Red And White Electric Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

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

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

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

Overall: I was excited to receive this guitar as it was on back order I got the black and yellow bumblebee. After receiving it I made some adjustments to the tremolo and found that the spring cavity was bare wood / looked like it was chisel out with a screwdriver and it was not routed or CNC'd flat. Worse than that the wood under the Floyd rose was cracked and the finish was cracked as well. Basswood is a very light and soft wood so I am guessing the trem was pushed back during shipment or during setup at the factory and not seen by the staff as it is only visible when you remove the Floyd. I am a woodworker and beginning luthier so I corrected these issues myself and reinforced the thin section under the bridge with a custom fitted piece of maple and routed out the trem cavity so it is flat and sprayed the trem pocket with flat black paint looks like it should have when it left the factory now. I know I probably should have sent it back but overall I really like the guitar and I think Eddie would approve of my work.Douglas

This guitar has my favorite neck. The fretwork is amazing and the neck plays itself. This surprised me coming from fat Les Paul necks. Super easy to play, which, in turn, makes you sound better. I was very impressed with the sound and the functionality of the electronics. I’m a big Van Halen fan but don’t play a whole lot of it and this guitar sounds great for all kinds of other stuff, so long as you’re playing hard rock/early metal. Cleans up great with the volume knob but let’s be real – with no neck pickup, cleans aren’t really what you’re going for. Out of the box, was not intimated at all and there were a couple of paint dings and imperfections. Floyd also didn’t hold tune super well but with a solid setup and lubing up the fine tuners, it plays and sounds great. I had one of these a couple of years back and sold it foolishly to fund other purchases but hear I am, back again after purchasing again. It really is an awesome guitar and I am partial to the b/w color scheme with the Strat-style input jack. My Les Paul Custom is better quality but this guitar honestly sounds as good or better for a third of the price. And this guitar makes you a better player and you realize how amazing of a guitarist Eddie was considering how basic and simple this guitar is. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.Arpeggio5150

Eddie inspired so many folks to pick up the guitar. This is my second EVH model and I am amazed by this guitar every time I play it. This model was on my bucket list of guitars and when it went on sale at Adorama, I had to snap it up. It came perfectly setup from the EVH factory and the only thing needed to be done was to tune it properly. The D-Tuna is great to switch to drop D tunings. The Frankenstrat plays like a dream. The fretboard is like butter and the the action is ideal for playing hard rock and metal. The pickup gives you an excellent approximation of Eddie's brown sound. I am ecstatic with my purchase and this guitar is the perfect homage to the master. RIP Eddie!Tomas

Overall: I was excited to receive this guitar as it was on back order I got the black and yellow bumblebee. After receiving it I made some adjustments to the tremolo and found that the spring cavity was bare wood / looked like it was chisel out with a screwdriver and it was not routed or CNC'd flat. Worse than that the wood under the Floyd rose was cracked and the finish was cracked as well. Basswood is a very light and soft wood so I am guessing the trem was pushed back during shipment or during setup at the factory and not seen by the staff as it is only visible when you remove the Floyd. I am a woodworker and beginning luthier so I corrected these issues myself and reinforced the thin section under the bridge with a custom fitted piece of maple and routed out the trem cavity so it is flat and sprayed the trem pocket with flat black paint looks like it should have when it left the factory now. I know I probably should have sent it back but overall I really like the guitar and I think Eddie would approve of my work.Douglas

This guitar has my favorite neck. The fretwork is amazing and the neck plays itself. This surprised me coming from fat Les Paul necks. Super easy to play, which, in turn, makes you sound better. I was very impressed with the sound and the functionality of the electronics. I’m a big Van Halen fan but don’t play a whole lot of it and this guitar sounds great for all kinds of other stuff, so long as you’re playing hard rock/early metal. Cleans up great with the volume knob but let’s be real – with no neck pickup, cleans aren’t really what you’re going for. Out of the box, was not intimated at all and there were a couple of paint dings and imperfections. Floyd also didn’t hold tune super well but with a solid setup and lubing up the fine tuners, it plays and sounds great. I had one of these a couple of years back and sold it foolishly to fund other purchases but hear I am, back again after purchasing again. It really is an awesome guitar and I am partial to the b/w color scheme with the Strat-style input jack. My Les Paul Custom is better quality but this guitar honestly sounds as good or better for a third of the price. And this guitar makes you a better player and you realize how amazing of a guitarist Eddie was considering how basic and simple this guitar is. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.Arpeggio5150

Eddie inspired so many folks to pick up the guitar. This is my second EVH model and I am amazed by this guitar every time I play it. This model was on my bucket list of guitars and when it went on sale at Adorama, I had to snap it up. It came perfectly setup from the EVH factory and the only thing needed to be done was to tune it properly. The D-Tuna is great to switch to drop D tunings. The Frankenstrat plays like a dream. The fretboard is like butter and the the action is ideal for playing hard rock and metal. The pickup gives you an excellent approximation of Eddie's brown sound. I am ecstatic with my purchase and this guitar is the perfect homage to the master. RIP Eddie!Tomas

