Chapman Left Handed Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

For the price, this guitar is awesome. The overall feel and look is outstanding, and the bridge pickup is clear and articulate (the neck is ok). The split coil sounds are chimey but not harsh and brittle which was surprising. No high frets, the nut is cut well for the strings, the tuners are pretty stable. Cosmetically the finish and general build quality is very good with some exceptions. Mine came with a crack in the veneer at the heel of the neck near the pickup. There are some pretty gnarly tool marks on the fret board and frets, but mostly on the higher ones which is pretty typical on something at this price point. there are some chips and what looks to be excess glue to where the nut is installed. Cosmetic stuff isn't THAT important to me, especially for lower priced instruments, although the crack in the veneer bummed me out so that contributes to taking away one star. What also is keeping it from being 5/5 is that the saddles could be a little more rounded off because the low E saddle has it's corner digging into your palm when muting, not painful just uncomfortable. Then finally I needed to add a shim because the angle of the neck was far too steep for me to get the action I wantedRuss

First off I was surprised with the overall quality although the tuners are it's weak point and should probably be changed unless the nut is causing the issue. Everything looks amazing and the sound is very impressive. The alnico neck pickup sounds beautiful. The bridge pickup does what you want to without a problem and overall sounds surprisingly great for rock and metal. The neck is very comfy thanks to those rolled edges and smooth roasted maple satin type finish and makes a big difference in the feel and comfort of the neck. This is a Fender Strat Killer. You get way more for the money and the overall attention to detail you just don't get with Fender unless you do it yourself. A little heavier than I would l would like it but an above average guitar in this price range.Doug

I’ll start with it out of the box. Please keep in mind this isn’t every guitar, just the one I paid for. The set up was pretty dreadful to be honest. I’m not sure if it was set up like that ready to ship, if it was sat in a warehouse like that before hand or if the shipment itself caused the major back bow. In either case, that caused a lot of fret buzz. A simple fix. I can’t fault it for being out of tune out of the box. The finish is great! A lovely, deep red that’s kinda sparkly. Very pretty… Apart from the tone knob which has dug into the guitar causing a scratch in the shape of a ring. The tone knob itself fell off after a day of having it (I think it’s quite funny as that happened to my 2015 ML1 after a few years). I imagine this being another issue caused by shipping. Fairly minor things for a guitar but not what I was expecting from one purchased brand new. I was really looking forward to loving this guitar but it seems somebody somewhere along the way didn’t put the care in to it. Next I want to talk about feel because that’s the thing you can’t understand until you’ve got it in your hands. It’s incredibly resonant and you can feel the guitar vibrate through your hands just like my Korean ML1. The neck is fairly thick, I like that. Some people don’t but that’s not the guitars fault. It feels like the Korean ML1 I mentioned earlier, just a little longer because of the scale length. The neck itself could do with being 5mm wider across to accommodate for the over crowned fret ends, leaving almost no room for the low B string to be fretted. Thus making it far too easy to pull (what would be the high and low E strings) off from the fretboard. I think that may be a flaw in the overall design of this guitar, particularly if you think about the floppiness of the strings even if they weren’t horribly down tuned. The fretboard looks much better in person and feels like an ebony fretboard [insert happy face] The frets are slightly dull and more importantly, heavily over crowned which makes it difficult to play those thick chuggy riffs we all know and love. Functionality: The locking tuners would’ve been a great addition to this guitar if they kept the guitar in tune. I might be going a little hard on this point but staying in tune is a vital part of any guitar and this one isn’t great at keep itself in tune. The pickups are ok, I love the ability to coil split and get some lighter tones out of a guitar. I’ve found myself spending more time with the coil split and it’s lovely. The full humbuckers just don’t have the bollocks they need. I would’ve preferred a HS or HSS set up but that’s a me thing and no fault of the guitar.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I've originally bought the ML3 in hot blue and it was cool looking guitar however there were some manufactured issues with the electronics and wires being damaged (melted to be precise) so i contacted the Andertons who reposed straight away and was happy to swap it for me straight away and i even choose a different colour (maybe blue was unlucky) so within few days i have received replacement and was very pleased that all electronics were in order and there was no damage to pots or wires. So all in all customer service is excellent as always and guitar is awesome. Yes the stock pots are not the best buy but hey those are cheap to replace with decent cts pots and worth considering changing the cap as well as re do all ground wires and you have one amazing instrument. Thanks Andertons.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This guitar is amazing! The weight is perfect (7.37 lbs for mine). Fit and finish is great with no visible blemishes. The pickups sound great. The tuners are stable. Frets are finished perfectly, and the neck is very comfortable. It appears that Chapman has applied years of lessons learned to perfect instrument manufacturing at this price point. Well worth the wait!Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

The quality of this guitar is above my skill level so I can't comment on the technical side of things. But I absolutely love the finish – it's darker than in the images on the Andertons site (which I prefer) and more closely matches the darkness of the fretboad. The roasted maple neck has some girth at the neck but is narrower than the standard series with a nice satin finish which is a pleasure to stroke and fondle! A detail I really like is that the colour of the neck closely matches the rim of the body which doesn't happen on the flamed maple necks of the standard line (I borrowed a friends before purchasing). The pickups sound great, but also it has quite a nice acoustic sound when not plugged into an amp – which is how I do a lot of my noodling.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I have bought several guitars in the 100 to 300 range. I was surprised on the quality of this guitar and felt it was superior to many other brands in this range. From neck joint to fret polish & leveling and finish this guitar is quality except the tuners, however the guitar stays in tune and rarely goes out. The neck is not a Fender Strat or Tele neck so don't expect it to play like one, Its its own thing. It is not wide at the nut so if you need a wide neck at the nut it may not be for you. I find it fine and would not consider it narrow. The neck is slightly fatter than a Squire neck but it is still a C shape and a bit thicker as you go up the neck to higher frets. It plays great. Its set up well for Rock and Blues playing, neck adjusted with a light bow and strings set low (but not to low to buzz). Bridge saddles are stainless steel and this make the strings ring out bright and loud even when not plugged in. Intonation was spot on. Frets are tall enough to allow for string bending (there not super low). As regards pickups this is a personal thing. Pickups are very basic and do okay, one may want to upgrade them to ones own liking other wise there fine.pchapm

