Buddy Blaze K2 model 2 review

[Pro-ace]

Finally this week my last purchase, a Buddy Blaze K2 with two pickups, has arrived. And it's an interesting guitar!

I always loved white shredders, the finish played a role in my choice, but when it arrived I found that the colour is in reality a pearl white with some subtle blue shades,a very 80s finish along with the jet black hardware. Inside the black tolex blue lined SKF case with Buddy's logo it already looked good:



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As many of you know, the K2 is supposed to be an evolution of the beloved Kramer Nightswan that Buddy designed for Campbell with some significant differences: first the body is made of lightweight alder, and the shape is different: the front and back counturs are just hinted but functional, the cut of the lower bout is enlarged and it's perhaps a little goofy. The jack is places in an unusual position too, very close to the strap button, but it's functional too because it clears the leg area when you're sitting and playing.



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The neck is different too, it's an R2 with a thin but not wizard thin C profile, and it's made of two pieces of maple with a tracitional luthier's joint. The inverse headstock with the nice chromed BB logo and grover tuners is very Kramer like. On the back there's Buddy's signature with the month and year of production (11/09 in this case); the fingerboard is made from a stunning place of high grade ebony, compund radius, 24 polished tall and thin frets. The scale is a little special, 24 and 5/8, therefore shorter and a Fender and slightly longer than a Gibson. The neck joint features a scalloped heel of unique design, very confortable to play, and there is no back plate, the four bolts are mounted on black bushing who look directly fit into the body. The serial number is printed at the end of the neck.



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Probably the neck is shimmed, I didn't disassemble the neck yet, but the fingerboard is very high on the surface of the body, which is not a bad thing because it allows the non recesssed Floyd to float and pull up almost like a recessed bridge. The Floyd, yes, that's the only disappointed of the guitar: it's korean made, not Schaller's, like the ones on the Charvel Pro models. It works well,but in a guitar of this price I would have expected a german made.

The guitar came with a pair of Dean pickups, a slanted single coil and the famous Blazebucker, alnico VIII magnet, about 16kohm resistance, and a single volume tone plus pickup switch. The Blazebucker is a good pickup, not excessively bright (which is important is a guitar without tone knob), high output but not over the top, relatively mellow, delivers a open and well defined sound at high gain; very early 80s, not much like the current metal sound in fashion.

The neck single is another story: at first, it's too far away from the strings and doesn't deliver a good output, even adding foam doesn't help much. It's also a true single, therefore not suitable for high gain. Using a lot the neck pickup for shredding, I decided to find out a replacement, fortunately I was able to get in a local store a pickup I was looking for a long time, the SD stacked coil parallel axis, and decided to give a try. For aestetic reasons I also decided to replace the Blazebucker with an original parallel axis, an excellent pickup that I already had in my Kramer Proaxe and loved.



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With the parallel axis set installed, the sound of the guitar changed a lot and for the better: the comparison with the stock single coil is particularly merciless, the single PA is indeed the tallest single coil I've ever seen (it actually use the bobbins of the regular humbucked and the magnet is sandwiched between them), I had some worries because it seemed that I wouldn't have fit in the slender and titles slot, but after battling for a while with the cable I was able to install it and it worth the stress: the pickup is amazing, one of the best stacked coils I've tried. Of course, the sound is not Fender like at all, but the output is comparable with the PATB-1 and very smooth, with good definition and more than all, it's dead quiet, quiter than many traditional humbuckers.



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The PA trembucker is probably my favourite choice for superstrats because it's one of the few pickups on the market which actually does what it's said on the description: it gives beef to Floyd Rose guitars to make them sound as fixed bridge Gibsons, I don't know how, perhaps it's a kind of magic. In the K2 the PA doesn't sound as dark as inmy 'hog bodied Proaxe but still is fantastic and delivers a very modern and flexible sound, plus the look of the two pickups fits the unusual modernistic proportions of the K2.

Playing the guitar is a dream, the dotless ebony fingerboard is perfect to shred, and although I'd prefer an R1 nut the neck feels small enough in your hands, it's easy to set a very low action on the entire neck, the truss rod is very smooth and the response on the entire fingerboard flawless.



