Black And Blue Electric Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

A lot of the reviews posted here are for Strats, so I'm not sure what's going on. Anyway, I bought the red sparkle Squier Bullet Tele. The finish is gorgeous and that's what prompted me to do a spontaneous purchase. I have only experienced owning USA Teles, but I've played some Squiers that really impressed me. This one? Not so much. I don't detect any finish on the back of the neck although I'm sure it has a sealer of some sort. The body finish is nice, but the bridge hardware is cheaply made and I'll be replacing that for sure. Same goes for the tuners. I'm pretty sure it has some high frets because it goes dead starting at the 10th fret, but some of that was back bow. I loosened the truss and got rid if it, but now when I sight down the neck the forward bow is pretty obvious. I don't notice the frets being sharp on the ends. It now plays plays pretty good after sitting long enough for the truss Rod to settle, but I may need to tighten it just a little to get rid of some of the forward bow. The neck has a very comfortable profile. The body is thinner than my American Teles, but it doesn't bother me – in fact it's lighter which I enjoy. The body is Poplar and that's fine by me. I may leave the back of the neck alone for now because it actually feels pretty good, aesthetics are certainly lacking, but the body makes up for that. I'm sure with a little patience and help from my friends I'll have a nice instrument. All the basics are there. As is, it's not all that great, but still better than my first electric guitar! -!an old Kalamazoo single pickup thing with a bolt on neck back in the mid sixties. Like the title says, this thing has potential. I probably couldn't buy a finished body for what I paid.Ronnie

I bought my black metallic Squier Bullet eight years ago when GC was having a Columbus Day sale. I was looking for a guitar to which I could permanently mount my Roland GR-33 guitar synth's GK2a pickup. Previously I had the pickup mounted on my '96 Strat, and I didn't like this fit because I couldn't close my Strat's case with the pickup installed. I have a gig bag for this Squier, and it fits fine in the bag with pickup installed. Anyway, about the guitar. Right out of the box, it played great, requiring only a minimal amount of action adjustment. I was surprised at how good the pickups sounded, it being a Bullet and all. But the humbucker sounds especially nice when playing the guitar through my Marshall. The neck pickup has a decent sound, but not quite up to the snuff of a good alnico pickup. Still, for what the guitar cost, I really can't complain. If I want to, at some later date, I can always change out the neck pickup to a better alnico model. One thing I especially like about this black Bullet is its looks. The photos here at GC don't show it off all that well, but the guitar body's finish is metallic and the pickguard is a heavy metal flake. It looks spectacular under the lights. And the black hardware does a great job of completing that black look. The Bullet's body is thinner than a typical Strat or Squier Affinity or Classic Vibe body. The result is a light weight guitar, but there is no sacrifice in tone.Michael

I would first like to begin with- I normally would be giving a 5 star rating of this unit/Squier, as I have typically never had problems prior to the recent/earlier this year upset regarding shipping containers/etc being paused/sitting in the ocean/etc, delaying container delivery. PLEASE READ ON FOR FULL EXPLANATION. Two imperative points- 1. The fret ends were so sharp, when I say it was not playable (both sides/neck in its entirety), I mean, it was not playable (THE DATE OF INSPECTION WAS EARLIER THIS YEAR, AND I IMMEDIATELY ASSOCIATED THE FRET ENDS PROBLEM BEING DUE TO THE SHIPS BEING DELAYED/SITTING IN THE OCEAN/ETC- It looked to me like maybe between March and July of this year, although, I couldn't quite make out the stamped month). As well, the serial # of the guitar, of course, was of this year/'22. I maintain/work on most all my guitars, and I normally would've tightened up the fret ends myself, however, there was a hairline crack on the red sparkle finish at the bass side neck joint (which i just couldn't accept, visually), as well as a small tooling gash along the top edge of the headstock. The replacement/reordered guitar arrives tomorrow. 2. THE NEWER UNITS (AS, ONCE AGAIN, THIS IS A 2022-BUILT UNIT) ARE TOP-MOUNT/STRING THROUGH THE BACK OF THE BRIDGE, NOT "STRING-THRU" as the description indicates (and, with Squier bridge mounting, these are 5-screw mount plates, which, if ever you want to upgrade your hardware, particularly, w/the bridge, you must find an aftermarket unit that is "string through the back", along w/the correct string spacing (with Squier, they're 54mm, typically), and you'll typically need to redrill given it's rare to find plates that have Squier mounting dimensions that provided string through the back holes. I'm upgrading to a Babicz, given the results found. Also, there are two string trees (the second being a tree for both the D and G strings), and it looks great, actually, with both. Overall, I was impressed with the finish, as it was nearly flawless (aside from the hairline finish crack mentioned previously). The fretwire/fretwork, felt great….I found maybe two or so "slight" dead spots, which weren't enough of a "ping", or string buzz to be of concern, or critiquing the fretwork negatively. Rather, I was impressed with the fretwork. As well, it's important to note that the mounting of the bridge, along with the neck positioning/etc, was spot-on. No misalignment of the bridge mount/etc (and the same goes for the nut spacing). I've always been impressed with what Fender/Squier/Jackson are putting out. The quality is typically quite high…as for this unit, the quality is high, but the results of the environmental dilemma with either being stuck in a container offshore, or, sitting in a facility for weeks/months/etc, have had quite the impact on this guitar. As an important example, I had purchased a Bullet Tele last year (the unit in Burst color offered here through MF), and it was/is flawless, and I completely upgraded every part. As I own approx'ly 53 guitars ranging primarily from ESP to Jackson (some of which in the better than $2K range), I love to take what's titled as a "beginner" guitar, and totally hotrod it with high end parts (such is the case w/this guitar). As mentioned above, I've reordered the guitar, as MusiciansFriend provided me a generous discount (without having to ask) to accommodate me. Upgrades- 1. Babicz Full Contact Tele "Ashtray" bridge Gold, 2. Genuine Fender Gold control plate, 3. Fender Infinity Gold strap locks, 4. Gold input jack Ferrule, 5. Custom built Gold Sparkle w/star cut-outs Tele pickguard, 6. Philadelphia Luthier Tools "Fat" neck plate/Gold w/gold neck mounting screws, 7. Earvana compensated nut (Ivory), 8. Philadelphia Luthier Tools Gold string trees, 9. Fender locking tuners, Gold, 10. EMG T-52 set (black), or, EMG T-set, Red., 11. EMG Gold Telecaster knobs. 12. Powder coated Red pickguard screws, 13. Gold pickup mounting screws. Beginner guitar?……no more (ha).Dave

