Electric Guitar Without Pick For Sale (2024 Update)

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.

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.

What a brilliant guitar and superb value package! I have owned ‘real’ Gibsons over the years and bought this outfit as a birthday gift for my granddaughter who is learning to play. She has had a fender acoustic for a couple of years and now wants her own electric guitar. I chose this outfit as having previously owned one in the past I like Epiphone guitars. Before giving it to her I thought it best to check it over and set it up but there was nothing to do really, after tuning this guitar was perfectly playable right out the box! The feel, balance and weight is very like my Gibson and the sound is superb. The amp is excellent and packs enough punch to put a smile on your face too. She’s delighted with the built in tuner as well as the other essentials included in the outfit. What’s not to like? I can’t find a better value package!W O.

My original review still stands, but I made cosmetic-only upgrades for less than an average couple's meal at a casual restaurant that makes this look much, much more expensive. No tuner, pickup or pot swaps. Replaced black plastic parts with cream, added cream pickguard, replaced chrome tuner knobs with Klausen-style ivory-look knobs. Installed chrome pickup covers. Replaced speed knobs with gold top-hats.Easily done to make this look like a proper Les Paul. I'm happy with the looks for the little extra money spent.Steve

As the song says: "I'm a Sucker for a Cheap Guitar". I own over 30 – some cheap, some not so cheap. This one arrived perfectly set up: low action, no buzzing, no sharp fret edges, easy to play – amazing for a guitar in this price range. Although not great, the pickups even sounded acceptable. It's heavy, which to me means good, though not as heavy as my Gibson. It's OK-looking, but needed something to enhance it – a pickguard. I added one and it looks much better – more expensive. Instead of cutting off part of the guard to accommodate the knob as I've seen some others do, I drilled a hole big enough for the nut on the body underneath the knob to fit through the guard (see photos). Since the guard isn't much thicker than the nut, it allowed the guard to fit flush with the body and the knob to turn without any restriction of motion, and the pickguard is not butchered. It's a very clean look – like it came that way – not modified. So, I am pleased with this instrument, and would recommend it to anyone for any purpose: especially beginners to play or someone like me who just collects cheap guitars to hang on the wall of their studiio.Steve

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.

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.

I bought an LTD M10 about a year ago and love it so much that I bought an EC10 too, planning on slapping some humbucker-sized P90s in it for a different tone. Here's the details on how DIFFERENT these two guitars are, despite appearing more similar at first glance. – Headstock shape; just personal preference. I prefer the 3+3 design of the EC (functionally). – Scale length; the EC has a slightly shorter scale length (24.75" vs 25.5") than the M, making it somewhat easier to play, especially when performing wide stretches and chording. Bends are easier due to lower string tension. The longer scale of the M I believe contributes to superior tonal qualities. -The EC has a painted neck back to match the body. The M has a natural satin transparent finish. Personal preference, but I prefer the transparent finish for the more natural feel. -Both guitars have a 350mm (13.7") fretboard radius, which is somewhat flat, but not extremely so. -The EC has 24 frets, while the M has 22. -The M has slightly better upper fret access since the body shape is less restrictive of fretting hand thumb placement. -Both guitars have TOM bridges, but the M is strung through the body, whereas the EC has a stop tailpiece. String thru designs are lighter and arguably provide more resonance, but the tailpiece is adjustable, allowing you to raise or lower string tension. -Slightly different control layouts, particularly with the pickup selector; a blade on the M vs a toggle on the EC. -EC is slightly heavier. -Strap button placement affects strap retention and where the guitar hangs. The M retains a strap better and sits "closer" (further right) due to the horn, providing easier lower fret access. The EC has no horn so it sits "further" out (further left), naturally guiding the left hand towards the middle of the neck. -The EC sounds beefier, but muddier. The M has clearer but a BIT thinner tone. -The M is made in China and the EC is made in Indonesia. Hope this helps you decide between the two.Pazuzu

I did not buy mine from MF, but I had to put in my opinion. I bought my EC-10 from some guy who posted it on an app. He had not taken very good care of it and the body had a lot of dings and chipped paint. The neck was still good and the hardware was solid. I stripped off all the paint and sanded out most of the dings, stained it and put a coat of shiny finish on it. Topped it off with a new set of EMGs (just my preference the stock pups were actually pretty nice). Now it is one of my favorite guitars to play and I wouldn't give it up for anything. If my used and abused old EC-10 can be this good, I can only imagine what a brand new one could be like. May be buying a new one in the near future.Chris