Ultimately, this guitar is terrific! It seems to be one of the few Squiers that has better than not appointments (considering the fact that they are generally "bare bones" in terms of body woods, etc …) If you're new & want a good single coil strat sound…..yep…….if you know what you're doing already & want a strat you can woop on……yep…..if you want a nice sounding guitar that would normally cost a few $$ more for equal quality?? ……..still yep…… Automatically, add a couple sets of strings to your cart too (I snagged a couple DR Blues 10-46 sets, although the stock Fenders don't sound bad at all honestly) & stretch em on! The only tuning issues I experienced was due to needing to stretch em out a few times to stay tuned (***….tug the string from bridge to nut, back n forth like you were playing a chello with a bow hahaha ….., while also continuing to tune them back up repeatedly). From there, you should be dialed & throughly enjoy this killer, cost efficient strat just about as much as you'd appreciate one that cost a grand!!! Cheers!!T Dogg

This is an incredible guitar ! I bought it as a modding platform, but after having spent a few hours with it, I quickly decided it what mostly stay untouched. These are economic tuners, but man do they stay in tune. After polishing and dressing the frets, graphite-ing the nut, and replacing the strings, I had to tune twice in a 2 week period ! The original plan was to replace them with vintage style tuners, but why waste the money, they're great ! I bought the shell pink, and the color, fit and finish are perfect. It weighs 7.5 lbs, so on the lighter side, which I love. The neck has a better looking wood grain than my Vintage Modified '70s, and about the same feel, at least I don't feel a difference. I don't know if it's because of the top load hard tail bridge or what, but this guitar is VERY resonant, and sustains forever. The pick ups are definitely not top of the line, as the price implies, but they sound really good. My original plan was to replace them with Kent Armstrongs, but I really liked the neck PU a lot, and while I don't have strong opinions either way about the middle and bridge, I thought I would try replacing the electronics first. I installed a Gunstreet Wiring Shop Blender harness (blends neck and bridge PUs), and now I get all the tones I could possibly want. I'm definitely keeping the stock PUs ! Like I said, with a little fine tuning of the set up, it plays and sounds like a dream, looks fantastic, and is priced incredibly well. I couldn't recommend it more.Playin for fun

This is my first electric guitar. It is well made and arrived in great condition. The Scan set up is a real plus and ensured it was ready to play straight out of the box. Everything you need to start your guitar journey is in the package. The included amp is small and simple to use. More than adequate for practice and home use. The Fender Play Instruction is well worth looking into. Overall an excellent package worthy of serious consideration.Heathpk

I bought this as a beginner. To the untrained ear, as in my case, this guitar will last for a long time until I'm ready to upgrade. I recommend this set to any age group that would like something to start with.Justin

I am BLOWN AWAY!! I have gotten a LOT of guitars in the mail lately and this one is THE BEST DEAL I HAVE EVER HAD ON AN ELECTRIC GUITAR IN MY LIFE! Someone set this up PERFECTLY! I tuned it and it plays AWESOMELY!! The action is perfect. Nice, heavy construction, smooth neck, low action, perfect nut, perfect frets, even set up for 10's and that's the size I always use! Mine came with a hard case but they usually sell with a bag and you can see that they aren't just thin layered cheap bags, they are padded with zipper pockets and look like a heavy duty backpack for your instrument. The sticker on the peel-off plastic says it was set up here in the USA and you can tell. The ChromaCast cases are excellent, their cables are great, heavy duty, the picks are even pretty good, the strings are called Maximum Sustain and it does have noticeably long sustain! Sawtooth guitars are a cut above all the other lower priced instruments. I've played most of the less expensive guitars available today and Sawtooth guitars are top notch! I even saw Micheal Angelo Bateo playing them in the last NAMM videos! They are WORTH IT! A total joy to play! I will be getting more of these and you should too!!morbidforbid

Overall a very nice guitar, nice lite weight, set up out of the box. The only negative issue is the tremolo bar is very stiff.Jonnyray

I purchased this guitar when it was $95 off full price. So that kind of makes it a worthwhile purchase. Definitely not worth full price in my opinion. Poorly packed with insufficient padding in the box allowed two of the strings to be bent during shipping. I assume this happened during shipping. They wouldnt send bent strings right? Thankfully they provided back up strings… The nut is very poorly crafted. You can visibly see burrs and imperfections in the nut that cause the strings to ring out of tune on certain parts of the fret board even after tuning. The pick-up selector nob fell right off first time I adjusted it. I will have to glue it myself. When the notes do play out true the triple pick ups sound better than the Peavy beginner guitar I used to have– Which only had two pickups and came in a similar starter package but was about half the price as this guitar. I think if I research how to fix some of the issues I can make it playable. But this guitar is far from playable out of the box. Fairly poor quality control.Cody

