Hi John - I just bought one of these. Trying an Ibanez in GuitarGuitar, didn't like it and for laughs thought I'd try one of these. To my surprise it was better set up and intonated than the Ibanez. The action was pretty much perfect. So I bought it, and I think it's a great guitar with a lovely neck. I upped the strings to 10s, oiled the neck and might replace the pickups (I already have a few around). Very pleased with it. Ridiculous price. They are issuing them in nicer colours soon, so I might buy another for slide. Stop me before I kill again. If anyone is thinking of P90s, the chinese P90s from Yibuy are good and cost about £12.00 a pair. I have them in a strat copy.
Such a sleeper guitar man. It does everything from country to metal with such ease, and amazing tone and sustain. Sounds like a giant les paul or a twangy tele. I'm a big guy, and the short scale makes me feel even bigger. It's too easy to play, almost like a toy guitar, but the sound that comes out of it is totally unexpected. Only downside is that it will spoil you for life, and you will feel weird playing your other, regular scale guitars.
Why does this guitar feel and play so good you ask? Well, it’s essentially a 24” Les Paul. The neck width and thickness along with the 12” radius will blow you mind. I have the HH in gray ($100.00 used)..treated the fret board, dressed the fret ends and polished…lowered the nut action to precision….it’s my number one. Oh, and I set it up on 10’s…about to try 11’s. Can’t say enough great things about this guitar. A stage worthy sleeper for sure.
I like very much the shape of this guitar, the imperial blue is wonderful, the sound of pickups isn't hot but very useful in grunge rock music where We should have cold and dirty colors of the sound , thank you for your review
Just got one, out of the box it was a bit rough. The “setup” was pretty much nonexistent. Like yours the neck was a little bowed, the action was all over the place. The D and B strings were silly high for some reason. Also the intonation was flat on the big E,D and G strings. The unfinished maple neck was dry and a little course to the touch. The Indian laurel fretboard was super dry and rough. BUT... with a few twists of a hex key and a screwdriver I was able to give it an absolutely superb setup. Some Dunlop 65 lemon oil, a scotch bright pad and a lot of elbow grease and now the neck feels premium. Holy cow it’s so easy to fly on this short scale! I actually love the humbucker pickups, quite and dare I say spanky. Highly recommend for any level player. But a beginner should definitely have it set up and tweaked by a seasoned player.
Good stuff John. Got one of these coming in the post. Cheap as chips as they say. Good mod platform. Very cool of the viewer to send you one too. Nice one John. Stay safe maestro.
Great review John and always a pleasure to watch you play. I’ve played for 20 years and have proper Fenders, but for some reason this little guitar caught my eye and I just fancy it to add to my collection, and like you said maybe switch to it when playing live to play the odd 1 or 2 songs on it. Was skeptical with the price but I think you’ve persuaded me to take a punt!
mmmmm sounded better than I thought it would. The headstock looks a little out of place but like us 'oldies' who have a spread in the middle of the body rather than on the head, so it is to be expected.
A very good review, everything a newcomer to guitar buying would need to know and a nice sound demo. It’s quite amazing how much guitar you can get for not much money these days. Back in my early guitar playing days in the early 60s almost all inexpensive guitars were almost impossible to play and sounded awful, I’m sure that many would be players were put off for life by horrible sounding finger shredding first guitars.
Love the look of the guitar and my first thought was to mod one up with better pickups, coil taps etc. but then realised by the time I had added the cost I could get a twin humbucker Harley Benton with all that on already and save the hassle. It is, therefore, what it is - a great value for money starter guitar that would do anyone learning proud.
Thanks for the review. I saw one of these on Craigslist for $100 US, basically brand new.. still had plastic wrap on the pick guard (kid lost interest after a couple of lessons). So, after your review, I couldn't resist adding it to the quiver.. it plays real nice and a well made guitar. The strings are new, but thinking of going up to .10 (from .09), as the seem very slinky to me. I noticed if I "squeeze" chords too hard (i.e., too much pressure), they are off tune, but it's fine with a lighter touch. Maybe it's something I can get used to, but it plays different in that regard than my strat, tele, and acoustic. Anyways, thanks again for sharing and I now have something to possibly try modding and also a guitar that the kids into music at church can play with. Also, kudos & blessings on the zoe's place efforts.
