Specs The EVL-K4 was made in Indonesia. It features a mahogany body with an arched top, a maple neck with bolt-on construction, 25.5 inch scale length, a rosewood fretboard with pentagram inlays and jumbo frets. It features a 3 by 3 headstock, with a sanded part on the top. It also has a non-licensed floating bridge which stays in tune longer than some licensed models. The pickups are passive EMG-HZ H4 accompanied by master volume and tone knobs and 3-way selector switch.

Sound: The first impression this guitar gives off is that it meant purely for metal. However, this guitar serves in other genres as well. The mahogany body gives the guitar a darker sound.On a clean setting, the EMGs have a suprisingly decent tone. The bridge pickup has a bit more bass than most bridge pickups, giving it a slightly darker sound, and making it less prone to produce distortion with intense strumming. On the middle setting, the guitar can pull off a convincing acoustic sound which sounds great with open chords. With the neck pickup activated, the sound of the guitar leans more towards the low-end, and can get muddy with the tone knob rolled back. With the distortion channel, the guitar’s low-end sound shows exactly what it’s meant for. With the bridge pickup activated, the sound is pretty chunky with palm-muting, and tremolo-picked riffs come out clearly. The neck pickup provides a warm sound for soloing, which is something most shredders prefer.

Feel and finish: The guitar has a black matte finish on both the body and the neck which gives it a nice uniform look and smooth feel great for fast playing. However, although the neck has a C-shape, it is a bit larger than typical then other necks used for metal guitars, a feature that some people may not like. However, it only took a bit of time to get used to it so it’s not a big issue to worry about. The jumbo frets are one of the good features on this guitar which make legato playing since they require a light touch. However, players that are used to pressing down the string hard might have to adjust their technique since doing that on jumbo frets will get the notes out of tune. The tremolo goes out of tune from time to time, but it’s generally reliable when set up right.

Reliability: This guitar seems to withstand live-playing really well. Hady, Thrash Storm’s guitarist and owner of this guitar, has played it in almost all his gigs and the guitar only has a few scratches on the back. However, the screws that mount the pickups on their rings have been a bit oxidized so it’s best to wipe them after long hours of playing.

Overall Impression: In general, this guitar has the looks, the sound, and the feel of a metal guitar. I’d recommend it for rock and metal players. It seems like a guitar that can withstand the damages of live playing, and last for a long time.