I was looking forward to ordering this as my first guitar after taking some classes a couple years back. The shipping was remarkably fast–however, when the product arrived the amp was completely broken. Upon plugging the guitar into the amp and strumming, it would make a horrendous scratching, broken sound. Plucking strings has the exact same effect, and occasionally the amp will cut off after a second of playing. I've tried adjusting the dials, turning overdrive on and off, I even bought a new cord thinking that was the issue to no avail. To make matters worse I have called the customer support number multiple times asking if I could recieve a partial refund, or ship back the amp for a functioning replacement–every time I'm left on hold before the call disconnects, if I can even get through to begin with. The only reason this isn't a one star review is that the guitar itself works fine and looks beautiful! I wouldn't reccomend buying the full set if they don't bother to make sure one of the most essential parts is functioning before shipping however.James B.

In December 2020, I purchased the Beginner Electric Guitar Kit w/ Case, 10W Amp, Tremolo Bar – 39in. The packaging was excellent and the delivery was on time. Initially, I purchased it for my kids but they did not express any interest. So, I took up the guitar myself and started learning via YouTube. I popped a few strings and when I took it to the guitar shop to have the strings replaced, they were pleasantly surprised by the quality workmanship of the guitar. Since then, I've learned to tune the guitar and replace the strings myself – courtesy of YouTube. The guitar is really great and I play it everyday. Thank you BCP for the great service, affordable pricing and an awesome guitar!Tony

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'm not a great player but enjoy guitars and have a few. The box says, "Everything you need to start playing." That's true! Here's some detail: It's made in Indonesia, not China. The guitar is a beautiful candy apple red (limited edition – though "bullet Stratocasters" are available in other colors too) with a great paint job. Like most Stratocasters it has a contoured body, very comfortable unlike most squared off Telecaster bodies. The neck appears to have little to no finish on it but is very smooth and quite playable. The fret ends I'd describe as normal on a budget guitar, no sharp ends, but some weren't very smooth either. I noticed no high frets, and after fingering every fret on every string, no fret buzzing. It comes with a spare tremolo spring, tremolo arm, and two Allen wrenches one to adjust the truss rod, one for adjusting string height. Even came with 2 owner's manuals and 3 months of Fender Play online guitar lessons – which are great! The only thing I had to do was tune the guitar and it stays in tune pretty good during practice sessions. The pickup switch, tone and volume controls, and input jack were all fine. It came with what appeared to be a cheap Fender strap, but upon further inspection it's made of sturdy nylon with leather ends that were easy to install on the guitar. It's rather short, so I extended it as far as it would go, which was good enough for me, but if you're tall of play with a guitar hanging way down, it will be too short. It came with 3 Fender tortoise-shell-colored medium picks. Also came with a 10' (9' 10" is what I measured) Fender brand guitar cord. I think the cord is high quality. The amp is a Squier 10G which is the same as a Fender 10G, just with a different logo (I have a Fender 10G also). The amp cord is about 5' long, which is nice and better than the short cords on my Marshall MG15FX amps. The amp has a 6" speaker and provides 10 watts of power into 4 ohms. Most guitar speakers are 8 or 16 ohms, so it really is a small solid-state amp (would have 5 watts into an 8-ohm load). The size of the amp is amazingly small. It will take up less space than a pair of shoes in your closet, fit under your bed easily, in a backpack, school locker, etc. You'd think it wouldn't be able to produce any good sound because it's so small, but it's quite surprising. I own two to of these amps and smile/giggle every time I play them. I know one professional music school that uses only these amps for numerous students – it's all they need to learn to play in a small classroom. If I put the amp on volume 5 and the guitar on 5, it's plenty loud in a bedroom for practice (actually I prefer "4" on the guitar). If I put the amp volume on 8 and the guitar on 10 its way too loud and uncomfortable in a bedroom environment. The tone controls on the guitar when set from 1 to about 4 or 5 sound bad, horribly muddy. But from 5 up (mostly 8 to 10) it sounds good. Want to play "Sunshine of Your Love" and need a little "crunch?" Put the gain on 7 and push in the button to select the gain channel (it has clean and gain channels – it's so small you have to be careful not to knock the amp over when you push the button in) and voila' it has crunch and sounds better than you'd think! Will it sound like a Traditional Gibson Les Paul with Gibson "57" pups through a Marshall Origin 50 cranked or an American Fender Strat Ultra through a Fender Deluxe Reverb (tube one)? No, it won't, don't expect it too, but you won't be paying thousands for it either! Look at the price! All I can say is, WOW! For the money if you don't own any guitars at all, or if you're a curious collector like I am, I think it's an amazing value. The Affinity Strat packs are nice too!Nigel

