Artist AP97 Honey Burst Chambered Electric Guitar review by Peter Northcote 

Not much of a recommendation given you are a grand dad playing at home.

You must be a right wanker!

This was done through and AXEFX FM3. A stock preset. I think a Deluxe Tweed into a 2x12 cab with some BBE distortion. Reverb and DLY to taste.

Yes,I'd like to know that too.

Europa by Carlos Santana

What a stupid and sweeping statement!

I use an AXEFX for everything Amps and drive.

And therein lies the challenge with these guitars. Any additional work to get them set up properly costs additional money if you can't DIY. So a $450 AUD guitar can quckly become a $700 to $1000 guitar. You are then heading into Epiphone territory. And the Epi is probably going to have a much higher resale value.

@@karmicselling4252 Well yes you could look at it like that. Personally I think anyone looking at a guitar at this price point should expect it might need some minor setup work. If it doesn't, it's a bonus. But I've also had $1000+ guitars that needed work. Any new guitar could require work, which would require additional funds if you can't setup your own guitars.

@@peterschmidt9942 Peter, I agree with everything you say. I've had $3000+ guitars that needed work. But I know exactly what I want from my guitars. You sound like you do too. However, many people purchasing guitars at lower price points often don't understand that even a new instrument will probably require some sort of setup work. They spend $500 odd dollars and possibly end up with something that isn't quite right out of the box. They then either return the instrument or figure out they might have to spend more money get it playing right. The worse case scenario is that they persevere with an inferior instrument and eventually give up playing because it is all to hard. Saying all that, some of these Artist instruments look like absolute rippers. I'm seriously looking to buy one of these chambered LP clones. And of course I would get it set up properly and possibly swap out the pickups for something better. But I know exactly what I'm looking for in a guitar. And as I rarely sell my guitars, resale value is not important to me. Getting 95% of a real Gibson LP for 1/4 of the new retail cost is a very attractive proposition.

@@karmicselling4252 The main thing I see generally between a lower priced instrument is that they don't spend the time to set them up correctly by taking shortcuts. This could be uneven or sharp frets, generic cut nuts. It's forgivable and even a given on a lower priced instrument. Not to say all lower priced instruments are like this. But when you're seeing some of that on higher priced instruments (like Gibsons and Fender), there's no excuse when you're paying those sorts of dollars. Unfortunately, it's part and parcel with lower priced guitars. Especially in the beginner range. Nothing worse than giving a kid a present to start on and its not playable. But a lot of music shops do basic setups included in the price (strings, action, intonation and smooth sharp frets).