Hi,

so i just came back from a guitar store down in the south of england, and i played a few different guitars and looked around.

So what did i play?

Gibson Les Paul Custom,
Gibson Les Paul Standard,
PRS Custom 24,
Fender Stratocaster Yngwie Malmsteen Signature.

So first off i picked up the yngwie strat and it was the most easily playable guitar around, the scallopes make it a dream on around the neck and the pickups put out a really 'loud' tone and bending was simply perfect as well as me actually being able to sweep pick (which i have been unable to do on my Gibson SG standard and the other guitars i listed above). The guitar even put out very nice blues and jazz tones i found.

Then i thought, heck may as well try a custom while im here. I was expecting to play the best guitar i have ever played in my life but unfortunatly i found myself holding a extremly heavy guitar which to be honest i dident found gave a decent clean sound the neck was no way near as smooth as the Yngwie and overall i saw myself holding a very clumpy guitar which dident feel right in my hands.

Following the custom i picked up a standard which was an improvment, warm tone and a nice neck also was not as heavy as the custom. However without looking at the body it felt as i was playing my SG in a sense both in how the neck felt and the tone sounded similar. Overall i feel this was a very nice guitar and had a beautiful desert burst finish, but for another guitar i dont think i would need one in alongside my SG.

Lastly i picked up a PRS Custom 24 which was rather light and the neck wasent fat nor was it thin, it could produce a large number of tones but this came at the cost of almost ( i personally feel) makeing the guitar a bit too complicated. There was a master tone, master volume and a 5 way selector nob for the 2 humbuckers which i felt was a bit too much. However the acutal tone which the guitar produced was very nice it just sounded like a cross between the les pauls and the strat. I dident particularly like the counturs of the body either as it felt it dug into my arm as i played.

Overall i felt the custom was overpriced for what it is and did not enjoy playing it at all and to be honest was very disappointed with it as it was not what i was expecting. The standard was nice to play but dident feel very different to the SG i already have. the PRS was different but i did not enjoy the 'hybrid' style of the guitar.
My favourite, and next purchase, is the Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster it was very versitale and overall had the best playability i felt and i really love the scalloped fretboard and what you can achieve with it.

Let me know what you guys think, i will post a few pics later of me testing each guitar

Cheers,

Larsson

Hi Larsson: out of total nosiness, which shop, please? Wasn't GAK by any chance...?

Anyhow. What is interesting here is that you liked the YM Strat - which is far from typical either in feel or sound. That's neither right nor wrong, just interesting.

Good luck - C

Hmm. 'Was a 335 and Firebird and to a much lesser extent, an LP player for quite a while, well over a decade. Complete satisfaction and joy with them.

An American Standard Stratocaster was the first Fender, and it led to others, over the years.

As time went on and more years passed, the Fenders just plain felt more "friendly" and "intimate" and "cuddly" and "informal" than the Gibsons (with strong exception of an SG Faded, which is one of the most blatantly erotic guitars to play, in this opinion).

Similar experience here. 'Cept I ended up buying a 52 Hot Rod telecaster instead of a LP Custom.

_________________
I traded my car in for a microphone.

i did to to GAK in brighton, rather friendly guys although i felt people at GuitarCenter were even more friendly (but maybe americans just are).

im hoping to pickup the yngwie model by the end of summer as at the moment since i have just finished school i dont have a job. However i am working 3 weeks in august and will have enough by the end to purchase the yjm strat

It odd someone would play a scallop neck and describe it as smooth and easy. Unless you have scolloped necks at home and are used to them. Completely different feel from anything else to play.
Weaving a tale

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I agree. It's like finding a good woman to marry. sometimes you have to go through a few crazies (and belive me I have) to find"the one" (which I did). I did hear that the Yngwie Malmsteen is a nice axe.

_________________
Keep rockin'

You need a pretty light touch for a scalloped neck. press too hard and you go sharp. It is pretty cool for bends.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

@cvilleira

yeh it is strange since i dont own (or have ever owned or played) a scalloped neck before and yet i find that it gives me complete control over what i am doing i even found mysel being able to do sweep picking which i have been unsuccessful with on many other guitars.

i cannot wait to pick my yjm up, going to go for the vintage white/maple neck, but because it looks the coolest in my eyes ^^

My son has a scalloped neck guitar he actually scalloped himself. He did a nice job on it and it's actually pretty decent playing. It's fun playing around with it, but It's not really my thing.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

The first Scallop neck I played was a DIY job done from clone parts in a
local guitar store.
I don't think it can be topped if wild bending is your thing.
What it does is provide greater clearance under the string because as you bend, the finger's angle changes and when this happens the fleshy part of the fingertip can drop down and rub against the traditionally flat fretboard.
IMHO, scalloped fretboards are an extremely brilliant modification if your playing style calls for it.
Personally, from a visual perspective, I don't care for the wide headstock style on the post '50s Fender such as used on the Malmsteen but that is
just a personal preference thing.




For those unfamiliar, more info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerboard#Scalloping