I am just beginning to try and teach myself to play guitar. So I'm hesitant to give it any kind of star rating or say anything about the guitar in regards to quality of playability, electronics/pickups, tone or any of that important stuff, as I don't have the experience to fairly do so. I've played drums for about 20+ years in bands, so have been around plenty of guitar gear that I know was good. Vintage or custom Gibson and Fender guitars with high end or specialty pickups and hardware, running through half stack 100 watt Mesa Boogie triple rectifiers, 100 watt Marshall JCM 800s/900s, Vox AC 30s, Orange Rockerverbs, Sovteks, etc. Pretty much guitars and amps that sound amazing and are my only in person points of reference. However, It would be completey unfair to try and compare this sub-$200 guitar going through my little Blackstar HT5R combo to the guitars and rigs mentioned above that I'm used to drumming along with. My girlfriend was wonderful enough to buy this guitar for me and she took a good friend who's played for 20+ years and has a 1978 Les Paul himself and after checking out/playing a few lower budget guitars in the store, some in the used section that cost a little more, he recommended this one. Said it played good to him, didn't have the fret buzz that the guitar I wanted to replace had and happened to be the sweet satin black finish he remembered me saying I liked. To sum it up, I doubt this is a guitar any of the experienced players I know would have, but as a beginner still trying to figured out how to fret chord shapes, I'm very happy with this entry-level/budget guitar. Only minor complaint I have so far is that the low E (which I drop to C or D) string seems to need frequent tuning. I'm considering taking it to GC for a proper setup and have larger gauge strings put on, so hoping that might help. But for the price I'd say it's worth any beginner checking out. If only these entry level guitars would include some in-person lessons, lol.Marcus E.

This is the first Acoustic/electric that I have owned that I actually love playing. The action is great even with the large gauge acoustic strings on it. Comes with a very nice gig-bag/case. I love the way the neck and back of the guitar looks. I also love the Strat 5-way switch that selects the degree and type of acoustic sound. The only downside with this guitar is the cover that serves as a cover for the electronics and pick guard. It looks cheap, more like a decal than a cover. I think Fender can do better on this detail for the price of the guitar. However, if you can get past that then it is a fine playing and sounding guitar. I have owned several Acoustic and Acoustic/Electric guitars. The action on even high-priced acoustics was so terrible I just ended up selling them. I also do not like the large back ends of most acoustic and acoustic electric guitars, but this guitar is small and easy to play. I would give it an A-.Bill

The research I did on trying to learn more about this instrument via general internet, YouTube, assorted standard Music Company's like Sam Ash; Sweetwater; Guitar Center; Alamo; and other assorted Music Guitar critics provided a good array of opinions and product test results that produced a positive majority with impressive perspectives for the instrument I purchased. The Fender American Acoustasonic Stratocaster Acoustic-Electric Guitar Cocobolo I purchased from Sam Ash was not a disappointment. Aside from the 10 different options of Guitar unique sounds it provides from Acoustic and Electric mixes. The one-of-a-kind Cocobolo wood identifies a further fingerprint in supporting its own private one-of-a-kind signature sound with relationship to the Cocobolo wood unique to it alone. That just blows me away with how special the sound of specialty signature sound it produces with the ten different built in technical sounds the Fender Guitar company developed with this special edition. I feel overwhelmed in learning to continue how to play this guitar. It allows me so many more possibilities with playing soft country to hard rock a really strong guitar enjoyment experience.Guitar Enthusiast

Overall, I am very happy with this guitar. It exudes classic Fender looks and tone. The quality and craftsmanship are decent for the price point. I have a US Tele and, after putting some TLC into this player strat, it feels and plays almost as good as the Tele. I would give it five stars if it were not for fretwork that was needed. Body – The finish and surf pearl color are gorgeous. The wood grain is barely visible (raised) so I would not say the finish is flawless, but the grain is very subtle and adds character in my opinion. The routed cavities for the electronics (top) and the tremolo springs (back) are precisely cut and clean. The electronics cavity was even finished with black paint. Neck – The finish and appearance are great. However, all 22 frets had sprouted; some as much as 1/32". I can't say this is a craftsmanship issue as the frets were probably fine when it was assembled. It must have been a very high humidity environment, though. Nevertheless, after painstakingly filing and redressing all 44 fret ends it feels good. The frets themselves were well seated and leveled. The 3rd and 11th frets were a few thousands of an inch high, but not enough to cause any buzzing issues. The frets were well rounded and polished. Hardware – The tuners are just okay. One of them feels a little rough turning, and they seem to have a low turning ratio making it very touchy to dial in perfect pitch. The 2-point fulcrum tremolo bridge seems like a better design than the traditional (six screw) bridges, but I did not test it. I prefer to block them for more stable tuning, which worked great with this bridge. I have upgraded electronics I had planned to install in this guitar, but the stock pickups aren't bad. They are very quiet and have good tone – there is no rush to replace them. Setup was a breeze. Truss rod adjustment was smooth, nut slots were to spec, and intonation was perfect. The action needed adjustment since I blocked the tremolo, but that was easy.Dave S.

