Warrior Isabella Knight

2008 Isabella Knight - comes with Warrior HSC
Carved Vintage Mahogany / Seasoned Alder
24 frets
Ebony board
Ebony headstock overlay
inset pro tones bridge
Scale Length: 25"
inset strap lock buttons
G factor stringing system (through body or behind bridge on each string)
Ultra cool LED sword inlay
Sperzel locking tuners
White pearl finish
1 tone
1 volume
5-way pup selector
chrome knobs, bezels, pickup selector tip
Purple heart tone bar
White Duncan JB/Custom pups
The metal (not cheap plastic as most other builders) back plate has the Warrior logo cut out.
Around 8 lbs (a tad heavy for my tastes)

I play through both a Carvin Legacy and a small Marshall combo.
Also through a Jetter Gain Stage blue.

Pretty much what you expect from these ever so popular Duncan pups.
Nice and creamy, fat or thin.
Excellent sustain. Very resonant.
Great for rock, metal, jazz, etc.

Sounds wonderful with an E-Bow which I use quite a lot. Just roll of the treble a lot and use the neck pup.
Volume control is nice and quick allowing for easy swells with the pinky.

The tone control gives good variation from biting to "woman" tone.

I give this category a 9 simply because there are better sounding pups out there if you're willing to pay extra but that's quite subjective.

Excellent factory setup. Nice low action. Smooth and comfortable feel.

Warrior went out of their way to buy my requested Elixir strings which they don't usually use. Thanks guys!

The neck is a dream to play. Perfectly set and polished frets.
Near perfect intonation without a compensated nut!
No buzzes, no dead spots, no fretting out on wide bends.
Stays in tune well.
The finish is near flawless. The flaws I found were hard to see and negligible. I had to hunt for them close in. Iow, most players would never have noticed any.

This guitar is incredibly comfortable to play. Warrior has it down pat as far as comfort contouring goes. A lot of other carved top makers including PRS, Carvin, Abyss, Gibson, etc. just do not do a complete ergonomic design in this area.
Warrior's are sulptured like top models! They've thought it through and you will not find a better design period. (Well maybe a Parker Fly but their upper horn can stick you in the chest and the tip is a bit too close to your fretting hand imo.)

PRS and the others always leave the upper bout, where your arm crosses the body, with a sharp angle that can get uncomfortable as it digs into the arm. Warrior contours that angle down to minimum, making for a lot more comfortable arm rest - whether sitting down or standing up.

Access to the 24th fret is perfect. Soooo effortless and comfortable!
Not like a Les Paul or PRS with their huge neck heels.
Just total comfort there. The belly cut is also pretty much perfect. The guitar is sculptured not only for comfort but for beauty. The cuts make the guitar look so cool.
Yesterday in a church service I had 10 or 12 people come over to admire it's curves and beauty! Everyone had the same opinion - absolutely 1st class beautiful and intelligently designed. ;-)

The inlay work is perfect (except for a tiny bit of filler around a tiny part of the sword inlay). The mother of pearl and green abalone inlays are beautiful indeed. I just love the way this guitar oozes class and attention to detail.

The inset bridge is something rare these days (it should not be!) but a great feature that allows for better intonation and action although a bit tough to get the fingers around.

This is a solid instrument that I can sse lasting for centuries if properly maintained.
Definitely world tour tuff!
The back of the neck at the nut is re-enforced by a thick bout of carved wood. That's where breaks usually would occur.
The control knobs are metal chrome not cheap plastic like PRS, Gibson, Fender etc. You can also get them in various woods and even stone! You can always ask for plastic too if that's yer trip as Warrior offers those as well. ;-)

I purchased the guitar from www.imagineguitars.com in Florida. Great service, great attitude. Frank Mann is a real pro. Courteous and informative. The shipped to Quebec and was in perfect tune and setup when I opened the case.

At 2000$ these guitars are an excellent choice for any one looking for a high end carved top like guitar. You get better than PRS quality for 1000$ or more less cash, plus the oh so cool Warrior look and LED inlay that is just an audience eye-catcher.

The only other guitar I've played that fits this quality was a PRS Modern Eagle at 6000$! Do the math.

I've been playing for around 40 years - raised on beatles, yardbirds, the who, Jeff Beck etc. Saw Jimi Hendrix live in Detroit 2 years before his death. Saw the Cream farewell tour show... learned off of those pioneering rockers.

Been learning to play all these years and still am.
I've owned a 68 Gibson SG, 67 Flying V medallion, 65 ES-345 stereo, Firebird V, a couple of strats including a Malmsteen sig., 2 Ibanez RG770DX, a Yamaha RGX820Z, Guild 512, Guild polaris, etc. Have played (borrowed from friends) Music Man silhouettes, Peavey Wolfgang, Les Pauls, Carvins (excellent!)etc. You name it.

Definitely plan on getting another Warrior - with a tremolo and transparent flame or something finish. Maybe a Derringer. I've always preferred guitars with a trem.

You NEED to get one of these if you're in for a high end quality carved top for a mid range quality price!

UPDATE (4/28/08): A couple of months later and I still love this instrument. Warrior rules in fine quality carved top electric guitars. Best ergonomics by far.