I got this guitar as a prize in a competition in May last year. So I have been playing this for 10 months now. All I can say is... metal. This thing looks metal (I have the metallic red one, and it is dark as clotted blood in shadows, bright as sunset when subjected to proper light). This thing totally shines on stage (both look-wise and sound-wise). The neck is the best factory set you can get under 15K (I'm ready to bet a million bucks supporting that). The only problem I faced? Well, the neck pickup seemed to be non-functional at various times when it just came out of the factory. After regular use till October, that problem disappeared. Also, the pickup selector was inverted. So I had to rotate it by 180 degrees manually. And... this is not for crispy clean tone freaks. This thing will destroy you with its high gain sounds, but the clean tones aren't very bright/impressive. The best thing to do with this instrument, is probably to play for a couple years and change the pickups to EMG's or Duncans, as you may start to feel bored with the sound (but hey, that's all up to you).Final Word: If you are a rocker/metalhead, grab this axe when you get the opportunity. And don't expect crispy cleans.