I can't believe how such a small guitar sounds so huge!!, the neck feels great definitely 1 awesome little shred machine lolluvbombaby

For those nostalgic of Paul Gilbert's career, this is a must have. From the moment I first heard/saw Mr Big's Addicted to That Rush, I was hooked! I remembered walking into a local music shop and held the original PGM100, but couldn't afford to buy one as a young teen. When I saw a photo of PG playing one, I said to myself that it would be a no brainer that if Ibanez were to sell them, I would have to buy one! In comparison to the PGMM31WH (white version of this Mikro, selling at the same price), there are significant improvements. Aside from the color scheme and dark fretboard, the main difference between the two is the hardware. The new Mikro has a more substantial Ibanez hardtail bridge and string ferrules in the back instead of the awkward rear string plate. The biggest surprise was the 5 way switch! Position 1: bridge humbucking Position 2: both split coils Position 3: both humbucking Position 4: neck split coil Position 5: neck humbucking Adds a whole new useful dimension to this novelty guitar. The quality control was not so good. There was a strange piece of plastic film stuck between the 2 coils of the neck pickup that I had to cut off with a razor. I had to polish the frets and file down the fret sprout. Worse of all, the output was cutting in and out, hi and low initially. I opened the back panel to inspect the wire connections. The electronics were what you'd expect for this guitar. Dime sized pot and cheap switch (although the switch was an actual special proprietary Ibanez switch). The connections checked out fine, so instead of experimenting with the wiring, I decided to exchange it for a replacement. While filling out the return form, I decided to plug the guitar back in in order to describe the defect better. Low and behold, the electronics were now working fine. After guving it a setup and restringing the guitar with 11s, conditioning the fretboard with some lemon oil, and giving it a good polish, I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Moral of the story, anything worth having is worth putting a little work and love into it!Bob

Bought this 3 weeks ago. Size was right, as I'm in a wheelchair and needed a shorter scale and smaller guitar body. I used to play professionally 50 years ago, but hadn't played at all in last 30 years. Initially thought there were major problems with my playing on this tiny guitar, but after several weeks of daily playing came to the realization the problem was the guitar, not me. Returned it and bought a Schecter, which is a beautifully constructed guitar with clear intonation on all strings all the way up the neck.Trish

Overall: Cool nostalgic guitar , needed to do a set up out of the box didn’t take long until it was playin and I’ll still need to tweak it more . Mine showed up with two very small dings one on the headstock one on the body they are very small so I won’t send it back . Ebony board looks real dry so that’ll need work , frets seem ok but will need polishing. The neck plate was hit by the polishing wheel a bit hard so shows scratches not real impressed on that . Definitely change out the volume pot as it’s either off or on no in between.the pickups seem legit not bad but I think I’ll change to a full shred in the bridge like the original swans . The Floyd 1000 seems to work fine and hold tune but there is a cheapness about it . I’ll be changing it out to a German Floyd original. It’s light and well balanced easy to play . No case or even a gig bag at this price point I think Gibson should have included one or the other . I’m very hesitant to buy overseas made guitars as all of my others are USA made high quality , but at this price point I’d buy it again rather then spend $5k on a old beat swan . Kicking myself for selling my vintage swans back in the day .Kyle

Honestly, bought this because I've wanted a Nightswan for a while but the vintage ones are out of my budget. I had my doubts about this guitar (Indonesian made) but was really surprised with the quality. The thing sounds great, and the ebony fret board is killer. Honestly, the think it wails and I couldn't be happier. It's also a head-turner with the ping pong inlay and polka dots. I like playing 80s metal and shredding which is what this thing was made for. It's probably too outlandish looking for much else. Also, If you're looking for a modern metal workhorse, this probably isn't the guitar for you.David

Overall: First off, the guitar is beautiful! Such a great looking instrument… unfortunately that’s where it ended for me. I will say in the 15 years of guitar buying and selling I’ve done, the setup on this guitar was the worst out of the box I’ve ever experienced. Ridiculously high action, way too much neck relief, pickups not adjusted correctly, and sandpaper rough frets. These are things that can be fixed with a full set up and fret finishing… odd that a new guitar has such rough frets though. The things I couldn’t live with that are making ship the guitar back for a refund; they sent me a left handed trem bar with a right handed guitar, and the neck has about 8 dents in the back that you feel as you play… like someone took a butter knife and just whacked the neck a handful of times. Unacceptable for a new guitar. Sad it ended this way, always liked Kramer 🙁Cody