I was hesitant when ordering the guitar, but after I received it worry washed away from a single glance. I'm not good at instruments, I never played anything than doing ukulele club when I was a kid so I didn't expect myself to buy a guitar. It's delicate and beautiful, feels great to hold and sounds just as good. I do not regret buying this guitar at all, in fact I'm greatful that I'm able to own it. I strive to become great at playing it, little by little . Thank you!Nazma B.

It's a beautiful guitar and really well made. I bought it for my 9 year old daughter and she loves it. I don't know anything about guitars as I'm a pianist myself, but her guitar teacher was absolutely delighted with it. It's definitely worth paying the extra for the upgrades. I can definitely see it lasting her as it feels really solid, and the knobs and twiddly bits etc feel really solid. I genuinely can't get over how nice it is. Makes me want to learn the guitar myself!Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

For the price, this guitar is awesome. The overall feel and look is outstanding, and the bridge pickup is clear and articulate (the neck is ok). The split coil sounds are chimey but not harsh and brittle which was surprising. No high frets, the nut is cut well for the strings, the tuners are pretty stable. Cosmetically the finish and general build quality is very good with some exceptions. Mine came with a crack in the veneer at the heel of the neck near the pickup. There are some pretty gnarly tool marks on the fret board and frets, but mostly on the higher ones which is pretty typical on something at this price point. there are some chips and what looks to be excess glue to where the nut is installed. Cosmetic stuff isn't THAT important to me, especially for lower priced instruments, although the crack in the veneer bummed me out so that contributes to taking away one star. What also is keeping it from being 5/5 is that the saddles could be a little more rounded off because the low E saddle has it's corner digging into your palm when muting, not painful just uncomfortable. Then finally I needed to add a shim because the angle of the neck was far too steep for me to get the action I wantedRuss

First off I was surprised with the overall quality although the tuners are it's weak point and should probably be changed unless the nut is causing the issue. Everything looks amazing and the sound is very impressive. The alnico neck pickup sounds beautiful. The bridge pickup does what you want to without a problem and overall sounds surprisingly great for rock and metal. The neck is very comfy thanks to those rolled edges and smooth roasted maple satin type finish and makes a big difference in the feel and comfort of the neck. This is a Fender Strat Killer. You get way more for the money and the overall attention to detail you just don't get with Fender unless you do it yourself. A little heavier than I would l would like it but an above average guitar in this price range.Doug

I’ll start with it out of the box. Please keep in mind this isn’t every guitar, just the one I paid for. The set up was pretty dreadful to be honest. I’m not sure if it was set up like that ready to ship, if it was sat in a warehouse like that before hand or if the shipment itself caused the major back bow. In either case, that caused a lot of fret buzz. A simple fix. I can’t fault it for being out of tune out of the box. The finish is great! A lovely, deep red that’s kinda sparkly. Very pretty… Apart from the tone knob which has dug into the guitar causing a scratch in the shape of a ring. The tone knob itself fell off after a day of having it (I think it’s quite funny as that happened to my 2015 ML1 after a few years). I imagine this being another issue caused by shipping. Fairly minor things for a guitar but not what I was expecting from one purchased brand new. I was really looking forward to loving this guitar but it seems somebody somewhere along the way didn’t put the care in to it. Next I want to talk about feel because that’s the thing you can’t understand until you’ve got it in your hands. It’s incredibly resonant and you can feel the guitar vibrate through your hands just like my Korean ML1. The neck is fairly thick, I like that. Some people don’t but that’s not the guitars fault. It feels like the Korean ML1 I mentioned earlier, just a little longer because of the scale length. The neck itself could do with being 5mm wider across to accommodate for the over crowned fret ends, leaving almost no room for the low B string to be fretted. Thus making it far too easy to pull (what would be the high and low E strings) off from the fretboard. I think that may be a flaw in the overall design of this guitar, particularly if you think about the floppiness of the strings even if they weren’t horribly down tuned. The fretboard looks much better in person and feels like an ebony fretboard [insert happy face] The frets are slightly dull and more importantly, heavily over crowned which makes it difficult to play those thick chuggy riffs we all know and love. Functionality: The locking tuners would’ve been a great addition to this guitar if they kept the guitar in tune. I might be going a little hard on this point but staying in tune is a vital part of any guitar and this one isn’t great at keep itself in tune. The pickups are ok, I love the ability to coil split and get some lighter tones out of a guitar. I’ve found myself spending more time with the coil split and it’s lovely. The full humbuckers just don’t have the bollocks they need. I would’ve preferred a HS or HSS set up but that’s a me thing and no fault of the guitar.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Love This guitar it is my first and i really love it. Andertons send the correct seriel number and i love my ML 2 thank you for your great support and your service. I have already made my second purchase at Andertons 👍Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is probably the best guitar I have owned. It feels good and plays very easy. I have found nothing bad to say about this guitar at all. The setup was almost perfect right out of the box. It holds tuning very well. The rolled edges on the fretboard are a very nice touch. It really looks and feels like a much more expensive guitar. It weighs about the same as my Stratocaster. High quality for a decent price.CM

