Craftsman EG-95 guitar review

K2desoog

New member
Hey all! First off,
1. this is my first time writing a review
2. I’m in no way connected to City Music (except as a satisfied customer) and I don’t get any ‘benefits’ for doing this (hint - although it would be nice)
3. … and this is what I think (aka. personal opinion… heh) of the Craftsman EG-95 guitar

Aesthetically pleasing on both front and back, this made in China axe comes only in black including the hardware as well. The body is solid wood 5pc Maple/ Nayto. Tuners are from GOTOH(is it?). Not on the heavy side like an LP and built for Shred, Rock & HM (think Megadeth, At Vance and the likes). It looks suspiciously like an Ibanez RG 5XX. Overall, I’d give it a 7.5/10.

Stock H-S-H Black Hexagonal Pole Piece pups (hi-output alnicos I think, like its predecessor the EG-950) with a 5-way selector switch. 1 x Volume and 1 x Tone control. Faint hum when you select the middle position and ‘hum-less’ on the others. Nice all-round clean tones when plugged to a Line6 amp. This baby can do the chug-a-chugga and wail alright! The signal doesn’t ‘break or fade-out hastily’ when you play lead on the upper frets. All this depends on your guitar set-up (I do my own set-up) and your gear of course.



Full sized image:
http://www.citymusic.com.sg/webshaper/pcm/pictures/Craftsman/EG_Series/eg95-bk_lrg.jpg

I like the feel and thinness of this ‘fast’ neck! This 24-fretted Rosewood neck feels like the IBZ Wizard II and has a recessed neck joint for ease of lead playing at the upper frets. The back of the neck is un-finished and it takes getting used to especially when you slide. I waxed it (with Lemon Pledge! Oh the horror!) to get around this. There are two strips of wood running down the back. I don’t know the actual purpose but it does look cool.

The fret inlays are acceptable but the dots look ‘aged’ and the truss-rod cover, although small and inconspicuous, is a blemish (gosh! grey plastic cover!). The fret-wire burrs could use a bit of smoothing out if you really want to nit-pick.

The licensed Floyd tremolo with locking –nut on this axe is a wonder! It sits well (in a body cavity) and the strings (9’s) stay in pitch after mindless ‘wanking and abuse’ (Caution: Mindless ‘wanking and abuse’ is not advisable. Stuff do break no matter how well it’s built or the make/costs of it if its subjected to 'cruelty'! ). Minus-point is there’s no ‘click/catch’ when you slot the trem arm into the Floyd. It has to be tightened with a tiny Allen wrench.

How does it sound?
Plugged directly into a Line6 SpiderII 15W clean channel and insane (needs therapy / tweaking)…
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8737636

With Zoom G1
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8737637

At SG $304/- (Floyd Rose equipped axes usually cost more than this) from City Music Singapore this axe is well worth the price and I’d recommend it to ‘non-hard to please mid-level axe-slingers’ on a tight budget, looking for the ‘close-to’ Paul Gilbert-like cleans and Petrucci-like metal tones (coupled with the right gear of course).

But before you part with your cash though, inspect the guitar for any dinks and excess glue that cannot be removed with a slightly damped cloth (esp at the fretboard!). I had to go through 2 of them before making my purchase. And bring a fellow axe-slinger along for a second opinion. If you like it but he disagrees, go with your heart (or throw him out of the store!!).

Shred on!!
 
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hi sir thanks for the review really like the clean sound but the distortion sounds kind of hollow, like no punch but overall good review:)
 
actually i find that the distorted sound lacks low end. but has got to do with the amp more than the guitar.


Thanks guys.
On the first audio sample:
I just plugged it to the Line6 and hit the CLEAR channel for the clean tone and the INSANE channel for the nasty part. All factory presets. It does sound 'kosong' ;)

On the 2nd audio sample, it goes thru Zoom G1 and auto-FX on the amp is disabled. The chugging & wall-of-harmonised gtrs tones are what i like best. Rest is can-do & 'okay-lah'.

These L6 amps... many people seems to think that its hard to get a great tone out of 'em. Requires a lot of fiddling. But if youre patient enough, its well worth it.
 
I think the problem is the Zoom effect.

Ok....ok..I'm biased. Hehehe!! I don't personally like Zoom effect for live playing. But I did some recordings before using zoom which sounded well.

Talking about sound and and things like that are just preference. You may like what I don't like and vice-versa! Well...great review anyway! I tried some of those craftsman guitar...I have to say quite good. I personally like the tele hollow ones. Sound shiok are....but too bad no stock.
 
I think the problem is the Zoom effect.

Ok....ok..I'm biased. Hehehe!! I don't personally like Zoom effect for live playing. But I did some recordings before using zoom which sounded well.

Talking about sound and and things like that are just preference. You may like what I don't like and vice-versa! Well...great review anyway! I tried some of those craftsman guitar...I have to say quite good. I personally like the tele hollow ones. Sound shiok are....but too bad no stock.

i think zoom pedals sounds better live than recorded imho

and i agree on the thinline teles, i've got 1 myself, like a lot myself, except fingerboard radius a bit too flat for my liking
 
I think the problem is the Zoom effect.

Ok....ok..I'm biased. Hehehe!! I don't personally like Zoom effect for live playing. But I did some recordings before using zoom which sounded well.

.

Actually I got it for $66/- (display unit) at CM together with the guitar. So I aint complainin ;)
All it needed was some superglue for the knob and presto!
 
Hmmmmm.... interesting to note that this gtr (brand new) costs more on evilBay!
(approx $30+++ more).
and some other Craftsman gtrs too. :rolleyes:


heads up to CM ...
 
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