Known models of Aslin Dane

At first blush, this Raven is an unremarkable LP/JR variant. Sure, the aftermarket pickup is interesting, and I really like the switch placement. (Incidentally, this is an MIK version.)



...but maybe your eye strays to that Strat-like arm-relief cut across the lower bout. You turn it around and find not only a matching (if somewhat conservative) belly cut, but that it's got a very refined set-neck heel.



Unless you're a fan, you likely didn't notice the fretboard, which is plastic. While I applaud the non-wood effort, the hard fact is that it is a right PITA to glue plastic to anything... and most designers who get this bright idea seem to gravitate toward nice hard slippery plastic. (If it were me, I'd bolt a thin piece to the neck wood, then attach the fretboard proper with either a solvent or ultrasonic welding.) Pressure from the trussrod, plus string tension, plus twisting during play, plus simply being carried and bounced around... well, things simply want to go south.



It's not so bad as it looks: when the fretboard end popped up, it shredded a bunch of paint along the side. The repair looks very good... but, really, it's gonna happen again, eventually. What could we expect from a pioneering axe from ~2005? The only problem I foresee is that it's already got TWO layers of glue in there, so the next time out it really OUGHT to be peeled off complete;y, sanded flat, and re-glued -- on the upside, adhesives make strides every day, and we've probably got MUCH cooler stuff than what South Korea had on the shelf in 2005.

Another Silhouette!