Have always wanted an esp guitar . Huge fan of Kirk Hammett the guitar looks great and sounds great . Definitely would buy again if I ever needed too . If you are looking for a great guitar look no further this is a great guitar with awesome sounds and the look of the guitar is awesome really like the frets with the skull inlays .Esp makes some great guitarsTommy373

In stock this guitar deserves no more than 3 stars but I can give it 4 because you can really work with it and upgrade it to become a better sounding instrument. The tremolo is not very good but it works fine and gets the job done. It can go out of tune easily if not set-up properly. The tremolo on mine deteriorated over time and has now been destroyed but that's not a problem for me as I will upgrade it. The pups aren't bad but they aren't good; you get what you pay for. Other than that it is an okay instrument for practicing and learning specially if you're a Metallica fan boy. The thin U-neck is very comfortable and the jumbo frets make it easy to play but there are way better guitars out there for the price.TheHomieDavid

Great build quality, action didnt need much adjustment, frets are not scratchy as often new ones are. Floyd rose trem is fine, but have replaced springs with noiseless ones; top locking nut needed a little fettle so it didnt click at full trem arm depression. Screws on back plate had a little rust, which would suggest at some point it was stored in a damp environment……. but apart these little issues, a great guitar …… now to replace the stock pickups, as they are a little muddy and i like an EMG set…. thats just preference!!!Reviewed by Absolute Music custo

Sound: This guitar I by far the smoothest I have ever played. The tone is great and playing leads on it is like no other. Features: Everything about this guitar is perfect from the type of wood to the electonics. Ease of Use: This is an easy guitar to play if you have experience. Beginners will have to get used to it. The jumbo frets is where people will get messed up because of the spacing of the strings. Quality: This guitar will last a lifetime. Value: It is a very good price Manufacturer Support: I did not have to use any of the manufacturing numbers or talk to anyone this guitar was perfect right out of the box. The strings are great and it was in perfect tune right out of the box. The Wow Factor: The looks Overall: Great guitar for looks, price, and playability just get it. I own one and I will probably get it buried with me. This is the best guitar I played and currently own.Tom

I've wanted one of these for a long time and finally took the plunge. I'm very happy with the sound and construction of this guitar. Note that at least as of early 2018, there is no longer a "KH-602" inlay on the 24th fret. There are two small skull inlays like on the new Purple Sparkle model. The neck is super smooth on this guitar as mentioned by everyone else. The only thing I am having trouble getting used to is the extreme bevel of the fret ends. If I'm not careful it's easy for me to push the low E off the fretboard. Tuning the Floyd Rose bridge takes some patience, but once you get it dialed in it stays locked down. I like it.Rockman

I played on an Ibanez S-series for years and it was my go to for playing metal. I also own an American Standard Fender Stratocaster. I bought this guitar because I love playing Metallica songs and solos just jamming at home. This is by far my favorite guitar to play on now. The extra jumbo frets make soloing a cinch and have improved my capabilities. The heavy metal crunching sound is AWESOME and I only play on a Line 6 with one 12" speaker. My only disappointment is with some buzzing frets. The repair technician at Guitar center told me I have uneven frets, which would need to be repaired to get rid of the buzzing on both E strings, which is still present even after having the guitar set perfectly to spec by Guitar Center. You can't hear the buzzing through the amp, but I expected to receive near perfection from ESP/LTS when paying such as high price tag. QC those frets better before you release the guitars ESP South Korea! Or cut the price!Brosche

For the price, this guitar is awesome. The overall feel and look is outstanding, and the bridge pickup is clear and articulate (the neck is ok). The split coil sounds are chimey but not harsh and brittle which was surprising. No high frets, the nut is cut well for the strings, the tuners are pretty stable. Cosmetically the finish and general build quality is very good with some exceptions. Mine came with a crack in the veneer at the heel of the neck near the pickup. There are some pretty gnarly tool marks on the fret board and frets, but mostly on the higher ones which is pretty typical on something at this price point. there are some chips and what looks to be excess glue to where the nut is installed. Cosmetic stuff isn't THAT important to me, especially for lower priced instruments, although the crack in the veneer bummed me out so that contributes to taking away one star. What also is keeping it from being 5/5 is that the saddles could be a little more rounded off because the low E saddle has it's corner digging into your palm when muting, not painful just uncomfortable. Then finally I needed to add a shim because the angle of the neck was far too steep for me to get the action I wantedRuss

First off I was surprised with the overall quality although the tuners are it's weak point and should probably be changed unless the nut is causing the issue. Everything looks amazing and the sound is very impressive. The alnico neck pickup sounds beautiful. The bridge pickup does what you want to without a problem and overall sounds surprisingly great for rock and metal. The neck is very comfy thanks to those rolled edges and smooth roasted maple satin type finish and makes a big difference in the feel and comfort of the neck. This is a Fender Strat Killer. You get way more for the money and the overall attention to detail you just don't get with Fender unless you do it yourself. A little heavier than I would l would like it but an above average guitar in this price range.Doug

