Big goofy review of my new WR-1

[StukaJU87]

Congrats on the new Warrior. [img]graemlins/toast.gif[/img] Glad you like it. I got mine a couple months ago and I love it as well. They sure are sweet axes! [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[Thoraby]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

Congratz! I gotta get my one of those in a near future! [img]graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[VitaminG]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

sounds creamy.....chocolaty.......*slurp*

congrats!

[straycat]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

The invaders are very bassy and in your face.I had a B.C. Rich stealth that had 2 of the early invaders man you talk about thumping bottom end.It would make your body hurt after about 15 min of thrashing.

[JACKSONWOLF]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

Congrats on your new Warrior. Can`t wait to see the photo`s . I got mine back in February although, I did (after about 10 Minutes!!!!!) fit a set of Zakk Wylde EMG`s in it (I just wanted something a bit different). Just click on the following link to see mine.
http://steve-wright.fotopic.net/photo.php?id=1156083

[Newc]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

While those minor blemishes are not what Grover envisioned for Jackson's QA, I'm glad the rest of it came out right.
I'm starting to agree with Greg about Jackson's Quality decline. But, even my 1990 USA Warrior has issues (excess glue around the inlays that you can feel when you fret a note, tone knob hole was drilled AFTER the finish was done), not to mention the 2001 JCF models that had more problems than the imports of the same year.

I have to ask myself (and Jackson) if getting them out the door on time is so important that they'd let obvious minor flaws out, how far down the road is the point where they'll send 'em out the door with more serious problems like streaks and bubbles in the clear, dented/ruined frets, and stress cracks - or worse?

I truly hope Tim Wilson is given more time (and people) to perform true quality inspections, and the explicit authority to reject a guitar for the most minor of flaws. That ensures quality on the floor, but when they know what is passable and what is not, they'll skirt that edge and never truly be great luthiers like Shannon and Eldred.

Newc

[1trussell]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

Congrats on the new Warrior. F'n awesome. If the neck is as good as you say it is, I'll have to check into one of those in the near future.

[raymo]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

Big congrats on the nice play'n guitar!

[JohnnyRasgueado]

Big goofy review of my new WR-1

Yes, yes, yes, my Warrior is here! The events leading up to this giant box, inexplicably marked "Charvel," landing on my doorstep last Friday are long and involved ... let's just say they stretch back many years. Okay ... some of ya wanted to hear about it so here it is (everyone else should ignore this thread ... it's really quite long and silly!) ...

The first thing I noticed about the Warrior is that the body is actually quite small ... I never saw one live and in person, and in the pictures, the body looks HUGE. It's really not ... it's compact, comfortable, and, when plopped into your lap, orients itself into PERFECT classical playing position! So sweet!

There are a few minor issues that I wanna point out, mostly regarding fit and finish: There's a little chunk missing from the headstock point -- it looks like a router skip that had subsequently been sanded. Really weird. It doesn't look like anything that would have occurred during shipping ... maybe it got bumped in the factory? Also, quite a bit of the gun metal grey finish got slopped up on the bass side of the fretboard. Last, the clearcoat and paint end at two different points on the back of the neck ... anyone else have an "unfinished neck-through" Jackson with the same thing? The finish ends, but the clearcoat continues up the neck for about a quarter inch ... then stops at the same angle as the paint. Strange.

Since I'm nit-picking, there's also a little funk in one of the sharktooth points on the fifth fret. Finally, the neck/headstock binding was applied rather haphazardly -- the binding joints on the headstock are particularly nightmarish. Honestly, I bring this up only because Jackson sets the "retail" for a Group A finish Warrior at $2,095 ... which seems rather steep to have these minor Q&A problems. I paid a fraction of that, so I really don't mind ... but still ...

THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, this thing is freakin' amazing. If something _did_ happen to the headstock at the factory, I completely understand why they kept the guitar going ... it's got the sickest neck of anything I've ever played. Action is 1/16" across the entire surface, intonation was dead-on out of the box, and there isn't a dead spot on the board. The fretwork is really amazing -- every fret just gleamed as soon as I opened the case.

