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i have the same rig but instead of the valeton i have the hx effects and tonex one! works amazing

I have S521 mahogany oil finish Nice guitar but there's no perfect one in the whole world What I really like its machine head tuners Simple but high quality Some issues I've solved getting it out of the box 1 A fret work Leveling n polishing 2 Cut saddles' screws They were way too long n scratches my palm 3 Added a washer in order to move a bit output jack cuz I couldn't unplugged Later I've chanched a plastic nut to TUSQ What I really don't like that pick ups frames after several months wore off It looks cheap n nasty now Also light body has a side effect which is a neck dive while you sitting While you standing it's kind of ok Bridge pick up ain't my cup of tea but I can live with that

Nice guitar. I got it in the sunburst version. I switched out the saddles for brass and left everything else. The pickups are fine. Maybe a little microphonic, but easily fixed with a preamp and eq. I’ve got the 12 string Paranormal too. Got the blue and added a tortoise pickguard, replaced the tuners with matching vintage styled ones from Amazon (ordered several as backups), and switched out the pickups for some Stewmac vintage. Looking back, I would have left the pickups alone. They are decent and fairly quiet…. The binding on the Nashville is so nice. Two thousand dollars more won’t make you play any better… Great video.

Too expensive.

There’s a reason Angus Young always preferred the pre-1965 SG’s- he has tiny hands! He has said himself that he prefers those late-60’s SG’s because Gibson switched to very narrow 1 9/16” nut width around 1965. Angus loves this because with the narrower neck he could actually get his hand around the neck. Whereas with the classic 1 11/16”, of was harder for him to get his hand around it. If you strictly are someone who plays shredding lead guitar, with your thumb always planted on the back of the neck, then you can get away with a wider neck (not deep, but wide) much easier with small hands. But if you’re someone who likes to play with your thumb over the top of the neck to mute/fret the E string with your thumb, then you will want a narrow nut width if you have small hands. The one caveat may be if you have short, but fat fingers, the narrow nut width might make chording in the first position too crowded. However, SRV and Hendrix both had huge meaty fingers, and both had no issue with the classic 1 5/8” nut width on their Fenders.

Why does the neck look like roasted maple? Did you stain it? I know these models do not come roasted maple. Looks cool thought.

Social distortion

I don't have access to this guitar to demo so I have been on a campaign to pose this question: with the extra jumbo frets should a hea y handed player like myself be concerned with fretting notes and chords to sharp with this guitar?

As a 66 y.o. player with stiff hands (but not small) I have been led to believe that thicker necks are more comfortable for arthritic hands. Another question I have been posing is with this guitar having extra jumbo frets will a heavy handed player such as myself fret the notes and chords to sharp?

I ordered one but, I personally felt like the e strings are too close to the edge of the board, especially as you climb up the board. I’m thinking of maybe getting one again and trying some bridge saddles with slightly narrow spacing to combat that but, idk if I want to get a guitar I already have a plan to mod or fix. Leaning towards the Esquire Deluxe instead now.

Hi, i also have small hands. It took my hands and ears only two minutes to fall in love with the wonderful neck of an Ibanez AM93 semiacoustic that i tested and then bought second hand on the spot. It was made in China 2015. Both the AM 93 and 153 models provide that perfect neck profile, at least for me - allthough it might get a bit chunky around the area where the neck is glued to the body. Best comfort and playability of all my guitars. Very versatile in sound and genre. It plays everything from metal to jazz (i cannot, but that's another story 🙂). The AM's body has a small and slender footprint compared to most other semiacoustic guitars (about the size of a Gibson ES 339 size, and far smaller than Ibanez's better-known AS-shaped models). An AM93 weights about 3,6 kilogramms. Another pro: It offers a sensationally easy access to even the highest frets - by far best accessability in all of my guitars, better even than in my two PRS SE Custom 24 superstrats.

Very helpful video.

I’m glad you measure the circumference to compare different guitars. All I play are acoustic guitars with short scales(24 7/8 inches). I have small hands but also fat fingertips. So a smaller nut width for smaller hands doesn’t work for fat fingertips. Some days I can play the 1 7/8 nut compared to 1 3/4 inches. I have not found an electric guitar with 1 3/4 nut and a short scale. Any reaction?