I’ll start with it out of the box. Please keep in mind this isn’t every guitar, just the one I paid for. The set up was pretty dreadful to be honest. I’m not sure if it was set up like that ready to ship, if it was sat in a warehouse like that before hand or if the shipment itself caused the major back bow. In either case, that caused a lot of fret buzz. A simple fix. I can’t fault it for being out of tune out of the box. The finish is great! A lovely, deep red that’s kinda sparkly. Very pretty… Apart from the tone knob which has dug into the guitar causing a scratch in the shape of a ring. The tone knob itself fell off after a day of having it (I think it’s quite funny as that happened to my 2015 ML1 after a few years). I imagine this being another issue caused by shipping. Fairly minor things for a guitar but not what I was expecting from one purchased brand new. I was really looking forward to loving this guitar but it seems somebody somewhere along the way didn’t put the care in to it. Next I want to talk about feel because that’s the thing you can’t understand until you’ve got it in your hands. It’s incredibly resonant and you can feel the guitar vibrate through your hands just like my Korean ML1. The neck is fairly thick, I like that. Some people don’t but that’s not the guitars fault. It feels like the Korean ML1 I mentioned earlier, just a little longer because of the scale length. The neck itself could do with being 5mm wider across to accommodate for the over crowned fret ends, leaving almost no room for the low B string to be fretted. Thus making it far too easy to pull (what would be the high and low E strings) off from the fretboard. I think that may be a flaw in the overall design of this guitar, particularly if you think about the floppiness of the strings even if they weren’t horribly down tuned. The fretboard looks much better in person and feels like an ebony fretboard [insert happy face] The frets are slightly dull and more importantly, heavily over crowned which makes it difficult to play those thick chuggy riffs we all know and love. Functionality: The locking tuners would’ve been a great addition to this guitar if they kept the guitar in tune. I might be going a little hard on this point but staying in tune is a vital part of any guitar and this one isn’t great at keep itself in tune. The pickups are ok, I love the ability to coil split and get some lighter tones out of a guitar. I’ve found myself spending more time with the coil split and it’s lovely. The full humbuckers just don’t have the bollocks they need. I would’ve preferred a HS or HSS set up but that’s a me thing and no fault of the guitar.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Great buying experience! CME does a tremendous job checking the guitar over and making sure it’s totally right. This Fender short run exclusive was exactly what I was looking for! It does what a Jazzmaster is supposed to do … once you take the time to dial in your setup! The setup is a bit tricky for sure because everything has to be balanced and intonated just so to prevent the strings from buzzing on the adjustment screws OR on the bridge itself. It also helps to have the absolute tiniest amount of relief possible in the neck and to raise the bridge and angle it to the sweet spot for ideal string vibration and a high enough break angle to anchor the strings within the slots. Once you do these things and set the pickup height, the guitar truly sings, rocks, plays great, and stays completely in tune, even with serious tremolo arm use! My pickups are set to spec: 3.5 mm on the bass side and 3.2 mm on the treble side. If you aren’t comfortable doing a detailed setup, be prepared to locate a professional. I have set up MANY Fenders so I was able to do it myself in a couple hours of tinkering. The 65 pickups sound amazing! Cleans are shimmery and huge. Dirty sounds are fat and ringing. Perfect for indie and shoegaze styles. You can also roll off the tone for a darker, blues or jazz lead tone and, unlike the original jazzmaster bridge, the strings will stay PUT and allow you to pick hard and bend as much as you like even with 9 gauge. No need for a rhythm circuit in my opinion. This wiring setup keeps it simple, lowers the cost, and still gives you the full Jazzmaster experience. Buy one before they are gone! Love it!Joseph

Mine arrived looking beautiful but had a lot of hum/noise and I figured it had something to do with the pickups or 1 meg pots. I opened it up to shield it and the bridge ground wire was never soldered to the ground wire on the pot. After soldering it I plugged it back in and it was silent. I went from thinking it was ok to being my favorite guitar at the moment. This guitar looks, sounds and plays great and its priced very low too. It nails that classic Jazzmaster tone and does what a Jazzmaster should do. Before you jump into the Jazzmaster pool understand that these guitars require tinkering with. Saddle rattle can be fixed by adjusting the screws on the saddles. They tend to loosen and tighten when changing strings and if they're even slightly uneven they will rattle. Another way to fix this is to shim the neck so there's a slight backbow to it like a Les Paul. This will increase the break angle and put more pressure on the bridge preventing rattle. Using 11's or 12's helps too but the nut on these ones is perfect for 10-46. The 4th position is actually very usable and I find myself using this position more than I thought I would. This is a great guitar at a great price and CME is the gold standard in online purchases. Besides the ground wire mine came set up perfectly and almost in tune. The ground wire was never even tinned so I know it was never attached but again, it took me 5 minutes and 0 dollars to fix. I'm sure had I complained they would have fixed it for me. I bought the Silver Blue Metallic. The Shell Pink was definitely my favorite color but I wasn't secure enough to buy a pink guitar.john g.

I just received this guitar today. There is a lot of negative talk about the noiseless pickups, but it sounds phenomenal to me. Many complaints include that it sounds too "dark", but it sounds terrific through my 1966 Bassman. There is a tremendous range of fantastic tones that are possible with this guitar, but it is definitely not for metal. It gets a great tone for classic rock, alt rock/indie, jazz, funk, and stoner rock. I've gotten a great Gilmour tone to Hendrix to QOTSA, and it honestly doesn't take long to learn the guitar's wide tonal capabilities. The neck plays so well that I found myself inspired to get into new sonic territories and genres. I own a lot of guitars, and this is my favorite one currently. It's my pick over my Les Paul Traditional, Telecaster, Ibanez S Premium, and the others. Do yourself a fiver and try it out with an open mind. Don't listen to the naysayers. This thing rocks!The Hammer