I received my guitar today. Blue Metal Chameleon. I love it. It sounds great. No flaws, great packaging. Just a great guitar at a great price.John

Great Guitar Great sound no whammy bar oh and Emeryville store could not order it and said return it for money back. If you see this guitar without the whammy bar BUYER bEWareRobert

Personally I don't care for the sound of the pickups but I bought it for my 15 year old son who loves the sound. That said, though, by playing around with the selector switch and the tone knob, I can get a sound I like too. The guitar has a good solid feel. It's not flimsy. Great action. Easy to play for a beginner and no string buzz. Its well set up. I feel like we got excellent value for the price.Coach Doc

Overall: I got this for my brithday about 2 years ago. Since then I have done many a thing to this and with this guitar. I replaced the output jack, took out the tone pot to replace it with a killswitch, replaced the 5 way stock blade switch to a 3 way blade switch, switched the bride Pickup for a Dimebag Darrell signature Seymour Duncan and now am replacing the hardware with all black. One thing I did NOT like is that over time the hardware lost its color. That’s why I’m replacing the hardware but other that that I love it.Matt

Great tone, and beautiful finish. This guitar is very easy to play and has surprising quality for the price. Loved the fast shipping and return policy.Craig P

I picked up the Surf Green Ltd Ed. Bullet Mustang a few days ago off the rack. They had two. One had rusty strings and sharp frets but the one I picked was almost perfect. These Mustangs are great for smaller learners and older guitarists that may enjoy the lighter string tension due to the short scale. I love the sound of both humbuckers. The bridge one gives you a nice grungy Nirvana like tone while the neck is smoother but both love to be driven. I picked up the Imperial Blue Mustang HH a few weeks ago. They both use the same humbuckers, The only difference I believe is the wood type, Basswood vs Poplar. Both guitars are quite light with the Basswood Surf Green one being somewhat lighter.These Mustangs are ideal for modding but for now I've only changed the cheap pickguard on this Surf Green one, putting a Tortoise Shell on it. So far I'm loving both of them and my Fender P90 Mustang is getting quite lonely.Tingman

First of all, this is a ton of value for the price. I got it on sale which made it even a bigger steal. Now, this guitar needs a lot of setup out of the box. You should polish the frets since they are as coarse as beach sand. Otherwise, string bends will be impossible and will most likely damage the cheap supplied strings (which should be changed immediately as with most new guitars). Expect some fret buzz, so be ready to adjust the saddles and the truss rod (I like my action quite low so this was a minor tweak for me). The intonation was actually quite close to perfect, it only needed a bit of tweaking on the A string. The nut and string trees are the ones you typically get on Squiers, which are good enough but won't do wonders for your tuning and should be replaced unless you are patient enough to tune your guitar every so often. Be sure to change these first before changing the tuners/bridge if you have tuning problems, I haven't changed the tuners or bridge on mine and don't plan to – they just work. Finally, the pickups are surprisingly good for the price, not too mellow and you can get some nice tones from the bridge pickup. You might soon outgrow them, though, and might opt for better humbuckers or P90s. For all these reasons, this guitar is not the best as a first guitar or for beginners unless it gets a proper setup first or if you're really planning to learn how to setup or change electronics/other parts in a guitar. However, those are the same reasons (plus the low price and simple design) that make this a really fun modding platform, and if you don't feel like modding it, with the right amount of work it's still amazing. It's light as a feather and the neck is very fast; you can probably muscle through hours of playing with barely any effort at all. The stock tones are reasonable enough, and in my opinion it looks awesome. You can't get a better deal for the money once you're aware of the above.Carlos, M

I like this guitar because of the 24" scale length. Everything else was pretty bad out of the box. The strings were a 1/4" off the fretboard. The fretboard was super dry. There was fret sprout. The frets felt like sandpaper on bends. The E strings are too close to the edge of the fretboard. When you play you're constantly hitting the pickup selector switch. The finish on the neck is supposed to be satin but it looks unfinished to me and there are light and dark areas on the neck which look bad. It is the worst finish on a neck I've ever seen on a guitar and I'm going to have to put some kind of finish on it. Trying to load strings is tricky and not as easy as on most other guitars you have to bend the end of the strings to get them to load. So that is the bad. The good? The tuners are your typical Chinese tuners that come on all cheap guitars these days, and they are fine. The pickups sound good. The 24" scale is great and really fun to play bends on!Steve

Just got my guitar yesterday. Here are my thoughts. The packaging was decent and in the original Mitchell box. The guitar itself was in excellent condition and it was brand new. The piece is a beauty. It feels good only two issues. One is that the fret ends are a bit rough and second the truss rod cap was a bit loose. Other than that the guitar is beautiful. It plays very decent and I am a beginner so won't be able to give a very technical input.Numair

I have a few Mitchells, and none are bad guitars, though I have had to work on every single one of them, and this one was no exception. The guitar itself has a decent feel, and the pickups aren't horrible. I did have to do some big neck adjustments and file down some frets to get rid of fret buzz and dead frets. After some time working on it, I do enjoy playing it. It's really good for sitting around practicing if you want to save mileage on your more expensive guitars. I cannot say however that I would recommend this guitar unless you know how to work on it.Gorden