I purchased this guitar as an intermediate player. I had the tech at GC do a set up on it. It looks, sounds and plays great. The workmanship out of he box was very good. Very nice fret work, no sharp edges. Very happy with this guitar. Just keep in mind that to get its full capabilities it will likely need a set up but this is common with most any guitar you buy. I would definitely buy this guitar again.Michael

I have several Ibanez, some of them being slightly on the higher end of the mid-grade lines. I didn't need an inexpensive Ibanez, but the looks of this Gio caught my eye and I had been pining for it for awhile, but everyone was either out or on preorder. When I saw this marked as used and $40 less than the regular price, I jumped on it. I expected some cosmetic wear maybe, since it was used, but when it got here two days after I ordered it, it was still in the original wrapping with the plastic on the pickguard and pickups. I don't think it was ever touched. Everything was set up very well right out of the box. The pickups aren't great, but they aren't bad. The neck and fretboard feel fantastic and the blackout finish of it all is what really sold me. The body is polar, so it's a bit lighter and that makes it feel a bit cheap, but it scream and I'm really diggin it. Proaudiostar is 3/3 for me.Scott W

A great humbucker pickup guitar for beginners. Has great tone and feels smooth to play. Only issue was the action, which was too low when shipped and caused lots of buzzing. Had to increase it by quite a lot to get a good feel – a beginner might not know how to do this. Guitar looks amazing, makes me want to play whenever I look at it.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

It's an itty bitty little thing. It's so lightweight it almost floats away! It was perfectly set up out of the box, it arrived with no damage. First, I tuned it. (It was close, whoever set it up musta tuned it before shipping). It's got very accurate tuning pegs, not like a Squier or Glarry, with slack in the pegs. Then I sat down and ran through some scales, and strummed some chords. It's got a fast playing neck. I can play faster on this guitar, than any I've tried, and I've played hundreds of guitars from an American Fender 52 reissue Telecaster, down to the terrible cheap electric guitars of the 1960s. Anyway, I finally got around to plugging into my Blackstar Fly 3 battery amp, and wow those Mitchell humbuckers are HOT! I love this little thing, it's going to be my main axe, and I'm going to order it a new hard shell case, so it stays looking great.The Volkswagen Cowboy

For the most part; this a pretty nice beginner's guitar. It has nice features that aren't usually found on cheaper guitars. I was very impressed with the body contours, pickup arrangement, sealed tuners, & string through body. I purchased this as a Christmas gift for my son. I paid a little extra for expedited shipping & it arrived less than 48hrs after I ordered it! Everything was great until I tuned up the guitar & found that the claims that "every guitar receives a stateside set up" are entirely false. The ends of the fret wire are extremely sharp; there's no way that I'd let a child attempt to play this without first filing down/ dressing the frets to avoid gouging your hands. It seems to stay in tune fairly well; which is rather surprising as the neck is NOT properly bolted to the guitar body. There is a relatively large gap between the neck & body- large enough to see daylight! The gap is likely due to common machine assembly w/ poor quality control. I'm somewhat excited to see how well this guitar will play after I disassemble the neck, drill the body holes 1/16" larger, file the frets, & reassemble w/ some higher quality strings. Even with the additional work that's necessary; it's still a rather nice guitar & definitely cheaper than a project guitar. Last time I checked; it was around $20 or so to have a guitar set up by a Luthier- so it still works out to be a decent buy if you bought it & paid to have it set up. I'm just rather disappointed that the only problem with the entire transaction is a very simple issue that could be avoided w/ a couple tweaks of the CNC machines spitting these out by the 100's…Jonathan