This is a gorgeous guitar and plays amazingly well. The frets are rounded perfectly with no jagged edges. The frets are polished extremely well. The body is very comfortable, and the Duncan JB and '59 pickups are THE standard in rock pickups especially if you want those 80's rock tones ala VH, Ratt, Crue. BUT the ability to SPLIT the pickups makes this guitar extremely versatile for Blues, Country, and even Jazz if you roll the Tone off to warm it up. The Pro-Mod San Dimas is a sure to be a classic – Charvel guitars from the 80's are still highly sought after and retain their value very well. Not many people like to get rid of them though because they play so well and are made with quality craftsmanship. The Transparent Green Burst finish is gorgeous too. The spoke wheel makes for on the flow truss rod adjustments and it is DOUBLE reinforced – which makes it very resistant to warping. And finally, the Floyd Rose system is not the cheap version. The studs are quality metal which ensures smooth movement, the arm is also closer to the original FR bar which is also nice. TIP: wrap some plumbers tape along the outside of the collar to help close the space between it and the arm to tighten it so it doesn't swing so easily (old school trick 😉 FR bridges are incredibly stable and once you tine them and lock them down they stay in tune VERY well. Get a tremolo stabilizer or block it down to make string changes easier. Get this guitar – the combination of a basswood body, maple neck, jumbo frets, JB and '59 pickups, and a quality Floyd Rose bridge make this THE standard for rock and metal guitars. And they come in other great colors.mobiletechman

Sure, there are more expensive guitars that might have a bit more to offer…but for a grand? This is really superb quality and value rolled into one. The pickups are more than great. Seymour Duncans all around. JB in the bridge with no load tone. Cool thing is, if you feel its a tad too bright, just click down to 8 or 7 and it warms up nicely. I was afraid of the no load tone pot at first, but the little click helps tremendously. You know exactly where you are. The neck feels great. Like a thin C shaped Fender. Super fast! HSS config gives you plenty of options. It comes equipped with a Floyd 1000. Not their number one unit, but it is just fine and stays in tune very well. Even after a few dive bombs. I dont generally live in that realm, but nice to know it will hold its tune. Another thing, the guitar came set up just perfect for me. Zero adjustments needed. Quality on the build, paint job and finer points, is excellent. I bought this without even playing it beforehand and I was not disappointed. Good job Charvel/Fender!iluvnicki3

Pros: Neck feels amazing Coil spit delivers great tones Floyd Rose stays in tune great Sounds amazing Get lots of compliments about it Cons: The one thing I wish I knew before buying this is the "Extra Jumbo" frets. They're too darn huge and I often wish I knew that before buying this. The block where the neck is bolted on is huge and playing passed the 17th fret is tough. The pickup switch has a "dead spot" when switching so it's possible to go silent when moving the switch. I wish I tried the DK 24 HH FR before buying this because I feel that I would've been way more satisfied. Overall it's a great guitar. I love mine to death, but yeah beware of the cons if looking at this.Dan H

As a Schecter user since 2002, I've been able to see their products improve from year to year. With this Hybrid Hellraiser, the build of this guitar is borderline flawless. A great combination of the SLS body style but the audio girth of their Hellraiser models. For a 7 string, it is about as light and fast as possible. Even though it's meant to handle the heaviest of metal, the neck is smooth enough to deal with a variety of styles. The stock locking tuners are solid as is my favorite EMG combination the 66/57 which provides all the goods. Headroom but gain, bite but warmth. To top it off, the looks of the guitar is as classy as possible. From whatever light is shining on it, the trans black is either a slight green, or a dark grey. So the personality of the guitar varies as much as what you choose to play on it. I've yet to own a bad Schecter. And this is the best one yet. It leaves all LTD's and Ibanez's in this price range in the dust.Druzovich

You do not have to spend $5,000 to achieve big boy vibe. The features on this guitar well exceed the price. I am pretty blown away with the impression it’s made and I just got it. After a good set up this guitar will gladly catch anything you thrown at it. You will definitely feel like a rock star with a Blackjack in your hands. The tone capability seems to be endless, I can’t really find an end to them. If you buy one of these, I promise you will be very happy that you did. Guitar dealers should be a little intimidated by this one because once you’ve got this one, you’re guitar buying fever will be quenched for quite awhile.Kevin

Overall: Ok lets start of with , I own PRS, Gibson, Fender, Epiphone… Never crossed my mind to ever try a Schecter . But i was interested in the Sustainiac pickup, so i took a chance and bought this model because i did not want the active EMG pick up , wanted active . Now this guitar is not cheap as you can see. So here it is open the box amazed at what i saw, stunning guitar, Came set up perfect slight tuning adjustment that was it , the intonation was right on..Lets talk neck ..thin 'C' with a 12”-16” Compound Radius ..Are you kidding ? Wow. Its probably the best i ever played compound radius along with a thin 'c' neck is like surf & turf…..Ebony fretboard ..super smooth tight grain , body and neck finish is flawless binding is perfect ,the pickups are real nice i am loving sustain and its real nice how they made it very adjustable . Only have a few days and i cannot put it down .sounds awesome , i play blues mostly and some rock and Santana, the sound is very clear and clean, i play through a Marshall dsl all tube, fender tube, and a Vox …On boost or other distortion it real kicks. .A…. I am very happy and would recommend this guitar to anyone regardless of the type of music you play , seems to cover a lot.. also its pretty light i would say around 7lb few oz's…it also has a set neck not a bolt on… Very impressed with this, only regret is i never bought one earlier..John