I bought this for my daughter and am experienced at guitars set ups. Out the the box its ok for a beginner. But Not for me. So I adjusted the neck and action. Intonation was way off. Neck adjusted easily. Action I was able to get to 1.75mm at 12th fret on low e with no fret buzz. Same as my ESP guitar. The guitar did intonate perfectly. Pickups are fine for a beginner. After a good set up I would play the guitar. Pickup is just ok. If you are a serious player then this guitar could be great as a beater. Proper set up. Vuy a used Seymore Duncan off ebay and throw in the bridge for cheap. Rough up paint and spray the finish with a can up duplicolor and clear coat it. Im considering getting one for myself and doing all of the above. I would have less than $200 in it. I guitar I keep on stand, not case and grab to play. If I ding it up I don't care. The neck was a little rough. I hit with 7000 grit paper and the neck is fast and good. Or if they lower price on other colors to $99 I might buy one of each color.dwsguitars

I picked up the Surf Green Ltd Ed. Bullet Mustang a few days ago off the rack. They had two. One had rusty strings and sharp frets but the one I picked was almost perfect. These Mustangs are great for smaller learners and older guitarists that may enjoy the lighter string tension due to the short scale. I love the sound of both humbuckers. The bridge one gives you a nice grungy Nirvana like tone while the neck is smoother but both love to be driven. I picked up the Imperial Blue Mustang HH a few weeks ago. They both use the same humbuckers, The only difference I believe is the wood type, Basswood vs Poplar. Both guitars are quite light with the Basswood Surf Green one being somewhat lighter.These Mustangs are ideal for modding but for now I've only changed the cheap pickguard on this Surf Green one, putting a Tortoise Shell on it. So far I'm loving both of them and my Fender P90 Mustang is getting quite lonely.Tingman

First of all, this is a ton of value for the price. I got it on sale which made it even a bigger steal. Now, this guitar needs a lot of setup out of the box. You should polish the frets since they are as coarse as beach sand. Otherwise, string bends will be impossible and will most likely damage the cheap supplied strings (which should be changed immediately as with most new guitars). Expect some fret buzz, so be ready to adjust the saddles and the truss rod (I like my action quite low so this was a minor tweak for me). The intonation was actually quite close to perfect, it only needed a bit of tweaking on the A string. The nut and string trees are the ones you typically get on Squiers, which are good enough but won't do wonders for your tuning and should be replaced unless you are patient enough to tune your guitar every so often. Be sure to change these first before changing the tuners/bridge if you have tuning problems, I haven't changed the tuners or bridge on mine and don't plan to – they just work. Finally, the pickups are surprisingly good for the price, not too mellow and you can get some nice tones from the bridge pickup. You might soon outgrow them, though, and might opt for better humbuckers or P90s. For all these reasons, this guitar is not the best as a first guitar or for beginners unless it gets a proper setup first or if you're really planning to learn how to setup or change electronics/other parts in a guitar. However, those are the same reasons (plus the low price and simple design) that make this a really fun modding platform, and if you don't feel like modding it, with the right amount of work it's still amazing. It's light as a feather and the neck is very fast; you can probably muscle through hours of playing with barely any effort at all. The stock tones are reasonable enough, and in my opinion it looks awesome. You can't get a better deal for the money once you're aware of the above.Carlos, M

I like this guitar because of the 24" scale length. Everything else was pretty bad out of the box. The strings were a 1/4" off the fretboard. The fretboard was super dry. There was fret sprout. The frets felt like sandpaper on bends. The E strings are too close to the edge of the fretboard. When you play you're constantly hitting the pickup selector switch. The finish on the neck is supposed to be satin but it looks unfinished to me and there are light and dark areas on the neck which look bad. It is the worst finish on a neck I've ever seen on a guitar and I'm going to have to put some kind of finish on it. Trying to load strings is tricky and not as easy as on most other guitars you have to bend the end of the strings to get them to load. So that is the bad. The good? The tuners are your typical Chinese tuners that come on all cheap guitars these days, and they are fine. The pickups sound good. The 24" scale is great and really fun to play bends on!Steve

So this is billed as a beginners guitar, but it needs a lot of work before it's even playable. The frets are scratchy as all get out, the bridge saddles were wildly in disarray, and the neck isn't finished. A professional setup and fret job would be necessary, as well as finishing the neck. The tuners were OK, but the pegs were loose within the mechanism. The string trees should also be replaced with either graphtech TUSQ XL or rollers as the sharp edges will tend to break strings. Only after this work would I recommend it for beginners. For modders like myself, it's an excellent platform. The neck is true, the neck pickup is routed for a humbucker if one chooses. I thought this was supposed to have a string-through body, but it is a top loading bridge. No matter, I'll make that mod. For the price, it's worth it especially for modders, but also for folks that know they will need to have some work done to make it playable.Anon

