Kodee_Kaos
NegRep For Free Porn
So I decided to order my first 'custom' guitar last year. At the time there was no factory stock option that fit all my criteria. I decided on the Vader since it had a very innovative trem design, and my previous Carvin was an excellent sounding and playing guitar.
I put the order in for this around July 2017, at a time when Kiesel was getting some very bad press for their customer service. I decided to take the risk anyway. It arrived October 2017, a couple days before a gig. I've had it a little over a year, so I figure I have enough miles on it to make a well-informed assessment.
The good:
The meh:
The bad:
In closing:
It's a well made and elegantly designed instrument. I had a solid idea going in of what I wanted, and it's met my expectations. The trem is really a game-changer, and I think once they work out the bugs it's going to kick serious ass. Having used this guitar exclusively, I think I'd have a hard time returning to a conventional guitar.
I put the order in for this around July 2017, at a time when Kiesel was getting some very bad press for their customer service. I decided to take the risk anyway. It arrived October 2017, a couple days before a gig. I've had it a little over a year, so I figure I have enough miles on it to make a well-informed assessment.
The good:
- Fretwork is dead-nuts on point, playability is top notch.
- Very compact and svelte design, easy to travel with.
- The pickups deliver a wide range of tones.
- Tuning stability is on-par with an OFR
- Tuners don't "bottom out" like fine tuners on an OFR
- You can use normal strings, you don't need double-ball ends.
- The trem has good range both up and down, and 'flutters' very nicely.
- You can adjust individual saddle heights.
The meh:
- Some of the masking work on the finish was so-so. Not awful but not $1900 good either.
- It shipped with regular strap buttons instead of Straplok buttons. Kiesel handled it promptly.
- It arrived set up in EADGBE when I requested DGCFAD. Wasn't a biggie but still.
- The input jack is a Les Paul style. I feel they could have done something more innovative here.
- No option for a hardshell case. The gigbag is nice - for a gigbag.
The bad:
- The whammy bar has no retention system. It's just a friction fit. I've had it fall out. Really really needs a set screw or a spring detent or something. Not a dealbreaker but it definitely makes you look like a jackass when your bar falls out.
- The stain applied is too dark. In anything less than perfect lighting it might as well just have a solid blue paintjob. I sprung for an ash top with the 'antique ash treatment' option under trans aquaburst stain, but I feel like it's all for naught given how obfuscated it is. If I could do it over I'd get a different finish scheme.
- You can't hold it in a seated classical guitar position without pushing the trem around with your leg.
In closing:
It's a well made and elegantly designed instrument. I had a solid idea going in of what I wanted, and it's met my expectations. The trem is really a game-changer, and I think once they work out the bugs it's going to kick serious ass. Having used this guitar exclusively, I think I'd have a hard time returning to a conventional guitar.