Cream T Crossfire LT Review – Budget-Friendly Pickup Exchange] - Guitar | Technique

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What is it?

(Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)

Imagine a guitar where you can change pickups in seconds without soldering and move from an old Patent Applied For pickup to a mega shred-tastic hot ’bucker, for example.

But we’re not exactly discussing household names here, are we? While Cream T offers Standard pickup-swapping models at £1,499 and Custom models from £1,999 upwards, these well-made UK guitars are only available in limited numbers and it’s fair to say that, despite the potential, the pickup-swapping concept hasn’t exactly taken off.

In an attempt to give the concept a shot in the arm, Cream T’s latest venture is to attack the price point and go to China, not the UK, to produce its new LT range. Currently, there are two models (both of which we’ve seen in the UK line-up): the offset Crossfire and the S-style Polaris.

P-90 single coil.

The Guitar-X package (£749) adds two uncovered Guitar-X Tribute humbuckers, the Seymour Duncan package (£879) swaps those for the uncovered Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded humbucker set (JB and Jazz), and the Cream T Custom Shop Package (£999) has a set of Cream Of The Crop ’buckers and also comes with a premium logo’d gigbag (the other two are more standard). The lowest-tier package is only offered in metallic black, the other two in four different colours per model.

The red hardtail pickup-swapping offset is made in China, and comes with three Seymour Duncan and Guitar-X pickups included

(Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)

Aiming for the middle ground, our review model is the Seymour Duncan package Crossfire. The downsized offset-meets-Surfcaster Crossfire has graced our pages before, and pulling it from its decent gigbag, at just over half the price of the UK-made Standard model, initial impressions are very good.

The glossy Inferno Red (one of four Chrysler Crossfire colours) is quite a deep-hued metallic and is contrasted by the large and bright-white pearloid scratchplate.

The red hardtail pickup-swapping offset is made in China, and comes with three Seymour Duncan and Guitar-X pickups included

(Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)

It’s far from a vibey new look and shouts production (rather than boutique), which it is, of course, while the classy Suhr-inspired headstock is colour-matched with a clean and simple white logo. All good.

Under the body finish is poplar, a wood favoured by contemporary makers such as PRS for its SE Silver Sky, with standard contours, a round-nosed heel and regular thickness (45mm). The neck is a dark caramel-coloured slab-sawn roasted maple with some wavy grain but no figure.

Both this and the Polaris use a full Fender scale length, the neck here – like the UK Crossfire Standard – with a spoke-wheel truss rod adjustment at the end of the rosewood fingerboard.

The red hardtail pickup-swapping offset is made in China, and comes with three Seymour Duncan and Guitar-X pickups included

(Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)

Hardware is equally utilitarian: die-cast tuners, plus the rather neat through-strung six-saddle bridge we’ve already seen on Shergold’s Telstar and PJD’s Indonesian Origin Pro series guitars.

Yet if this all seems pretty run of the mill, the unique aspect, of course, is the pickup swapping. Flip over the guitar and we have two cleanly milled open holes, with no cover like the UK models.

This means you can instantly see the pickup back and the Guitar-X mounting frame, as well as the large brass screw-height adjustor. Give that frame a pull and the pickup (though firmly held via small magnets) comes free and you can pop another in its place.

PRICE: $1,199 | £879 | €843 (inc gigbag)

ORIGIN: China

TYPE: Double-cutaway, offset solidbody electric

BODY: Poplar

NECK: Roasted maple, C profile, bolt-on

SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)

NUT/WIDTH: Synthetic/41.82mm

FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, pearloid dot inlays, 305mm (12”) radius

FRETS: 22, medium jumbo

HARDWARE: Hardtail bridge with open block saddles and through-body stringing, die-cast tuners – chrome-plated

STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 51.5mm

ELECTRICS: Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Humbucker set – uncovered JB (SH-4) at bridge and Jazz Model (SH-2) at neck – w/ 3-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume and tone (both with pull-switch coil-splits for neck and bridge respectively). Also included is a Guitar-X P-90 (humbucking size w/ chrome cover

WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.22/7.1

RANGE OPTIONS: LT range starts with Guitar-X package (£749): metallic black only, 2x Guitar-X ’50s Tribute humbuckers and P-90 (humbucking size). Cream T Custom Shop package (£999): 2x Cream T Cream Of The Crop humbuckers and Guitar-X P-90 (humbucking size). The more S-style Polaris comes in the same 3 packages

LEFT-HANDERS: Not currently

FINISHES: Inferno Red (as reviewed), Aero Blue, Black Metallic, Graphite Metallic – gloss finish body, satin neck back

Cream T Custom

Playability and sounds

The red hardtail pickup-swapping offset is made in China, and comes with three Seymour Duncan and Guitar-X pickups included — (Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)

The Crossfire’s nicely ergonomic take on the classic offset is a lovely weight, really comfortable seated or on a strap. Playability is not much different.

The guitar arrived with a pretty standard mainstream setup, ready to go, no tweaks required. In terms of shape, the LT neck isn’t miles away from the UK Crossfire, a sort of slim classic ‘C’ with Fender-like width, a depth of 20.9mm at the 1st fret, 22mm at the 12th. The neck back has a light satin finish, too.

Fretwork is very good from a medium gauge with just enough height for those more energetic string bends (2.4mm by 1mm) and each fret has been mirror-polished.

There’s a sight in-curve to the edges of the fingerboard and a little rounding of the top edge, while the radius sits somewhere between 305mm and 356mm (12 and 14 inches) when measured. While some of us with more vintage tastes might prefer a slightly fuller, rounder neck with a smaller radius, you can’t knock this.

You’re not going to get any complaints from us in regard to the pickup choice of this package, either: probably two of the best-known and most-used humbuckers out there. The JB with its pushy midrange nose pulls off any manner of thicker classic rock and is perhaps a little overlooked as a great rock rhythm pickup.

Jazz, well, it’s not only a perfect foil but very Patent Applied For-alike, almost bell-like played clean and really emotive yet clear for those gurning blues solos.

There’s more, though, as we have coil-splits for each pickup (voicing the slug coils), and another ‘trick’ of the JB is how Strat-y it sounds but without the piercing high-end, and it mixes really well with the Jazz.

The red hardtail pickup-swapping offset is made in China, and comes with three Seymour Duncan and Guitar-X pickups included

(Image credit: Future/Phil Barker)

Now, while the JB has a ‘bridge’ label and the Jazz says ‘neck’, the beauty of the pickup swapping is that you can ignore that! If you want a more classic Patent Applied For voice, just put the Jazz in the bridge position (and quickly adjust the height): it’s a little brighter, more open roots-rock.

With the included and well-voiced Guitar-X P-90 at the neck, we now have a completely different guitar in terms of what we’re hearing, not least mixing that with the coil-spit Jazz at the bridge. Want to change back to the original JB/Jazz? No problem, it’s done in seconds.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

If you’ve ever swapped a pickup and given a lesser or unused instrument a new lease of life – or you just fancied a sonic change – you’ll know how the concept works.

With the Guitar-X system, you don’t need modding skills or a repair person to do it for you. You can swap away to your heart’s content

With the Guitar-X system, you don’t need modding skills or a repair person to do it for you. You can swap away to your heart’s content.

funk band or swap out the pickups for your rock covers gig. Same guitar: different pickups.

One neat thing about this new launch is that if you buy any LT guitar and like the concept, but you want to upgrade to a UK-made Cream T model, just send back the guitar (keep the pickups) and you’ll get £500 credit towards that higher-spec model. Tempted?

Guitar World verdict: As an instrument, the Crossfire LT comes across as perfectly good, if a little everyday. The weight is good, the neck is good, the playability is good. But in reality, the ‘great’ lies in the pickup swapping.