strachowyj's Music Gear Setup

I always liked the X/star shape. It was love at first sight the very moment when I saw the WACF album by Van Halen. However, the EVH shark was always a bit over the top for me - turnbuckles, too weird shape, golden/silver tuners... So I was naturally attracted to this EVH TOM star. I have only played it once so I need some more time for a more in-depth review. However, I will point out some key observations below:

Lightweight, it is actually lighter than my Jason Hook Epiphone, which is, on the other hand, way, way lighter than e.g. Kramer 1984 or my Baretta/Pacer mutt.

Neck dive is not as heavy as some claim - it is passable, I am not using strap locks, just a solid, wide leather strap with felt padding

High fret access is fine - no problem with bends at 21st fret or so; out of my guitars, past and present, the 1984 had the worst high fret access I ever witnessed.

String action is ok, I don't use as low as possible approach, maybe I'll lower it a bit but no biggie, now it is under 2mm on the low E and under 1.5 on high E, I know it is a bit on a high action but no issues for me as I am not really playing complex stuff at lightning fast speeds.

Intonation was ok straight from the factory, no fret buzz at all, too.

Pickup does the job, sounds different from e.g. Duncan JB, but I don't mind it. It's a single-pup guitar, but still it's got what it takes.

Killswitch works fine, but it really is useful only at higher volumes, as playing at low volumes, it's really useless, because the button is not noiseless and it kinda overshadows the effect and misses the point.

Neck is very comfy, my first compound radius neck, so you know...

I do believe that the guitar goes out of tune between playing sessions, but frankly speaking, I haven't put on a new set, so maybe it's a question of stock strings (hope so). I know, lame and lazy - like me, but hey, only fools rush in.

Color is cooler than on most pics, it's actually yellowish, kinda lemonade-like, no need to add any stickers/stuff. Looks cool as is.