SO many things I like about this guitar, I'll take it one at a time. 1. SOUND – no fret buzz, action is balanced and even, pickups somehow sound better than review videos i have seen/heard on Youtube. Each note rings perfectly. 2. ELECTRONICS – pickup selector is smooth, no frizz, no static friction sound, pickups are solid in place, not loose. Cable input also has no frizz, no buzz. Signal is constant and no issues. 3. HEADSTOCK & TUNERS – although my headstock is different than the photo above (mine doesn't say BULLET) so instead it says SQUIER bye FENDER TELECASTER, which i actually like better. I'm personally not a super fan of the 70s font, but that is a minor detail, however happy it came out this way. Nice surprise. Tuners stay in tune better than those i purchased over 10 years ago. Quality is higher than chinese models i got before, which i had to return. 4. BODY & FINISH – the pictures here do not do it justice, mine is a super high glossy , and see-through finish that brings out the wood grains which since they are curved and natural reveal a single block of wood and not just flat pieces glued together (although there are some of these on the back, but when looking at the side view they are not "even" which indicates that it is a single piece), which gives it an almost marble appearance. I am shocked and ultra impressed by the aesthetics. Body weight is a major advantage as it is light weight yet still sold enough to give adequate sustain. 5. NECK – the solid maple neck is amazingly smooth, hand is able to glide as fast as i am able to move. 6. NUT – nut is fine for now. it's been over 1-2 months so although it is a short period of time, there is no issues, the measurements are fine and correct, cut to the proper depth. 7. FRETS – i read conflicting specs from musician's friend VS fender website, but it seems that my frets are narrow tall frets, which i totally appreciate as there is more actual fret material which will extend the life of the frets. i had to re-fret a previous guitar and the price tag on that was…substantial. HOW I USE THIS GUITAR the main purpose for this guitar was to replace an acoustic guitar for songwriting purposes of multiple genres for other artists, and also needs to stand up to extensive international travel. had a more expensive guitar stolen while on tour previously (fender stratocaster player), so want to have a great sounding / multiple genre capable guitar which IF STOLEN AGAIN can afford to buyback without spending/losing over 1K USD. Also on a previous tour, had a guitar literally snap in half at the neck (brand new epiphone SG style) when it fell off the guitar stand just 1 time. if i could convince my girlfriend to let me buy 2…i might just buy another one , BECAUSE this is a FSR which stands for Fender Special Run … i can see that these will sell out and only go up in value. but not sure that i would get a rosewood fretboard because from the videos i've seen, these tend to have more issues, this is just my limited observation. however, something to note about indonesia….i've played at clubs in asia owned by indonesian's. they have a small but very dedicated art scene. and have come a long way in the last 15 years. where i see more "quality fade" from the chinese, some first are good, but then they diminish the quality over time to save money once they get contracts, by contrast, the character of the indonesian people i have met is that they get better. again this is just my observation and true for my personal experience. last note, i have done EXTENSIVE research into ALL telecaster models, from the BULLET all the way to the CUSTOM shop models and compared ever single spec and dimension and building material and country of origin and multiple videos for each model available. yes i do take this to the extreme. BUT…among all that, i still landed on the maple neck bullet. true – there is some kind of a "gamble" with lower priced guitars made outside of the US, but there came on this guitar at least 4-5 quality control stamps. i can say that the people who made this guitar did an excellent job and i can't say enough good things about it. i bought it assuming it might be stolen again like before, but i REALLY hope i can keep this one for life. good job and thank you to whomever made this. sincerely, cousin paulcousin paul

Pros: thinner lighter body (poplar) some may consider this a con, but good for me. Body fit and finish is better than expected. Pickups are a pleasant surprise for budget ceramics, sounds like a Tele should. Pots are smooth and reactive. Cons: The necks all need varying levels of TLC. All frets require polishing, very scratchy out of the box, some fret ends need filing, but not bad. Mods I have made….sanded, steel wooled necks, satin finish was rough like overspray and quite a few finish drips. Replaced tuners, barely acceptable stock. Replaced plastic nut with bone. Replaced bridges and/or saddles, stock bridge is junk. So now I have 3 tele partscasters, all could be played professionally now. Also put threaded inserts and stainless steel bolts on necks, one tele came with 2 screws stripped.Keith

I bought this guitar to serve as a backup while my main guitar, an Ibanez Premium RG1070FM, is gone several weeks for warranty repair. I needed a practice guitar with the same scale length and double-locking tremolo, and after three days, it's doing great. It's my first guitar with a poplar body, and tonally it seems similar to basswood but slightly brigher; this combination of woods and pickups makes the guitar nice for mid-heavy soloing without sounding brittle. The neck and fretboard rivals guitars costing three times as much, like the Charvel Pro-Mod DK24 HH FR I had. The neck joint and heel is less clunky than the Charvel's when it comes to reaching frets 19-24; although playing the upper frets is better on the JS32DKA, I still prefer the All-Access Neck Joint on late model Ibanez RGs. I've been an Ibanez RG devotee for 23 years, but thanks to the JS32DKA, I'll give Jackson guitars serious consideration when I'm in the market for a gigging gutiar. I'm thinking Soloist SL2 or SL3. A few negative: 1. There was too much play in the tremolo arm, despite the inner hex screw and arm collar being fully tightened. Sadly, I've played enough entry-level guitars to know that this is a fact of life. I had spare parts, so I replaced the arm socket with and arm with Floyd Rose branded one I had lying around. The collar still needs to be tightened down after every song, but the socket itself no longer wobbles in the base plate when you pull or push the bar. 2. My bridge pickup squeals with moderate gain dialed in on my Blackstar HT Club 40 MKII amp. I have DiMarzio pickups on my Ibanez and Seymour Duncans in my Schecter, and I get no feedback with those guitars; this leads me to believe the stock pickups in the JS32 are not wax potted to prevent feedback.Indiana_Tim

I needed a comfortable guitar to record some song ideas, and this one seemed to fit the bill. The finish is really nice, although it's a lot darker in person than it is in the pictures. It's really comfortable sitting down. It seems to stay in tune, so I don't have to put locking tuners on it just yet. And now for the downsides… There's a few minor blemishes on the back of the neck, but they can probably be easily sanded out, or them might smoothen out after significant playing time. The fretboard is incredibly dry, so I recommend conditioning it with some mineral oil right away. The pickups are low quality. As in, they kinda hurt your ears when playing them. No big deal, I'm gonna switch them out for some EMG 81/60 I got lying around, so I didn't expect them to be good from the start. No big deal, really. What IS a big deal is the quality control on the frets. They are very rough, they make a scraping sound when you bend strings (which can be heard even through heavy distortion) and kills the notes real fast. I can't play it until I get them properly polished, so I get to dump some more money into it. Despite the low price, I expected more from Jackson, honestlyThijs

