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Kelly performer (japan) review

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  • Kelly performer (japan) review

    OK so I've had this guitar for over a week now. I have spent more time adjusting the setup to my taste than I have playing it, but I'm generally like that with all my guitars.

    This guitar only cost me £83 so I have a base for experimentation that I haven't invested a lot into. Here's what I have done so far:

    Neck: Needed a slight tweak on the rod. Nothng more. It's very similar to my 375 dlx neck apart from the 24 frets. No warping. Quite lively. Very satisfactory.

    Body: I love the shape. It makes me smile. I'm in my 40s and this is my first ever pointy bodied guitar. I have to give props to MartinBarre here, because his suggestion for placing the rear strap peg on the trem cavity screw hole has saved me a LOT of annoyance. I can't stand "neck heavy" guitars.

    Electrics: Single vol, switch and 2 pups. Simple. I like it. The pups are still in honeymoon mode until I get into the live environment to see if they stay or not.

    Trem:

    This was the most fun. I will probably swap this thing out eventually. It's a solid enough unit........HOWEVER:

    The arm retaining sleeve has been taken out at some point and the idiot has crossed the thread on the way back in, so the arm is quite low to the body. Also the lower trem post would not go all the way own when lowering the action. I surmise that the previous owner damaged that too, as the stud head was rounded off. Cheap fix? Take the body insert out, drill a little lower to compensate. Slot the top of the stud head for a screwdriver. Golden.

    In summary, this was an EXCELLENT find for the money. It will not replace my main gigging guitars, but I WILL be gigging it for the laugh.

  • #2
    Originally posted by BadHorsie01 View Post
    OK so I've had this guitar for over a week now. I have spent more time adjusting the setup to my taste than I have playing it, but I'm generally like that with all my guitars.

    This guitar only cost me £83 so I have a base for experimentation that I haven't invested a lot into. Here's what I have done so far:

    Neck: Needed a slight tweak on the rod. Nothng more. It's very similar to my 375 dlx neck apart from the 24 frets. No warping. Quite lively. Very satisfactory.

    Body: I love the shape. It makes me smile. I'm in my 40s and this is my first ever pointy bodied guitar. I have to give props to MartinBarre here, because his suggestion for placing the rear strap peg on the trem cavity screw hole has saved me a LOT of annoyance. I can't stand "neck heavy" guitars.

    Electrics: Single vol, switch and 2 pups. Simple. I like it. The pups are still in honeymoon mode until I get into the live environment to see if they stay or not.

    Trem:

    This was the most fun. I will probably swap this thing out eventually. It's a solid enough unit........HOWEVER:

    The arm retaining sleeve has been taken out at some point and the idiot has crossed the thread on the way back in, so the arm is quite low to the body. Also the lower trem post would not go all the way own when lowering the action. I surmise that the previous owner damaged that too, as the stud head was rounded off. Cheap fix? Take the body insert out, drill a little lower to compensate. Slot the top of the stud head for a screwdriver. Golden.

    In summary, this was an EXCELLENT find for the money. It will not replace my main gigging guitars, but I WILL be gigging it for the laugh.
    It wasn't my idea about moving the strap button, I got it from other posts around this place, but I'm glad it helped you as much as it did me!
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steven-A.-McKay/e/B00DS0TRH6/

    http://http://stevenamckay.wordpress.com/

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    • #3
      A buddy of mine used a Kelly Performer as his main gigging guitar back in the `90s. He was playing in a thrash band, and was quite a fan of a Duncan Distortion in the bridge position.
      sigpic

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      • #4
        Anyone else find it a real pain to reach the very top frets on a Kelly? I can manage 24th fret no problem on my SL3, RR3 and JDR 94, but the Kelly is fucking murder to get the top frets. It's so difficult I'd probably never even use the full 24 frets on this guitar. For a supposed "speed metal" type guitar it seems kinda weird tha upper fret access is so hard.
        http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steven-A.-McKay/e/B00DS0TRH6/

        http://http://stevenamckay.wordpress.com/

        Comment


        • #5
          Are they the Jackson branded pups?? I quite like them but I don't play my Kelly Performer enough to change them. Plus I kinda would like Active pups in it but there isn't space in the control cavity.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by MartinBarre1 View Post
            Anyone else find it a real pain to reach the very top frets on a Kelly? I can manage 24th fret no problem on my SL3, RR3 and JDR 94, but the Kelly is fucking murder to get the top frets. It's so difficult I'd probably never even use the full 24 frets on this guitar. For a supposed "speed metal" type guitar it seems kinda weird tha upper fret access is so hard.
            I don't have much problem with that but I have a pretty odd hand position. I found the kelly REALLY easy to do the satch trick on (left hand on whammy, pinch harmonics with the right) too!

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