Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? This guitar is made very well. The tuners are very smooth and the bridge is top notch with easy adjutments. Reliability How has it stood up over time? Have not had it long enough to tell how long it will hold up, but the way it is made and the way it plays, I'd say it will last a long time. Overall Your general opinion of this product. I got the flat black model. The finish on it is flawless and looks great, especially the antique looking creme binding. The DD pickups have the responsiveness and sound of SD Blackouts. I just got rid of a guitar with EMG 81/85 right befor I got this one, and imho to me it sounds a whole lot better. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? It is well balanced. Not really heavy. Has a smooth, awesome feel to the neck, which is not very thick at all. The controls are right where they need to be and work flawlessly. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? The pups on this thing can handle anything you want to throw at them. I play anything from very dark heavy metal to blues. Very versatile for a set of active pups. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Flat black finish, AWESOME! I'm not really into high gloss finishes, so this thing looks amazing to me, opinions vary. Has a really nice kind of antique creme-ish binding. Action How was the action out of the box? Action out of the box, after minor adjustment of the truss rod, was pretty nice. Good low action. I had to adjust the truss rod because the low E and A strings would not sound at all. After a few slight turns of rod, voila! No fret buzz or anything.