I haven't had an electric guitar since I was a teenager and wanted an inexpensive one just to get back in the game. After reading many positive reviews and watching several videos on YouTube, I thought I would give it a chance, although I had very low expectations given the price point. Boy, was I right. This thing is junk! It will not hold tune even during the tuning process. By the time you get all 6 strings "tuned"…the first string is already flat. And don't even think about actually playing it in tune. It ain't happening. I hate that they call this a "beginner's" guitar. I'm sure many kids have completely given up on the guitar, as I did, because the lousy Chinese piece of wood with strings was just too frustrating to enjoy learning. Now, you could do what all the bloggers and Youtubers suggest and put another $300 worth of upgraded parts in this piece of junk to make it close to playable. Or, you could save yourself, and/or your child, the frustration and just pony up the money for a good guitar. Also, the amp in this kit is about as good as the backseat speaker in your grandmother's car. If there is anything good I can say about this guitar, it is a nice color and seems to be painted well. I wanted a white guitar to offset my black Yamaha APX600 acoustic. Which, by the way, is a much better guitar.GSW1

Played bass and electric guitar in high school, I recently retired, and got back into playing with an acoustic guitar about 4 years ago, and I wanted a electric guitar just for playing around. Strings were dirty, and some minor adjustments needed to be made, but overall a good guitar. As long as you remember it's not a $800.00 guitar and don't have any unrealistic expectations, and know how to do minor work on it, you'll be just fine with this, you can't beat the price.Anthony

Overall: This is my umpteenth Epiphone custom sg guitar ive bought since the last guitar i had which was the more lower end 61 standard i bought here used last year. The caps pots and Gibson USA burstbuckers are definitely a step up in the right direction and are true to the original reissue Sg standards back in the beginning of the Gibson sg. It sounds like a 2000 dollar Gibson reissue sg but at Epiphone import prices. I intend on keeping this guitar for a lifetime and is a good backup guitar to my similarly pricef esp ltd viper 1000 deluxe i bought a year ago from a competitor in the now disconnected tiger eye finish from zZounds. Lastly i also intend on getting a real Gibson sg custom 63 version used for a discounted price. One more thing i might buy a backup les Paul sg standard by Epiphone just in case this one gets stolen or lost. Thank you Epiphone custom for stepping up your game and making better sg custom shop guitars than in the past. The black Epiphone sg custom with gold hardware is no joke either and i might another one when i get done paying for this Les Paul sg standard first fron here.Isaac

I got this guitar in sparkling burgundy and the finish is beautiful. The workmanship on this guitar is great; it feels very high quality. The fretwork is also really good, with no fret ends sticking out to cut my hands. That being said, the pickups are not very good. I initially debated purchasing the guitar since it sounded very ice-picky and thin when I played it in the store. But I decided to take a chance, knowing the return policy that GC has. I brought it home and the first thing I did was go over it completely. The fretboard was very dry. Even my wife, who doesn't play guitar, looked at it and commented on that. So removed the strings and polished the frets and cleaned/conditioned the fretboard. Then I swapped out the Alnico Classic Pro pickups, which are rather bad, and put in a set of Probucker 2/3 pickups that I had sitting around. Better strings, polished frets, and some nicer alnico 2 pickups made a huge difference. It sounds full and thick and warm, and it plays like an angel. I highly recommend it, as long as you can swap out the pickups.Robert

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

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

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

I 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.

