Desolation Revealed

[The Rossness]

I played one of the double cuts; neck-thru w/ EMG's, and it felt like a POS. If you want to talk about ould rivalries, Kramer is making better guitars these days.

[Robert Hendrix]

Why not get one and trade the blackouts out with some passives?

Because I'm a poor musician and can't afford to spen 600 bucks on a guitar only to change out pickups and find that it STILL sounds like shit.

[Corpsegrinder88]

Why not get one and trade the blackouts out with some passives?

[Robert Hendrix]

I'm still on the fence. I really like the looks of the Snow White Single Cut, I'm just not real fond of the blackouts.. The sound is really thin to me and I'm not real impressed. I'd like to hear one with some good passives in it before I pulled the trigger just so I know how that thin basswood body would sound. I have YET to find a Star in a store and would really like to check one of them out. The new BC Rich Mockingbird ST has my eye too so I see an aquisition in my future.

[Devotee]

I had the chance to try out a DST-1 FR at a store a few weeks back. It played really nice, the three-piece oiled neck felt nice (although could have done with a few more coats of oil if you ask me). The profile is thin, not Jackson speed profile thin mind, but really comfortable and fast. The action was low and it sounded pretty good with the EMGs. The only annoying thing was the abrupt transition from the unpainted neck to the body, you can really feel it and it's slightly irritating. It felt pretty solid and well built but you could tell that the wood isn't the best. The attention to detail is generally ok as well but one thing that disappointed me is that at the point where the clear meets the unfinished neck, you can see that they cleared over the fretboard binding as well; so you have a matte finish on the neck and binding up to around the 17th fret or something then suddenly the binding is glossy. This is obviously nothing that affects the playablity of course but it just brings out the OCD in me.

I didn't get a chance to play any of the other Desolation series hanging in the store but having a close look at a few of them i must say i was pretty impressed. The single cutaway, double cutaway and Skatecaster actually looked pretty solid and badass. I was also quite impressed by the tops on the trans finish models, they had a pretty decent flame to them and I also liked the fact that the headstock logo was a pearloid finish rather than just white. The abalone bling isn't for everyone (myself included) but i think it works well with the trans finishes. They also have black chrome hardware ala ESP which is nice; standard chrome looks cheap IMO.

Anyway, all things considered i think with the Desolation series you definitely get a lot of guitar for the money.

[kuerbo]

Well... to get back on topic.
I bought one from the Music Farm a DS-1 ST and just loved it. I have A 1996 USA Select EDS RR1, a 1991 Japanese Charvel 650 XL, a Japanese Roswell Rhoads a DXMG, A KE3 from the 90's and a 2006 DK2.
After the DS-1 ST I bought a SK-1 FR and a DS-2 ST Blue Smear.
Leaving prejudice aside, I'm a guitar player and a musician first, and in my humble opinion, these things rock.
Lightweight, precise, good hardware, nice choice of pickups, there's something for almost everyone in here.
I'm gonna shoot some videos next week and post them for you to check out some of them.

[g_reaper]

Hi Five Vector! I saw one of these Desolations and it had 5 pieces of wood glued together to make the maple back on the neck ( -the fretboard ) and 9 pieces of wood to make the body.

I gotta 65" Mitsobushi, a case of cold Pabst, a buncha semi-auto hunting rifles and 5000 rounds of ammo. Fuck them Chinamen and the global economy

[vector]

yeah..Das Rite! I gotta 65" Mitsobushi!

I gotta 65" Mitsobushi, a case of cold Pabst, a buncha semi-auto hunting rifles and 5000 rounds of ammo. Fuck them Chinamen and the global economy

[horns666]

yeah..Das Rite! I gotta 65" Mitsobushi!

[vector]

and Western consumers are happy to get even bigger TVs for even less money and Western companies are happy to take advantage of the cheap labour and offshore the work to Asia. But that's all China's fault, right?

Yeah, kind of a double edged sword. We hate the fact that jobs & manufacturing are increasingly being outsourced and the trade deficit is growing & all the while, we're grabbing up the cheap merchandise and clamoring for more.
I got no beef with Charvel offering Chinese-made axes at a price range that puts them in a lot of aspiring hands. Those aspiring shredders will hopefully grow in ability and in earning potential, and start buying USA made higher-end models. Of course, with the global economy going down the shitter, along with ours, maybe no one will be buying anything...

[VitaminG]

For those of us that remember when US companies had pride in the name that was on their guitars ( ala Gibson Fender ) I submit this

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/01/congress-tackles-chinese-currency-manipulation/

*big topic.. I know but give it a little thought.. yea they do work on dirt floors in china and yes they do cut corners.

and Western consumers are happy to get even bigger TVs for even less money and Western companies are happy to take advantage of the cheap labour and offshore the work to Asia. But that's all China's fault, right?

Some of us remember when US guitar manufacturers took such pride in their work that it spawned an entire aftermarket replacement guitar parts to make those factory instruments playable, drove the price of vintage instruments up and up, and eventually lead to the creation of a number of small guitar builders that fuelled the hotrod guitar boom of the 80s. So you can thank Gibson & Fender in the 70s for the birth of Charvel, Jackson, Schecter, Dimarzio et al. Because of the great pride they (G & F) took in the instruments they made.

[Maiden89]

I like the star ones

[g_reaper]

For those of us that remember when US companies had pride in the name that was on their guitars ( ala Gibson Fender ) I submit this

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/01/congress-tackles-chinese-currency-manipulation/

*big topic.. I know but give it a little thought.. yea they do work on dirt floors in china and yes they do cut corners.

I don't get all the China hate, their cheap and productive labor force has allowed Americans and the rest of the world's consumers to enjoy low cost goods for the past 20 years, and the free market long ago ended the debate on demand for their products. *

I've played these Desolation models at the guitar shops here in HK, and they're actually pretty decent quality. Heck, if they weren't labelled or if Mike McGregor didnt say so, I'll bet no one would've guessed they were MIC.

FMIC did this because they're in business to make money and they see demand for value-priced Charvels, and I'll bet the market agrees and they're commercially successful.

Any takers?

[Tekky]

You sir are among the few that get it. However with the lot on this forum, they're going to find something to bitch about no matter what Charvel or Jackson does.

[MartinBarre]

I don't get all the China hate, their cheap and productive labor force has allowed Americans and the rest of the world's consumers to enjoy low cost goods for the past 20 years, and the free market long ago ended the debate on demand for their products.

I've played these Desolation models at the guitar shops here in HK, and they're actually pretty decent quality. Heck, if they weren't labelled or if Mike McGregor didnt say so, I'll bet no one would've guessed they were MIC.

FMIC did this because they're in business to make money and they see demand for value-priced Charvels, and I'll bet the market agrees and they're commercially successful.

Any takers?

I'm with you man. The only USA made guitar I own is a Gibson LP Studio, simply because USA made guitars cost a LOT more in the UK than they do in the USA. I'm more than happy with my MIK, MIJ and now MIC guitars.