Dillion Guitars DR500XI Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsEbay- bought it new for total of 427.00
Where to start.... When I first got the guitar, I got it because I wanted a nice decent copy of a PRS. While it does resemble a PRS, it has a little more personality to me. I don't even look at it even being like a PRS now...... It's a Dillion. It's a little thicker and about 1- 2 lbs heavier than a CE 24.
A very pretty guitar.... not trying to sound gay or anything. Transparent amber quilted top..... the actual wood is quilted... not the cheap laminated top you see on el cheapo brands. Very nice to look at. The Isis inlays are very detailed.... no filler in the fret board like on other brands. I have literally looked at this guitar as a sceptic at first trying to find a flaw with it. the only thing I can say is there is one black dot about the size of a fine ball point pen dot in the finish. but you have to look very hard to find (It's lost in the quilt). Other than that this guitar is flawless on the color and finish. The tuning keys HOLD THEIR TUNE!!!!!! I was so sick of bending a string (on my other guitars) in a solo and going flat out of tune. This is extremley important to me. I CAN'T STAND a guitar that goes out of tune in the middle of a performance (Can you tell it's happened to me???) .... I even put on Grover tuners and they also went flat on bends.....This guitar does not go out of tune! I have bend strings after strings all over the place.... hold's it's tune. I pray that it continues to.
The sound that comes out of this guitar is heavenly. I normally do not like stock pickups. I ALWAYS throw in Seymour Duncans. These pickups sound amazing better than my Seymour Duncan Jb and '59 reissue humbuckers in my other guitars (that I just sold). If you want the tone of an athentic PRS 22 with PRS No. 7 model pickups, this is the ticket. This is the most versatile guitar. You can play anything from crisp bell like tones to hard rock. It is not a heavy metal guitar, for that go and get a Jackson with (sterile, no personality) EMG 81/ 85's.These pickups with this combination of wood, along with the .27 mm jumbo fret size. (The bigger a fret is the better the tone) sound better than any other guitar I have played, both mine and the guitars in stores. This guitar has massive tone. don't even notice them now. This guitar sounds like it was annointed by God.
The only thing I don't like is after you tell people that it is a Dillion they go, "A what?"
Also the neck pickup is a little bassy. The bottom end is a little loose, but that's what a EQ on your amp is for. Also I am trying to get used to the knob pickup selector switch thingy, but look man if that's your only complaint.....
The construction is solid. Tuning keys are tight and hold tune better than I could ask John Dillion for. The neck joint is tight. The finish is layed on extremely thick. This guitar will outlast me. I use it all the time without a back up. I am a worship leader for a church and we don't have room up on the stage for backups and the choir. So I have to depend heavily on one guitar alone. With the grace of God, and this guitar
Probably the best guitar I have ever owned. I have owned top of the line Fender Strats, a 1967 gibson SG (In mint condition, I might add), a PRS Custom 24 single cut away, and more than I care to admit on the el cheapo guitars but they were just to bang around with. I sold all my good guitars for about a 10th of what they were worth, literally, while I was in college (Hey man, I was broke). Then I've worked my way back up from cheap guitars to this one.... while it is not the most expensive guitar. This guitar has more personality than any other guitar that I have ever owned, it plays and it sounds like it cost a 1000 more than I payed for it......like a dream. It makes me sound better therefore making me feel like I can play better. I am going to stick with my Dillion as long as it continues to perform, play, and sound like it already does
..... this is now my guitar of choice.
Kevin rated this unit
on
2004-06-23.
