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Well, I was wondering around the city (NYC) today and stopped at the GC on 14th St. They had the Dave Murray strat up on the wall so I had to check it out.
I am completely not GASsing for this guitar any more.
Overall, it needed a setup (string height was really high) and the pickups (while historically accurate, I guess) are not F-spaced, so the strings completely miss the poles on the E's. It was light overall, I'm guessing low 7 lbs, so I thought it would really resonate, but it felt pretty lifeless to me (this can vary from guitar to guitar, so maybe there's some better ones out there).
The neck was nicely finished, and the frets were polished OK - the back of the neck had a satin finish - like a gloss nitro that had been rubbed down with some steel wool. I didn't like the chunky feel - it was like a deep U - more like an early tele than a late 50's strat - I was expecting a V shape from a 50's build. It didn't feel comfortable - especially compared to my San Dimas Style 1 that I've been playing like crazy. The fretboard edges were not rolled (no skunk stripe - so its a two-piece as well). It just really didn't sing under high gain with either pickup.
The rings on the humbuckers were also cheap plastic looking jobs - they weren't screwed in, which also seemed odd to me, but maybe that's the way they were supposed to be. Dave's sig on the back of the headstock was kind of blurry black magic marker looking.
In comparison to other sig models like the Eric Johnson, the YJM and the Blackmore strat that I've spent time with recently, the Murray strat ranks last.
Well, the good news is that I don't feel that I NEED this guitar any longer. Hopefully the Adrian Smith Jackson is head and shoulders above this thing.
Anyway, just my opinion after a couple minutes with one, YMMV.
I am completely not GASsing for this guitar any more.
Overall, it needed a setup (string height was really high) and the pickups (while historically accurate, I guess) are not F-spaced, so the strings completely miss the poles on the E's. It was light overall, I'm guessing low 7 lbs, so I thought it would really resonate, but it felt pretty lifeless to me (this can vary from guitar to guitar, so maybe there's some better ones out there).
The neck was nicely finished, and the frets were polished OK - the back of the neck had a satin finish - like a gloss nitro that had been rubbed down with some steel wool. I didn't like the chunky feel - it was like a deep U - more like an early tele than a late 50's strat - I was expecting a V shape from a 50's build. It didn't feel comfortable - especially compared to my San Dimas Style 1 that I've been playing like crazy. The fretboard edges were not rolled (no skunk stripe - so its a two-piece as well). It just really didn't sing under high gain with either pickup.
The rings on the humbuckers were also cheap plastic looking jobs - they weren't screwed in, which also seemed odd to me, but maybe that's the way they were supposed to be. Dave's sig on the back of the headstock was kind of blurry black magic marker looking.
In comparison to other sig models like the Eric Johnson, the YJM and the Blackmore strat that I've spent time with recently, the Murray strat ranks last.
Well, the good news is that I don't feel that I NEED this guitar any longer. Hopefully the Adrian Smith Jackson is head and shoulders above this thing.
Anyway, just my opinion after a couple minutes with one, YMMV.
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