The Official Xaviere Guitar Thread!

[patternrecognition]

If anyone from GuitarFetish is lurking about and reading this, please offer the Xaviere in a plain top. At the low price point, a nice piece of maple would be enough to make me (and I imagine many others) get past my aversion to the headstock, horn, and inlays.

[purevilpleasure]

Originally Posted by patternrecognition

If anyone from GuitarFetish is lurking about and reading this, please offer the Xaviere in a plain top. At the low price point, a nice piece of maple would be enough to make me (and I imagine many others) get past my aversion to the headstock, horn, and inlays.

Go to Harmonycentral.com and talk to them. The owner is on there a bit I've noticed.

[diceman]

Funk - great pic, great testimonial. I gigged a $200 Squier Telecaster on St. Patty's Day, and it performed like a F'n champ. Too many of us get "snobbish" and assume that just because a guitar is cheap that it can't be a great instrument. This couldn't be further from the truth...

[Funkwire]

Originally Posted by mixlflik

Funkwire that's a fancy tailpiece. Being a novice on "upgrades" what's the benefit to it?

It has fine tuners. It makes it easier to make tuning adjustments while playing live. The increased mass of the tailpiece seems to affect the tone as well.

[mixlflik]

Patternrecognition, just go to the GF site and email them... Jay, the owner, will respond. I've emailed him twice and gotten a reply from him each time within 24 hours. I read an interview from him and he really seems to care about both what he sells and his customers. Moreover, he's proven it to me with the quality of his guitars and his email replies.

[Ride on a Pony]

Hay guys, I've been around here for a while but this is my first post. My new Xaviere XV-510 just arrived today, so I thought I should put up some pics. The 510's are just like the old 500's but with quilt tops and apparently upgraded tuners. Mines a tobacco sunburst, as you can see.







I actually ordered a 500, but the last tobacco burst apparently did not have a very good flame, so they offered me this at the same price.

I'm somewhat of a novice when it comes to setting up guitars, and I can't afford to get it done professionally atm, but after a few hours of struggling I seem to have got it to a point where I can actually play it.

I've been playing seriously for around 7 or 8 months, and really wanted a Les Paul style guitar, so this is plenty good enough for me. The pickups sound really good, probably better than I expected actually through my 15w solid state Marshall. The neck pickup in particular is great, I might see about changing the bridge pickup and wiring etc once my non-existant soldering skills get up to speed and I come into some cash.

[mixlflik]

Pretty guitar. Sounds like Jay at Guitar Fetish was taking care of you. From the interactions I've had with him (mostly email), he seems like a great guy. It's a shame that I like the older 500s, because I would actually like to buy something from him instead of just bugging him with questions.

Regardless, you now have a very pretty guitar. Congrats!

[The_Sentry]

Hmm....still no left handed models. Allrighty then...

(BTW...that's a gorgeous guitar, ROAP...)

[jgillard]

This is my first post here. I just got an XV-700 with the amber sunrise finish. Nice guitar for the money.

The tuners seem fine considering how I always see complaints about how crappy they are.

Anyone have any questions on it let me know.

[Platypus]

Very pretty guitar, but I still can't like that headstock.

[jgillard]

Very pretty guitar, but I still can't like that headstock.

hehe.. It actually is fine for me.. I like how it is "different" then gibsons. Differentiates the guitar a bit. I also like the fact it is a thinline with the belly cut. Makes it more comfortable to play. It is a really light guitar.. Around 7lbs would be my guess.

[Ride on a Pony]

Beautiful!

I think they may have upgraded their stock tuners, I know for certain they have on some models, but maybe all of them got the treatment.

Regarding the headstock, it doesn't look anywhere near as bad in person as it does in the pics.

[Sinster]

Originally Posted by Platypus

Very pretty guitar, but I still can't like that headstock.

+1 I like the older headstock better with the binding..

the horn.. the pointier horn doesn't do it for me.

Nice tops though.

[jimmypage14]

Does anyone have any pics of the 335 type? I like this one the best

[Uber Grim Kvlt]

Does anyone have pics of the new XV-500's in either tobacco burst, or lemon drop? Can't decide between the two.

[Ride on a Pony]

Originally Posted by Uber Grim Kvlt

Does anyone have pics of the new XV-500's in either tobacco burst, or lemon drop? Can't decide between the two.

When you say "new XV-500's" do you mean the 510's (Quilt top)? If so then my tobacco burst is above.

Regarding the two finishes you mentioned, tough choice! I had no doubt about wanting a Tobacco burst at the time, but atm I really would love a flamed lemon drop.'

Good luck with the purchase! You won't regret it.

[Ride on a Pony]

Just found out I should be getting my xv-510 back from the tech tomorrow, I can't wait! I just sent it in for a set up and stuff, but wasn't expecting it to be done for a few more days.

[Uber Grim Kvlt]

Originally Posted by Ride on a Pony

When you say "new XV-500's" do you mean the 510's (Quilt top)? If so then my tobacco burst is above.

Regarding the two finishes you mentioned, tough choice! I had no doubt about wanting a Tobacco burst at the time, but atm I really would love a flamed lemon drop.'

Good luck with the purchase! You won't regret it.

No I was talking new style 500s (flame top).

I might just get the tobacco burst, but lemon drop is really growing on me.

[jgillard]

My pictures of the amber sunrise colour are just way too red and not an accurate representation. I've adjusted one of my photos to get more in the ballpark. There is actually no red at all but a very nice orange to yellow. It's a great finish colour.

[The_Sentry]

......



They really do look like nice guitars.

[jgillard]

Just found out I should be getting my xv-510 back from the tech tomorrow, I can't wait!

