Vintage MetaAxxe Wraith

I gave it a 6 when I first bought it, sustain wasnt too bad but pickups were too muddy and dark. replaced them wih an emg 85/81 combo and now the tone is sharp enough to take off somones head!!
it sounds like a rifle going off, also tuned down to dropped B, locking nut works a treat

Body - Eastern Poplar
Top - Flame Maple
Neck - Maple, set neck
Fretboard - Rosewood
Scale - 628mm
Frets - 24
Neck Inlays - Perloid Dot, with unique Vintage double 'V' 12th fret inlay
Tuners - Wilkinson WJ07
Bridge - Double Locking Floyd Rose Tremolo
Pickups - 2 Wilkinson Double Coil
Hardware - Black satin/Satin Chrome
Controls - 1*vol, 1*tone, 5 way selector
Headstock - Metal Axxe Double Horn
Accessories - Hex keys on headstock rear

1st time i got the guitar it sounded fine to me, although it didnt sound right enough, but with a thicker gauge of strings it sounds preety decent.
Amp wise im using a marshall with a Line 6 spider head, and the sound which it creates is very full.
I i played it through one of those 1o watt amp once and it still sounded alright, but again not metal enough.
I also use a Digitech Death metal distortion pedal with it, which does help.

When i 1st got the guitar it was set up perfectly,
Unfortunatly it only came with 2 springs at the back, so when it came to setting on to a heavier gauge of strings i had to buy another spring to even out the tension on the tremelo.

This guitar is awsome x]
i cant count the number of times i have dropped it, and yet it still doesn't have any scratches,
the only problem i think is the neck, people say that it fades away easily but i dont seem to be having problems with it

The biggest problem ive had with this guitar is replacing the strings.
Its preety much a nightmare unless you know what your doing.
The online guide which is given doesnt help at all. So when it comes to replacing the strings, and you dont know how, its best to give it to a professional. ( e.g. a guitar shop or something)
i had to pay ??8 + the strings to get it set up for me, how ever i did get to learn how its done. and now its as good as new ^-^

i would deffinetly use it at a gig, but i would also consider taking a back up with me.

I havent had any problems with it.
only changing the strings which was easily resolved by going to a shop after stressing over it for weeks.

Im happy with this guitar, i love the body of it and the sound it makes. its Unique. And although some people reject it i still love it.

I do wish however that they would remove the tremelo, or atleast change it. mainly because with this its a hassle, i dont use the tremelo much mainly because i fear that it will go out of tune. although ive been re asussred millions of times that it wont, i dont want to take chances. lolz.

If i had a chance i think i would actuly remove the tremelo and change it to a more stable one ( if its even possible)

The paint job on its great but sometimes i wish i had gone for the satin chrome rather then the satin black, mainly because with the chrome, the patterns more visible.

IF any of you are thinking of buying this guitar i would suggest to find a better price. atleast below ??180.
if you cant try bargaining with the dealer, they may say they cant knock the price down but they can. e.g. by atleast ??1o - ??2o

Atm im also considering buying the V style version of it, only if im able to get a good price (below ??180)


I think this guitar is great, if your considering of buying it i would advice you to try it in store though.
When i orderd it i imagined it being smaller for some reason. but its more on to the medium side.

love it ^-^!
any questions you can always add me
oneofthem2@hotmail.com

The finish is a tiger grey or some like that but i ree coloer that in a fine green

i dont no what body style it is

it got a licons Floyd Rose?? double locking tremolo

rosewood fingerboard jumbo

no gig or straps

I dont no i think it was made in 2003 and come from japan

24 frets

solid-top

one volume and one tone control and 5 way selector

H/S/H

wilkinson pickupper more i dont no

Active puikupper

agetis i think in one pihs

my style is metal <slipknot Machine Head and some of thet> and old black sabbat and the guitar is cool to that

i using amp rad shadow silver tube 100w and effects some from
most dist padel and and the old shit giv i a tube overdrave

it not that noisy never get trubel

a hige output so you can get a fine tone to metal but need a littl more creme sound

i like the tone but i dont like is notfing thest a littl more creme sound but you can ??make the sound withe a tube overdraive