1 month review with guitar being setup professionally: Great pickups and tone and overall good sounding guitar after a proper setup, gorgeous nitro finish and paintjob. Relic effects are beautiful. The nitro finish feels thin enough for you to eventually make your own marks from repeated playing – a perfect way to tell a story and give the guitar character. Worn in neck feels amazing to play and not sticky to touch. Worth noting that the Pure Vintage 59 pickups on these don't have a reverse-wound middle pick, so there will be hum including positions 2 and 4. If you are easily annoyed with single coil hum, these pickups might not be for you. Also worth noting that these pickups do sound a bit warmer than a stock Fender Player pickups. These respond so MUCH better to high gain type of playing, all while still sounding amazing on low-gain and clean playing. Despite the pros, there are still some areas are lacking and needs improvement. The guitar had razor sharp frets along the binding that could easily cut you, meanwhile I have a $700 MIM fender player didn't have this problem straight out of the box. It's crazy to think that $700 guitar went through better QA than a $1200 guitar, but whatever, the frets are bound to be polished and worked on anyway with your initial setup regardless. CME's shipping page policies say "Every guitar gets a full inspection, as well as basic setup." Guitar came with an inspection card that had overall playability specs checked but some of it was questionable. The guitar was not playable at all out of the box despite letting it acclimate for over a day before opening BUT that is a given considering it spent time in a delivery truck trunk in freezing winter. However, it was a bit bogus how they even checked off volume output when the pickups were NOWEHERE near the appropriate height out of the box and there was BARELY any audible output on the treble side of the guitar. I highly doubt weather and temperature fluctuation will make the pickup screws spin by themselves to the degree at which the pickups came out of the box. Secondly, the tremolo springs at the back also weren't ******* in the appropriate depth for a either a floating or flushed trem setup – it was just sort of in the middle of the cavity. Weather fluctuation from their shop and may have affected string tension, but I also don't think it would make the claw springs in the back unscrew themselves to the degree the guitar came. Makes me wonder how thorough the inspection was. These might not matter as much to some especially those who will get their new guitars setup anyway, but it's good to note that you may still need to budget for a setup if you aren't doing it yourself. Although there could've been improvements on Fender and CME's part that I don't think could be blamed on external factors such as weather and climate fluctuations, overall, I would still 100% recommend this guitar, and it's a gem. The guitar played well after a proper setup, so I'm happy with it now. The price may be too expensive for some considering it's not made in USA, but it must be considered that this is the cheapest proper nitro-finish guitar you will currently find. The next best thing are Fender custom shop, so this guitar is perfect for those looking to enjoy vintage style paint/nitro body finish, and vintage specs without paying custom shop prices. The appearances are just a plus, since they sound and play amazing after a proper set up.Carlos T.

I've been playing for a little while, I rehearse with my band once/twice a week so my guitars definitely get played quite a bit, I've preferred Stratocasters from an early age. The shape is legendary and the tone is versatile. I own Chinese, Japanese, U.S. and Mexican Strats. This one is very comparable to my American Professional Stratocaster, the neck profile, the weight and intonation. Electronics are great, single coils produce a sweet twangy clean tone and the humbucker roars really nice with the right amount of gain/distortion. Makes it a very comfortable instrument that plays as easy as mantequilla on a hot tortilla. Only issue, (hence the 'almost comparable to MIA strats comment in the headline) are the frets… They are a little bit on the sharp side, I'm guessing it comes down to a player's preference? A competent luthier can dress the fret ends and make this one a real player/main axe. Other than the sharp frets, everything else is pretty solid and straight, the vatos down in Ensenada MX do great work producing these!Benjamin

So my story goes like this, I flew into Portland Oregon for work and immediately drove from the airport to Guitar Center. Upon walking in, someone was shredding on a guitar and it went on for a good 10 minutes. The guitar he was playing was the Candy Red Burst Fender Stratocaster Player Series. After he was done, I grabbed it and saw why he played it so long. It felt just solid in the hands. The strings, fret board and neck were silky smooth; Super easy to glide up and down with no fret buzz. The pickups are all Fender Player Stratocaster series which I have had no issue with and perform great out of the box. Also, just holding the guitar is a treat in the hands. It's a beautiful guitar. The Candy Red Burst has a very high functioning coat that gives a deep black fade anyway you turn it. It also fit my bill for something to remember Oregon by since the guitar is a deep Rose Red and Portland is know as the City of Roses.The Pau Ferro fingerboard is also eye candy as it has black veins that run through the grain matching the black hardware of the guitar. Other then that, I have had this guitar for 5 months as of this review and absolutely love it. The guitar holds its tune very well I enjoy playing it every time. Wait, you still reading this? Go get one already!Allan

Sound: The stock pickups sound great especially with high gain. Nice crunch and break up. Features: For me the reason that I bought this model is that it is the least expensive way to get a real Edge tremolo. I can do subtle things with the Edge that I can’t do on an Original Floyd Rose. The bar is easier to position and it stays where ever you put it. As long as the torsion bushings on the bar aren’t worn out, the pop in bar is neither too tight or too sloppy. Value: This guitar is worth every penny. Manufacturer Support: I did not use Ibanez customer service and I did order half a dozen sets of torsion bushings, but had to order them from different places. The Wow Factor: I love the color of this one, Desert Sun Yellow. Overall: In the last 2 months I’ve bought 5 different Ibanez guitars, both lower and higher price. I must say that this guitar is the most bang for the buck out of any of my 21 guitars that I own.Got more than 200 bucks off on mine as it was sold as a slight blemish. When the guitar arrived, I noticed it did have a hairline crack in the paint on the bass side at the neck pocket. That was the only flaw I could find and it probably would have happened anyway if I would have got a “new” one.This is the shreddiest guitar that I have. The only thing that I had to address is that the 6th fret was a little proud. Other than that the fret job was good. All the frets were shiny and smooth and no fret sprout.This is the guitar that is at the price point where if you spend more money, you aren’t going to get much better. And the fit and finish were top notch.Scott