Just ordered the Aztec Gold one. Already getting a pickup set to swap out the stock ones. And replace the saddles with brass compensated ones. These guitars are made to modify and a big neck pickup route gives you endless possibilities for neck pickups. P90, Firebird, regular humbucker?

How is the neck dive? Does it sit well playing standing up ?

hi, i got a question does the humbucker or bridge pickup has tone control? i ask because some strats does not have tone control on the bridge

It would be interesting for you to try a Yamaha Pacifica.

I believe the thin, porous body brightens the humbuckers. Maybe. I just ordered the Somic Limited edition Black. Cant wait..

I'm grabbing one this week. Going with the red.

Really appreciate the thorough review. Especially glad to hear that the finish looks better in person because you’re right that the photos and video don’t do it justice!

a few months ago back in april i bought an S561 (metallic pink), which is essentially the same as the 521 but with different color options and HSS pickup configuration rather than HH, and i really like it. ive been playing guitar and bass for 6 or 7 years and i could maybe be classed as an intermediate player at this point. i play a lot of different styles of music, from metal to rock to jazz fusion, particularly Opeth, Gojira, Steely Dan, Pat Metheny, Masayoshi Takanaka, etc mine is, at the moment, completely stock, but in the future i intend to either replace the bridge or just replace the saddle screws themselves because theyre too long so they stick up above the saddles and dig into your hand if you want to palm mute. i personally got mine b-stock on reverb for about a hundred bucks less than you would if you bought yours new. it has a small ding on the lower horn that goes through the paint but hey for what i paid for it i couldnt care less my main points of reference in terms of guitars that i had played a lot before buying my ibanez were my first guitar (epiphone les paul standard made in korea ~2005 in cherry burst) and my dad's ibanez (RG2570E, ~2005, "Vital Silver") which is a prestige model, and in comparison i can say that the neck on my S is not the same as the one on my dad's RG, but theyre more similar than either is to my les paul, which is substantially thicker but that i find a tad more comfortable in some ways. the frets on my dad's prestige are a lot thicker and taller than the ones on my S, but that's not a pro or a con it just is what it is. the frets on my epiphone are perhaps a touch wider than my S but not meaningfully to the touch. another thing i find of minimal importance to the touch is the scale length difference between the 24.75 gibson scale length of the epiphone and the 25.5 inch scale length of of the other two, the main difference in feel is still the neck profile one of the reasons i was interested in getting an S series was the weight, moreso than the ergonomics in a specific "shape" or "contour" sense. my epiphone is fucking heavy and it genuinely hurts my shoulder after a couple songs, and it tires out my back muscles which the S doesnt at all in the slightest (perhaps in part because im used to the heavier guitar) i wont compare the sounds of the guitars because ive never had them all in the same room all with new strings etc but ill say that i dont mind the stock pickups in my S, i think a lot of people rush into swapping pickups when they could get the result they want by just rolling the tone knob off a bit (quote from larry carlton: "I played the same 335 on 90% of my solo sessions, including the solo for “Kid Charlemagne.” I just used a little Tweed Deluxe amplifier. There’s video of that rig on my website. The combination that I used sound-wise for the “Kid Charlemagne” solo was the 335, Tweed Deluxe amplifier, back pickup and with the tone control turned down to about three.") i personally swapped the pickups in my les paul for the classic seymour duncan jb in the bridge jazz in the neck and while im happy with them, i no longer feel it was necessary to do so (though im grateful that i had the opportunity to learn how to do it). i also like the neck position single coil, it's probably my favorite setting, nothing else to add on that really, it just sounds great as a final thing: though both have the offset dot inlays on the fretboard, which are super classy, the aesthetics of the 561 (HSS) vs the 521 (HH) were perhaps still the main driver in my choice between the two. imo the transparent finish on the 521 (particularly the red and blue ones) with the black bobbin pickups just looks like something youd find in the back of a music go round heavily discounted, it reminds me of fret sprout and recklessly incompetent truss rod adjustments, though i understand this to be irrational. the solid colors and white pickups of the 561 fill me with a similarly irrational (and similarly unshakeable) confidence. au revoir, arrivederci, adios, aloha, etc P.S. the stain on the neck looks great

Fender has the Limited Editions Lime Green SS and black hh on sale for $139 for Black Friday sale! I ordered the black. I have no humbuckers so I got the black one. Its perty

eart best qc

I have an S521 and love it, but you upgraded or modified it to a point where it is not relevant to discuss or review this guitar as an S521

I can confirm, it's super lightweight with a comfortable skinny neck that spoils you (to a degree:) The neck is just a notch wider (and I like it). It is 43mm at the nut as opposed to 42mm on most Fender strats (or even 41.3mm on the Vintage models). Thanks for the review.