After reading a lot of reviews I thought maybe it's time for a more in depth look at this guitar. I've played a lot of guitars – HUNDREDS over the course of thirty two years, but this is one of the very best that I've had the personal pleasure to play! The pickups sound very sweet, and pure Gretsch vintage. They aren't exactly the same from guitar to guitar since they are made to varying specifications from model to model. This is something that shouldn't be expected to sound the same with every amplifier as this is something that is impossible to recreate perfectly from one amp manufacturer to another! It's unreasonable to say that these sound differently from each other when playing the same model as these are wound with CNC powered pickup winding machines. The difference is in what string guage, and the settings of your amp, and the guitar are according to your own preference. I used a Fender Deluxe Reverb and this sounded exactly like all the old recordings of songs that I listened to from the 60's! Although I don't own one yet as I'm still on the fence as to what colour I want, I have played a lot of Gretsch and other brands of guitars and this is one of the best values for what some call an "entry model" which this guitar isn't. The Duo Jet, and the Double Jet are considered entry models, but not this kind of guitar that uses this hollow type of construction. This the affordable version of the USA custom shop models costing thousands of dollars, but the features, and appointments are on par with their USA counterparts. The fit and finish are perfect with no buffing marks on it, and the fret work is great. Although one inlay on the one that I played (white with gold hardware) was a little less than perfectly fit into the hole cut for it. It was very easy on the hands with the U shaped neck that was much like a Les Paul Custom with a fairly thick body that allows for that true hollow body honk that only comes from a guitar such as this! The weight is what you'd expect of a hollow body. The action could've been a little lower to my taste, but it was pretty decent with no choking out when bending notes, or playing chords. It stayed in tune really well even when using the tremolo bar with a little aggressiveness – it played all the way through songs without the need for retuning afterward! Even after an hour playing straight through it only had to be retuned twice since the strings were still new. The finish and the fit on the machine heads were nicely done with the tightness that you'd expect from USA made machines. The nut was precisely cut and allowed the strings to ring true which you won't get with just any type of material, but the synthetic bone kept it true to form tone wise. The bridge isn't the best, but it allows for unilateral tuning which is nice, but not authentic to the original Melita bridge design, nor is it as attractive. The control layout is correct, and a great looking setup for this guitar and it's easy to use, and makes sense. The bar is in the just the right place for easy use when needed swings out of the way when you don't want to use it. The finish on the chrome is smooth with no apparent scratches in the metal beneath that you usually see on overseas guitars made in the orient. The binding is well done with no finish overlap, or paint smudges. All the wood is smoothly sanded, and properly shaped with no high or low spots, and the grain doesn't show through the finish surface when looking at it at an angle, or straight at it. There are no joinery lines in the finish and all the plastic is uniformly cut with the wood where the two join together. All in all I say that Gretsch did their homework when deciding to capitalize on their own history and appeal rather than going with some new radical strat inspired designs, and stuck with the one true hollow body manufacturer shape that has withstood the test of time, and is the most beloved. Sure you could put a solid block through the middle, but it would lose a lot of the characteristic quality that Gretsch guitars are known for! The same is true with their pickup design – this isn't something that you're going to get from just any guitar. The same is true as if you put a strat pickup in a Les Paul and vice – versa. It may sound a lot like it, but the true guitar that this pickup was designed for won't be exactly the same! I nitpicked, and thoroughly inspected this particular model with several different guitars, and they all passed with flying colours! I'm a guitar maker, not just a builder, or one who modifies them, but I make them from scratch. Not all guitars are going to please all people, but that's where I come in; to alter either an existing guitar with whatever pleases its' owner or to make one from scratch with the appointments that anyone would appreciate. However, this guitar is one of those right off the rack! I wouldn't change it, or any of its' appointments. Gretsch's truly one of the few that got it right the first time!redwithbnwstripes

I want to know hollow body so I ordered this one it fit my budget. Was advertised as next day shipping but took 2 days to get it no big deal, finally shows up and I unbox it leave it sit out in the house overnight play with it the following evening which is today 5-17-2020. Looks great sounds okay noticed a little bit of fret buzzing so first thing I check is straightness of neck lo and behold I find about 5 frets that are not level with the rest of them so being curious as I am I checked the neck relief there is none maybe one thousandth of an inch. so I go ahead and do the truss rod cover go to adjust it and the truss rod is loose meaning I cannot put any under bow back into the neck so right out of the box just guitar was no good not to mention the inspection tag was dated 7 6 2018 which means this sat on the shelf for almost 2 years and we all know that that is bad for guitars or any stringed instrument for that matter. So hopefully when I get the replacement it's not an absolute turd like this thing is if it is I don't know what's going to happen probably refund and never buy a gretsch again, which is sad because I always wanted one but if you're spending close to $1,000 you shouldn't have to put up with that kind of poor quality. I would expect this out of epiphone but not gretsch so my message is directly to fender musical company get a handle on your quality control.David

1st it is just so cool looking 😀 just kidding, 1) For #1 it is hard to determine between build quality and comfort. I have a bad shoulder that makes my standard acoustic guitars uncomfortable. The thin hollow-body of the Gretsch G5420T overcomes that. But as well I am really impressed with the build quality. The fit and finish if the body and neck is impeccable, the knobs for the volume and tone have set screws so they won't fall off even if handled rough. The screw in strap holders make sure the strap won't accidentally fall off. Every fret extends the edge of the neck and is perfectly finished and all 22 are absolutely identical. The tuning machines are identical with the same stiffness feel in and they all hold evenly. The acoustic sustain on this guitar is as good as regular acoustics. The material, fit and finish are excellent. 2) The sound, I put the sound second because it is peculiar. It isn't good or bad, just peculiar. If you like it, you like it, If you don't you don't. I like it but that is probably relevant to my other guitars, it carries some qualities and tones the other don't. I have four guitars and they are all different and that makes each one of them special. 3) Finally, it is a totally cool looking guitar.johnintaegu

As soon as I picked up this guitar, it felt like it had been my guitar my whole life! The narrow neck and quality craftsmanship make it probably the most playable guitar I've ever gotten my hands on. The materials and look of the guitar are absolutely beautiful, and it sounds even more gorgeous. The pickup and microphone blend option is amazing, so you can play percussion or really capture rhythmic slaps and plucks of your fingerstyle. The cut away gives you that extra freedom near that wonderful area past the 12th fret, and arrived out of the box with perfect intonation across the entire fret board. Cut away doesn't effect the quality of the sound, and also just looks very good. The gig bag is as nice as it gets. I could not be more pleased with this purchase.Colin O

