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 As
a follow up to our Builder Profile on 17th Street Guitars of Santa
Monica, CA, and in part with Musicians Hotline's 10 year Anniversary
celebration and give-away, we are proud to review a very cool guitar
from this new guitar company making quite a name for themselves,
very quickly. The DL Spyder is a solid bodied guitar reminiscent
of the cool 80's guitars known for their incredibly fast necks and
razor cutting tone, however, the Spyder sports a more traditional
look, less the pointy headstock and outrageous graphics. Don't let
the 80's thing scare ya, these guitars are incredibly versatile
and offer a refreshing new concept in today's modern market place.
Here is what we discovered about the DL Spyder.
First Look
My first impression of the DL Spyder was very similar to running
into a long lost friend that you have not seen in several years,
with its familiar "Strat" style body, coupled with the
classy look of a reverse style headstock. I was a fan of the 80's
guitars myself and played several while touring in the 80's, along
with my big hair and spandex pants. What great memories I have of
that decade of musical exploits. But not just the music, the guitars.
I still have several Charvels, Jackson's, and even a Kramer Baretta
from that time frame. The DL Spyder is somewhat reminiscent of those
types of guitars, but sports a much more mature vibe. Visually,
the Spyder is a cool looker. A two piece Alder body stained in Emerald
Green, black custom pick guard, 24 fret bolt-on hard rock maple
neck, chrome hardware, including a Takeuchi licensed Floyd Rose
locking trem, six on a side Gotoh tuners on the reverse headstock,
single hum pickup configuration, three-way toggle switch located
on the upper bout, and a mini toggle for series-parallel switch
for the humbucker.
Notables:
Fair amount of vertical grain in the Alder body, unique pick guard
design, and hard rock asymmetrical maple neck with satin finish
that sports 24 medium jumbo nickel frets. Two cool features of the
neck, in my opinion, are the design of the reverse headstock (not
too Gaudy) and no fret markers on the face of the maple neck, only
on top side. This really looks clean and the mirrored satin finish
on the neck is first class. Cosmetically, the Spyder is a perfect
blend of traditional looks, but certainly offers uniqueness that
will differentiate the look of the guitar from other double cut-away
guitars.
First Chord
After a quick stretching of the strings and a tune up, it's time
to spend some acoustical quality time with the Spyder; the initial
bonding time. First chords feel great, immediately I warm up to
14 inch radius of the fret board and the smooth satin finish on
the back side of the neck. I've played several hard rock maple necks
that were unfinished and I personally like the feel of a satin finish
on the backside of the neck. The neck feels great to me right from
the start. Not too thin, and enough maple to feel like you have
a hold of something solid. The asymmetrical neck subconsciously
supports your playability without ever being an imposition. The
Spyder features a bolt on neck with 24 medium jumbo nickel frets
on a 25 _ inch scale length and a 1 _ inch nut. Acoustically, the
Spyder rings strong and true with a great spankin' feel that is
indicative of a maple neck. Action is super low and bends are like
butter. Intonation is pretty much balls on, and I can not detect
a buzz or dead spot anywhere. Reminiscent of many of the 80's styled
guitars, this is a fast action neck that you can really blaze on.
The two piece Alder body and double cut shape is well balanced and
feels rock solid!
Electrified
Ok, Ok... For those of you who razzed me at the Dallas Guitar Show
about grabbing a six pack every time I head to the tone chamber
to work on a product review, it puts me in my "Mojo Zone"
so that I can really concentrate on the task at hand. Nuff sed!
For testing purposes, I am using a Marshall JMP I tube pre-amp,
along with a Mesa 20/20 tube power Amp, powering a stock Marshall
cab with 75w Celestions. My first choice of presets, I must admit
is to the Overdrive II segments of the JMP I. These are the higher
gain presets that I have tweaked to my satisfaction. Usually I start
with clean tones and work my way up to the higher gain settings,
however, something tells me the Spyder wants to rock! The Spyder
is loaded with a DiMarzio "Fred" humbucker with a series-parallel
switch in the bridge, and a DiMarzio Virtual 2 single coil in the
neck position. In the bridge position parallel mode, in a high gain
setting, the Spyder simply screams. Way cool smooth, well rounded
midrange that cuts with authority with out the chainsaw harshness
often found with lesser pickups. Nice tight low end and highs roll
off smoothly, however, I am very pleased with the sweetness and
warmth of the midrange tones. In lesser gain settings, the Spyder
is capable of a very suitable crunch tone that will really appeal
to classic rock players. Chords are tight and articulate and leads
really seem to cut without ripping your head off. The neck position
pickup, a DiMarzio Virtual 2 single coil, is sweet but sassy in
the overdriven mode. Great Bluesy crunch and sports an impressive
output for a single coil with a well balanced EQ. As we go to clean
settings, this is where I am truly impressed and more than pleasantly
surprised. The boys at 17th Street Guitars tell me that the Spyder
was capable of reproducing "Tele" type tones. That is
quite a statement, for we all know that really the only true Tele
type tones come from, well, a Tele. In a clean pre-set with the
bridge pickup in series mode, I must admit, it is about the closest
I've heard. The hard rock maple neck certainly contributes to the
spankin' tone you can pull out of this bad boy, complete with the
entire twang thang-super cool. With the humbucker in parallel mode,
the tone obviously breaks up a bit more, with an increased output.
The neck pickup is sweet and airy in the clean mode, with a nice
warm bottom end. All the way up and down the gain stacking spectrum,
from clean to mean, every tone I dialed up truly tickled my pickle.
It's all good!
Final Mojo
What I thought was going to be a stroll down memory lane with the
80's trem based guitars that we all love, was all that, and much
more. More mature from a look, sound, and feel standpoint, the Spyder
has exceptionally fast playability. You can really shred on this
bad boy. That, I somewhat expected. What was surprising to me was
the quality and diversity of the tones, but especially the clean
tones. The Takeuchi Floyd Rose licensed trem really held it's own,
and I found myself dive bombing with confidence. The Spyder roars
with authority, overdriven, without sounding harsh. It's all about
the warmth! All in all, the Spyder is a way cool axe that looks
classy, but doesn't sacrifice playability. Not just another pretty
face! With a street price of $1595.00, and $1695.00 for a Swamp
Ash version, the DL Spyder is well within the price range of average
Joes like us. The DL Spyder is a welcome new comer to today's ultra
competitive marketplace, but at its reasonable price point, the
Spyder truly takes all around great value to a new level.
17th Street Guitars
1107 North 17th Street #B
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-829-0315
www.17thstreetguitars.com
email: info@17thstreetguitars.com
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