Finally here. I started posting about the build back in April.
A reminder of the 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](http://gearspotting.com/manufacturer/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 took me a little longer to get used to. On the high frets, there wasn't any adjustment time, but for the first few hours playing it, I had a hard time playing anything fast or complicated on the low frets. Ultimately a bit of time and some good old boring scale exercises took care of that.
The Lace pickups are very interesting. It's hard to describe, but they really are something different than your standard Seymour Duncans or DiMarzios or EMGs or Bare Knuckles. More of an open, wide, hi-fi tone. Reminds me a bit of a blend of a regular magnetic pickup and a bit of piezo. The dynamic range on them is much larger than anything else I've ever played. There is no compression at all. That makes for amazing sounds, particularly clean, but combined with the abundant highs and lows, can make them tricky to dial in for distorted tones. Most of my existing amp settings and presets just didn't work with them without quite a bit of adjustment. Some of my go to heavy tones I haven't yet figured out how to dial in similarly with the Laces. It's not hard at all to get something good sounding out of the Deathbucker, but it won't necessarily be exactly what you're used to.