First, I think the design is fantastic, and the build is overall good. It is well balanced and fun to play. My guitar loses its first star because it has blemishes on the top underneath the clear coat. While I got it at a good sale price, it was not advertised as a factory second, but that's what I got. It plays well though and the Duesenberg Les Trem is tight and very responsive - I like it more than a strat, jazzmaster, or bigsby trem. The neck is a great shape, but it would feel better with thinner finish.
The only demo I heard of this guitar was by RJ Ronquillo, and he could probably make rubber bands on a shovel sound amazing. After days with it, I like the neck and middle positions, but the other 3 are not my bag. I think I will be changing the bridge pickup, as it sounds too thin for my music. While it's opened up, I will also see what I can do to shield all cavities and find any grounding issues, because this thing hums louder than my P90 guitars in all but the humbucker position. So I have to take a 2nd star off for the noisiness that should have been handled in production. At their list price given manufacturing in an undisclosed country, drastic hum should not be an issue.
I wish they had found a case that they could sell it with, because the Les Trem and offset shape will make it very hard to find a case for it. I don't trust gig bags with good guitars, so the gig bag offered was not an option for me. Until I find that case, the guitar has to stay home.
I assume after I get the noise managed, I will like the guitar a lot. That aside, I have one other nit to pick here. I was asked to provide a review for Eastwood, and I wrote one. That seems to have been lost, because I was again asked to review the guitar a week or so later. So I wrote another one, a bit longer, as above here. Apparently they just don't post honest reviews that note problems like my guitar has, and that disappoints me greatly. I have 5 guitars from Eastwood, and I thought better of the company before I saw this habit. Reviews mean nothing if a company only posts the most positive ones! I thought you guys should know they do that.
