Look what the stork left at my door (even though I was home all day and the delivery driver never knocked or rang the bell.) My new MTD CRB4. I'll post a pic from this weekend's gigs when I get 'em.
First impressions:
Finish
Trans black is lovely and subtle. The mother-of-toilet-seat pick guard doesn't look as bad as I though it would. But I'd still like to replace with a black m-o-t-s guard. I dig the matching headstock.
Comfort
Much more comfortable than some higher-priced axes I've played lately. Balanced well and pretty light. The asymmetrical neck is different, but not by much. I got used to it pretty quickly.
Sound
The split coil pickup is right in the sweet spot. The sound with the round-wound strings from the manufacturer is big and round, but quite bright. The tone control did the job of taming that down. For the Stax and Motown stuff I just added some foam and the sound darkened correctly but still cut right through. The tone rolled half way is ideal for slap. I don't do much slap, but may need to change that now. I'm also keen on flatwounds, so will be making a change soon. But something bright. Will take recommendations.
Playability
As soon as I plugged it in I started with some Texas-style Blues (SRV, Ian Moore, etc.) Kind of struggled a bit. Not sure why. Possibly the asymmetrical neck or the jumbo frets. If I continue to have a problem with that I'll figure out why and add to this post. But playing rock and soul it has a great sound and a great feel. The neck is very comfortable and I can get my right hand exactly where I need it thanks to the carved divot at the top of the body. (Can't see that in the pic.) And the Buzz Feiten tuners keeps the intonation really tight all the way up the neck.
First impressions:
Finish
Trans black is lovely and subtle. The mother-of-toilet-seat pick guard doesn't look as bad as I though it would. But I'd still like to replace with a black m-o-t-s guard. I dig the matching headstock.
Comfort
Much more comfortable than some higher-priced axes I've played lately. Balanced well and pretty light. The asymmetrical neck is different, but not by much. I got used to it pretty quickly.
Sound
The split coil pickup is right in the sweet spot. The sound with the round-wound strings from the manufacturer is big and round, but quite bright. The tone control did the job of taming that down. For the Stax and Motown stuff I just added some foam and the sound darkened correctly but still cut right through. The tone rolled half way is ideal for slap. I don't do much slap, but may need to change that now. I'm also keen on flatwounds, so will be making a change soon. But something bright. Will take recommendations.
Playability
As soon as I plugged it in I started with some Texas-style Blues (SRV, Ian Moore, etc.) Kind of struggled a bit. Not sure why. Possibly the asymmetrical neck or the jumbo frets. If I continue to have a problem with that I'll figure out why and add to this post. But playing rock and soul it has a great sound and a great feel. The neck is very comfortable and I can get my right hand exactly where I need it thanks to the carved divot at the top of the body. (Can't see that in the pic.) And the Buzz Feiten tuners keeps the intonation really tight all the way up the neck.
