elvis2
Active member
Really like the Cutlass, much more than I expected. I was a bit worried about the bridge humbucker, as I like very bright pickups, but the tone works for me. It is warm, but also crispy, so I can hear the crunch. I played through a variety of real tube amps and models and a variety of styles.
Overall:
Fit and finish: Excellent, second to none.
Hardware: Excellent. The MM trem bridge was a dark horse, but it works well and is actually very easy for intonation adjustment. Knobs move smoothly with a good amount of resistance, not too much. Tuners are very smooth, locking tuners are an absolute must for me these days, and these are great. PU Selector is smooth, but firm, no dropouts. Volume knob has a good taper. Tone pot is OK, I don't actually use tone controls much. I did a full setup in 15 minutes (relief, action, intonation, trem, pickup heights), very easy to adjust everything.
Neck:
Frets: A little small for my taste, but they do the job. Very well finished.
RS neck: Beautiful. I'll find out how stable it is in time. Shape is not my favorite (I prefer wider/flatter/thinner) but very serviceable. Finish is SO SMOOTH I love it. Edges are perfect. Truss rod wheel adjust is THE BEST.
Headstock: 4x2 is a bit odd, but no issue to get used to.
Body:
Sounds great. Very comfortable. Light enough. No problem with access to highest frets.
Pickups:
Very Good. Humbucker gets me where I need. Singles sound good, a bit different from "vintage" Single Coils, but definitely SC character and output. The Silent system works GREAT. I use a lot of gain at times and it is WAY less noisy than my other HSS. The different positions have quite different tones, so they are useful and shine well through various amps and gain settings. Good amount of output for a variety of styles. Good tone, and quite adjustable tone with PU height.
It took me a couple days of playing and adjusting to find where I like the action and trem tension. I went with 0.095-0.044 strings gauge. 9's were too loose, 10's a bit much for me on this guitar. I generally use 10-46s on super-strats and 9.5-44 on teles and strats.
This is the vid that actually made me pull the trigger.
Overall:
Fit and finish: Excellent, second to none.
Hardware: Excellent. The MM trem bridge was a dark horse, but it works well and is actually very easy for intonation adjustment. Knobs move smoothly with a good amount of resistance, not too much. Tuners are very smooth, locking tuners are an absolute must for me these days, and these are great. PU Selector is smooth, but firm, no dropouts. Volume knob has a good taper. Tone pot is OK, I don't actually use tone controls much. I did a full setup in 15 minutes (relief, action, intonation, trem, pickup heights), very easy to adjust everything.
Neck:
Frets: A little small for my taste, but they do the job. Very well finished.
RS neck: Beautiful. I'll find out how stable it is in time. Shape is not my favorite (I prefer wider/flatter/thinner) but very serviceable. Finish is SO SMOOTH I love it. Edges are perfect. Truss rod wheel adjust is THE BEST.
Headstock: 4x2 is a bit odd, but no issue to get used to.
Body:
Sounds great. Very comfortable. Light enough. No problem with access to highest frets.
Pickups:
Very Good. Humbucker gets me where I need. Singles sound good, a bit different from "vintage" Single Coils, but definitely SC character and output. The Silent system works GREAT. I use a lot of gain at times and it is WAY less noisy than my other HSS. The different positions have quite different tones, so they are useful and shine well through various amps and gain settings. Good amount of output for a variety of styles. Good tone, and quite adjustable tone with PU height.
It took me a couple days of playing and adjusting to find where I like the action and trem tension. I went with 0.095-0.044 strings gauge. 9's were too loose, 10's a bit much for me on this guitar. I generally use 10-46s on super-strats and 9.5-44 on teles and strats.
This is the vid that actually made me pull the trigger.
Last edited:
