique is actually better bc of the way the guitar is made. Too cool!

The standard Morse is really a very versatile guitar. It's a Game Changer
With the humbuckers you can have the big hard rock sound, with the single coils you can have the Strat sound. The neck humbucker is perfectly voiced for a violin sound.
But, the Morse needs to be tamed : you can spend hours changing the pickup heights in order to obtain the perfect balance between your sounds. I know ... I spent a few hours of my life with my Morse and a screwdriver
After that you have to tame the switching ... not so hard but don't expect do be fluent with it in one week.
You need to invest some time but at the end it's really rewarding.
The only sound you can miss is the bridge P90 sound. I approximate this sound with the combination bridge humbucker + bridge single coil.

For the pickup heights you can use the Steve Morse settings (Tommy, Steve's guitar tech, gave us the exact settings a few hears ago). But I think you have to find your own voice. Like Steve, my humbuckers are low (far away from the strings) but my bridge single coil is near the string. In fact, I have the same volume with my bridge HB and with my bridge SC (Steve does not do that ... but I am not Steve ).

The Morse rules

 

[Pott]

Thank you. That actually worries me a bit, I'm pretty average by EU standard (5"8) but short by US and Steve Morse standard..!
One of the reasons I love MMs is because their nut width doesn't give me cramps... not many other companies can offer me that (I like to wrap my thumbs fully around the neck basically...).

 

[Roubster]

You should not be worried at all actually. The feel of the Morse is nothing like an LP. It does feel a little strange at first if you are used to all the contours as I was on my Silo Special. However I adjusted to it within 15 minutes, and I agree with shredhed that it actually gives you a perfect position for the right hand for a better pick attack. The edges of the guitar are nice and rounded, so it does not dig into your forearm. The versatility is really awesome, and its an insanely responsive guitar. Even the volume and tone controls are more responsive than many other guitars I have played. If you want more versatility than you have the standard model of course which has the same feel other than you have a more involved switching system.

 

[shredhed]

If you are concerned about the size of the neck, I would compare it to..........an American Strat, but just a hair larger on the lower end, but don't let my first post scare you away from the morse, it isn't that beefy. It's kind of in between a 60s and a 50s Gibson neck size..

I can't compare it to any other EBMM guitar except the JP6 bc those are the on;y 2 I've ever encountered, (the JP is much shallower).

Can you possibly order one from somewhere that allows for a no fault return policy? That way you could try it out. I beleive that once you do you will be sold on it. That's how I got mine - from Guitar Center here in the states. Like I said, I was put off from the body shape at first, but GC has a 30 (or is it 45?) day return policy. So I had nothing to lose.

Can any of you guys compare any other model's neck shapes to the Y2D? Is there one that is smaller?