Did you get it back from the tech? How does it play now?

[bill.spanburgh]

Has anyone had the chance to compare the Xaviere LP with the Agile LPs that Rondo sells?
It would be interesting to see who comes out on top between those to discount makes.

Bill

[Ride on a Pony]

Originally Posted by jgillard

Did you get it back from the tech? How does it play now?

Hay, yeah it plays really good, although you may not want to read too much into my opinion, I've only ever played 3 guitars - the Xaviere, a Squier Strat and a cheap Ibanez.

The only issue I have is that the 11th Fret is a dud. Makes some horrible noises on the first 3 strings when I'm not plugged in, but doesn't seem to be much of a problem through an amp. I'm not sure if it was like this when I got it or if my Luthier took the fret down too far when he was filing them or something.

[Ride on a Pony]

Originally Posted by bill.spanburgh

Has anyone had the chance to compare the Xaviere LP with the Agile LPs that Rondo sells?
It would be interesting to see who comes out on top between those to discount makes.

Bill

I've only played a Xaviere, but I think opinions are pretty similar for both, I guess it just comes down to what you prefer as far as:

weight (Agile's heavier),
tenon (Xaviere have long, I don't think Agile does),
inlays (Agile's look Gibson-like, Xaviere's dont)
pickups (Stock Xaviere's apparently better)

There's probably more, somebody else might want to chime in with regards to neck profiles, I dont know bugger all about them.

I think all the above is correct, however I'm not an expert. At the end of the day I don't think you can go too far wrong with either.

[jgillard]

The only issue I have is that the 11th Fret is a dud. Makes some horrible noises on the first 3 strings when I'm not plugged in, but doesn't seem to be much of a problem through an amp. I'm not sure if it was like this when I got it or if my Luthier took the fret down too far when he was filing them or something.

Wow. I would not accept that from the luthier. I would make sure that get's fixed. It would bug the heck out of me.

My xaviere plays well. I had to adjust the action slightly as I was getting some fret slap on the "A" string around the 3rd fret. It could not be heard through amp but just bugged me. After my adjustment it plays well in all positions on the fretboard. The guitar looks great and plays great. I am very happy with what I got for the price.

[Ride on a Pony]

Originally Posted by jgillard

Wow. I would not accept that from the luthier. I would make sure that get's fixed. It would bug the heck out of me.

My xaviere plays well. I had to adjust the action slightly as I was getting some fret slap on the "A" string around the 3rd fret. It could not be heard through amp but just bugged me. After my adjustment it plays well in all positions on the fretboard. The guitar looks great and plays great. I am very happy with what I got for the price.

Yeah, If this was a Gibson or something I intend on having the rest of my life I'd be pissed, but I don't really plan on using this for too long so I can live with it.

[bluzjamer]

Posting some pics of my Xavieres. I no longer have the Les 700 Silver Sparkle.
I traded it for an Agile. NoWay they compare to the Agiles. The Xaviere PU's are a little better than the 2000 but don't come close to the Al-3K's. Playability and finish are better on the Agiles and shipping is less.
I have 20 Agiles, and now am down to one Xaviere.

[tramber]

Hello All,

I just joined MLP. Decided to do a search on Xaviere and ran across this "official" thread. This looks like a good place to post a couple of photos of my XV-550. It's pretty much stock - I installed Dunlop Straploks and a set of Grover Mini Locking Tuners. The Grovers are a drop-in replacement for the stock tuners - no mods required.






Doug -

[Ride on a Pony]

Nice! Welcome to the club.

[Funkwire]

My XV-500 has been seen in this thread earlier--but I finally got around to the mods I wanted to do, so here's an update.

I did the dulling-the-poly-finish technique described in a thread in the MLP Epiphone forum. I was planning on re-wiring the XV anyway, so I just stripped everything off the guitar. Used a ScotchBrite bad to knock the shine down, then used auto scratch remover to take out the swirls. It looks like a satin or nitro finish now. The shiny look is gone, fingerprints don't show as much, and the neck is like buttah!

I got a little disappointed on the Crunchy Pats. For overdriven tones, they're awesome, but the clean tone is lacking for me. I kept it in the family and ordered a set of GFS Vintage 59s. I also got Orange Drop caps. The Alpha pots in the Xavieres are fine, no need to replace them. The pickup switch is a cheap box-type that fell apart when I took it out, so I got a WD Gibson-style straight switch. I had some cloth-covered wire left over from a previous project.

I had replaced the stock tuners with Schallers. These had pearloid knobs, and I came to feel they just didn't look right on the guitar. I have a Washburn J-3 with Grover Rotomatic 18:1 tuners, and I never felt they looked right on that guitar. So I swapped them.

Got it all wired up, and...WTF! All of a sudden it starts fretting out at the 16th fret! A closer examination revealed that the 17th fret had popped up on the edges. I tried pounding it back down, but no luck. I dropped it off with a local luthier right before I headed out of town on vacation. I came back a week later, and it was ready to pick up. Took it home, and it's just fine now.

I REALLY like the sound of the Vintage 59s. Much more of a PAF-style pickup than the Crunchy Pats, which is what I wanted. Each pickup setting has its own distinct voice. I'm looking forward to playing it in a live setting.

But enough chatter...pics or it didn't happen, right?

Before:





After:





Some of you may have noticed I took the TP-6 tailpiece off. I like top-wrapping the stop bar ever since trying it on my Epi Gold Top, and I wanted to do it on this guitar too. The only thing I still need to do is change the switch tip...it came with a black tip. Since it's a U.S. switch, the white tip from the XV doesn't fit.

Thoughts? Opinions? Scorn?