Update- mods performed: Changed the nut to a graph tech tusq nut, installed black wilkinson ez lock tuners, refinished neck with light sanding (320,400,600), and light stain and then gunstock oil, lemon oil on fret board, plus changed bridge screws (shorter) for low E and G strings, to get intonation perfect. Plays great! Down the road may get a tortoise shell scratch plate. Having fun with it! Thanks again for the review.
John really like what you are doing for the charity. Live in the states I would gladly bid on some of these if shipping is not a problem? You have one of my favorite channels!
Goldberg 144 Thanks mate! I have shipped guitars overseas before & I'm happy to do so again, with one proviso... As it turns out I'm unable to insure them against damage (as I found out with the Flying V incident), I can't offer any compensation if it shows up damaged or goes missing 😟
Thats one hell of a guitar John for the price, dont know how they do it, but for any one just starting out, well for seasoned players to, you caunt go wrong, Cheers
I am a beginner though I have had a few guitars over the years and just bought one in today in Olympic white , thank you for the demonstration ! This IS a GREAT value guitar . The frets are a little scratchy both on the surface( esp bends)and the edges . The fretboard does feel a tad dry and the neck feels a little rough between first fret and the curve up to the nut . The action feels oddly low on the B and high E . Overall the pickups sound very nice to me and still has a Fender kinda sound in the Bridge position with tone up a little ☝. This hint of "twang" that I am getting may be due to the low action on 2 strings . Iplan on doing nothing to this guitar until I need to change the strings , so far I am loving the simplicity of a 2 pickup guitar with only 1 volume and tone control .
This coming from a guitar that my friends love ... An H.S.S. Korean Strat that they and I think is amazing but everything on it now having issues (input jack , volume , tone and 5 way selector and tuners/nut) .
John at it again with the magic fingers ha ha ha, I loved this track where do you get the backing track from are they all your own ?. I admire your efforts in the reviews and the honesty in all you show to the greater world. thank you so much for sharing this video and all your fantastic efforts on behalf of zoe's place. Can you send me your details re a pay pal donation as i know there are costs involved in the go fund me route. Thanks again.
Andrew Reynolds Cheers mate. I did the backing track, glad you like it 👍😀🎸 Email me via the details at the end of the video & I'll give you the payment details you asked for 😀
6 ft 7"!! F£%king hell John!! I was 6 ft last year but had a fall & shattered my spine in 5 places & also snapped my sternum & my hip & now I'm 5 ft 5". I also lost all dexterity & feeling in my left hand due to trapped nerves in my spine so couldn't play guitar for months but the feeling is coming back now thank f%£k! Slowly getting back to playing again. I thought that was it as guitar has been a constant companion since I was 10, I'm 43 now but thought my life was over without being able to noodle about on my guitars. I would die without guitar mate. You know what I mean I'm sure? Cheers lad. I'm shorter than Iggy Pop. Ha! A Midget! Lol. I have to laugh or I'll cry. ;)
Interesting comments about changing the pickups . I have one of these . Since I have to mainly play through headphones now I can hear tonal differences on my guitars . What would be the tonal differences if I put alnico pickups in ? . Thanks Neal .
Alnico pickups tend to sound more "transparent"... less muddy, with more definition. Play a chord and, even with gain, you'll heat the individual notes with more clarity.
@@JRobsonGuitar Thanks for that . I have got a les paul copy with Wilkinson ceramic pickups . That guitar probably sounds the best what own not too harsh . I will change or buy a new guitar with alnico pickups .
@@JRobsonGuitar thank you very much for your reply. I think I will order one of these I was between this and a cheap tele style. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos. Thanks again
Garrett Rodgers It's a close run thing. The HB is cheaper & if you're looking for a single coil sound that would be better. If humbuckers are your thing, you could mod the HB but then it would be the same sort of price as this one. Just down to personal preference, I guess.