Ripping licks on this monster is easily the most rewarding experience I've ever had with a guitar. The neck transition and the scallops in the body honestly allow for uninhibited access up to the 22nd fret ... frets 23 and 24 are easy to hit on the G, B, and E strings; a little difficult on the wound bass ones. However, that has more to do with how wide the fretboard is -- and I wouldn't trade in that wide fretboard for anything. This baby was built for plain ol' speed ... the wide, flat neck, low action, expert fretwork, and ebony board make this thing insanely fast. Every lick I know has come out almost 10bpm faster on this baby than my JEM with no perceived change in my style.

Unplugged, the guitar has great clarity and definition. Notes kinda leap out of the middle of the neck somewhere and the body resonates wonderfully. Amplified, it's terrifying. The Full Shred is simply an incredible pickup ... clear, articulate, thrust-o-plenty. Perfect! The Invader is ... well ... really, really, really hot. Almost too hot. Okay ... probably too hot. Heck ... it starts to distort my DSL 100's clean channel with the gain on "7." Yeesh! It's dark sounding, in the best way possible -- kinda like Dove dark chocolate. Mmmmmmmm, chocolate ...

Biggest surprise of the year: With the pickup selector in the middle, the Warrior offers up a great clean tone! Given the electronics, I really didn't think that would happen ... the clean sound is still plenty dark and smoky, but clarity and stringiness is there. The lower registers sound deep and piano-like, while the higher notes have a nice, bell-like tone.

I probably don't have to dwell too long on the overdriven tones. Think Elvis Presley drinking a bucket of nitro-hot habanera chili in a Roman candle U.F.O. with the afterburner keyed. You'll start to get the picture.

Soooooooooo ... all in all ... it's simply an amazing instrument. While it plays the best of anything I own, it still fits in with the rest of my collection perfectly, actually complimenting the rest of my guitars (they actually all got together for a big buddy high-five over the weekend, but I think that might have been the bronchitis medication ...). I might swap out the Invader at a later date (but I'm NEVER touching the neck pickup!!!), and a few of the finer "final details" of the instrument were not quite up to my expectations, but ... dang ... this thing is incredible!!!

--jr

[RemCarr]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

CONGRATS ON THE WARRIOR!! I too JUST got mine from Matt @ OSG...I was lucky enough to get one of the Blood Drip custom shop babies. Oh MAN is it INSANE!!!! I can't take it out of the case without my heart racing. I havent had the nerve to gig with it yet, but man do I wanna! I agree that they are SO much different than you expect, but in a good way. Mine has EMG's in it, I would have rather had the Duncan's but this is how it came and I won't change it. Hell it's a custom shop and there are ONLY 3 in the world!! WOOO!!! I WILL BE adding more to the fold at some time in the future, these are just amazing guitars. AN all over Pile o Skulls maybe, with matching H/S....oh to dream!!! [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

Enjoy your new Warrior man! [img]graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

Be Cool!
Mike

[Kamo]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool. Glad you enjoy it! Wish i had one >.<
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Soooooooooooo how about some pix? [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[JohnnyRasgueado]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

Pictures will have to wait a little while ... I'm still in the land of film/develop/scan. I'll do my best to come up with something soon!!!!

--jr

[toejam]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

Congrats on a great guitar!!! [img]graemlins/toast.gif[/img] I played my first few Warriors last year for the first time from a board member that lives nearby (WarriorX7). I also found the body to be smaller than I thought, and it balanced better than the Kellys I used to own. They're definitely well balanced for both sitting down and standing up.

As for the blemishes on your brand new guitar, I'd personally send it back and demand a new one that's cosmetically perfect, but that's just me.

[JohnnyRasgueado]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

Thanks, toejam!

As for the blemishes, I just sorta wanted to point them out. The Warrior was one of Matt's leftovers at OSG ... so there's certainly no going back to Jackson about it. The guitar is honestly so awesome that I'll live with its shortcomings (nothing in life can be perfect anyway!).

--jr

[Lev]

Re: Big goofy review of my new WR-1

congrats on the guitar [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

On the neck the clearcoat usually finishes a little after the paint so don't worry about that.

[ October 08, 2003, 12:50 PM: Message edited by: Lev ]