Yeah.
I was smart enough to get in on the Oakland Axe Factory/Xen autumn run. Mine came in the other day.
Specs:
* 8-string headless
* 25.5 - 27" fan
* Strandberg licensed Endurneck profile
* Swamp ash body
* Walnut top
* maple neck with bubinga stripe
* birdseye maple fretboard
* Lace Alumitone Deathbucker in the bridge, X-bar in the neck
* luminlay side-dots
* two volumes with push-pull coil split
That fretboard...
For scale, here it is next to the Agile Intrepid Pro that it's going to replace:
What can I say? Tom does amazing work.
It's light. Probably weighs half what the Agile does.
The ergonomics are spot on. Standing or sitting, over either leg, it balances perfectly and sits just right. I took a leap of faith on the endurneck and I think it paid off. I'm sold. It's instantly comfortable. You don't notice the corners like you would expect, you just find that your thumb ends up in the right place. The setup is pretty much perfect, though I might put some heavier strings on the F# and B, out of personal preference.
The fan is going to take me a little longer to adjust to. On the high frets, it's fine. Down low, I still find myself missing notes more often than usual. A few hours of band practice tonight and I'm more comfortable, but not 100% there yet. I think I'm pro fan overall though. String tension and tone on the high strings is much smoother than, eg, on the Agile.
I haven't entirely figured out the Alumitones yet either. Out of the gate, the cleans are fantastic in every configuration. Very wide open sound. Almost reminds me of a bit of a very nice blend of magnetic and piezo pickups. Massive dynamic range. I don't think I've ever played other pickups with this much dynamic range. I think that's making it tough to dial in a heavy tone though. I mean, it sounds *good* distorted, but I have a hard time dialing in the particular tones that I'm used to. Playing dynamics have such a huge impact. If I dial in what I like and then play just a little bit harder or softer, it ends up very different. So, I'm probably going to have to work on developing more control there and spend some more time figuring out how they interact with different preamps and pedals.
Awesome, she's a beauty, HNGD!!! I'm also ordering one of these in a few months, would love to see or hear some sound clips of the pickups clean( also w/ coil split) & distorted before putting specs together. Enjoy the new beast!!!