Overall: This guitar was a total impulse buy and I’m so glad I bought it! It’s easily worth twice the price of it. Can’t get too many mid tier guitars that are neck thru with decent pickups and a 5-way switch that has a fast and slim neck at this price. I mostly play baritone 6 strings and 7 strings but I needed a 25.5” scale for drop C and this is perfect for it with 10-54 strings. I did upgrade the nut with a Graphtech tusq nut and Hipshot locking tuners with knurled tuner buttons and looks even more badass while staying in perfect tune! I have an Ibanez rgib6 Iron Label 28” baritone and this is up there with that as far as quality and playability. The stock pickups aren’t bad at all and definitely surprised me cuz that’s usually the first thing I’ll change in an inexpensive guitar. As you can see by the other reviews people say it’s a great guitar and they’re not lying so if you’re on the fence about getting it then go for it! You won’t be disappointed at all and if for some reason you are then zZounds has a return policy within like 30-45 days so you won’t be stuck with a guitar you don’t love.Josh

Overall: I was excited to receive this guitar as it was on back order I got the black and yellow bumblebee. After receiving it I made some adjustments to the tremolo and found that the spring cavity was bare wood / looked like it was chisel out with a screwdriver and it was not routed or CNC'd flat. Worse than that the wood under the Floyd rose was cracked and the finish was cracked as well. Basswood is a very light and soft wood so I am guessing the trem was pushed back during shipment or during setup at the factory and not seen by the staff as it is only visible when you remove the Floyd. I am a woodworker and beginning luthier so I corrected these issues myself and reinforced the thin section under the bridge with a custom fitted piece of maple and routed out the trem cavity so it is flat and sprayed the trem pocket with flat black paint looks like it should have when it left the factory now. I know I probably should have sent it back but overall I really like the guitar and I think Eddie would approve of my work.Douglas

This guitar has my favorite neck. The fretwork is amazing and the neck plays itself. This surprised me coming from fat Les Paul necks. Super easy to play, which, in turn, makes you sound better. I was very impressed with the sound and the functionality of the electronics. I’m a big Van Halen fan but don’t play a whole lot of it and this guitar sounds great for all kinds of other stuff, so long as you’re playing hard rock/early metal. Cleans up great with the volume knob but let’s be real – with no neck pickup, cleans aren’t really what you’re going for. Out of the box, was not intimated at all and there were a couple of paint dings and imperfections. Floyd also didn’t hold tune super well but with a solid setup and lubing up the fine tuners, it plays and sounds great. I had one of these a couple of years back and sold it foolishly to fund other purchases but hear I am, back again after purchasing again. It really is an awesome guitar and I am partial to the b/w color scheme with the Strat-style input jack. My Les Paul Custom is better quality but this guitar honestly sounds as good or better for a third of the price. And this guitar makes you a better player and you realize how amazing of a guitarist Eddie was considering how basic and simple this guitar is. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.Arpeggio5150

Eddie inspired so many folks to pick up the guitar. This is my second EVH model and I am amazed by this guitar every time I play it. This model was on my bucket list of guitars and when it went on sale at Adorama, I had to snap it up. It came perfectly setup from the EVH factory and the only thing needed to be done was to tune it properly. The D-Tuna is great to switch to drop D tunings. The Frankenstrat plays like a dream. The fretboard is like butter and the the action is ideal for playing hard rock and metal. The pickup gives you an excellent approximation of Eddie's brown sound. I am ecstatic with my purchase and this guitar is the perfect homage to the master. RIP Eddie!Tomas

Sound: I can get any sound I want just through the pickup selector, tbx and midrange boost controls, and the master volume takes it over the edge for extra crunch. Playing by myself I preferred the middle pickup, but in a band situation the neck pup cuts through brilliantly with lovely clean treble twang. This is a great guitar for biting blues or rock tones, or dial it back for a nice soft clean tone. I mostly play through a Blackstar TVP 60 or Marshall DSL40, but I keep both mostly clean where it's just starting to break up, which I can control by my attack. Features: The best feature for me is the playability of the neck. The satin finish combined with the low vintage frets is just super smooth. I played about a dozen different Strat models before finding the EC, and once I played it there was no other choice to make. The noiseless vintages pups are a breeze, and the controls do everything Fender claims. Ease of Use: The EC just fell to hand for me immediately, like no other guitar I'd played before or since. 'Nuff said. The pups allow me to keep tight control on feedback only when I want it. Quality: This is a pure quality instrument, and I love everything about it. Having said that, after 2 years there's quite a bit of fret wear from bending, so I'll need to refret with stainless steel wire for longer wear. The volume pot has started to get a bit dirty and noisy, so it needs a clean, even though I've only played in clean environments. Value: Worth it's weight in gold. I have not played another guitar that makes me want to buy it. Manufacturer Support: Haven't need manufacturer support, but in Australia I have Fender-registered luthiers. The Wow Factor: This is EC's guitar, as close as I'll ever get, which is a big selling point. But sheer playability, quality, and value for money, plus pride of ownership, make it simply the best. Overall: Just a fabulous, playable guitar, the best I've ever played.Peter

