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OK, just got back from checking out a Snow White DS-1 ST, and my overall impression was very good. It was pretty resonant, a bit light for all-mahogany, and played great. The neck felt excellent and had a true J/C shape. Reminded me of my Model 6 in terms of backshape and thickness. Not quite as easy access to the 24th fret as most neckthrough Jacksons, but still a breeze compared to just about anything else. The oiled mahogany has a more open, porous feel than oiled maple, which might not be for everyone, but I liked it. If you ever tried one of the old SLATQs that had the oiled mah neck, it's very similar. As the pics upthread show, this guitar has a 3-piece neck without a scarf joint. Not sure why all the spec listings call it a "tilt-back scarf joint neck". I don't mind the 3-piece construction. It's a proven method, and it's what was used on the early Jacksons. The action was low, there was no buzz anywhere on the neck. I tried hard, but could find no dead spots on this fretboard. The fretwork was good, fret ends smooth. Not quite as stellar as the Japan promods, but good. The hardware seemed solid, and I like the fully adjustable TOM compared to the fixed-intonation style like on the PRS Tremonti SE.
No major cosmetic flaws. A couple of minor glitches at binding junction points, and a bit heavy on filler around one or two of the inlays, but not bad at all. Paint was pretty much flawless. The fretboard was dark. Very dark, and nothing at all like the ones in the pics in this thread. Not sure if it was due to flash photography in the pics, if they oiled the hell out of this one when they set it up in the shop, or whatever. It was very uniform, and I suspect that there is some dye involved, but it looked good. My overall impression was that the bling factor wasn't as bad in person as I was expecting, but I'd still prefer MOP inlays and regular ivoroid body binding. One thing that bugged me just a little was the transition from the paint to unfinished mahogany in the neck heel area. It's abrupt, and you can feel it under your thumb playing the high frets. Some guitars have the clearcoat overlap onto the bare wood and feather in rather than having that hard edge. This is a minor quibble, especially considering what I was expecting from a Chinese-made guitar.
The guys in the shop were pretty jazzed about the new line. This is a small independent place with lots of really nice stuff, and these guys don't BS about gear. We talked about the China thing, and they said they were also blown away by how well the guitars played compared to expectations.
I didn't have time to plug in. Not a big fan of blackouts or actives in general, but I've never tried them in mahogany. They're going to give me a call when a floyded model shows up (and when other body styles arrive), and hopefully I'll have time to crank them up then. Honestly, I almost feel bad that I'll be going back, because I know I'm probably going to want to buy one, but won't for the reasons I posted before. The guitar was $599, and as I said previously, I'd go $700 - $750 if it was Korean, or $900 if it was Japanese, no problem. Shame...
From what I saw, I strongly suggest you guys go try one out when you can. Buy one & enjoy the bang for the buck if you don't have a problem with the China thing.
No major cosmetic flaws. A couple of minor glitches at binding junction points, and a bit heavy on filler around one or two of the inlays, but not bad at all. Paint was pretty much flawless. The fretboard was dark. Very dark, and nothing at all like the ones in the pics in this thread. Not sure if it was due to flash photography in the pics, if they oiled the hell out of this one when they set it up in the shop, or whatever. It was very uniform, and I suspect that there is some dye involved, but it looked good. My overall impression was that the bling factor wasn't as bad in person as I was expecting, but I'd still prefer MOP inlays and regular ivoroid body binding. One thing that bugged me just a little was the transition from the paint to unfinished mahogany in the neck heel area. It's abrupt, and you can feel it under your thumb playing the high frets. Some guitars have the clearcoat overlap onto the bare wood and feather in rather than having that hard edge. This is a minor quibble, especially considering what I was expecting from a Chinese-made guitar.
The guys in the shop were pretty jazzed about the new line. This is a small independent place with lots of really nice stuff, and these guys don't BS about gear. We talked about the China thing, and they said they were also blown away by how well the guitars played compared to expectations.
I didn't have time to plug in. Not a big fan of blackouts or actives in general, but I've never tried them in mahogany. They're going to give me a call when a floyded model shows up (and when other body styles arrive), and hopefully I'll have time to crank them up then. Honestly, I almost feel bad that I'll be going back, because I know I'm probably going to want to buy one, but won't for the reasons I posted before. The guitar was $599, and as I said previously, I'd go $700 - $750 if it was Korean, or $900 if it was Japanese, no problem. Shame...
From what I saw, I strongly suggest you guys go try one out when you can. Buy one & enjoy the bang for the buck if you don't have a problem with the China thing.
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