The tone variation knobs are excellent. It is basically simple to adjust the sound, and yet, gives a good amount of veriety, which is what I was looking for. We don't slap, but the knob just gives us more tone variation. we still use that knob.

I'm less into the tech equiptment than my husband, so I wanted simplicity in the guitar, but some variety of sound. I loved the Ibanez Iceman, but it was heavy and the neck dropped but I was looking for a similar sound/versitility with simpliciy. This one has that.

I personally like the pick up locations, but my husband feels they are a little close together. not enough to effect playability. They are tapered, so not in the way. My husband can't rest his larger thumbs on it, but I can.

Ebonal fretboard was really scratched up like it was used ??? when we got ours new, and we are waiting for a replacement, on back order. Reviews say it is the same material as a bowling ball, and shouldn't do that...but we might have gotten a referb by mistake, but it showed scratches but not deep wear. Because of this, I might suggest flat wounds, if you want to keep it looking better, but the scratches weren't enough to have any effect on playability or sound. In the long run, I think it might get scratched up depending on how you play, but will hold up. People also say scratches can be buffed out. We did a simple microfiber rub, but these were visible enough that it would take more than that to get these out. It looked dull where the wear was, so you could definitely see where the black shiney surface was dull from wear.

We would recommend this for it's lightness and ease to play, and simple yet versitle.