The Newest Guitar I Own (Until Tomorrow)

[FrankenFretter***]

I saw a post on another forum about World Music Supply blowing out their DBZ guitars at very low prices, and one particular model caught my eye for several reasons: It's a set neck (mahogany/mahogany) with a flame maple top, which is usually a win, and it has EMG pickups (81/85 combo). Also, the name of the model is the Barchetta, and being a huge Rush fan, that was a plus. Of course, since it was a Barchetta, I had to get the "brilliant red Barchetta", or in this case, the trans black cherry finish. Using a discount code, I scored this for a paltry $239:







This has a great neck, although it did need a good Scotchbriting to get rid of that gloss (I swear by this process, it really makes a difference you can feel when you play). The EMGs...I wasn't too sure about those at first. Through my smaller home practice amps (Vox Night Train and Orange Micro Terror), they didn't impress me that much. I have a set of EMG Hetfields in my Schecter Blood Moon that I love, but these don't sound like those pickups much at all. I decided that I would give the pickups a run through my Bugera 333XLi at band practice and then decide whether or not I liked them; I must say that they sound very good in that situation, especially with some gain and "at volume", if you know what I mean. They do sound good clean as well, but they excel through the Crunch and Lead channels of that amp. It's a different animal altogether in the band setting.

I'm still a little on the fence when it comes to active pickups, as I have some really great sounding guitars with passives, but they're growing on me. I think they do well in the right situations. Maybe with some more EQ tweaking, I can learn to like them through the other amps I have as well.

[Tig***]

Awesome! HNGD, Sean.

EDIT: So I clicked on the link to world music supply... Thanks for the temptation, you sorry rasm-frasm!

[FrankenFretter***]

Awesome! HNGD, Sean.

EDIT: So I clicked on the link to world music supply... Thanks for the temptation, you sorry rasm-frasm!

Glad I could help, Doug!

[marnold***]

That's a great deal right there. I too share a dislike for glossy necks. Too sticky. As a metal head, you would think I'd have more experience with those EMGs but I really don't.

[tjcurtin1]

How about a pic of what the neck looks like after scotch-briting? I'm curious about trying it but would like to see an example.

[FrankenFretter***]

How about a pic of what the neck looks like after scotch-briting? I'm curious about trying it but would like to see an example.

I'll try to remember to take a picture of one of them this weekend. I do this to all of my guitars. Appearance-wise, it doesn't look that much different than stock, especially on maple necks. It's amazing the difference you feel, though. I'm not a shredder by any means, but just moving your hand up or down the neck is much easier after this operation.