DrKev
Moderator
Still can’t bring myself to take the plastic off the pick guard and humbucker. Don’t ask me why ‘cause I don’t know!
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NGD: Cutlass RS HSS!
- Thread starter DrKev
- Start date
kimonostereo
Well-known member
It's brand new! Leave it on for a while and enjoy it!
fbecir
Well-known member
Congratulations !
You have also a nice little assistant !
You have also a nice little assistant !
agt
Well-known member
Congrats, DrKev!
Terry007
Well-known member
beautiful, congrats!
DrKev
Moderator
Update...
Once I got the trem floated and adjusted the tension on the tuner buttons, added a brown EB strap (which matches the color of the rosewood quite nicely) and a set of Superlocks, it feels like MY guitar now. The plastic is coming off the pickguard today.
The stock strings are M-Steel Hybrid Slinky (9-46) which are nice but I'm not sure I'll keep 'em on there much longer. They play great though, the extra tension from the heavier bottom strings keeps fret buzz to a minimum with low action. But I have a box of Super Slinkys here that I'm anxious to break into now. I am on vacation but I brought my Yamaha THR5 with me so I can record straight into my laptop. I'll do a before and after of the string change. That also means I can do some sort of comparison these pickups to the Silhouette Special.
The sounds out of this guitar are great! I don't know how they did it but the neck pickup sounds both smooth and spanky with clean tones but it keeps tons of single coil grind and grit with even reatively high gain. That's a cool trick! The humbucker is fabulous. It seems a little brighter and more aggressive than the VPAF in the Silhouettes but then again it also sees 500kΩ volume and tone pots on it's own which is another very cool trick. It sounds amazing, clean or dirty.
The roasted maple neck feels wonderful. It may be confirmation bias but I can't help thinking there is something extra special about the feel of these necks. What neck you get is luck of the draw and this not highly figured but very handsome nonetheless. I got a light milk chocolate brown-with-a-hint-of-purple rosewood board which i love the look of, though it’s darkening a little already with use.The white body color just seems to highlight the classy neck and fretboard! The stainless steel frets are glass smooth and a joy to play.
Any questions?
Once I got the trem floated and adjusted the tension on the tuner buttons, added a brown EB strap (which matches the color of the rosewood quite nicely) and a set of Superlocks, it feels like MY guitar now. The plastic is coming off the pickguard today.
The stock strings are M-Steel Hybrid Slinky (9-46) which are nice but I'm not sure I'll keep 'em on there much longer. They play great though, the extra tension from the heavier bottom strings keeps fret buzz to a minimum with low action. But I have a box of Super Slinkys here that I'm anxious to break into now. I am on vacation but I brought my Yamaha THR5 with me so I can record straight into my laptop. I'll do a before and after of the string change. That also means I can do some sort of comparison these pickups to the Silhouette Special.
The sounds out of this guitar are great! I don't know how they did it but the neck pickup sounds both smooth and spanky with clean tones but it keeps tons of single coil grind and grit with even reatively high gain. That's a cool trick! The humbucker is fabulous. It seems a little brighter and more aggressive than the VPAF in the Silhouettes but then again it also sees 500kΩ volume and tone pots on it's own which is another very cool trick. It sounds amazing, clean or dirty.
The roasted maple neck feels wonderful. It may be confirmation bias but I can't help thinking there is something extra special about the feel of these necks. What neck you get is luck of the draw and this not highly figured but very handsome nonetheless. I got a light milk chocolate brown-with-a-hint-of-purple rosewood board which i love the look of, though it’s darkening a little already with use.The white body color just seems to highlight the classy neck and fretboard! The stainless steel frets are glass smooth and a joy to play.
Any questions?
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beej
Moderator
A real company man ... even on vacation he has a box of Super Slinky's at the ready.
banjoplayer
Well-known member
Congrats DrKev!
Very very beautiful guitar!
The V-shape isn´t exactly my cup of tea, altough I think it wasnt´t very pronounced on the EBMM Cutlasses I´ve played so far. I had a SBMM Cutlass which had it more pronounced.
Are the edges of the fretboard smooth and rounded or are they a bit sharper? That was another thing I didn´t like on my former SBMM Cutlass and I hope it´s better on the EBMMs
Very very beautiful guitar!
The V-shape isn´t exactly my cup of tea, altough I think it wasnt´t very pronounced on the EBMM Cutlasses I´ve played so far. I had a SBMM Cutlass which had it more pronounced.
Are the edges of the fretboard smooth and rounded or are they a bit sharper? That was another thing I didn´t like on my former SBMM Cutlass and I hope it´s better on the EBMMs
DrKev
Moderator
There is nothing sharp about the fretboard edges. Nicely smooth and rounded. Not as rounded as my Silhouette Special but bearing in mind that my Silhouette Special is over a decade old, I wouldn't expect any brand new guitar to be that round!
DrKev
Moderator
Update: Now that we're two months in and I've had time to compare it to my Silhouette Special...
The Cutlass single coils are woody and more mid-rangey than the DiMarzio Area singles in my Silhouette Special. They still sound bright but they are very focused and the frequency response is in just the perfect range to keep the grindy, sizzly single coil vibe with the gain cranked up. The Areas are very bright with a more extended high frequency response, sweet crystal cleans but not lacking in fullness or bass either.
I don't want to put names on it because it's not 100% accurate, but the Cutlass singles are closer to something that rhymes with Steely May Fawn and the Areas are closer to something that rhymes with Erlick Momson. OK?
Similarly the Silhouette Special's Virtual PAF is brighter than the Cutlass humbucker. But the Cutlass humbucker is a louder and barks and snarls better while still balancing beautifully in tone with the single coils.
Neck profiles - I have not directly measured the thickness but the V-shape of the Cutlass has transitioned to a C by the 7th fret and from that point on the Cutlass feels very similar to but a little thinner than the Silhouette Special.
The Cutlass single coils are woody and more mid-rangey than the DiMarzio Area singles in my Silhouette Special. They still sound bright but they are very focused and the frequency response is in just the perfect range to keep the grindy, sizzly single coil vibe with the gain cranked up. The Areas are very bright with a more extended high frequency response, sweet crystal cleans but not lacking in fullness or bass either.
I don't want to put names on it because it's not 100% accurate, but the Cutlass singles are closer to something that rhymes with Steely May Fawn and the Areas are closer to something that rhymes with Erlick Momson. OK?
Similarly the Silhouette Special's Virtual PAF is brighter than the Cutlass humbucker. But the Cutlass humbucker is a louder and barks and snarls better while still balancing beautifully in tone with the single coils.
Neck profiles - I have not directly measured the thickness but the V-shape of the Cutlass has transitioned to a C by the 7th fret and from that point on the Cutlass feels very similar to but a little thinner than the Silhouette Special.
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