This guitar is really excellent, plenty loud and round sound from the tight-grained cedar top. The saddle and nut are high quality, and the craftsmanship across the rest of the instrument is great! The headstock especially is beautiful. I purchased a scratch and dent instrument, there were several marks in the finish in seemingly random spots, hard to tell exactly what caused them. There were also a few pin-sized bubbles in the finish (specifically near the edges on the body) that easily scratched off, leaving a hole directly to the wood itself. Very minor, but unsure of it was a factory flaw or just the finish being naturally delicate. Of course, it doesn't really affect the sound or playability of this wonderful instrument!Dan

I just received my Solea SA-C guitar in the mail and I could not be happier with how beautiful this instrument is! I am quite literally blown away by the beautiful wood grain of the cocobola back and sides! The fit and finish seems very good although there are a few small imperfections that you can find if you look close but overall this guitar is a gem. I've never owned a classical guitar before and ordered this one after doing some research. I did not want a Chinese made guitar and I wanted all solid wood. I first ordered a Cordoba Solista but it was back ordered so I cancelled and ordered this Solea and I'm happy I did because it's simply gorgeous and sounds exactly how I had imagined it would. It's pretty loud and has a nice mellow balanced tone I would say. It sounds sweet to put it simply!Jesse

I've owned one of these for years. It doesn't hang well (neck dive), has the sound that you'd expect out of a shoebox sized cavity (no bass), and is over priced. The only reason for owning one of these is if you are severly cramped for space. Get a Baby Taylor, instead of this thing. They are close to the same price, the last time that I checked.Ken

When I first saw these in the CF Martin catalog, I thought how weird looking they were. When I asked at a local shop about them, I was told they would order one for me, but I would not like it! But I liked classical, nylon string guitars and I wanted to own something from CF Martin. Other than this, Martin GTR does not make anything else like that, unless they invented something since I quit looking. I was very fortunate to discover Musicians Friend, and they at one time had these with a passive pickup. These were on sale at a very good price! I ordered one, it arrived in very good shape, in very good time. I fell absolutely totally in love with it, weird shape and all. You could tell it was a Martin, it reeked quality. It's small, the tone is great, but the volume is not huge. Use it for travel, camping, hanging on the wall for odd moments of practice. It's not a case queen, fussy little guitar, but protect it from too much heat and moisture, it is made with wood and glue. With a pickup you could probably blow away a concert hall with it. Look in the sound hole, it will say where it was made there, and tell you to always use extra-lite nylon strings. No truss rod was standard for ages with nylon string guitars, the Backpacker does not have one. Most guitars eventually need the action adjusted to suit the player, including ones costing 10 to 20 times as much as this one. Mine came with a very nice strap and a special gig bag, both very useful. If this appeals to you, don't hesitate to give it a try. I've had mine for years and still love it. Check on you-tube.Still Learning

I have had mine for 10 years or more and enjoy it very much. It's not full body sound it's there to have something to practice and play when on holiday or outside on the deck enjoying a cold one. It doesn't take up much room when packing the car either And yes the one I have is an actual classical backpacker guitar that Martin made years ago. I use it with high tension strings DAddario Pro Arte at standard tuning and it holds up very good stays in tune never have a problem with it going outGerry

what a great bass! It's beautiful, light, and sonically versatile. the different pickup modes have 3 radically different tones which makes this bass right for lots of situations. I've seen some reviews that mentioned so issues with some fret roughness but mine showed up in perfect condition. I couldn't be happier with the bass. I also want to mention the customer service. I used the chat feature to confirm whether this bass came with a bag or case. the agent let me know that it does not but pointed me to the bundle that includes the bag and they set me up with a price I could not pass up. once I completed the purchase the item was shipped within 90 minutes. Other music stores I've done business with are not nearly as responsive. CME killed itShaun M.

This is a great short scale bass. It is a quality instrument. The finish is excellent. Playability straight out of the box was very good. Nicely set up.I love the pick-ups and the ability to blend the two with their individual volume controls. Great range of tones available. It looks good too ! Highly recommended. The only gripe is that at this price it should come in a hard case and not a bag !Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Really good guitar for nirvana type music. Only issue is that you need to set it up for it to be playable but once it's set up it's a great instrument. Pickups are pretty articulate but not to bright either just perfectly balanced. If you get one I recommend to lock the bridge down to improve its tuning stability and sustain. Note it DOES NOT sound like a kc style mustang, it has its own sort of sound to it. Fretboard is pretty nice same with the low radius which I prefer. Overall it's one of my favorite guitars I've ever bought and I cannot recommend it enough if you play grunge and nirvana music.Preston

