330 has landed - Whoa! i think i'm in trouble!
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:58 pm
well - it's here! my first rick - a fireglo 330 (from mf). arrived today. here's some of my first impressions:
pull the case from the box - the covering on the basic case even has a different feel - almost like cloth (i didn't dote on it too much - where's that rick?). the latches on the case - different once again. unsnap... lift, and... there it was!
color - most intense red i think i've ever seen. offset nicely by the variegated (sp?) pinkish in the middle, dark toward the edges and up to the ends of the bouts (horns). the wood has some nice figuing, particularly on the back where there's quite a few 'eyes'.
i'm just looking at it with awe as i grab it from the case.
weight - heh! this thing is much lighter - and thinner - than i expected. pretty darn light. and BIG! kind of like a demonic gibby 335. i'm starting to wonder how this is going to feel strapped around my neck. so i fit on the old strap and put 'er on and, dagnabit if it ain't comfortable to boot. fits nicely right wherre i like - riding high up on my middle. and - what's that smell? is that the guitar? yep - nothing like i've smelled on an electric (or acoustic for that matter). not sure i like that part yet.
the neck - well it's nicely shaped for me. not at all wide, as i expected, and well-rounded around back. action is pretty low out of the box. frets are nicely finished. neck is well-grained and darkly stained rosewood with that shiny nitro. i have to say that nitro is not my fave - i sold a great copper tele '52 reissue because of the nitro (too sticky). i'm going to get used to this one, i hope.
sound - i plugged it into my tech 21 tm 60 and hit that first chord clean with a bit of reverb and - i'm a beatle! (well - well you know what i mean). there's that characteristic sound - nothing like it in my experience - hearing it and/or playing it.
i start to play around and one of my first realizations is that you can really fingerpick this thing and it stays really clear - doesn't muddy at all. the chords - loud or soft - remain clear. you can hear top, middle, and bottom pretty equally. not what i'm used to with my fenders. they are clear but tend to have registers that don't blend as well as this rick seems to. i play up the neck and realize that way up top, it's not sustaining like i expected and deadens out when i bend. i think it needs an adjustment - it might be fretting out. i mean - these high notes - i think - should really hold and ring out on a bend - right?
anyway - i'm going back to play. this is a really great guitar! i see no reason why this baby can't do it all. i tried blues, country, as well as rock (which i knew it could do). and heh - the tone controls really work!! the blend knob is really a great little tweaker from my initial stabs at it.
yeah - i think i may need another one of these - and that's why i'm a bit troubled. oh well - GAS is what it is.
thanks for listening and for all your help with my earlier requests for info - pix to come later.
geoff
ps - btw - i'm getting use to the smell = and it's pretty good.
pull the case from the box - the covering on the basic case even has a different feel - almost like cloth (i didn't dote on it too much - where's that rick?). the latches on the case - different once again. unsnap... lift, and... there it was!
color - most intense red i think i've ever seen. offset nicely by the variegated (sp?) pinkish in the middle, dark toward the edges and up to the ends of the bouts (horns). the wood has some nice figuing, particularly on the back where there's quite a few 'eyes'.
i'm just looking at it with awe as i grab it from the case.
weight - heh! this thing is much lighter - and thinner - than i expected. pretty darn light. and BIG! kind of like a demonic gibby 335. i'm starting to wonder how this is going to feel strapped around my neck. so i fit on the old strap and put 'er on and, dagnabit if it ain't comfortable to boot. fits nicely right wherre i like - riding high up on my middle. and - what's that smell? is that the guitar? yep - nothing like i've smelled on an electric (or acoustic for that matter). not sure i like that part yet.
the neck - well it's nicely shaped for me. not at all wide, as i expected, and well-rounded around back. action is pretty low out of the box. frets are nicely finished. neck is well-grained and darkly stained rosewood with that shiny nitro. i have to say that nitro is not my fave - i sold a great copper tele '52 reissue because of the nitro (too sticky). i'm going to get used to this one, i hope.
sound - i plugged it into my tech 21 tm 60 and hit that first chord clean with a bit of reverb and - i'm a beatle! (well - well you know what i mean). there's that characteristic sound - nothing like it in my experience - hearing it and/or playing it.
i start to play around and one of my first realizations is that you can really fingerpick this thing and it stays really clear - doesn't muddy at all. the chords - loud or soft - remain clear. you can hear top, middle, and bottom pretty equally. not what i'm used to with my fenders. they are clear but tend to have registers that don't blend as well as this rick seems to. i play up the neck and realize that way up top, it's not sustaining like i expected and deadens out when i bend. i think it needs an adjustment - it might be fretting out. i mean - these high notes - i think - should really hold and ring out on a bend - right?
anyway - i'm going back to play. this is a really great guitar! i see no reason why this baby can't do it all. i tried blues, country, as well as rock (which i knew it could do). and heh - the tone controls really work!! the blend knob is really a great little tweaker from my initial stabs at it.
yeah - i think i may need another one of these - and that's why i'm a bit troubled. oh well - GAS is what it is.
thanks for listening and for all your help with my earlier requests for info - pix to come later.
geoff
ps - btw - i'm getting use to the smell = and it's pretty good.