I love jackson guitars. I recently purchased the js32 and not being picky at all. First thing out of the box, impressed that it was really close to in tune yet immediately it had fret buzz, Could see runs in the paint as well. Ended up adjusting the truss rod, to help with fret buzz, adjusting the bridge to combat overly high action then adjusting springs in the back to compensate. By the time i had done that i also had to run the pick-ups way down due to strings touching. Literally nothing left un-adjusted in order to make it playable compared to their higher dollar guitars. 2 hours into it i could enjoy it. I think i blame fender takeover. Side note, bought a 700 dollar jackson and everything was horrible, turned out brand new, the strings were way too thick and had excessive pressure on the bridge, impossible to play.Randall Tadych

This guitar is the Squire Stratocaster Bullet by Fender. The guitar is an excellent guitar for the price. The tones have a wide range. You can get a very clean sound, a very bluesy sound, and good distortion when running through a pedal. I use a Zoom II 505 effects pedal and a Marshall practice amp. When I do not want to disturb the neighbors I can use just the pedal with headphones. Bright sharp sounds are crisp when run through the pedal. This is great for rhythm and leads because the guitar can get clear notes on distortion when playing from the Double Humbucker position. Playing from the neck pickup results in a rich tone that can sound like Iron Maiden. The fret board has a good feel to it. The frets are not as good as on higher end guitars, but a good player will feel comfortable with the smoothness in playing this guitar. The guitar also stays in tune remarkably well. I have not played in some time so I have yet to be adventurous with the Tremolo. So I do not have an opinion of how it stays in tune when using Tremolo. When holding the guitar on the lap it tends to slide on the leg. Strats are best played while standing up, moving around and playing with your whole body involved. The light weight of the guitar allows a freedom to move. The neck is a good shape and easy onthe hand. The body has a great finish and the wood grain comes through the lacquer. This makes for a very attractive instrument that will look good on stage or in front of your friends in the living room. Disclaimer: If you are a good guitar player you will get a great sound. If you are not a good guitar player you will get a sound like someone killing cats no matter how expensive the guitar is. That is what makes this guitar such a great guitar. For a starter guitar, you won't spend a lot on it. If you give it up then you haven't wasted a lot of money. If you get better and make the guitar sound great, you will want to keep it even when you buy a more expensive guitar. Why, because this is a great guitar with great sound, great feel and great look at a great price!!!chuckamania35mm

Overall great beginner or budget guitar, sounds great with both the single coils and humbucker, quality wise there were a few issues I found with the fret work on my particular guitar but nothing a little filing can’t fix. Superb service from PMT as always, arrived exactly when they said it would and packaged great.George F.

I had been looking for a first guitar for a while. After lots of research I decided to go for the Squier, knowing the build had a relation to Fender. I'm happy with the guitar. You can see where they have cut corners to save money, things like the volume and tone knobs are quite plasticy, but for a first guitar I'm very happy. I went for the hard tail option as I didn't feel I needed a tremolo. Overall very happy.Jack H.

I bought this guitar as a mod platform. As such, some of its stock faults, while present, simply don't matter. Top to bottom: Tuners suck, swapped them within hours. Nut is plastic, will replace with my first GraphTech nut. Neck is very thin, very nice. Frets are a mixed bag, as they may need very little leveling or polishing, but the fret ends are the sharpest I've ever seen! Pickups sound surprisingly good, though I'm only barely tempted to keep them. Bridge is maybe okay, swapped it first thing. I should mention that the stock bridge was decked. This is no problem with an old campaigner like me, but a beginner would have frustrating problems with it. This is my first guitar with a conical ("compound") fretboard radius! Never knew it could feel this good! If you're buying one for a rank beginner, either set aside money for a good setup or find your newb some good lessons in maintenance on YouTube.Edwin

Great guitar for under $200 , got this for reduced price because of very faint blemish on the back of the body. This is my second Jackson , also have the Rhoads JS32 V. Been wanting this one for a while , it sounds and plays great. The tuners are fine and I lowered the action to my liking and have no fret buzz , none on my other Jackson either. These are solid guitars and build is great for the price , they're comfortable to play especially with the thin necks. They come pretty well set-up right out of the box unlike others in the same price range , the JS22 is right up there with some of my more expensive guitars , great tone and sustain. I play for a hobby and have several guitars and this is up there with my Schecter and Ibanez , this is a great guitar for a beginner or experienced player and also a nice addition to your collection. I've bought other guitars in this price range that were a mess and needed a complete set-up , for the price you can't go wrong with Jackson!Mike G.