Arrived in great shape. So far, I love this guitar, and despite all the videos I watched and reviews I'd read, I was still amazed at the sheer number of tones you can get out of it. With the mid and treble boosts, you can really go from "typical strat" tones to get incredible sustain and hit the front of the amp quite hard to get good breakup.Pros:- American Strat quality, fit and finish is good, rolled fret board, etc.- The electronics – endless variety of tones. Not great for modern metal or hard rock, but anything else will work.Cons:- This would be a hard guitar to work into a live venue if you play with other guitars as well. It is LOUD, so much louder than my Les Paul or anything else I own that I have to play with the levels and EQ on the amp. In my house, no big deal. At a gig, that may be tough. That said, I don't own other guitars with active electronics, so maybe other active pickups are also this much louder?- Requires you to unscrew the back plate to change the battery. I'm sure this keeps costs down, but on my active basses it's a lot easier to open the battery compartment without screws. Make sure you have a full battery before a gig.- I was surprised at the amount of set-up I had to do to get rid of fret buzz. Given the amount of distance in shipping, time in warehouses, temperature/humidity differences, etc. my guess is that it was probably fine when it left the factory, but it's the first guitar I've bought online that had so many strings/frets buzzing. Luckily a couple turns on the saddle screws fixed it all without appreciably raising action.Neither good nor bad: – The neck profile is unique to the Clapton. It feels like "a more playable vintage profile" to me. It's definitely not a modern profile. You'll either like it or you won't 🙂 I found it really easy to adjust to, and it seems to work great for "thumb over"- The bridge is similarly vintage, and comes blocked. If you really want the newer Fender bridge, you are out of luck. Given my set-up experience (above), I'm not convinced I could just "remove the block" and have it playable without additional set-up.- Tweed case looks amazing, but is not form fitting like the new TSA case that comes with other American Fenders. I wanted a tweed case, and I don't fly with my guitar, so not a big deal to me.Overall I feel like I made the right choice in buying a Strat, and I can't put it down. If your goal is to make Clapton sounds (or any other great Blues/Rock sounds) – this is a fantastic guitar.Metal Head

The Mahogany body and maple neck through construction is enough for the price alone. On top of that you get Duncan Designed HB 103's which are some of the best passive pickups on the market. Next you get gold floyd rose hardware on a beautifully finished guitar. The binding and craftsmanship were excellent. All I had to do was ser the intonation. The tuners are fine except a little tight on a couple of them. Other than that, it is a flawless instrument. The only thing I might upgrade are the zinc alloy string blocks on the fr bridge but I like the way they sound for now. Just not sure if they will strip later on as zinc is a softer metal. The feel, tone and sustain is exceptional. This guitar produces the most brutal tones and I would put it up against a USA made model any day. Being made in Indonesia did not hurt the quality one bit. This guitar is a monster and my favorite 6 string.ZerovoreZ

This is a great guitar, overall, especially for the price. I replaced the pickups with Seymour Duncans, as I am partial to them…but the stock pickups are really pretty good. I will say that I was very disappointed, when I changed the pickups, to find that I had to replace the locking nut, as one of the bolt holes was stripped and I could not lock the E & A strings down. Thanks be to God, I have several extra ones on hand…but most people don't… But, having replaced the nut, and given the frets a light sanding and polish, and oiled the neck…this guitar looks and plays great! As well as any high end guitar… I also love the Jackson Floyd Rose bridges. They are great quality, and they do everything that an expensive tremolo bridge does. The bar fits tightly, it always floats right back in tune, no matter how hard you abuse it…you can do flutters, dive bombs, etc…a very good bridge in my opinion. I highly recommend this guitar for anyone who is looking for a versatile guitar (but mostly metal), and doesn't want to spend $800 on a pro series. This baby will do the job every bit as well, with a bit of TLC and the gift from God to play. Seriously.disciple7777

This is truly the best current production strat by fmic you can get outside of the custom shop. And not just for the money, like overall. I've tried/owned Strats from the player, vintera, performer, pro, american OG, ultra, custom shop. Outside of the custom shop this is the crown jewel of the line. The Cort factory knows what they're doing and does it better than american line guitars at 3-4 times the price. It has the same narrow tall frets they're putting on the american pros, which make bends go off like butter. It's an extremely fast feeling neck without being too skinny (I have large hands and generally prefer a bigger neck, but I love this neck. It's like a medium c with the slightest hint of a v, not a baseball bat but not a toothpick). The back of the neck is lacquered but it never gets sticky when sweating. The fretwork is immaculate, better than all the fender Mexican guitars. The frets are polished to a mirror finish, the fretboard edges are rolled. The tuners are smooth turning vintage style. Bone nut, steel saddles, perfect semi-light weight… it literally ticks every single box a vintage strat enthusiast could want. Oh and the pickups? Don't worry about having to swap them out for some expensive after market pups. They are PERFECTLY voiced for this instrument. Plenty of low end but not overwound, striking clarity and glassiness, middle positions quack properly, and the bridge pup is even wired to the tone control stock! I'd wager to bet this will become your #1 strat…JT

