The Electra Forums

We may already have one of these, but here is a post showing both X930's side by side.

The X930 came two ways, the Dickey Betts model and the regular one that most of us are more familiar with.

Both are MPC and sport the 1.5 cutaway. And that's mostly where the similarities end!

The Dickey Betts, or "Dot neck Vulcan" has a solid carved top, traditional Gibson style 3-way selector switch, brass nut, bridge, and cavity covers, thin neck with dot markers, , discreet MPC controls, a toggle for coil tapping, and MMK53 pickups (did some come with MMK45's instead I wonder).

Whereas the regular X930 has a pressed wood top (much more stunning in appearance), Electra's 5-way switch, brass nut, some metal bridge with brass saddles, plastic cavity covers, fat neck with abalone block inlays, "bat wing" MPC controls, a pick guard (removed in these photos), and unmarked pickups (which sound very good, might I add).
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Interesting to note, the Dickey Betts is also 1/2" more narrow than the regular X930. You can sort of tell just by looking at them!

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The Dickey Betts is an MPC version of the Endorser X935. Here they are side by side. Almost identical in construction and feel, though the X935 has larger frets. Same neck, same construction, just an MPC version of the Endorser. The main difference being the MPC layout.

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Sweet guitars worthy of playing, for sure. The Dickey Betts feels more stable and solid I'd have to say, though the regular X930 has a charm all its own.

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"GREAT Googiley moogilie Jack...jumpin jehosephat, hot dang and all".
- jdwhealton

All three very worthy instruments, I'd say, but that Betts in the green.... mmm-mm-mmm!!

Thanks for the comparison, Chad - I like these sorts of things, eh!

The traditionalist in me prefers the staggered control layout to the inline, though - IMO it just looks tidier and more efficient... YMMV, of course!

On a slightly related tangent, I have my LC440 out at the minute and I really thought I'd broken it as the controls weren't working as I remembered so I had to delve under the hood and just check where everything was wired up! Panic averted when I saw the middle pickup wired to a completely different control that I remembered....

... what a complete dill!!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

makes sense the Betts and endorser are Matsumoku-made. They have MMKs too. The other one isn't and does not typically have MMKs (not sure the manufacturer of the pickup, still good pickups, but not nearly as hot as the MMKs).

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Thorny

The neck feels different, thinner neck on the Matsumoku ones, thicker on the other (terada or kasuga?). Smaller inlaid logo on the headstock or painted on logo on the Matsumokus, and the large logo on the other mfg. Those are likely some additional clues. I don't know definitively, but it is a guess from observation.

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Thorny