embedded into the master volume control . Using it is as intuitive as adjusting your volume , and when engaged the top of the switch ( more like a button that sits inside the volume knob ) is slightly depressed , providing visual and tactile feedback . Nothing that I pretty much loath mini-toggle switches , I love how easy this is to use , and more important how great it sounds . Seriously , most of the time splitting the coil results in a ‘ doable ’ compromise the keeps you from having to switch guitars . In this case , the tone gets musically narrower without getting thin . While it ’ s no surprise that Fender pulled this awesome hat trick off , none of the guitars in my collection do it nearly as well .
The 3-way pickup selector sits above the 20 th fret , a bit closer to the neck that one of the ‘ other ’ popular guitars on the market with a switch placed in a similar location . Each pickup has a dedicated tone control , which adds further versatility when sculpting tones .
WHAMMY FACTOR Between the 2-post bridge and locking tuners the guitar stays in tune well under light flogging . By comparison , about the same as my Strats and way better than my Jazzmasters . I love that the vibrato feels and sounds like a Strat trem . Since the bridge comes floating , one does have to make a decision to tune the guitar after a push or pull of the tremolo arm . If you ’ re new to Strat trems , the short version is that the best way to keep them in tune is by pulling the bar up and ‘ tugging ’ any string that got caught on the tuners ’ side of the nut back over the nut . The downside of this approach is that floating vibratos tend to have an up and down position tuning wise . So , if you do ginormous bends
on an ‘ uppie ’ it tends to pull it down to the downward spot and you ’ re incredibly flat . As an result , over the years I ’ ve become a ‘ downer ’ when it comes to Strat trems like this . It takes some time for the guitar to settle , and most often the High E string wants to go sharp while this is happening . The secret sauce is to tune that string flat by the same amount it ’ s going sharp and it will pull itself into tune as the guitar finds its equilibrium .
THE SOUND As I mentioned before , this guitar delivers a massive range of tones . If there was one thing it excels at is the ability to deliver a massive range of authentic tones via the controls . As I mention in the video , it is one of the most versatile guitars I ’ ve ever played . With a MAP ( manufacturer advertised price ) of $ 1,149.99 , that is saying a lot !
Alright , so what gives that you get that much guitar for the money ? I ’ m gonna be brutally honest here because not only is that the right thing to do , it is also key to the mojo this guitar delivers . When I pulled it out of the included gig bag , it had a good , but not great sound acoustically . Usually , that puts me in ‘ next ’ mode . That said , when I plugged this thing in and started to walk through tones , I was floored . I recently did a video for Eminence on using their IRs with the Kemper profiler . I typically switch guitars for every demo so I can get the optimal tone . I plugged this guitar into an array of presets that were crafted using my go-to demo instruments and it sounded just as good at the five or so guitars I used to craft the presets . I NEVER touched the tone controls on the Amplifier slot in the Kemper . We ’ re talking about my go-to demo guitars here , my ‘ put the bread and butter on the table ’ instruments were being upstaged by a sub $ 1,500 guitar made in Mexico . Like I said before , I was shocked .
WORSHIP TONES As I like to say , “ Not everyone who plays at church just plays at church ”. So , if you play a wide range of styles , this guitar is a real winner , especially for the money . One of the demos I did for the video was purposefully laden in copious quantities of delay and reverb for my fellow worship guitar players . So if the question is , “ But does it PDub ?”, the answer is , “ Yes ”. And per the range of drive pedals ( stomp or virtual ) we tend to use , the articulate nature of this guitar is important . Obviously , the Kemper delivers the goods , but it is equally capable of making any sonic inequities in an instrument jump out . I actually find the Kemper to be a bit exacting in this area . Point being , the range of tones and styles I played were a worthy demonstration of the guitars ability to navigate a variety of settings in a way that sounded great and did not require reworking existing patches . Again , I was and remain shocked . If there was a little guitar that could , this is it !
$ 1,149.99 MAP with gig bag Fender . com