Upcoming $259 hollowbody NGD

[Deftone]

Xaviere XV-950 couldn't resist....

Should arrive Monday.

 

[Torren61]

That looks killer. You gotta give a straight up honest review when you get a chance to get familiar with her. I’d like to know about the fit an finish. How can they make a decent quality guitar and make a profit at that price point?

 

[Deftone]

They have discontinued this model unfortunately, but this was second and they have a few more seconds left in surf green and white.

Some good reviews out there.....

https://www.vintageguitar.com/27527/xaviere-xv-950/

https://www.guitarplayer.com/miscellaneous/xaviere-jt-100-and-xv-950

 

[CB91710]

What's the scale length?
23.5" and you've got a poor-man's Byrdland!

 

[Deftone]

What's the scale length?
23.5" and you've got a poor-man's Byrdland!

24 3/4"

It arrived today.

Looks good. I removed the pick guard, did not like it. It desperately needs a set up, working on that now.

Finish looks pretty good, no sign of the blemish it's supposed to have. It's definitely made in China. No pre drilled screw holes, no countersinks. Frets and strings are tarnished. Super buzzy.

 

[hbucker]

A few years ago a friend of mine purchased a Xavier guitar. It was fine, but always felt a bit off. Looked cool but there was not much there to bond with as a player.

You got a good deal on a cool looking guitar. Hope you can clean it up and get it set up so you like it. Check back with us once it's set up to your liking.

 

[Torren61]

Assuming the hardware is substandard, I'd like to know if it's a stable platform to replace all the hardware with quality pieces. I mean, if the body has build integrity and if the neck is stable with a functioning truss rod, one can get quality hardware and electronics and make that into a KILLER.

Does it have a solid center block?

 

[judson]

does that price include that dudes fingers?


no center block...and im sure fingers are not included....dam

 

[Deftone]

No center block, but there's a beam inside that goes from the back to the top underneath the bridge. The bridge was just sitting on top of the body, not glued down or screwed in or anything. I may hot glue it in place?

There's a truss rod, and it looks like it's an Allen head, but none of my metric or SAE sizes work and when I look at it close it looks like it's just a sleeve? sorry bad pic.....

There was also a loose wire in side, may be a ground. Everything seemed to work fine when I tested it.

But how do you get in there to work on anything? Through the pickup hole I suppose? Talk about building a ship in a bottle.....

 

[lpfan1980]

Very cool indeed

 

[hbucker]

But how do you get in there to work on anything? Through the pickup hole I suppose? Talk about building a ship in a bottle.....

Exactly. If I were going to change pickups, I may just use the wires from the old ones and splice the new ones to those. Changing pots on semis and hollows seems like a nightmare. And I like tinkering on guitars...

 

[Torren61]

Dental floss... or some other string. You remove the knobs and then the nuts and washers from the pots. You tie string around the end of the pots and when you pull them out to remove them, you have string threaded through the holes.

I know because I pulled out the electronics from my ES-335 but I didn't remove anything. I just cleaned all the pots and the switch. Then I used the new (not used) dental floss the pull the pots back into place.

 

[SWeAT hOg]

You need to slay some Great White Buffalo with that beast!

 

[Deftone]

You need to slay some Great White Buffalo with that beast!

You know I did!

We're in business. Just needed a smaller Allen wrench to get the truss rod adjusted and get some neck relief. Most of the buzz is gone now, new strings and everything is working fine.

Now that I have been playing it for a bit I have to mention the fret ends are brutal, definitely needs some work there. Even worse than the Gibson SG Special Faded I had.

As far as tone goes, (keep in mind I'm a Metal head who never plays clean) but IMHO it sounds pretty good. Clean or distorted. Sounds nice unplugged too. I can work with it. Makes me want to play some psychobilly.

I have a buddy who does pinstriping for a living. I'll have to see about getting him to pinstripe this guitar.

 

[jkes01]

...The bridge was just sitting on top of the body, not glued down or screwed in or anything. I may hot glue it in place?

No. Do not glue the bridge to the top, they are supposed to be just sitting on the top. Once you get the intonation right, the string will hold it in place.

It’s not fun to replace the electronics through the f hole. I found out the hard way that full sized CTS DPDT pots won’t fit through the f hole on my Epi 339..

