Members symphonictank Posted January 8, 2009 Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Greetings, Bought a Xaviere XV870 strat-clone a couple months back with the intention of modding it to become "The" strat without breaking the bank. Turns out it's been a great investment. XV870 in surf green $169.00 Hardshell Case $39.00 GFS Neovin noiseless Power Rock calibrated set of pups, pre-wired pearloid pickguard, 1 meg alpha pots $170.00 Wilkinson Vintage trem w/pop-in arm $37.95 Stainless steel roller saddles $12.95 Stainless steel roller string trees $5.95 ------------------------------------ Total cost: $434.85 The XV870 is a well made guitar, came with a really great neck, super fretwork and the color I wanted. The stock hardware was very functional - when I heard the stock pups I almost had buyers remorse on the Neovins (the stock vintage alnico stagger pickups are GREAT), but figured, "WTH, I can always put those in another strat if/when the time comes." The trem, tuners, pots, etc were all very comparable to a higher-end Squier or standard MIM strat. I didn't bother upgrading the tuners as they don't need changing - they're plenty stable. If anyone is interested in the sound of the GFS Neovins, I tossed together a clip using a Floyd backing track (Echoes). Here's the lowdown on the clip: Disclaimer: This is just first-take stuff playing around with my recording setup for the first time since I moved, so don't expect perfection. It will, however, give you a good idea of how the Neovins sound (I couldn't be happier). Xaviere XV870 + GFS Neovin Power Rock pups Line 6 Spider II 210 w/shortboard Behringer MIC200 tube preamp Behringer CS100 compressor/sustainer EDIT: Forgot to note...This is all direct-recorded. Line 6 amp stereo headphone output to direct line in on Creative 5.1 sound card. Recorded using Cakewalk Music Creator Pro, but no effects added from the software, everything is direct-out from the signal chain. Intro = neck, amp on green clean 1st main verse = neck+middle pup, amp on green clean bridge back = bridge pup, amp on green crunch, mild gain 2nd main verse = middle pup, amp on red clean, lots of echo bridge back = bridge pup,, green crunch (guitar is doubled here for the chorus effect) 1st solo = neck+middle pup, red clean, lots of delay 2nd solo = middle+bridge pup, green crunch, heavy gain http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=audio&file=LEOechoes.mp3 And now for pics: Any my cheap-@$$ recording setup (functionality is half the battle): This is my #1 guitar at the moment, though the Dean Evo Special Select is a player's player as well (which is why I've had it for 5 years - just put a new roller bridge on it, and damn that was a great upgrade too). I think my $450 was very wisely spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MoreGuitars Posted January 8, 2009 Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Am I colorbind or is every picture I see of the surf green it appears blue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mo' Cowbell Posted January 8, 2009 Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Nice. The clip sounds like you have a real feel for the music. Guitar needs a little more low end to me to sound full, but really, really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dcindc Posted January 8, 2009 Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Nice Clip! I was completley happy with mine right out of the box. Those are a GREAT value. You can sell what you took off, or make another guitar with the bits. The trem and pups are nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HALSAM00 Posted January 8, 2009 Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Nice set up! I thought of doing the same thing with a Squire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted January 8, 2009 Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Nice! Surf Green isn't my favorite color but that's sweet! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Very well played!!! Love the tones and they're noiseless!! Unless you're getting a great deal on a used guitar, you own a better guitar for the money. I have the rock version which sound somewhere between SC and HB yet more stratty than P90's and I love them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted January 8, 2009 Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 I'm on dialup man, so I can't download 14 meg, but I did want to give a listen! Guitar looks great though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members symphonictank Posted January 8, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Very well played!!! Love the tones and they're noiseless!!Unless you're getting a great deal on a used guitar, you own a better guitar for the money. I have the rock version which sound somewhere between SC and HB yet more stratty than P90's and I love them. Yeah, the neck and bridge pups are an enigma to me. They're both so clean, bell-like at times, but drive 'em up a little and damned if aren't very P90 natured. The pups were a great investment for diversity of tones alone - the fact that they also catch a lot of the vintage tone is all gravy...and ponchos... {censored} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Keef84 Posted January 8, 2009 Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Man I wish I knew about Xaviere guitars a few years ago (before I bought a bunch of other guitars). All of their guitars look and sound great. Might look into one of their Les Paul types in the future. Nice looking strat. My strat kit I built is seafoam green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members symphonictank Posted January 8, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Man I wish I knew about Xaviere guitars a few years ago (before I bought a bunch of other guitars). All of their guitars look and sound great. Might look into one of their Les Paul types in the future. Nice looking strat. My strat kit I built is seafoam green. I dunno, things look pretty good on your side of the street. Nice axes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted January 8, 2009 Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Sounds pretty good to me. I mostly play just on the neck position so it's cheap for me to upgrade guitars. I think I'll pickup a single one of the lower output Neovins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members symphonictank Posted January 9, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 shameless weekend bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geeter Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Nice looking guitar. Love that color with the white pearloid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raxus Prime Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Love the mods you did. Nice clip too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitarfetish Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 For future reference- If you're a forumite here and want to put together such a guitar contact me and I can build you one here- save a few bucks- Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ten56gibby Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Link didn't work for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members symphonictank Posted January 9, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 For future reference-If you're a forumite here and want to put together such a guitar contact me and I can build you one here- save a few bucks- Jay Yeah, I found Guitarfetish while I was still slumming on the Dean Guitar forums and did my first order before I was a member here (and before I knew about forumite discounts, etc...). I'll definitely be back for more stuff, Jay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chronicinsomnia Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Did ya'll say forumite discounts? How much? PeAcE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 I left your clip running while I was cleaning for a while and gave it another listen. I really like your playing, man. It sounds like you were doing the Gilmour thing, but making it your own. Again, great playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chronicinsomnia Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Link won't work for me either. I'm very interested in the Neovins for a strat of my own. How do they take to overdriven tones? PeAcE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChiRocker Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Am I colorbind or is every picture I see of the surf green it appears blue? It looks blue to me too. But then, I am colorblind Looks great, BTW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members symphonictank Posted January 9, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Well, the hosting I used for that file might be an issue if you're at work or have other filters (sorry to anyone who opened it at work - didn't realize the place Facebook sent me to for file hosting has non-work-friendly adverts). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brandass Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Sweet! Love the look + sound! The latter is especially encouraging because I've got a set of Mega Texas Neovins on the way (had to get in on the {censored} sale, as a matter of principle - sure hope GFS sales went through the roof thanks to Gordon{censored}ingFreeman), putting them in a PRS SE EG; should be an interesting experiment. Great to hear that Jay'll assemble an axe like that, definitely food for thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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