Warrior Soldier

I bought my Warrior Soldier "White Knight" NAMM 2007 in April 2008.
Scale: 25"
Frets: 24
Weight: 7.5 Lbs
Body: Mahogany
Neck: Mahogany with Purpleheart Tonebar
Fretboard: Ebony
Inlay: Mother-of-Pearl Block with Abalone Accents
Headstock: Ebony
Hardware: Chrome
Pickups: White DiMarzio X2N
Finish: Pearl White
Tuners: Sperzel locking tuners
Volume-control
Tone-control (pull-push; pull, and blue let-lights at the 12th fret will lighten the blade).
Case was included, just as the certificate of autenticity and other stuff.

The guitar sounds and plays great! It hasn't that much variety, but to use it for (hard) rock and overdriven blues, it's a very good guitar. It fits the style I play (progressive rock), so it's a good match.
At home I use it through a Cube 30 (neighbours). In the rehearsalroom it goes through a Marshall JMP 50 Lead with 1960 greenback 4x12 cabinet with GX-700 effectrack, whitch is also my live-setup.

The guitar came perectly from the factory. It needed a little adjustment for the action, but that was it. For the rest there wasn't something that needed some work.

The guitar hasn't been gigged yet, but from the playing at home, looks etc I would say it has a great reliability and would certanly withstand live without any backup.

I've mailt Warrior and got a fast reply back, with excellent answers to the questions.

I've been playing for 22 years now and this is one of the finest pieces of art I've had in my hands and am very happy to own. The bodyshape and finishing touch tells that it has been taken very well care off to make it looks great. The combination of wood, make it play very well and sound very good. If it would be stolen, it would be replaced.

I bought this Warrior Soldier guitar about 8 months ago, and have mixed feelings about it. The Soldier guitar that I bought is made of Mahogony with a set neck. The neck is three piece(with purple heart wood)and is "set" into the body. The neck is 24 (jumbo)frets with a Rosewood finderboard. It is a two humbucker model with a 5-way blade switch to give you different split coil sounds. The neck is very solid and has a wide/thick profile, the guitar body is very light, with interesting carving on the top.

The guitar is equipped with some good hardware. Tonepros tune-o-matic bridge, Sperzel recessed strap locks (very cool). The cover to the electronics has "Warrior" cut out of it, it also looks very cool. The pick-ups are Bartolini Humbuckers with black covers. The headstock has a rosewood overlay with a real nice abalone logo inlayed into it. The finger board has ovals and a sword inlayed into it. The neck heel/body joint is fantastic and the overall feel of the guitar is comfortable and solid.

This guitar has a surprizingly full tone when either of the humbuckers are fully engaged. To me, the split coil sounds are too thin sounding and are pretty much useless. The pick-ups are Bartolini (I think they are supposed to be a PAF type pick-up). I play this guitar through a Marshall JCM 2000 DLS100 with a 1960 4X12 cabinet. It does sound good, but not as full or powerful as my PRS single cut. I pretty much play straight to the amp, with minimal effects.

The guitar is strung-thru-the-body and has good sustain. I'm playing mostly heavy blues, and hard rock. I prefer the PRS becauase it has more tone and has more weight to it.

I rate the sound as an 8 because I don't like the split coil sounds of humbuckers, but I almost never do. I prefer humbuckers to be wired with a phase/series switch instead of coil splitting.

This is where the guitar loses some serious points. The guitar I have has a black finish. The gloss on the guitar is excellent, but the finish has some flaws. They have a strip of natural Mahogany that minics a top bininding(similar to what PRS does on their guitars). The tape job was pretty sloppy when they did this, so the binding looks uneven. The neck also has some flaws. Two of the side dot markers on the finger board are installed too close to the neck and have been cut off (It's a little hard to describe without seeing it), and there are tool marks on the finger board from the fret job.

For the price of this guitar I would have expected the workmanship to be be better. I have a custom shop Les Paul with a better finish and I tend compare everything to PRS. The workmanship on this guitar just doens't compare with other guitars in ti's price range.

The guitar set-up was poorly done, but I know for a fact that the set-up was done by the dealer I bought it from and not the factory.

I think the guitar will stand up well, but I've only had it a few months, and it's not my main guitar.

I think customer support is good. I've e-mailed Warrior with a few questions and got prompt responses.

I've been playing guitar for over 20 years, and have a variety of Strats, PRS's and a few odd guitars. If this guitar was lost I wouldn't replace it.

I felt compelled to submit a listing with regard to an earlier listing of a 2000 Left-handed Soldier. I was lucky enough to get a hold of this instrument and must say it is one the most wonderful guitars I?ve had the pleasure to own. The fit and feel of this guitar is amazing with the neck joint nonexistent. The guitar is beautifully appointed in solid oiled walnut and is a joy to look at. Check them out on their site. This Warrior is my choice when I get some time to play.

