Nassgd

[Nightbat]

So after a few weeks weighing the differences between an EVH Wolfgang Signature, a EVH Striped Series and an Adrian Smith Signature
I finally decided to pick up the ASS , in the end, tonal variety won out, I have more than enough double hum guitars and the Striped being a single hum does actually bring less to the table

Starting off with the good:
-No misaligned neck,
My biggest fear in when choosing this guitar, that I would first need to go for major disassembly
-The Bridge P'up
This is one hell of an OEM pickup on a 'budget' guitar, I already have a Super Distortion lying around, but it can actually wait

The bad:
-Arm assembly
Apparently to mount the trem arm collar they used pliers to hold it in place to tighten the bolt in the cavity
my threaded collar was so oval, I could forget ever getting the trem arm in, luckily I had an old assembly lying around and it fit perfectly
-The nut
The clamps actually didn't fit the nut, I had (again) old clamps and an old R3 nut lying around, the old clamps didn't fit either, and the old R3 nut was too high and the mounting holes were off
I ended up filing out the original nut
-The Single coils
They'll do a decent job playing clean, but with distortion they don't hold together well, may also have to do with the basswood body


Some other points I want to address:
-Hardware
No surprises here when looking at the price of the guitar
It feels, looks and is cheap, and proven to be in my issues with the trem and nut, the tuners may have no play but they feel inconsistent when turning, wound strings seem to snag a little on the bottom of the stringtree
The Floyd itself probably will probably never last as long as those on my old fusions (even though those have been replaced by now as well)
I wouldn't call it unexpected if I have to replace this and that in the moderate future

-Neck/Frets
It's the first unfinished neck in my arsenal (Maple fretboard as well) and I don't have any problem adapting, neck shape seems a little more "C" Shaped than my fusions or 95 SD2 Reissue
but probably a little thinner than my RR1 (been a while since I took that one out of the case)
Frets are done perfectly, no lifting, sharp ends or bad leveling
I can't get the Floyd totally flush with the body because the neck/fretboard is too high in comparison, the top mount does add the benefit of not running into the volume knob with your trem arm with deep dives

-Electronics
NO complaints so far, no gain loss or other crackling/bad contact symptoms the 5-way is a little close under the volume, but that'll just be a matter of getting used to,
the volume itself does have a good gaincurve where I can find a sweet spot a lot easier than on most of my other guitars
(Which would sooner mean that this particular pot is actually NOT good :-) ) the knobs have better grip than I previously found on my other guitars as well
the groundwire going to the tremclaw is unexpectedly long
Haven't popped the hood of the cavity yet, so can't give an opinion about it yet

-Finish
some cutting remnants of the pickguard appeared to be a crack in the finish at first
So far I found no real flaws except maybe an not perfectly painted trem cavity

-Sound
A bit lacking in the low end, bit hollow mids, wich might be because of the basswood body, little bit more high end than I'm used to
The Bridge pup crunches and screams with the best of them though.

Gonna find out if it's still as good after the honeymoon phase anyway

[DonP]

Was this a used guitar or new?

[toejam]

I can't get the Floyd totally flush with the body because the neck/fretboard is too high in comparison, the top mount does add the benefit of not running into the volume knob with your trem arm with deep dives

If you do want the Floyd to be on the body, you can always shim the saddles. I did that on my old Charvel Star, because I wanted to dive only. Worked perfectly fine.

Congrats on your new guitar. Pics?

[Nightbat]

Was this a used guitar or new?

Brand new, if I found a flaw I couldn't easily be fixed it would have went straight back

If you do want the Floyd to be on the body, you can always shim the saddles. I did that on my old Charvel Star, because I wanted to dive only. Worked perfectly fine.

Congrats on your new guitar. Pics?

Well, I'm gonna need some thick shims for that (few millimeters actually)

I still have to photograph my entire collection since the past 15 years, I'll get around to it someday



Think I'll be ditching the Bridge p'up though, the output is great, but it has the same flaws of a JB, flubby bottom, piercing highs

[VitaminG]

a neck heel shim could do the trick. Place a thin shim towards the edge of the pocket and it will change the angle of the neck. Then you can drop the Floyd.

[Nightbat]

Yeah thought about something like that, perhaps I'll give it a go with a few strips of cedarwood (sigarlighters), would be even better if I can bleach those

I'm I correct in assuming neck mounting screws are secured into place with a little superglue?

[VitaminG]

they shouldn't be. No glue. Imagine if the damage you could inflict trying to remove the neck if too much glue was used

[toejam]

Yeah, a neck heel shim should do the trick. I guess I really didn't need to shim the saddles much on my old Star.

[Nightbat]

This sucker is heavy BTW, as much, maybe more than my Epi Les paul, certainly heavier than my Jackson Fusion XL (wich is also basswood)

[xenophobe]

Yeah, those AS imports are heavy... at least the 3 that I played, and I noticed most of the same issues as you did.

