Edit: a couple things I want to clarify, because when I was editing, I cut these portions out to keep the pace of the video up, and people keep commenting about them. 1. I did stretch the strings. 2. When you intonate, loosen your string all the way. I did that here, just didn’t leave it in the edit. 3. The string gauge difference didn’t change the tension significantly because I also went from an e standard tuning to C standard. I apologize for any confusion, I will learn from these mistakes in the future. As of right now, they are actually on sale on Amazon! amzn.to/41jX59f
i have come to the Conclusion that these cheap guitars are perfect for learning Luthier skills. you can find what went wrong, what can be improved and what can be modded. I hate cheap guitars that are bottom barrel put together haphazardly and then advertised as a "Beginner Guitar". These guitars if you find cheap but its reasonable setup and is ok before setup around the 200 dollar range i think is great. the wood really is not the stuff you are buying, mainly the electronics and parts that are used.
@@neonblack211 depending on gauge and tuning, you can get the tensions almost or close to exact. best way is if you have 9-42 for e standard, if going to D standard would be 10-46 and the tension would feel the same. super light gauge for b standard i have usually seen 12-52 and works well for c standard because it is only half a step up intuning. Now the feeling and just the overall size difference i would say is big difference.
@@MorrisChannel4 I dano man if my guitar is set up for e standard... D standard works but feels completely different and C standard would be fine to play at home but not recordable without constant retuning and out of tune rock chords if you play too hard
As an alternative, you can pick up an entry level Jackson for around $200 as well. I picked up my JS22 7 string for $175 on sale, and the only guitar that I have which has more sustain is my $6k ESP neck thru. Seriously, these new Jacksons are awesome!
I was gonna say the same thing haha. Two friends and I all have one of the JS models, and mine was the worst out of the three. Sharp frets, but totally playable other than that. The other two guitars weren't nearly as sharp.
I got the white one, it came perfectly setup out of the box, plays incredible no buzzing anywhere, enough I justified putting a Nazgul/Sentient Duncan combo in it and its now one of my mains.
I just got those put in my Ibanez S maybe 2 months ago and love those. And a couple months before that, I got the Black Winters in my RG. Love both gitfiddles even more haha
Niiiiice!! Man, I got a 2012 Schecter Omen 7 that has been modded to hell and back, and ended up as my 'daily' player. My Solar tries to catch up but just can't lol. I got the same pups btw, Nazgul/Sentient ;)
Cheap guitars like this always make great project guitars. If the crappy stock pickups are microphonic or noisy, just swap them. Others have said that graphite or machine oil in the nut and stretching the strings are often the easiest solutions to tuning stability issues. Intentionally tuning a bit sharper than you normally would and running through your warmups like that when you first change them will often also help with breaking the strings in faster as well. I tend to play in C#, B, and A (both drop and standard for all 3) on non-baritone 6 string guitars, and when I first change the strings I tune to the standard tuning of the next one up for a bit before settling into whatever tuning I'm going to end up in.
This is exactly why I'm interested in this guitar. I am more interested in learning how to fix/set up guitars, so I'm in the market for problematic instruments, lol. Not too problematic, though, because I just want to learn how to make a decently playable instrument out of one that doesn't play well. Turning trash into treasure
I’m always amazed that tuning stability is discussed when people take a brand new guitar, drop way heavier strings on it right away. You need to re-cut the nut and account for the fact that you probably changed string tension by 15 lbs either way. You have to allow for the neck to adjust and acclimate itself. And make sure the strings move freely in the nut slots.
He did at the end say to take his comment on tuning stability w/a grain of salt b/c he does a lot of bending and he plays w/heavier picks so it's not uncommon for him to throw guitars that are in this price range out of tune. The strings are a good point. But at least he did acknowledge that it might just be him.
I paid $90 for a black Jackson Dinky off of craigslist... I detailed it, and spent $200 for a Seymore Duncan distortion set and $10 for new strings, set it up myself.. $300 total and i love that guitar...
I still wonder if he filed the nut slots so they don't bind up on the thicker strings not trying to be insulting but even guys that have been playing awhile sometimes over look small details like that.
I'd probably go with a Kramer Beretta at this price point. The one I had was perfect, the stock pickup was surprisingly very good for metal as well. Tuners were slightly less than good, but the action and neck shape was very comfortable to me.