Overall: Always wanted a Nashville Tele but several things were stopping me from buying it. I could have made some mods myself but that kind of defeats the purpose of a new guitar. No bridge + neck pickup option was a biggie.No locking tuners. All my guitars have locking tuners. 3 saddles instead of 6 individual. I just prefer the 6 even for a Tele.No noiseless pickups. Now they've also done a couple of things I wasn't necessarily looking for but are nice addition. The rolled fingerboard edges are a really nice touch as well as the belly cut. Again, not expected but very nice additions especially since I can roll my own fingerboards but have never attempted my own belly cut on a Tele and probably wouldn't but they are really nice on my G&L's. For the not so great stuff. The neck had entirely too much relief in it but this was rectified with a truss rod adjustment. I did have to do a fret level, crown and polish. The guitar also had a bit of fret sprout and some sharp ends. I easily fixed these issues but would understand others might have to take it to their local tech for a fret job. After a little work on my part the guitar plays wonderfully. The neck is really comfortable. This is every bit as good a guitar as the US produced Fender's I have played recently. The sounds are exactly what you would and should expect from a Nashville Tele. Overall, this is a very well made guitar. Played 4 gigs with it over the New Year break and I gotta say, this is probably going to be right there onstage with my EBMM's. No, it's not as good as my Cutlass and LIII's but it doesn't need to be. I think this guitar is a great bargain and I'm pretty picky. Fender finally got the Nashville Tele right. It's really nice to see.Richie

What a absolutely beautiful instrument. I got mine surf green and the online pictures don't do it justice. Guitar arrived flawless and played great out of the box. Action seemed a little higher than I like, but still plays great with the vintage frets to my surprise. Definitely has that telecaster sound with very nice cleans and twang. Also hitting it with a tube screamer or distortion pedal it has a snarl. Playing through a PRRI, 78 SFDR and 67 Vibro Champ. The C shaped neck does seem slightly beefier than other C shapes on my AVRI strats, but I find it just as comfortable and a nice difference. Clay inlays look really good on the rosewood neck also. There is also a tint to the neck that's more than what was on the previous line of AVRI guitars but I think it looks good.Don

This telecaster is legendary. First, the noiseless pickups immediately distinguish this tele from others and result in ZERO hum and stays that way on all pickups. Second, the C-shape fretboard design makes for effortless phrasing. Third, this guitar is impressively light (much more so than my strat) and is therefore my go-to guitar for gigging. And I should add the unique color configuration makes this tele stand out from the rest. Apparently "Aged Candle Apple Red" is Fender's own thing. Finally, I should note that I run this guitar through my Marshall DSL40CR. The combination makes for great depth and a fullness that rivals my strat — including on clean tones. I'm very happy with this purchase and highly recommend it to anyone seeking a compliment to their rig (particularly if you have a strat and want to expand the universe of sounds).Chad the Bad

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

This is a beautiful guitar and if it were 1000$ it would be well worth it. For 2300$ though I would like to have some inlays that don't look like cheap plastic and not have fret buzz. The buzz could be fixed with a set up but for 2300$ I feel like it should come set up. On the back the slots for the cover plates are not routed so they just sit on top. Not a deal breaker but this does make it look a little incomplete. Overall it sounds great minus the fret buzz. I'd say no better than a se model and not worth the extra money unless you just want a bolt on neck. I prefer bolt on or through necks which is why I bought the ce but I plan to return it and either get an ernie ball music man or an American strat.Not satisfied with AMS quality c

I bought this because I was in the market for a US guitar and I already had a US Strat. I was thinking about a Gibson Les Paul Classic and then PRS showed up on my radar. I did some research and decided to play both. I have an Epiphone Les Paul so I thought I would prefer the Gibson. I played this guitar first and the Les Paul just didn't feel right after that. I bought this one a couple weeks later. After having it for an extended period (12 hours) I started thinking about selling my Strat and buying a Silver Sky. This guitar just felt so good I didn't want anything else. The neck feel is fantastic. The tone options are amazing The color is sooooooo much more vibrant in person than in pictures It is sitting in the rack in the other room while I type this and I wish I was playing it right now. It was totally worth every penny and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a true quality instrument.Jay P