I am quite fond of short scale guitars, and I rate this one quite high on the list of must haves! Frets are adequately dress, it is quite light, finish (walnut satin) is excellent. Playability is quite good, intonation is spot on, even the pickups are ok, though I did change them out on mine, along with putting some shielding paint in the pickup and control cavities and swapping out the potentiometers (none of this was necessary, but you know how us guitarists can be!). The kind of music I like is 70s rock, 80s and 90s metal, I don't play clean much – always some grit coming outta the amp! I got this on sale, so it was well below $100. Not sure what else to say, but if you are on the fence about getting one of these, either for yourself or a young, aspiring rocker, just pull the trigger, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Main thing to keep in mind on this is playability and setup are very good for a guitar in its price point even at full price, maybe even twice the price. Is it perfect? No, but it doesn't need to be, just needs to be good and it is. Just get the darn thing. it's a fun guitar to play, looks and sounds good as well.Scott

I bought this item for my daughter for her birthday and she loved it, it came to our door on time, it was playable and very attractive, unfortunately a relative with a drug problem stole it within a day and we haven't been able to afford a replacement. It would be wonderful if BCP would be willing to ship another to us, but either way, very good product. I'll buy another one in time when we are able to afford it.Steve H.

I would give it 20 stars if I could. I’m not going to say that I can even play guitar. I am still trying to learn. I have a Stratocaster that I have been learning chords and following the lessons in a book that is instruction for learning scale. But the semi-hollow body has such a wounderful tone that I have to get better. It is so Inspirational that I have been practicing more than I ever did with my strat. LOVE IT! Thank you.Ronald P.

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.

There is plenty to like about this guitar, and I got it for the features I was looking for: locking tremelo, 24 frets, fast neck, 5 way pickup selector, and nice looks. My first impressions of the guitar was slight disappointment with how sloppy Ibanez was. The tops and bottoms of the frets needed to be beveled as they were pretty sharp, there was a noticeable nick on the fretboard, and there was a black smudge on the back of the neck. None of those was a huge deal. The main two issues I have with the guitar are that the middle pickup, the single coil, has such low output that the middle three positions are much quieter than the neck or bridge pickups alone. I do like the tone of the single coil in conjunction with the humbuckers, but those positions are somewhat useless considering how quiet they are, and I have ordered a humbucker to replace it. The single coil alone (middle position) has too much noise AND is too quiet. Not a big deal to replace a pickup, but why they are selling it this way, I'm not sure. The second issue is the volume control. Instead of a gradual swell, there is a sharp dropoff in volume at one point in the rotation of the dial, making it pretty much useless other than having it full on or all the way off. I am not sure if that is fixable, but if it is, I'll need to have that done as well. All that said, if the guitar had not arrived in such sloppy condition and the two problems were resolved, I'd give this guitar 5 stars.hickory spork

The Ibanez RG 450 or any of the RG's are with the exception of the factory p/u and electronic. capable of becoming one of the best performance guitars to own. The base Ibanez Floyd Rose system is fiddley but, after learning how to adjust/tune quickly becomes appreciated for holding tune no matter the severity of attacks you use with the tremolo. The Wizard(ll or lll ?) You would need to go to custom built to exceed the easy play and comfortable frets you will find on and RG. This recent RG450 I upgraded to equal the higher priced models by adding the De Marzio Tone Zone (B), Air Norton (N). And instead of going with the True Velvet. Added the Seymour Duncan Vintage Hot Stack for the middle position and added better electrics to even out the upgrades.. End result; This guitar plays and sound equal to guitars costing over $1,000.00!! Good bones! Yes this can be played well and many will find happiness with this as stock., and, will perform well against the competition dollar for dollar!ikeus

I used to own an '89 Ibanez VBK JEM that I regrettably sold to buy a gaming pc. I wanted to get a newer entry level RG so I could have a floyd,HSH superstrat in E standard. I've had this RG for long enough to know it's a keeper. This thing has the same feel and vibe of my old JEM! Minus the monkey grip and other features obviously. The neck feels fantastic and I only had to do very minor setup adjustments to my liking. I would have liked a rosewood or ebony fingerboard but of course this is the lower end model. The Jatoba feels good under the fingers, similar to rosewood but with a slightly lighter shade to it. Like most guitars you buy online mine came desperately needing some good oil and cleaning. The Jatoba fingerboard seems to require a bit more lubrication than rosewood. The neck binding is done well, not perfect but to a good standard. I do wish the trem was an Edge lo-pro… But again, this is the lower priced model. There is nothing wrong with the Edge tremolo, it stays in tune well with whammy bar abuse but it is one of the bulkier Original Floyd Rose style bridges. The stock Quantum pickups are among the best stock Ibanez pickups I've tried. They are hot but versatile. However I did swap them out with the classic Dimarzio Air Norton/Steves Special combo and a True Velvet middle. I do believe a higher end Ibanez will obviously sound better than this but for the price it really is hard to beat! Well done Ibanez and AMS!Nevin