Gotta file the nut out a bit for the bigger strings for tuning stability. Not as critical for a graphite based nut but for anything else, if you don't, you're gonna have a bad time
Glad to see guitar companies installing the bridge pickup closer to the bridge where it sounds the best, it literally loses all the harmonics if it's not in that sweet spot
You know what would be cool? Have one pickup but you can fine-tune it's position anywhere from bridge to neck. Or maybe even two single coils, but they can act as a humbucker and you can have them near each other, or one at the bridge and one at the neck and use them independently.
I've had my eye on one of these for a while now since they're kinda reminiscent of a Mayones. Except WAY cheaper. I love modding cheap guitars so I'll end up swapping everything anyways. 200 for the guitar, 55 for Tone Ninja locking tuners, 60 for a pair of GFS pickups (GuitarFetishs brand, they're excellent budget pickups), and maybe some strap locks.
Amazon had the white ones on sale for $120 a little while back (after coupon). I used different accounts and bought 5 of them to fix/set up so I can donate them to young aspiring guitarists this Christmas. All 5 came almost good to go out of the box. They were very playable, but needed nut work, fret polishing, neck and bridge adjustments, etc to be their best.. Did a fret level job on 3 of the 5. Great guitars for the price, but I would have preferred Jumbo or XJumbo frets instead of the narrow/tall. The gig bag is surprisingly decent too!
New strings tends to go flat so stretching each individual strings helps the guitar to stay in tune My strat which does not have a locking system or good tuning pegs but when I stretch the string back and forth until it gets in tune promise me I don't have to tune it for a week or so
Brush some gun oil on the saddles and nut. You don't want a friction grab there, it'll go out of tune fast. It will be on point first, then when you play it, the friction grab will let go.
While it is true that you could score a much better name brand guitar if you hunt around, but for me it's the the thrill of having something different. I love the idea of putting a little money into a great looking budget guitar, and have it perform as good as any.
Yeah, I agree with a previous comment you need to really stretch those Ernie ball strings, which are my personal choice as well. Also you cant intonate properly till those strings are stretched and resting in tune. They are in a constant state of pitch shift.
Pretty cool. Something I see all the time is some kid wants to get a guitar, and the parents don’t want to dump money just for the kid to toss it aside, so they go for the cheapest thing they can get by with. More times than not, it’s usually one of those squier starter packs that have the cheapest 6pt trem bridges, and it just doesn’t serve the student, especially if they like heavier music. This at least seems like a better option than that for a kid wanting to learn.
@@IndependenceGuitar This is why guitar manufacturing is in it's golden age at the moment. There are so many killer budget options available that can appeal to everyone. I would have killed for something like this when I was a kid and not the painful First Act starter kit I started out on.
Actually the #1 thing that affects tone isn’t even in the guitar. It’s the speakers within your amp/cab that changes sound, so those angry people could have had a good reason without realizing it.
You could totally buy some GFS Kwik-Plug pickups for that with a prewired harness for under $100. No soldering required! Add some quality locking tuners too. Now you have a serious metal machine for less than $200 more. The alternative is to get a Harley Benton for about $300 to $400 with better hardware. BTW, Harley Benton has an official US store on Reverb!
Ibanez Gio is probably one of the best budget/starter guitars you can get. There's TONS of them used everywhere online. New they're in the $150-200 range. Used, they usually go for around $100-120. I picked up an RG120 for $75 off Reverb. They were a Guitar Center exclusive model. Only real difference to the Gio is it has a floating bridge instead of fixed bridge. Has some chips and scratches but plays perfect with some TLC and new strings.
I have a Gio for free from my friend. And for being a beginner guitar that thing slaps. I never had it detune after the initial tuning, even going from E standard to Drop C. The pickups are definitely enough for the price and work good for metal. I 100% recommend Gios
Probably ships with 10s or even 9s and nut is probably cut accordingly. Putting your monster gauge strings on might mean you need to widen the nut slots a little or they will be catching ergo your tuning issues. I play hard tails with 10s and always use nut files 3 to 5 thou wider than the string. So long as you have a round/U profile to the slot, zero tuning issues 🤘
I bought myself a Jackson JS12 Dinky MR a month or two ago (in order to simply have a guitar at the ready on D sharp tuning) for roughly 190 bucks, and it continues to surprise me just how good that thing actually is. A solid guitar doesn't have to break the bank.
My first guitar was a Washburn, beginners pack. Around 2005 year. It always sounded good compared to expensive guitars. And is easy to play. It was $200 back then. Looks the same as the guitar you showed except all 4 pickups have controls on the Washburn and a whammy bar. I'd use the same strings too heavy gauge. I could toss it on the couch pick it up and it still be in tune.