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In conclusion, the K2 is a pure shred machine and a very interesting choice for somebody who wants a different superstrat in a market segment where almost all the guitars look the same

[aceman_831]

now thats unique! congrats!

[helterbot]

Nice write up. That guitar looks awesome!

[JBritt]

Really nice axe

[bongano]

Hey, Buddy has forgotten to put the fretboard inlays on that guitar!
Send her back to him immediately!




k/d


It's awesome.

[TommySixGun]

Great writeup.....nice lookin axe...forgive me for asking, is this one of his high-end models, or the cheaper model?

Tommy

[bongano]

High end!!!

[Pro-ace]

High end!!!

Yup, at first I thought it looked "poor" without inlays, now I think that it's pretty stylish and sober in comparison with most of the Nightswans of the 80s.

BTW closely seen the ebony is very beautiful indeed, and I'm planning to do a scallop job soon...

[80sKramer]

Yup, at first I thought it looked "poor" without inlays, now I think that it's pretty stylish and sober in comparison with most of the Nightswans of the 80s.

BTW closely seen the ebony is very beautiful indeed, and I'm planning to do a scallop job soon...

Ive always wondered how a scalloped neck feels, if you do it, tells us something .

[tattoounknown27]

Congrads on the guitar nice review of it too.

[Pro-ace]

Ive always wondered how a scalloped neck feels, if you do it, tells us something .

I've a strat with a scalloped fingerboard, the concept is prety interesting, you have to get used but in the end I like the feeling, it gives more control on the string when you bend it or vibrate.

[sixstring]

Great looking axe, can't go wrong wit Buddy!

[80sKramer]

I've a strat with a scalloped fingerboard, the concept is prety interesting, you have to get used but in the end I like the feeling, it gives more control on the string when you bend it or vibrate.

IMO the hardest thing to get right are the bends and vibratos, everybody can do them, but not everybody can master them. With a scalloped board the job should be much easier.

[Rick S]

Very nice guitar! It's s beauty.

[Ianreed99]

I've a strat with a scalloped fingerboard, the concept is prety interesting, you have to get used but in the end I like the feeling, it gives more control on the string when you bend it or vibrate.

I am just getting used to mine. It has a different tone in the scalloped aria. The high e likes to fly off the edge. But it get so
E buzz. But it gives way more grip and control when bending. I've yet to have a string slip or not do exactly what I want iver the scalloped aria. I have it scalloped 12-22 I'm not sure I'd want the whole thing done.

[Heinz]

Ahh, YOU bought it... I have the single-hum gold one also from Jake and was watching that one just in case I ended up with more money to burn, then it was gone, LOL...

I'll vouch for all that was said; it was a very accurate description. I like that it doesn't have the really thin Jackson/Ibanez profile; it's more rounded like...well, an old Kramer. But has a slightly smaller feel, which I like.

The only thing I did with mine was to swap a Tone Zone into it. I use those in pretty much everything for the big low-end rhythm sound.

Interesting it's not a German Floyd...I never took mine off to look at the back of the plate; I was just assuming it was. Hmmm....

It's really the best playing, most comfortable guitar I've owned yet, and it's the one keeper I'm sure of. There's a white one out there I've been trying to buy, but the guy---he's a member here---just won't give it up. They're that good!

[Heinz]

I'll also add, a friend of mine is currently GASing for one of his import models, which are supposed to be quite good. Friend Buddy on FB and he has pics of a whole gaggle of them, plus pics of his new factory. Pretty cool stuff.

[RacerR]

Very nice.

Does anyone know if Buddy Blaze is still making guitars in Hawaii? Seems all of the newer Blaze guitars I see are imports.

[80sKramer]

I am just getting used to mine. It has a different tone in the scalloped aria. The high e likes to fly off the edge. But it get so
E buzz. But it gives way more grip and control when bending. I've yet to have a string slip or not do exactly what I want iver the scalloped aria. I have it scalloped 12-22 I'm not sure I'd want the whole thing done.

At last some one shows a decent job! Ive been searching in other forums and youtube, everybody makes a skatepark out of their necks.

[Heinz]

The regular production models are all from his Indonesia factory, but handbuilt in HI he will do whatever you want. Of course, it will cost ya just a tad bit more, LOL.