jah i will play this guitar live

the hardware seem like it will last in a long time

dont no i got it pahint

no the strap buttons is fine

it my baby offcorse i can depend on it

i allwash got a nr-2 guitar on gig

i dont no

i ben play on this metal beist in 3 years i ben paly in 6 years

i will gat it back from that punk hu take it

i love it. littl more creme tone on puikupper and a true floyd rose

it wille cool and it good to play on and sound good

year: 2003
neck joint: set neck
frets: 24, medium fretwire(i think)
controls: 5-way switch, Volume, Tone
Pickups: H/S/H, passive(stock pickups replaced with Gotoh pickups from an old Ibanez RG)
Finish: Translucent black/grey, same on headstock and back of neck
Body style: like a mutant BC Rich
Bridge: double-locking Floyd Rose licencesed (replaced with Ibanez TRS-1)
Tuners/Hardware: Satin Grey finish, replaced with chrome to match new trem.


i would give it 10 for features, but the pickups and trem were rubbish and had to be replaced so it gets 7.
came equipped with an allen key holder on the back of the headstock, i don't know why they dont put these on all guitars with floyd rose trems...

as the name suggests, this guitar is made for METAL.

it doesn't matter what gear you use because unfortunately the stock humbuckers were terrible. they just sounded really muffled, no matter if the tone control was turned up full or how much treble you added to the amp settings. you could maybe get away with it for a 'muddy' Korn type Nu-Metal sound, but i play a lot of thrash with pinch harmonics so i need a much sharper sound. i ended up replacing them with Gotoh pickups from an old Ibanez RG, these give the sharp thrash sound i was looking for and the single-coil is good for clean funky sounds.

NB: i put the stock single coil in another guitar and it sounds pretty good, so it may just be the humbuckers that were useless.

the guitar was set-up well when i got it, but the trem and pickups they used were rubbish. the trem wouldn't return to pitch, if you pushed it down the strings stayed slightly flat, pulled it up the strings stayed slightly sharp. i don't think the knife-edges or the pivot posts were machined very well at all. it was a nice satin chrome finish though....

i had to replace the trem but since the new trem was chrome the rest of the satin hardware had to be replaced as well, although there was nothing wrong with the machine heads. i kept the allen key holder on the headstock though.

the neck is great to play, the finish on the body is the same on the headstock and the back of the neck, this makes it very smooth, great profile, a nice metal/shred type neck.

the neck and body are both well made and finished except for the badly placed screw holes for the electrics cavity cover. the main letdown was the trem & pickups, although the newer versions use Wilkinson parts which are probably better quality.

when i got this guitar it was very unbalanced on the strap, but this was because the top strap button was on the back of the guitar, i moved it to the side (where you'd find it on a strat/tele/les paul etc) and it sits well on the strap now.

overall it's a 'nice piece of wood' let down by low-quality trem and pickups

once you replace the pickups to get a good sound, replace the trem so it stays in tune and move the strap button so it balances right then it will be fine for gigging...

the finish is fine, it's the lousy hardware that's the problem.

the strap buttons are solid, but once i moved the top strap button i realised it needed a straplok on it

once you've sorted the problems on it it should be a good dependable rock/metal machine, but you should always have a backup at gigs in case of string breaks etc...

i've never dealt with the company, there weren't any actual faults with the guitar just poor quality hardware, all the company (VIntage/JHS) would have been able to do would be replace my crappy parts with identical crappy parts.

i got a friend to wire in the new pickups and replaced all the other hardware myself.

i did e-mail JHS with my suggestions to improve this model, and they sent me a catalogue of all the new versions of Vintage guitars. the 2004 series wraith has Wilkinson hardware on which i assume is better quality, but they changed the body & headstock shape slightly and i don't like the look of the new version.

i basically bought this because it looks cool. i was thinking of getting a BC Rich but this made them all look so boring! it was a toss-up between this and a Washburn Nuno Bettencourt model, but i chose this as it looks more interesting.

if it was lost or stolen i'd probably get a Nuno...looking back it would have been a lot less hassle! plus i don't like the look of the new models.

the neck is great, with a good trem & pickups installed you've got a fantastic metal guitar. not too comfortable to play sitting down though...

i'd give the one i own 10 out of 10 because i've put quite a lot of work into making it sound nice and stay in tune, but i'd only give it a 6 in it's original state

overall, it's worth getting an original series one cheap as possible, then buy a good floyd rose copy cheap off ebay and some good humbuckers and you've got yourself a true HEAVY METAL BEAST!!