Adding wax to pickups isn't all that difficult. Dipping them is a bit more intensive, but also doable. A friend of mine just did his pickups, "slightly" microphonic. He flaked up some wax, don't recall if it was beeswax or paraffin, but used his cigar lighter to melt it in. He claims it works wonders, and, was uber simple.
I'm sure it's not, but I also wouldn't expect a beginning guitar player to venture down that road. I mean, just getting through the first couple weeks until you get callouses is a daunting enough task
Apparently I enjoy clean demos. It went from noise...noise....noise to music instantly. This guitar seems a good option for the "I think I might like this but I am not sure" crowd.
I mean.....tbh...for a non-pointy, it is a pretty damn sweet guitar and that price seems crazy. Strange how lately there are companies really testing the super low cost guitar market with much higher specs that people would think.
I think it's a pretty killer deal all things considered but it depends on what you wanna do. If you wanna buy a project guitar and turn it into something all your own, this may be a good candidate to do it. But imo doing that you're looking at spending a minimum of $300. New pickups and electronics, graphtec nut, locking tuners. And a professional set up if you can't do it yourself. But after that, you have a guitar that spec wise will compete with a lot of the other import guitars from the big brands. If you don't feel like doing all that, then yeah I'd save up more and get something different, and I'd definitely be looking on the used market. You'd be surprised what you can find for $500 on the used market. I've bought early 90's Japanese Jacksons for less than that... and those guitars have a reputation for being every bit as good as the USA made Jacksons of that era. I paid $450 for a 1992 Jackson Soloist XL. Schaller built German floyd, ebony fretboard, neck through. It had some buckle rash and one ding on the tip of the headstock, that's pretty much it. Guy hated that it was H/S/S and not H/H, and didn't really know what he had.
Yeah, I agree. I know used gear hunting isn't something a lot of people are comfortable with, especially when it comes to negotiations and actual acquisition, but that's where the best deals are had.
Thanks! I know your busy with your newer addition to your family but was waiting for this when I saw the reel that long time ago. You should enter treys contest on gear gods.
Yeah, there's a lot of other things that go on behind the scenes too. I honestly didn't want to promote this product for them, but in the end you guys are what's important so if you want to see it, I'll make it. Trey's contest? Is it for sexiest man bun?
@@TaylorDanley lol! It was for a revv g20 (the small revv amp) but now he changes it every month. Would like to see/hear how his reaction would go and if you'd win, you most likely would win he hates most of them for good reason, long intros, no top line.) Production doesn't matter but is a plus. Check the rules. The only things I remember is it has to be a new song for the contest, not released, and i think you can't be in a contract with a label. this month of you get in is a free thanos kiesel. But I'd guess you wouldn't get in until the March contest.
My tech mentioned that as I was complaining about my M1000 struggling to keep tune after I bought it, apparently the nut after being cut properly, takes a bit of time to settle in and thats the majority of the tuning stability, even after stretching strings etc. I've noticed now after a couple of months and a couple of string changes, the stability has improved dramatically!
I have a Donner pedal. Has Delay. Chorus. And Distortion. It sounds and works good. So far so good. No problems. 👍💪🙌💯🎸🎸. Definitely worth the money!! Yes I use Ernie Ball strings for years. Probably before you were born uggh. 😂😂🤣
For this price range some possibly better alternatives might be: -Jackson JS-range 159€-329€ -Harley Benton R-446 159€ I got a JS12 and that HB. Both are great! I got some string buzzing issue on the HB thou, but I gotta look into that... The pickups on the HB are really good thou! Better than the Jacksons and probably some of the best in budget guitars. The Jackson has a killer neck, very much like my old Ibanez. The HB has a bit thicker neck, still very playable thou. And damn, that Soloist u got for 200$ is the kind of deal that NO ONE else will ever make! Lol... That's more like a 400-600$ guitar. U literally won the lottery on that one. Any guitar with EMG's used is prolly at least 300$ if lucky...
I've owned a couple of cheap guitars. I bought them because I assessed the "Pros & Cons" and figured out what it would take to make the guitar comparable to a mid range guitar. Usually a nice set of tuners and a Floyd Rose tremolo bridge (yes I have a template and a router, and I know how to measure for correct intonation), will improve the guitar's tuning and intonation exponentially. Of course you can replace the pickups and electronics, but at that point you may as well just buy a better guitar. I've done the same thing with a mid range guitar and ended up with a $900 guitar that plays and sounds as good as a $3500 guitar. Now I will say that price doesn't always equal quality, because in many cases you're paying for the name and model, but you have to remember there are $500 Stratocasters and there are $5000 Stratocasters. You have to do the research to find out where the difference in price is actually reflected in the guitar.