However... frets, while there weren't any sharp ends and they weren't installed badly, could use a couple hours of work with a file to make nice and smooth. ESP CS and Ibanez CS kinda raised my expectations of what good fretwork is really like. Definitely a step up from CS Jackson... nothing wrong with the CS Jackson, it just doesn't have the same level of detail.

The neck is more C shaped and fretboard width is unusually thin feeling for a Jackson. I noticed this immediately but never really mentioned it because I coulda just been imagining it. Oddly, even my blackout Deluxe Strat with straight radius feels more Charvel. lol

I think they're a little overpriced, IMO. I haven't tried any of the new mexi-vels, but I know what Fender Mexico can produce. The Tom DeLonge strats, from my limited experience with Mexistrats, actually had decent wow factor for components and overall build quality for the price, and the AS import doesn't really hit any of those right proverbial notes, at least for me.

Replace the Floyd, wire in the pickup of your choice and it'd make a great show guitar... looks and plays well enough, yet no horrid fears that your CS Jackson case will dissappear the next time you look in the direction of your band's pile of equipment waiting for the next band or clearing out...

They're decent guitars, but they didn't really feel "Charvel/Jackson" to me when I picked them up. Neck and body wood were way too dense, IMO. Maybe it was just the way they sanded the back of the neck that also didn't rub me the right way, I dunno. The whole thing felt kinda weird.

Anyway, great in-depth review!

[MartinBarre]

What kind of thread is this? Pics!

[Nightbat]

However... frets, while there weren't any sharp ends and they weren't installed badly, could use a couple hours of work with a file to make nice and smooth.

I found no flaws here whatsoever, perhaps they won't be the most long lasting, but I wouldn't think it odd if the consistency in the fretwire used could be all over the place in (Lack of) QC

The neck is more C shaped and fretboard width is unusually thin feeling for a Jackson. I noticed this immediately but never really mentioned it because I coulda just been imagining it. Oddly, even my blackout Deluxe Strat with straight radius feels more Charvel. lol

The C neck on the AS gives a bit the idea that somebody put torpedo blisters on this battleship
I found the neck width at the nut is a hair less wide than my charvel fusion: 43.9 mm for the Charvel, 43.3 mm for the AS, the radius doesn't feel so different,
but looking at it it seems flatter (though that could be an optical illusion because of the rosewood vs maple)

I think they're a little overpriced, IMO.

I agree and disagree
The playability, fit and finish is on par with any of the other guitars I have, the hardware, yes, that's crap (The Epi LP I also have, had just as bad hardware for €200 more)
The electronics are a matter of taste, but I found no faults except personal preference
Since this is a signature guitar, I think it stands to reason that the endorsement will add some unnecessary $$$ to the price, making it in essence a budget guitar more akin to the JS series

I wouldn't mind a comparison between this and a US or 1st gen MiJ Promod So-cal though

Replace the Floyd, wire in the pickup of your choice and it'd make a great show guitar... looks and plays well enough

Definitely!

They're decent guitars, but they didn't really feel "Charvel/Jackson" to me when I picked them up. Neck and body wood were way too dense, IMO. Maybe it was just the way they sanded the back of the neck that also didn't rub me the right way, I dunno. The whole thing felt kinda weird.

Which is a Plus for me, basically I just wanted a maple FB guitar, but with all the added 'oddities' only make it stand out even more from my other axes
With no true experience with the vaunted SD-era charvels, any inconsistencies are a moot point anyway, I can really learn to love this guitar

Anyway, great in-depth review!

Thank you


....now where to mount that MIDI pickup

What kind of thread is this? Pics!

This'll have to do:

[Force]

I don't find it heavy at all. When I read these comments I had to pick it up to check thinking it was actually fairly light but it does have some mass to it, not heavy though. I'd say similar to the DK2 which is mid weight.

As Xeno said, the frets do have a rough cheapish feel but I love that neck & the stock Floyd holds tune perfectly, doesn't clunk anywhere & operates smoothly.

[Nightbat]

There's a first time for everything so about 2 hours ago I decided to shim the neck.

I wetted a piece of cedar veneer so I could fold it without breaking and ended up with a double layered strip of about 10mm.
Let it dry overnight
took off the neck, placed the shim over the outward neckscrews, nibbed the strip to keep it in place, wedged the neck back in the pocket and screwed it back on
taped a piece of ducttape under the trem to protect the finish (will replace with felt, because the ducttape releases with a 'sticky' sound when diving)



Well, not bad for a first attempt, (again proving the truth of my signature)
Got a bit of string buzz on the lower strings near the headstock, but since I still have to set it up with 10's (now 9's) I'll leave the trussrod alone for now

Though I might be inclined to actually try again with a single layer, I've got enough room to get the trem flat on the body, but this gives no room for dives (It needs a bit of backward angle),
yet raising the trem now dangerously raises the action to where it may become too high, amazing what 1mm change in angle can doo
And I'm also afraid the scratchplate is now caught under the fretboard end, which may become a pain if I am going to install the Super D

[MartinBarre]

Beautiful looking guitar. I'd love one, but I like 24 frets. Congrats!