The best intermediate affordable guitar for lots of folks. The S 320 was my first good guitar 20y ago

I could have highlighted the Rosewood fretboard also, it looks and feels great.

I did upgrade the Bridge also for better hardware, but the stock bridge is perfectly fine.

My first legit guitar was an MIJ ESP Eclipse. 24.75 scale length with a tiny neck. Perfect for us guys with small hands. Easier to play than my new Les Paul by a mile. I imagine an LTD EC-1000 would be similar. Check those out.

Get started in mel bay.

Thanks for the review! And congrats for soon to be 1k subscribers!

Great video! very interesting comparative, and beautiful guitars!

Fender Player II best value out there imo. Be prepared to do fret work as every Mexican Fender I've ever owned has fret sprout and rough fret ends. I own US and Mexico made Fenders / have owned China and Indonesian Squiers. Chinese Squiers are better made and more consistent than Indonesian ones. If you've ever seen a Squier stripped of its finish its fairly shocking (check out 60 cycle hum). There is a veneer with many pieces of wood sandwiched in-between. My US made Strat is made of better materials throughout. The overall feel of the instrument is inspiring. There are valid reasons each guitar cost what it does.

Sorry I had a brain freeze while recording, the CV Strat body is made of Poplar.

a question about conform, I see all guitars have their strap button (IDK what is it called) on the same points, the neck one is obviously at the corner of the guitar. And the bridge one is right in the middle of the guitar, alligned with the neck. I feel like if the later were little above, it would help the guitar be tilted (more vertical). When I play certain cords or licks I really need to tilt it (like 45 degrees), but my guitar/strap natural balance is more horizontal (like 20 degrees). Are there guitars that have "better tilting"? Is it to crazy to add an additioal strap button in my stratocaster??

Is it possible to remove the pickguard?

what amp and pedals are you using in this?

play and stop complaining if you want better put 1500 more and you are done

Question- stupid maybe. Changing to locking tuners. Some tuners come with multi post heights saying it negates the need for string trees. If one gets these tuners can you still use the string trees so that you don't have open screw holes in the headstock? Or do you have to find tuners that are all the same height to use the string trees?

Im 5'4" with girl sized hands. Ive played standard Strat scaled guitars and have always wanted one a bit smaller. Ive tried the Mini Strst but dont care for it much. I want a Gibson scale guitar. Ive been trying to find someone to swap with me on fb marketplace.

My hands are small but I'm also cursed with fat stubby fingers. Playing chords are next to impossible. I have a Fender Jangstang which has a thin c shaped neck which I love, but the nut with is still 1.69. I put thinner strings on it and was surprised at how much more space there as between the stings. Problem is I hate thin stings and lost tone. After some research I found a few companies that make a bone width up to 2.0. The demos swear playing chords are easier and faster. What are your thoughts on a bone width of 2.0? TY

Hi, I am texting you once again regarding your small hand guitar recommendations. I have a Squier Mustang partially upon your expertise in this area. I am now seriously investigating the PRS S2 Mccarty Thin Line 594. Everything I have read or watched thus far about the Thin Line indicates that it is pretty much a home run for us small hand players. Have you road tested this model? If not, do you expect to any time soon? I have been unable to find one in stock at any of the local guitar stores or for private sale Iocally. Any help would be appreciated.

Got this model, same color even. It's probably the most versatile Guitar I have ever owned to date. With the open single coils.. then the Strangle, plus that dark rhythm circuit.. it goes from jangly SC sounds all the way to to darker HB distortion tones with ease... in a single package. I love the shorter scale as well. This one has replaced both the Tele and Strat I used to have. I do have a same scale Mustang, with P-90's as well tho.

11:44 “This neck”. Suddenly possessed by Christopher Walken.

I love it

I need one

The question that shoild be asked is has the pattern on that guitar been diseased? What on earth is that design? Modern art? 😅

AWE , PRS THE TRUE GUITAR THAT COMES WITH BRAGGING RIGHTS

Fender Jaguars have a 24" scale length.