I have made some changes in the electrics. It originally came with Seymour Duncan 59s, which were nice when overdriven but lacked clarity when used clean. I love the EMG active stuff and fitted the guitar with dual 89s with coil splitting and a blender pot so that infinite tonal selection can now be made on this instrument. I can go from Single coil clean blended any amount from neck to bridge to full blown overdrive blended however you wish. One of the best things of this setup is the mixing now available between Humbucker and Single coil. You can blend in anything you want with this setup. For example how about a bit of Single coil clarity with a Humbucker bridge sound domination. The tonal pallet is endless.

I agree with my friend on his early review that the finish of this instrument while good is not up to Warrior standards. However I have contacted them and for a small fee they will rework the finish for me and were very nice to deal with. I just can?t get myself to part with guitar long enough to send it to them. I have seen other guitars from Warrior and can say they really do put out an unbelievable beautiful finish that few if any would be disappointed with.

Built like a tank. Enough said.

I have talked to them both before and after my purchase of this guitar and dealing with them is excellent.

I?ve played now for over 25 years and have all sorts of equipment. Strats, Lps, Custom hollow bodes, several acoustics, etc. I primarily use a Mesa Mark IV for most of my stuff and occasionally use an Alessandro for some clean sound. This is my favorite instrument. If I could find another I would buy it before this one was stolen. I love the way it plays, looks, feels, and most of all sounds. Take a look at some of these, you won?t be disappointed.

My guitar is a 2000 left-handed Warrior soldier. I ordered it though Ed Roman's World Class guitars back in August or so, and recieved it in November. This was when Warrior first started making electric guitars (they started out with basses). It is a 24 fret made-in-USA Soldier, custom ordered left-handed. It's pretty much one of a kind. It features a vintage mahogany 3 piece neck w/ a purple heart tonebar though it, solid french walnut body, ebony fretboard, gold hardware, 2 Seymour Duncan 59s, one volume and tone knob, 5 way rotary switch w/ coil tapping, and stop tailpiece. The guitar came with a hand rubbed finish, which is best for extracting the tone from the guitar. It has a beautifully carved archtop, with a no-heel set net design. When I first saw a Warrior guitar in person, I was blown away...fabulous looking, very organic from what others have said.

This guitar had been played through an Ampeg VT-60, but is mostly played through a Marshall VS-100 and VS cab w/ 4 Celestians. The guitar had a naturally bright sound due to the walnut...crystal clear like a bell. It naturally resonates beautifully, and doesn't have any dark overtones. The guitar retains it's clarity through the amp. When overdriven to the extreme, despite losing the tone through the mids on the amp...this is where the guitar really shines. That, and through the clean channel. The mix of sounds from the 5 way rotary are beautiful...you can get a good blues sound, and a nice smooth jazz sound as well. Slightly overdriven is where the pickup combination starts lacking...which is mostly due to the 59s I believe...when attempting to get that slightly overdriven cleanish crunch sound...the pickups start to sound limp and flat. Also, the neck pickup is great for a lot of clean stuff, but starts to get that muddiness when put through distortion...and its just about impossible to get a good strat rock sound.
While this guitar/pickup combination excels in many areas, it does poorly in others. I'm looking for some pickups that will bring out the natual beautiful tone of the instrument.

When I recieved the guitar...I was almost in shock, it was so beautiful. However, when I picked it up to play it, I noticed something-the fret ends were sticking out past the fretboard...supposedly from the temperature/humidity changes. But one this was for sure...it wasn't slight!! If you ran your hand up and down the neck, you'd get scraped up by the fret ends. I sent it back to the factory, and they fixed it and sent it back. However, the problem started to appear again slightly over time, but has now mellowed out and I don't notice the fret ends when playing. Also, an interesting thing would happen...the guitar would go out of tune...but very evenly and consistently...at a higher pitch! Maybe it was something about the wood adjusting to the new location...it doesn't have that problem any more.
The setup was ok from Ed's...nothing special. I adjusted to my own taste, which I believe all guitarists should do. However, the guitar did have a few flaws (and I'm a perfectionist about this kind of thing)...the fret ends sticking out, the jack plate wasn't perfectly contoured to the lower bout of the guitar, the finish had a few slight shiny spots when the finish as a whole was supposed to be a satin. The routed area where the bridge sat down in was a little rougher than I had expected, and it looks like a tiny chip of wood came out around where the carousel truss rod adjuster was-where the neck meets the body, on top. The volume pot is also scratchy, and still is! On a brand new guitar! One thing I also discovered almost 2 years after I had bought the guitar was that it used a cheaper imported bridge, a Gotoh. I was pretty upset about that. I noticed all this stuff, and while none of it is a big deal, when you are paying $2400 for a custom made guitar, everything should be perfect. One thing that I will definitely give them credit for-the neck is beautiful...the really do know how to design a flat neck, and the truss rod is very responsive. The fret work was top notch, however, didn't quite feel right. I have a very special technique I have used on several of my guitars using a honing stone to get the frets in perfect level with one another(all under string tension, no jig used)...and even on a high end instrument, the miniscule flaws in fret height come out. Now it plays beautifully, and string height on the high E string at the 24th fret is actually under 1 millimeter (I kid you not) with absolutely no buzzing. I'm one happy guitarist:)

The guitar is a rock. If it had to be absolutely reliable, I would put on a graphite nut, a Tone Pros bridge, definitely replace the noisy volume pot. The hardware is a little sketchy, with the Gotoh bridge, and the volume pot, but this guitar has been used consistenly in sets every week without a hitch. The strap button are the only strap buttons I have ever used that I have felt I didn't need to replace them. I have a very fancy Long Hollow Leather strap on this guitar...the strap is FABULOUS, I would recommend it to anyone. All in all this is a tough guitar and was designed to be kept for a lifetime. A few changes here and there will ensure that.