 

[CB91710]

No center block, but there's a beam inside that goes from the back to the top underneath the bridge. The bridge was just sitting on top of the body, not glued down or screwed in or anything. I may hot glue it in place?

There's a truss rod, and it looks like it's an Allen head, but none of my metric or SAE sizes work and when I look at it close it looks like it's just a sleeve? sorry bad pic.....

View attachment 439242

There was also a loose wire in side, may be a ground. Everything seemed to work fine when I tested it.

But how do you get in there to work on anything? Through the pickup hole I suppose? Talk about building a ship in a bottle.....

The truss rod is likely a 4mm or 5mm, but the hole is probably tapered, and ball-end allen keys don't work well.
To work inside, it's a PITA.
At least with the full hollowbody, you can get stuff in and out through the pickup holes, but you'll still need "pinky work" through the F-hole to steady the pots to tighten them.

To replace the pots, tie a 3ft piece of monofilament around the shafts, tie all of the mono together at the other end, then remove the nuts and push the pots into the body.
To replace, wrap little "cones" of tape around the shafts to center the mono... then pull them back in.

 

[moreles]

Part of the answer to the "how can they do this so cheaply" is answered in your posts. You are doing a lot of the handwork that costs time and money, which the maker saves by having you dress frets, do setup, and repair slapdash wiring. Then, you can throw away the junk hardware for something more solid. And then the pickups. Maybe do some work on the finish if you find blemishes. Hopefully, you end up with a guitar you really like. There's really no mystery to the low prices on these. Robots, underpaid, unskilled assemblers, cheap components, cheap woods, and disregard for fretting, setup yields profit margin. And when you think of shipping and distribution, etc., it all ends up being a real penny-pincher of a widget-production operation. Making furniture, really.

 

[PierM]

View attachment 439242

Is that guitar on a flat surface? From that pic looks like a horrifying neck warp?

 

[Roxy13]

So far every metric guitar with that style truss nut I've worked on has used a 5mm Allen key.

I tried every method you can think of to rewire my MIJ es-175 style guitar and in the end I got it really quickly using my pinky finger through the f hole to hold each pot and get them into place. I first tried aquarium tubing over the pot shafts, then dental floss, then wire and every single time wires inside would get crossed! My pinky was the only finger I could fit without it getting stuck too badly.

Before doing my 335 style guitar I bought this thing from StewMac. I'm quite sure you could make one from a coat hanger, but I bought it during a sale and it sure is easier than having my finger stuck in the end of the f hole, lol!

- StewMac

www.stewmac.com

Using that I had the job done right quickly!

 

[Deftone]

Part of the answer to the "how can they do this so cheaply" is answered in your posts. You are doing a lot of the handwork that costs time and money, which the maker saves by having you dress frets, do setup, and repair slapdash wiring. Then, you can throw away the junk hardware for something more solid. And then the pickups. Maybe do some work on the finish if you find blemishes. Hopefully, you end up with a guitar you really like. There's really no mystery to the low prices on these. Robots, underpaid, unskilled assemblers, cheap components, cheap woods, and disregard for fretting, setup yields profit margin. And when you think of shipping and distribution, etc., it all ends up being a real penny-pincher of a widget-production operation. Making furniture, really.

Just messing with ya....

Is that guitar on a flat surface? From that pic looks like a horrifying neck warp?

Flat surface, crooked photographer.

So far every metric guitar with that style truss nut I've worked on has used a 5mm Allen key.

I tried every method you can think of to rewire my MIJ es-175 style guitar and in the end I got it really quickly using my pinky finger through the f hole to hold each pot and get them into place. I first tried aquarium tubing over the pot shafts, then dental floss, then wire and every single time wires inside would get crossed! My pinky was the only finger I could fit without it getting stuck too badly.

Before doing my 335 style guitar I bought this thing from StewMac. I'm quite sure you could make one from a coat hanger, but I bought it during a sale and it sure is easier than having my finger stuck in the end of the f hole, lol!

- StewMac

www.stewmac.com

Using that I had the job done right quickly!

Truss rod was counterbored and had a 4mm allen head deeper down inside. Thanks for the tip!