Overall: This guitar is a real sleeper. The neck is just so nice to play really amazing and it balances really well. I have two of them when I get them I just rip out the electronics and put all new stuff. They play great out of the box though and you could use to pick up some electronics that are in them until you decide to get better stuff. The fundamentals of the guitar are almost perfect something about the angled headstock make it so the strings have just the right amount of tension on them and it plays great. The downside of this is that it doesn't come back into tune as well as a strat style headstock but since I don't use the tremolo much or even at all sometimes this doesn't bother me. I love the caramelized Maple neck it has a great feel to it the other one I have is rosewood and it's also awesome.John

This has got to be the most value I've ever seen in a budget instrument. Out of the box it was set up good. Finish was perfect. I purchased the ruby red version. Stock pick up is aggressive and hot. Tremolo works as it should. Although I ain't a big user of them I can dive like EVH does on the first record with this thing and it comes back up in tune. Many people prefer something better but this works perfect for me. The only flaws I could find was one of the drill holes on the back plate was not lined up correct and a screw fell out. Not a big thing because I have take. It off for access to the springs and to change strings. The hardware is not the best. The screws on the claw stripped a little when I was taking it out for whammy use. Over all a very enjoyable guitar. Incredibly hot sounding and fast. The look is great too. I don't plan on upgrading anything just yet. Many buyers of this do hot rod them and that's also a very cool thing. Maybe in the future I'll consider some upgrades but stock is fine. I'd trust it on a stage no problem. Get them before they all go! There's a reason why very little of them are on the used market. For this price you cannot go wrong! Maybe if a yellow one of these was to come along I'd be all over it. Would definitely buy again!Cris w

This guitar had been on back order for almost two years. I ordered then cancelled twice after long delays. Finally, the world went back to semi-normal, and I was able to order it and receive it in 5 days. Absolutely stunning finish. The blue case it comes in is an added bonus. I have a 2004 Gibson LP Standard with Burstbucker Pro's, and that is the standard which all others are judged. This Epiphone Les Paul holds its own when played back to back. The Seymour Duncan JB is bright, articulate, and adds about 10% more volume to your rig. It is made to rock hard, so dialing it down might be a challenge, but I am not using this Tommy Thayer Les Paul to play Elizabeth Reed. Fit and finish were fantastic right out of the box. The only thing I turned screws on was adding strap locks. The Electric Blue finish is mind blowing and you will be able to pick up some purple hues because of the amount of glitter in the finish. Rock and Roll All Night! My only gripe is that I wish Ace Frehley had a finish this cool, but then again, he wasn't in Kiss as long as Tommy Thayer. This is coming from a kid who learned to play guitar from the original Space Ace.Justin

Phenomenal Instrument. Superbly crafted. Slim tapered 60's neck. Excellent fretboard. Smooth playing Guitar with an Ultra Comfortable neck. The Seymour Duncan JB Humbuckers (The Bridge has Custom Blue Pole Pieces and the Neck has a Chrome cover and bezel) are very touch sensitive, powerful and have this incredible tone!! The 18:1 Grovers turn so Smooth and keep it in tune. The intonation is fantastic. It is Non – Weight Relieved which might account for the incredible Sustain. The Sparkle Electric Blue Finish is Absolutely Stunning and flawless. As is the binding. Although It seems more purple than blue. The chrome Tommy Thayer Truss Rod Cover and The mirror pickguard add so cool accents along with all the bright chrome hardware. The electric blue hardshell case is so fantastic and reminds me of a plush Limo!! The Tommy Thayer picture and Certificate in a fancy hard binder adds a very nice little surprise to the "Case Candy".JJ

Overall: Definitely overpriced, but then again, you’re paying for the name and the free guitars Tommy Thayer’s getting out of the deal.It claims to have two Seymour Duncan Jazz Bridge pickups. Those are my favorite pickup, I already have them in two other guitars, and to me, the sound out of this doesn’t feel like them.It does feel a bit cheaply made, even compared to the Epiphone Wilshire I own, which is another artist model and was three hundred bucks cheaper than this.I don’t know if it was damaged in shipping or was already broken, but my neck pickup does not function. Switching to the middle is noisy and thin and the neck position is a killswitch.The bridge pickup has some wiring issues as well, the volume pot actually has to be backed off slightly from 100% before it will work. I don’t want to go through the process of returning it for repairs or replacement. I’m not good at wiring my own stuff but it’d be easier to bring it to a local guy. Especially if shipping was the issue to begin with. The control knobs don’t feel like the were placed in properly, either, they’re uneven and wobbly, not flush with the body at all.The only reason to buy it is the finish, and it does look great. The chrome hardware is also quite snazzy, far more mirrored than usual.I don’t know if it’s $800+ worth of great, probably not.I don’t regret buying this but I also wouldn’t buy it again, if that makes any sense to you.Joe

For years Squier has been a popular brand of discount Fenders. They were often someone's first guitar. It was very rare that a guitar enthusiast would want to search out a Squier for their collection, once it was established. Squier has been seriously making a much better product in recent years. With their Paranormal line they have created guitars that are definitely worth owning. They are uniquely crafted, despite being made in China. Even the pickups are designed to be specific to the sound the guitar goes for. The Super Sonic is easily one of the most eye catching. With two volume knobs and two exceptionally juiced humbuckers, you will be surprised what this guitar brings to the table. It's sound can be explosive and heavy. It is made for overdrive pedals and tube amps. The tremolo is near perfect. Two bits of advice that you must know when you get this guitar; first it comes with the wrong type of strings on it. You will need at least 10s in a heavy gauge to make the tremolo work without it slipping out of tune. 9s will not cut it, so restring it first thing. Also the string action most often comes from the factory being too high. Make sure you have a small allen wretch. Adjust the string height is extremely easy, easier than all my Fenders, and it can go low. You get some low action on this guitar, with the tremolo working perfect, and that thick overdrive, you have yourself an addition to your collection that is very much worth the money. This guitar is very much a reason to set out and go in search of a Squier.Ragnorok76