Yes, the tonal range is great, especially the piezo pickup, nicely playable and overall looks and finish seem perfect. But, with nicely contoured access to the high notes let down by the overly large neck heal which starts a fret or two earlier than my other electric guitars. Another annoyance is the very cheap knobs which don't sit straight on the pots. I have a guitar costing a tenth of the price with better fitting knobs. The battery compartment is a bad joke of a design, as the battery holder comes out with the wires attached, you then have to prise up the battery from its contacts and the lever it out for replacement. Overall these are minor annoyances on what is a great guitar but, at this price I expected better. Oh yes, it came with a hard case. Which doesn't fit properly and with no tags or brand markings so who knows what it was made for. It did come with two loose bits of foam, one which was floating around unsure of its purpose.Kevin L.

PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo — I've owned and played this guitar for about three months now. Bottom line: I'm very happy with it–and would recommend it–in spite of a couple issues. There are dozens and dozens of videos that go into detail about the appearance, fit, and finish of this guitar so I won't bother with all that except to confirm that it is very well made overall. The magnetic pickups sound fantastic, period. The piezo pickup was putting out FAR too hot of a signal, distorting at low guitar volume, but once I learned how to adjust the trim pot for it (thanks to the PRS guitar forum website), that problem was solved and now it sounds good. It's a tad bright in my opinion but that's easily fixed with the tone knob on any amp or with an EQ pedal. The battery compartment opens easily enough, but getting the 9V battery out of it without breaking the plastic frame is a challenge. Fortunately, the battery isn't used unless you plug a cable into the PIEZO/MAG jack. The 3-way selector is garbage and I was experiencing crackling and signal drop right out of the box. HOWEVER, this is a known issue and several reviewer videos mention it so I knew what to expect. My soldering skills are only beginner-level (and I've never worked on a hollowbody before) so I paid to have a pro replace the switch for me. MF has offered to credit me the amount of the repair once I send them the receipt, so that's good. The Guitar Case — This shipped with a hard case, which I'm not happy with. When the guitar is properly seated and the lid is properly closed and latched, there is a quarter-inch gap around the bottom (see pics). That's not good. There are several (expensive) case options that are touted as "PRS and PRS-style" cases but they WILL NOT FIT this particular guitar because the lower bout is 14" wide (at least an inch wider than other PRS models). Also, it's about an inch thicker (front to back) than a Jazzmaster so a Jaguar/Jazz case won't work either.RiserGrease

I received the Black Gold Burst version about a week ago. It's a BEAUTIFUL guitar. The pictures don't do it justice. The f-holes really add to the appearance. Fender ALSO makes a hollowbody guitar, but they went the round sound hole direction, which, IMHO, is hokey looking. The sound is INCREDIBLE! I have 4 other electric guitars, including a Fender American Standard Strat, Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG and an Ibanez Prestige- They are ALL wonderful guitars, and each has its own personality, in how they play AND how they sound. THIS guitar has a sound that TRANSCENDS ALL of my other guitars. There are a number of videos on YouTube. BUT, as with the appearance, they simply DO NOT do it justice. The humbucker pickups ALONE produce a sound that is CLEAR and RESONANT. Adding the sound from the piezo pickup sends it over the top! ABSOLUTELY MARVELOUS. I was a little reluctant to purchase a guitar made in China. However, the CONSTRUCTION and FINISH are PERFECT! PLUS, the cost is WAAAY less than the equivalent US-made version. I hope I've given you the idea that this is a SPECIAL guitar, BECAUSE IT IS!Kevin

