kimonostereo
Well-known member
I was hoping to beat Keith, but living in Hawaii DOES have it's drawbacks, namely shipping a guitar across the ocean takes a while. Thanks to Pete Dubaldo for a great deal and speedy delivery!
The Cutlass arrived in perfect condition and while I only spent a few minutes playing with it, I love it. The neck has a satin finish applied to it but it feels great. It's nothing like traditional finished necks. I have a feeling that EBMM wants these necks to get played a lot and eventually show some wear through, especially on the all maple necks. The neck contour is definitely a soft v at the top and a "c" shape at the higher registers. And while I love the short 4+2 headstock, the longer headstock on the Cutlass gives this instrument a very classic look.
The new trem is smooth. I need to spend more time to take a closer look at how it works. Does the trem cover come off? The stainless steel frets were buttery and I heard that these come with M-Steel strings, although the tag says Regular Slinky. No matter, they're Ernie Ball strings, right?
Out of curiosity, I stood it up next to my homemade "s" type guitar (Korina chambered body) and it was roughly .5" shorter, so very close to an "s" type instrument in length. I often wonder if my Albert Lee sounds different from my strat because of the headstock length, but I digress. The Cutlass body is just about the same size as the homemade "s" type. From the side, the Cutlass was slightly thinner.
That said, I think I need to adjust the action as it seems a bit high out of the case. I did let it sit for a while to acclimate to the Hawaii temperature before tweaking the truss rod to see if it would lower the action a bit. I only have my other EBMMs to compare this to, so I don't know if they set this guitar up differently at the factory but the action does seem a little high for my tastes.
I plugged it in just to make sure everything works. That new silent circuit seems like it works great. I couldn't hear any hum on the 1-3-5 positions. I'll play a bit more with it later on this week. Also, the cases are form fit for the specific instrument AND they include custom decal stating the instrument in the case! I no longer need to put some tape on the case to identify what's inside. Thanks BP and company!
And finally, here are the pics!
The Cutlass arrived in perfect condition and while I only spent a few minutes playing with it, I love it. The neck has a satin finish applied to it but it feels great. It's nothing like traditional finished necks. I have a feeling that EBMM wants these necks to get played a lot and eventually show some wear through, especially on the all maple necks. The neck contour is definitely a soft v at the top and a "c" shape at the higher registers. And while I love the short 4+2 headstock, the longer headstock on the Cutlass gives this instrument a very classic look.
The new trem is smooth. I need to spend more time to take a closer look at how it works. Does the trem cover come off? The stainless steel frets were buttery and I heard that these come with M-Steel strings, although the tag says Regular Slinky. No matter, they're Ernie Ball strings, right?
Out of curiosity, I stood it up next to my homemade "s" type guitar (Korina chambered body) and it was roughly .5" shorter, so very close to an "s" type instrument in length. I often wonder if my Albert Lee sounds different from my strat because of the headstock length, but I digress. The Cutlass body is just about the same size as the homemade "s" type. From the side, the Cutlass was slightly thinner.
That said, I think I need to adjust the action as it seems a bit high out of the case. I did let it sit for a while to acclimate to the Hawaii temperature before tweaking the truss rod to see if it would lower the action a bit. I only have my other EBMMs to compare this to, so I don't know if they set this guitar up differently at the factory but the action does seem a little high for my tastes.
I plugged it in just to make sure everything works. That new silent circuit seems like it works great. I couldn't hear any hum on the 1-3-5 positions. I'll play a bit more with it later on this week. Also, the cases are form fit for the specific instrument AND they include custom decal stating the instrument in the case! I no longer need to put some tape on the case to identify what's inside. Thanks BP and company!
And finally, here are the pics!
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