This was my first purchase from ProAudioStar. I ordered on Wednesday, it shipped on Thursday and arrived on Saturday. The guitar was well packed and arrived safely. The Squier Toronado itself is gorgeous with quality similar to the Classic Vibes. Frets are nice, finish is perfect, neck is straight, no obvious flaws (after 2 days at least!). The humbuckers are surprisingly bright, which is a good thing to me. The only word of caution is that the LPB finish is darker than usual. I have a LPB Stratocaster and the Toronado is significantly darker. I actually like the darker shade, it's just something to be aware of.AverageTortoise-819

A perfectly playable guitar at a sub $500 price point that’s a ton of fun as well! Pros: Short-scale, humbucker-equipped, independent volume and tone controls (all very un-Fender-like)! Cons: I would have preferred a satin finished neck; however, the gloss finish looks great, the pickups were set up waaaaay too low to even be really audible, one of saddle screws was stripped and fell out. These last two I fixed myself. Otherwise, the guitar looks and plays great! A quirky Fender with a big voice!Scott

I bought my black metallic Squier Bullet eight years ago when GC was having a Columbus Day sale. I was looking for a guitar to which I could permanently mount my Roland GR-33 guitar synth's GK2a pickup. Previously I had the pickup mounted on my '96 Strat, and I didn't like this fit because I couldn't close my Strat's case with the pickup installed. I have a gig bag for this Squier, and it fits fine in the bag with pickup installed. Anyway, about the guitar. Right out of the box, it played great, requiring only a minimal amount of action adjustment. I was surprised at how good the pickups sounded, it being a Bullet and all. But the humbucker sounds especially nice when playing the guitar through my Marshall. The neck pickup has a decent sound, but not quite up to the snuff of a good alnico pickup. Still, for what the guitar cost, I really can't complain. If I want to, at some later date, I can always change out the neck pickup to a better alnico model. One thing I especially like about this black Bullet is its looks. The photos here at GC don't show it off all that well, but the guitar body's finish is metallic and the pickguard is a heavy metal flake. It looks spectacular under the lights. And the black hardware does a great job of completing that black look. The Bullet's body is thinner than a typical Strat or Squier Affinity or Classic Vibe body. The result is a light weight guitar, but there is no sacrifice in tone.Michael

Purchased the Squier Affinity Telecaster from local GC store. They had this and a bullet in stock. I chose the Affinity due to the overall feel and fret ends we're more smooth. For a sub 250ish price guitar you cannot expect it to play like a 1000+ price guitar and I totally get that. Now I did expect it to at least stay in tune. One thing to add however is I am uncertain how long this particular guitar had been in stock. Now after a few hours of playing I noticed I could not get this guitar to intonate. No matter what I did the low e and a string always sounded sharp. I ended up replacing the stock tuners with locking tuners, cleaned the fretboard, gently filed and lubricated the nut, and replaced the strings with Ernie ball 9's. Now she is in tune, intonation was a breeze and she stays in tune. Sounds like a whole new guitar.Steven

Kudos to Fender/Squier for the paranormal concept. I love Telecaster style guitars and this one with a thinline body and jazzmaster pickups is really cool looking. The guitar is superlight (less than six pounds) and has a really resonant sound when played unplugged. Overall the build quality is really good at this price point. No issues with fret buzz or sharp fret ends. Plugged in this thing almost sounds like an electric/acoustic guitar, works really well for chords in the middle position giving it a bright and airy sound. It's not a true Tele but the bridge pickup on its own can get you somewhat close to a Tele sound. The tuners are just ok but will be looking to replace as they seem to slip a bit. Needed to file the nut slots down just a tad and overall the nut is probably something I'll also replace in the future. I have never owned a Jazzmaster so not quite sure I know what the pickups should sound like but I think these are a good pairing. The neck pup is a bit darker sounding and more suited for jazz type sounds. The middle position yields a nice country rock sound great for rhythm guitar playing and the bridge pickup is brighter and I have found it useful for solos. This is not a rock guitar although you could get by with it as that, more of a nice sounding rhythm guitar for someone looking for an airy acoustic type tone. Lead tones are suitable for blues or jazz. I did put some pedals in front of this guitar and you can fuzz it up with some success but overall there are better guitars if you're looking for a metal or hard rock type sound. Guitar plays great and the light weight is a big plus. The neck has a nice thin C shape and it's got a bit of a heavy gloss but its not tinted like a lot of squiers are and the grain int the maple on mine is really nice almost quilit like in some spots. Overall a fun guitar with some cool factor to it.Mr Mustang

I have this Thinline in Olympic white. It's a beautiful guitar, very lightweight with the hollow body. The tone is amazing out of the stock Jazzmaster-style pickups (which are actually p90s in disguise). I play through a Vox AC4 and can get anything from crunchy blues to ballsy stoner rock and everything in between. I brought it to a guitar tech for a setup and the only upgrade he recommended was swapping the output Jack for a Switchcraft with an Electrosocket mount. He was impressed by the weight and sound, and he said the tuners are great quality. He had to reduce some relief in the neck and dress the frets, but it was well worth the $100 setup as this guitar is a keeper. Love the slick maple neck and string-through body too.Brendan

Guitar plays ok (after a prolonged set-up), but there are some problems with the quality. For example, instrument cables don't fit snuggly into the input jack … they just fall right out. Not an insurmountable problem, I know, but I have never had that happen on ANY guitar I've owned. Also, the pickup selector doesn't stay in the bridge position (it also has an electrical buzz when you hold it there). Again, not something that can't be fixed, but I bought this new and I shouldn't have to deal with such problems right out of the gate. Where was the quality control? Buyer beware!Joe