First a much deserved word about Musicians Friend. Having made numerous purchases in the past year (5 guitars, two amplifiers & two sets of powered monitor speakers) hats off to Musicians Friend. They are professional, courteous and a pleasure to purchase from. They truly have treated me like a friend over the last decade and a half. My guitar arrived in pristine shape, no issues, of course. For me this is a beast of a guitar and cannot be beat, not even close, at this price range, nothing I've played compares. Love the sculptured maple top and head to toe creamy binding, simply beautiful. The setup was very good, slight string height adjustment, neck did not need adjustment and pickup height was good. Someone is paying attention with quality control. The neck is fast, silky smooth and easy to navigate, I can accomplish sweep picking with this guitar. Coil split is always nice with humbuckers adding to the available tone palate. Everything works and works well. Check it out if in the market for a very nice modestly priced guitar. Doubt you'd be disappointed.Stratocasterplusplayer

Totally stoked on this purchase. I was looking for something solid with an inexpensive price point and came across this Schecter. I've never owned a Schecter before so I was unfamiliar with them but they put some serious quality into this instrument. Feels good in my hands and plays really fast and it looks fantastic. I do recommend upgrading the pickupups but if you're just looking to play around the house with this, it's set up and ready to go. Highly recommendableSmooks

I understand why people call this a beginers guitar. Some the components are cheap and the guitar felt unfinishhed. I own 8 guitars. All of them are higher end Made in America guitars. This guitar caught my eye solely because of looks. I decided to purchase it as a project guitar. After receiving the guitar it needed to be properly set up. I straightened the neck, leveled and radiused the fret board, re-crownded the frets, filed the fret ends and rolled the edge on the neck binding. I proceded to replace the bridge with a Graph-Tech Resomax NV2, and the tuners with Schaller M6 ones. I replaced the tone capacitor with an Orange Drop NOS .027 UF. The pickups are versatile and offer a wide variety of sound. I now have a guitar that has a fast articulate neck and fret board, great tone and sustain all for $160.00 in parts and my labor. This is no longer a " beginers guitar" . The guitar has great bones and was easy to convert to a guitar that you would pay over $1000.00 dollars for. Good job Schecter!Hodigity

I've been dabbling with learning how to play the guitar for several years, I've even took a guitar class at the local community college but have gotten frustrated easily to where I quit. I'll say that I have had a "on again, off again" relationship with guitars for the last 15 years. I am not an expert in guitars and am steadily learning the process – how they are built, the electronic parts, etc. I decided to give it a go again with this inexpensive guitar that is a great little learning tool for the novice player like myself. One thing I did do when I got this is change the strings. I watched several review videos on this model and one the the first things people recommended was to change the strings. So I bought a box of Ernie Ball Regular Slinky's (10-46) and re-strung the guitar immediately after I got it out of the box. I am pleased with my progress so far. Could be the fact that I found a great website that gives excellent beginner lessons and helps me to understand the fundamentals of guitar playing. Things that the college instructor didn't teach very well. Of course, it helps that I can play the videos over and over! I'm upgrading to a Fender Mustang LT 25 amp, which will give me a huge range of different tones that I can get out of this guitar. As my skills develop and I get better (hopefully), I will look at upgrading to a higher price point guitar. I would love to get an SG! If you are looking to get started in the guitar community, I would recommend this model to get started. I've watched many videos of experienced guitar players jam some pretty cool riff's with this thing!Jason

This is an incredible guitar for the money. Only thing that needed serious help was the action at the nut. Using the stock nut and a set of nut files, I set it up to my preferred specs of 1/64th of an inch a two the first fret. This ensured comfortable playing as well as tuning stability. After cutting the nut slots to the right height, looks like the file made sure the strings wouldn't catch and now the guitar stays in tune much much better. I would replace the pickups with p90s if I could. Some modification to the pickguard might make this a possibility. Sometimes, I forget I'm playing an Epiphone. With the nut corrected it really is possible to get it feeling pretty good. Here are my personal specs: .005" neck relief measured at the 8th fret. 1/64ths action at the first fret across all strings. 1/16ths of an inch action at the 15th fret. It does not play as well as my Gibsons do: the explorer feels much lower and faster with the same specs and my les Paul traditional does reel in some "big time" tone. In spite of this, the Epiphone SL really does hit the mark. It's capable of all the same specs after adjusting the nut, making for a very playable guitar. I also don't believe the tuning issues are due to the economy tuners since after I adjusted the nut the guitar stays in tune much better. I bought a replacement black tusq nut but have not installed it. I wonder if there's even really a need to do so. This action at the nut is very low but the guitar pulls it off very well. I'm sure that with better pots (remember this is an economy guitar) andLeón

