Welcome to the Wired Guitarist review of the Skervesen Raptor Multi-Scale! In recent times, Skervesen has seemingly upped the ante in terms of quality. This particular raptor is just loaded with features and unique appointments, so let’s just jump in and see how the guitar holds up.

Features:

– One-Piece Eye Poplar Top

– Blue Satin Finish w/ Matching Headstock

– Pale Moon Ebony Fretboard

– White Binding on Body and Fretboard

– Neck-Thru Construction

– 5-Piece Wenge/Bubinga Neck

– Black Limba Body

– 25”-26” scale length

– 24 Stainless Steel Jumbo Frets

– Luminlay Side Dots

– ABM Single Saddle Bridge

– Hipshot Locking GripLock Tuners

– BKP Juggernaut Bridge Pickup/BKP Mule Neck Pickup

– 1x Volume Knob

– 1x “World Domination Mod” switch/1×3-Way Pickup Switch

The first thing to point out is the well-executed multiscale length. If you are unsure what fanned frets do, we have a great article that covers them entirely, but put simply, the fanned frets allow for a separate amount of tension between the low and high strings. This makes for really tight and stable strings on the low end for low-tuned riffing, as well as effortless and smooth bending on the high strings.

The visual appointments on this guitar left me speechless the first time I saw it. The gorgeous, see through blue Eye Poplar top is paired perfectly with the Pale Moon Ebony board.

It’s small size (quite a bit smaller than a standard Ibanez RGA), body contours, top bevel, and light weight make for a really comfortable guitar to play sitting or standing.

Thanks to the ABM bridge (which made it on our recent, Top 4 Hardtail Bridges) and Hipshot tuning pegs, this guitar has no issues maintaining tuning. Playing for hours at a time doesn’t seem to affect it’s stability whatsoever.

Time to talk tone..

Tone:

Neck-thru guitars, although do offer extra sustain, are often sort of “dead” or “flat” sounding when played acoustically. For being a neck-thru guitar, it’s surprisingly resonant and responsive. This is mostly due to the high quality cuts of wood used in Skervesen instruments. Skervesen is also known for offering a ton of exotic wood options. This particular guitar features Black Limba, Poplar, Wenge, Bubinga, and Pale Moon Ebony. We have a sweet guide to tonewoods as well which covers some of the most common woods used on guitars.

The range of tones that this guitar can manage is phenominal as well. The BKP Juggernaut bridge is tight, aggressive, and complex. It’s mixture of Alnico V Magnets and Ceramic VIII Flankers is the first of it’s kind. This unique design makes for plenty of definition while playing complex chord voicings, as well as a ton of punch for chugging. The bass response is really focused and the mids cut through well. This pickup really gels with this guitar and the range of dynamics feels limitless.

The BKP Mule neck pickups is not something we’re used to seeing on a guitar like this. The Mule is voiced to sound like 50’s PAF style pickups. The Alnico IV magnets used in these make for a super quick response and a ton of high end control. Clean and crunchy tones are the focus here and these pickups perform very well. Even after rolling the gain knob back significantly, the pickups manage to avoid losing any thickness or harmonic character

This guitar is already super diverse in the sounds that it can achieve, but then Skervesen just went ahead and included the “World Domination Mod.”

The WDM is Skervesen’s proprietary switching system that allows you to switch between humbucking sounds, split-coil sounds, and even a piezo-style, acoustic mode.

Build Quality:

Right out of the box, this guitar exceeds expectations.

Skervesen’s quality control has made some serious headway, because this guitar is immaculate. The fretwork is amazing, the wiring is as clean as it gets, and the neck is insanely stable.

The finish and binding work are flawlessly executed as well with absolutely zero noticeable issues.

Final Verdict:

The Skervesen Raptor is a gorgeous guitar that, with the right electronic appointments, can successfully play just about any genre.

The guitar stays in tune amazingly, looks insane, plays like butter, and sounds great with a versatile electronic setup.

Simply put, this guitar kicks some serious ass.

Be sure to check out Brian’s video review:

 

Tone – 5/5

Build Quality – 5/5

Features – 5/5

 

Although we aren’t an official Skervesen dealer (yet…), we are a dealer for many beloved brands such as Mayones, Ibanez, PRS, and more! Be sure to check out our shop!

We hope you enjoyed this review. Besides reviews, we write a lot of technical articles, theory pieces, and more! Click here to find those!

This article was written by Zac Buras, our editor located in Louisiana.

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