It is close to being a 5/5 guitar for me. It plays very easily with the condition that the back of the neck feels a bit weird to me right now, I have only played it twice though so through playing this might very well go away. It's a maple neck and the back is non glossy which I like but the thin nitro coating they have sprayed it with feels a bit weird under the hand, it's not sticky in the slightest, it's just nothing like I am used to. Might just be me, and as always this should go away with playing. I like the colour and design of the guitar. I like the neck in general, I am not a metal player and thinner necks aint my thang but this neck is thin but also comfortable with it. The pickups are good, I have two Seymour Duncans in my only other *metal* guitar and I am not sure which set I prefer. This one has a JB in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. The 59 is well capable of Bluesy, rock and even Lead Tones. The bridge JB does Lead and can get clear clean tones especially if you roll some tone off on the guitar. I hear some people complain about the harshness or more like the bite of the JB but I think that's unfair. It's true this guitar does Blues, rock and metal well but for modern metal it is in the ballpark but not quite there. It's more suitied to 80's thrash metal than modern stuff and it does all rock well and you can do Blues with it in the neck position. So it's not an out and out metal guitar and so I like it better for that. It is versatile. I play Pink Floyd on it and it sings. Performs well with any type of rock and if you want Metallica early metal tones and onwards this does it really well. I am not much into modern metal anyway so I am not too bothered. I did Motorhead songs the other day and it kills it. The tuners are Jacksons sealed ones or whatever they are ,so not locking as far as I know but it stays in tune really well, maybe because of the floyd rose on it, which works really well. My first ever Floyd Rose guitar and it impresses me with how well it works and not as hard as you think when it comes to changing strings etc. Lastly the price is very good for what you get which is always a selling point for me.And what yiou get is a proper set of Seymour Duncans and a proper Floyd not the cheap ones you get in low budget offerings in a guitar that looks the part, the headstock alone is worth having it for! I got it for 600 quid. Complete no brainer.R O.

I had never played a 7-string guitar before but had been thinking about it for a while so I decided on this Dinky after seeing the price and reading the reviews. I didn't want to spend a ton of money since I didn't know if I would like the 7-string. After having it and playing it for a few days now, I must say that I'm quite impressed. Like so many of the other reviews say, it's set up pretty well right out of the box. I noticed that it is very lightweight compared to my Telecaster, which I really like. Some people mentioned some rough frets but I didn't notice that on mine; it feels really good. It took some getting used to the extra string but I'm really having fun exploring the new sounds I can get with an extended range. The pickups are decent for the price and I'm really happy with it. I may look at changing them out eventually but for now I'm happy with them. I agree with a lot of the other reviews that say that Jackson could easily charge twice as much for this guitar as they do. All in all, this guitar is excellent value for the price. If you're looking for an entry-level 7-string to noodle with and see if you will like it, you can't go wrong here.Madd Dogg

Couldn't find this guitar in the stores so I pulled the trigger and ordered online. I don't listen to Rancid, so I bought this guitar more because it's a baldwin-era gretsch with a cool finish and filtertron pups. The pickups are crisp and clear and take dirt well, love the control over tone with all the knobs. I am impressed with these blacktop pups. They sound very close to the hs filters in my 5120. I see no need to change them. The top is thicker than my 5120, binding all over the place, beautiful headstock and wider body. The action was high and I set the intonation, but otherwise no work needed. Here's the thing, the flat finish does wear off leaving shine spots where your arms and hands come into contact. Like on the neck and upper body, and where I rest my pinky or fingers while picking. It looks cool to me but something you should be aware of before buying. Tuning is pretty stable, never seems to go way off. Body is balanced and neck plays smooth and fast. Love thJesse

Sound: I luv pyscho Billy , rocks Billy ,punk ,thrash , doom , this does it all , and sounds treat doing it , not just for rock a Billy , sounds great and uniqe in all genres Features: I'm not fond of the knurled strap locks , they come lose easy , I'll switch em out, and why no case ??? For such a great , expensive, signityre guitar , from gretsch and no case !?? Otherwise perfect Ease of Use: It goes great with my little peavy blazer158 till I upgrade, can only imagine the rocks Billy sound with a twin fender amp , and slapback!! Quality: Built like a tank , exept the knurled strap locks Value: Great price , awsome payment plan , never thought I could afford a great gretsch like this!!! The Wow Factor: Its stunning , beuitiful, punk rock looking! Built like a tank , looks like u can play it out and it can take abuse like Tim Armstrong himself does every show and his country club is still as good as the he bought it so if exepct the same of the replica Overall: This guitar sounds great , even in my little peavey blazer158 , I can't wait to get a twin fender amp!! The looks are are beautiful, yet still punk rock with the flat black color, the harp tail and the gold hardwear add to the beauty, and it has that great gretsch sound and twank gretsch is known for , it can roar one sec then get all twankyvon the flip of a switch and turn of a dial or two ! This is my dream guitar come true , always wanted a gretch , and Tim Armstrong is my favorite front man of all time so I feel lucky and proud to own this, and thanx to the great payment plan zZounds offers i can offerd this treasure!!!Robert

I had promised my granddaughter a Gretsch a few years ago, but life happened. Now, the time was right, I had her find the guitar she wanted and she chose a Gretsch. How do I get her to stop playing it 24/7? Just kidding on how long she plays on a daily basis, but she loves it. She actually has musicians offering to purchase it from her! A couple are professional artists.Gramma of 4

Been playing about 20 years and I’ve had them all. I’m playing in a cover band and can get what ever sound I want (minus the compressed active sound) out of this thing. From 60s to 90s nu metal, the neck through and fixed bridge gives it sustain for days and the classic 59/ JB pick ups with a coil split gives you so many choices for tones. I have smaller hands and the 24.5 scale neck is so comfortable and fast. Only complaint is fret buzz on the E and A strings out of the box but that is it. If your looking for an all round player this is it. And always great service from AMSDennis

My wife picked up this guitar for me for my Father's Day/Birthday. Of course, I had a bug in her ear on which guitar to buy. Right out the box, it screams! Beautiful paint job, the white absolutely pops! It has a nice weight to it, it's sits perfectly on your lap, when you stand up to play it, it is very well balanced. The p/u's give a variety of tones, which wont disappoint. The head stock is what drew me to this guitar, a non-traditional head stock for a TE body style. Definitely a feature not seen on other guitar with similar body style. It was a half step out of tune when it came out of the box, but that was a simple twist of the locking tuners and it was ready to play! Added my Ernie Ball Strap locks and it was ready for the stage (my music room). This guitar definitely brings a smile on my face and hopefully for you as well.Dave