I always liked the Ibanez instruments and products. This guitar for the money has a great sound, is light and small, very practical for people with small hands, or for children. Playability is nice, the pickups are good, hardware is good. It's versatile also for all types of genre's. Ideal for rock and metal, shreds real nice. If you're looking for a good but inexpensive guitar, this one is a good purchase. It's not only for beginners, it's for all level players.John

Classic Ibanez body shape, neck, tuners and lightweight, like a scaled down Soundgear (SGR) series only sans the unnecessary active bass junk. Knobs are solid metal, not cheap plastic ones found on other low end Ibanez basses. Only thing bass needed out of box was intonation set. No neck adjustments needed and no significant buzz. Strings are round wound (my pref). Would not recommend this bass if you think you need (tone killing) flat wound. I'm not aware of anyone making flatwound strings for a 28.6" scale bass. Note: scale length of this bass (28.6") is shorter than typical short scale (30"). The strings on it are proprietary (Ibanez). You might be able to make some cut down long scale strings work (pain, wouldn't recommend) but the proprietary Ibanez strings are the way to go. MF doesn't sell them for some reason. You can find them online for a very reasonable price online. Buy a couple of extra sets. Pickups are jazz bass style and config (two volumes + one tone) which is my pref. I had zero issues with tone or volume controls. Pickups are all passive. Yah! And tone sounds great, classic jazz bass tones available including a nice Jaco-ish tone with 100% bridge pickup and tone rolled way down. Be wary of review comments from guitar players that don't play bass and buy this bass and suddenly have a lot of opinions about what this bass should and shouldn't be. This bass does not need the bridge, pickups, tuners or electronics replaced to make it a "pro" instrument. All this bass needs to be a "pro" instrument, is a "pro" player playing it. Tone is in your fingers. I highly recommend for beginners and I think experienced players will dig it as well, especially those that appreciate shorter scale instruments.mark5211

The guitar kit arrived in perfect condition by FedEx and went together fine. My wife, the gift recipient, loves it. The guitar, being new, is taking a little while to stabilize on tuning but it's working out okay. The red color is nice. My wife's only complaint is that the little amplifier doesn't have "fuzz" settings, but I told her they will come when she learns how to play. Individual pieces of the kit can be upgraded in future as desired.Kenneth

Very surprised at the value and sound of the Pyle Pro Package. The guitar looks great with woodgrain coming through the sunburst finish. Frets are finished nicely and the fretboard feels great. I am most impressed with the amp as I have 2 others the same size (more popular names) and this one sounds the best by far. Only issue I had was a slight adjustment of the string supports (for smaller strings on Strat style head). They were slightly misaligned but it took only seconds to fix. The strap isnt great (prefer leather ends), but used rubber strap blocks as a precaution. Overall, very happy and cannot believe the value offered for slightly over 100 bucks!Steve

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

Overall very good fit and finish. Mine did have some fret buzz in one small spot on the fretboard. But, its a very light, well-balanced guitar that is comfortable to play. Neck is not as thin as I expected, but it's not chunky by any means. Pickups are on the hot side and are very warm in tone. The switching is very flexible and will give you configurations that can sound like not just a typical HSS guitar, but some HH and even Tele tones too.David L

We wanted to love our Loog, but there was an issue with the speaker that Loog didn't have a fix for. We were forced to return it because they didn't have any replacements in stock. The guitar was beautiful and we knew our kids would love it, so it really broke our heart to have to do this but perhaps we will try again when more are in stock.Gary O.

I swear I bought the Loog mini for my daughter even though I find myself playing it quite often. The build quality is great. It doesn’t feel like a toy at all. This is a real and respectable instrument. I love that it’s half a guitar in both size and construct—so she can graduate from 3 strings to 6 eventually. Really nice work. Kudos to the entire Loog team. It makes me happy to know a team of people are dedicating their time to such a cool product.J M.

The guitar itself is quite nicely built, but the app, which is supposed to help your kids learn the chords etc. is demoralizingly bad. It's hard to explain to a 5 year old why, after following the daily items (tune your guitar, practice some chords etc.) they don't get the points for completion. As a software engineer, I fail to see why it's okay to leave this basic functionality broken. Furthermore, the app appears to be abandonware. I see no updates or fixes. The 'Games' section has been 'coming soon' for months. The app should be removed from the site as a selling point, since it is basically broken. Just be aware when you buy this guitar, the app is not going to work.Ben