Blade Guitars Durango T Classic

H/S/S pick ups with active in built bas treble and mid range boost
Sen ash body
Maple rose wood neck
Tele style bridge
Closed reasonable quality tuners
I would describe as amedium neck profile not a fast speed neck

Ive no idea where these originate but as its sen ash i guess it source material is far east.

very versatile in sound, can get good sweet clear sound even distotion (Not Muddy).
Not really a Metal guitar but copes with 80s rock with more to spare.
Plenty of bite.
I Play blues and rock 70s/80s and some more modern stuff. but this guitar has many more available sounds.
Used with a VOX valvetronic 30 (another good peice of kit)
Ive yet to find all the in between sound The AVC is very versatile and works off a toggle switch but am pleased with the sounds it makes. I normally play Humbucker pick ups and wanted to try a strat sound this can deliver that and more. Humbucker at the bridge is coil tapped by a pull up tone switch,

My only gripe is the tone control seems to have a step somewhere around the middle

Some minor fitting issues, Scratch plate pushes the center pick up, but easily rectified.

Paint finish is good but not great

Neck supurb smooth and usable with out major set up

Action Med high but again easy to set to your own style

This is as solid as my telecaster

Not a Band or live play, Home playing only but it feels robust

N/A

20 years mainly Les Paul types and telecasters.
Tried strats before settling on this, i think its a lot more guitar for your money.

This is becoming my favorite guitar. I am amazed at what you get for the money

I bought this guitar in October 2003, it was on my shortlist to try and my local dealer unexpectedly started stocking them and got the price wrong. Too good to resist before they realised their mistake.

It's a 2003 model - made in Korea but don't let that put you off, 22 frets, swamp ash body with beautiful cherry sunburst finish, fixed bridge, Telecaster-ish in appearance. S/S/H pickups with 5 way selector, tone pot pulls to coil tap the humbucker.

Active electronics, bass, mid and treble cut/boost set via pots accessible from back of body. Three way switch on front allows mid boost, passive, or bass/treble boost. Very, very flexible but set with care as too much boost will overdrive the amp input, fine if you want it but more useful if used subtly.

Small plate on body end of neck allows easy access to the truss rod for neck adjustment without removing the strings, string tensioner on headstock, 15-1 ratio tuners.

Very flat neck, easy to play and to set up.

Can't think what other features you'd want from a guitar unless you move into piezo or midi territory.

I've been playing for over 30 years in all sorts of styles and use the guitar for playing and recording at home, my band days are over for now!! This guitar does it all. Without the active EQ it sounds very strat-like with the extra humbucker punch there if you want to switch it in. The mid-boost is excellent for rhythm work and matched with a Blackface type amp sounds incredible. The bass/treble boost can give you great crunch for blues and clasasic rock type lead work and if set to max will overdrive the amp's input stage for a heavier sound.

I'm using it with a Line6 Pod XT so I have loads of amp, cab and stomp-box models to choose from. I record directly into the desk or use a Roland Cube's clean channel with flat EQ.

One word of warning, you can get a huge variety of sounds from this guitar and once you team it up with a Pod XT then the world is at your fingertips. I can waste hours just playing with the different sounds, it really has brought new dimensions to my playing as just hearing different sounds makes the right links in your head and you start playing in styles you've never attempted before. I recommend you nail a few basic killer sounds to work with and use them for the serious stuff, mess around when you've got the time.

Perfect set up out of the box, I lowered the action after a few weeks of getting used to it. The neck is fantastic. I'd started out thinking I wanted a Strat but never really found the necks to my liking. This is perfect for me with Strat and many, many other tones and excellent playability, it feels so good in the hands.

Other than that I can't find much to say, no flaws and action, fit and finish are spot on.

This guitar exudes quality. As I've said I don't gig at the moment but can't imagine for a second there'd be a problem.

Do you need a backup? Sort of a redundant question really, if you have one you'll take it with you anyway and if you can't afford one you'll take the chance.

I ran into someone from the company (it may have been Gary Levinson) at the Music Live show in Birmingham in November 2003 and he said that they dreamed up this guitar in a bar one night and it was everything they wanted it to be. Good enough for me. Other than that I've no experience of the company's support but I've heard they have a very good reputation for looking after their buyers well after the warranty has expired.

I've been playing for over 30 years and own a Warwick bass and a 30 year old Takaharu (Suzuki?) acoustic which is the best I've ever picked up (if anyone knows anything about Takaharu please let me know as I've never been able to find out anything about them). I use a Roland Cube with Line6 Pod XT and a Trace Elliott 300w combo if I need to go loud.

I wouldn't want to part with this guitar and haven't found anything with the same combination of flexibility and playability. I started out wanting a 'name', Fender, and ended up realising that the name on the headstock doesn't end up meaning a lot. I once sold a Washburn I'd had for 10 years on that basis and have regretted it ever since. Don't get suckered in by marketing hype in guitar mags.