Originally when I ordered the guitar, I talked to J.D. Lewis, and Ed Roman. Ed Roman won't take any bs, and wanted to make sure that I was serious about the guitar. However, after he recieved the payments and saw I was serious about the guitar...we had several good conversations about the guitar, and I recieved the guitar in a timely manner-no complaints. I'm pretty happy with the service I got from Ed...a little rude, but not too bad. I believe buying a guitar is a very personal experience, and coutesty towards the customer should be a top priority to make sure that the whole process of purchasing an instrument is a pleasant one. Now, about my dealings with Warrior...this is where it gets interesting...
During my whole process of buying the guitar, Warrior was very very pleasant to deal with. I talked to J.D. Lewis several times. However, after I had owned the guitar for about a year or two, I learned that Warrior had started doing cost cutting to their guitars. They had (I assume) started using newer wood, cheaper hardware, and imported pickups. I check my guitar, and found that it had the Gotoh bridge on it...I was furious about that. Something that Ed Roman told me on the phone the last time I spoke to him about my guitar when I was buying it was that I got one of the last good Warriors and that they had started doing a bunch of cost cutting stuff. On his website, he says a quick way to spot an original is the Seymour Duncan picups. *whew*...I'm glad I got a good one...but I don't know how to describe house furious I would be if I had payed $2400 for a custom made guitar only to find out it had been cost cutted all over the place. I have tried to contact Warrior 3 times about this cost cutting information, to hear it directly from them (which is I believe the best way, go straight to the source) and they have never responded. I think that they are not proud of what they are doing to their guitars now, and its actually pretty sad. They used to say the word "pride" a lot, but if they are hiding the fact they they are cutting corners on their instruments, and their standards, then I cannot support the company anymore. They have lost a lot of my respect for that. For cost cutting, still claiming that their instruments are of the highest standard, and not telling their customers about it, they get a 2.

I've been playing for 6 years, and have owned a Gibson SG, and currently own a homemade custom strat, Taylor 12 string, Ibanez accoustic, and a classical guitar. The Warrior is the best guitar I own. Its very sleek, fast, and the playability is out of this world. The only complaint I have about it right now is the nut (cheapo plastic), the bridge (cheap gotoh), the pickups (kinda stale sounding) and the volume pot (scratchy), and that the neck is too thin for my tastes. If it were stolen, I would not get another, for the very reason that I could never get another like this one...for one, Warrior isn't making guitars anymore like they used to make them, and two, the guitar is solid walnut and left handed. If I had to replace it, I would get an Abstract SG, Gibson SG (love those guitars), Heritage 150, or maybe a Jaros or JET.
I love the way it plays, I hate how thin the neck is...I wish at the time I purchased it I would have specified a thicker neck, but oh well. For what this guitar is, its a great guitar. For what it could be with everything right and different parts replace, it could be amazing. I give the guitar a 9, irrespective of the company behind it.

I believe this is a 2001' Armed Soldier...Made in the US of A!!!!! This is a 24 fret, Solid Mahogany Brown Honey body. One volume and one tone...the pickup selector is a 5 way rotary like PRS...Two Humbuckers...position 1 is Bridge Hum...2 is bridge single coil...3 is both Hums...4 is neck single and 5 is neck Hum...The pickups are Warrior Angels. This is a string thru body/stop type bridge...the neck is 25" and has a purple heart fret board with pearl flying doves. If it had the LR Baggs acoustic bridge this would be a ten.

This guitar is organic...it has more tone that any guitar I have played. I play this through a Crate VC 60w tube combo (looking for a good 64-69 Bassman) and it sounds amazing...very quite...this guitar retains its own tone regardless of clean or overdrive.

The action was a little low for me but its amazing it was that low and not fretting out. The craftmanship on this guitar is quite amazing...the guitar is perfect...I knew these guitars were good but the quality is ridiculously amazing.

The guitar is built like a tank. The finish is almost 3-D its so deep and shiny...Good guitars dont break...strings do.

Very responsive and supportive...JD is the owner and he normally responds himself. They suggest to send it in once a year for a going over...what other company does that ?

I've been playing 26 years and this is the most beautiful and best sounding guitar I have ever seen or played. One other thing, the body on this guitar is highly sculpted and amazingly comfortable.