Check tremelos. Look up specs and adjust. The front screws must be correct or the knife edges. It cannot return if one is wrong. 1600.00 PRS or any requires 2.5 mm relief. Mine was all different. Check it out
Stings take some time to get the stretch out after intonation, especially if you arent using lockers. Stretching strings for me means just starting at estandard or nashville for a few days and setting the action. I intonate on the lowest possible root note for my playing, which in my case in s B. If youre going cheap, id probably rather have singles since they are a little easier to deal with noise wise. I think thats the biggest mistake people make getting new guitars. Get single coils if youre buying cheap, buy new strings instead of new pickups for it, make sure your saddles and machines are lubed, and get stiffer picks.
What Ive found to be the two biggest issues(by far), with these budget/generic instruments, is 1) quality control and 2) *SETUP NEEDED* The setup is probably the worst issue, because they are mostly marketed to beginners, who are most critically in need of a properly setup guitar, out of the box. That said, most of these ~$200 guitars are as good or better than the midrange guitars available in the 80s. Decent pickups are cheap enough to replace stock coils.
Those probably are not microphonic pickups, but they are mounted TOO directly to the body without any dampening. I have lazily mounted Lace Alumitone and those just can't be microphonic - they are screwed to the body directly, so picks up vibration from the body.
for 200 you can get a jackson js22 dinky or LTD m10/ec10 or something from ibanez. or even a mitchell. would rather have something with some brand backing it. i bought my daughter a 30" donner for christmas and its a cool toy for 80 dollars i spent, but really it shouldve been no more than 50.
I bought a white one based on the hype in early December 2022 when they were on sale for $159.00. I figured at worst I had a mod platform with a white base coat. OOO but it was good and still on sale! So I got a black one... I have put 1/21 locking tuners on both with new strings. Dunlop 11 to 50 heavy cores on the black one and D'addario 10 to 46 on the white one. Still have less than $200.00 in each one. Deals around where I am on used guitars are not so great. I see crazy deals instead. Like a "REAL "Chibson"offered for 1K or trade for a real whatever worth more than 1K. Gee I wonder if that happened? :) I have bought some deals but the deals are usually something I don't really want except I want a deal. $200.00 is the new $50.00 guitar.... well not really but if something does it for you at what ever price you got your moneys worth.
I don't really consider pickups microphonic if they make nose from tapping on them. But if they pickup other signals or you can practically talk through them, then they're microphonic and probably not potted.
I wonder if that bridge was grounded properly or needs some paint scraped off so the ground wire will touch it correctly to eliminate some of that noise you were getting
The fact that you didn’t have any issues that would make you return it is impressive. For example if you buy a Fender, you already need to do a complete level and crowning to get it to play well so for $200 this seems like a good buy.
Honestly most guitars are going to need a truss rod adjustment with a large change in string tension. New strings and large change in tension I would expect it to move a little then settle down. If I’d given it a couple days and a truss rod adjustment then I’d probably condemn it if it didn’t settle down.
This is true if you stay in the same tuning. I put larger gauge strings on, and dropped my tuning down, which means the tension on the neck was pretty much the same.
You don't need to loosen strings when intonating especially when lengthening the string as long as you push saddle forward when shortening length a half turn of machine head not post is plenty to loosen ! Loosening too much will loosen winds on p9st and then will,detune many times as they tighten again . Strings are probably getting snagged in nut as they're much heavier just make them bigger with cut off stringbends and wet or dry sandpaper if no nut files around . Then lube with a soft graphite pencil or nut sauce !
Got a used Harley Benton SC-1000 for $127, spent another $116 on a set of used EMG 81/85. I wouldn't say it's a better solution for budget metal, definitely less straight forward and costs more, but probably better.
I picked up a Jackson dinky js22 for 217 bucks out the door. I was looking for something that had that 80's thrash metal crunch and let me tell you it does it. The stock strings were abysmal so they got yanked and replaced lol other than that it's an outstanding guitar for the price
@@cliffmitchell5451 What do mean they were abysmal, lol? 😀 How did that manifest? 🤔 I mean, I bought a JS12 last autumn, haven't changed a thing, and have been just happy-go-lucky playing it! 🙉
@@cliffmitchell5451 Damn 😀 Thanx for answering, mate! I did buy a bunch of new strings a while back and planned to change them to slightly beefier, but haven't done so yet...
Great vid man! For the guitar just do a little tweaks like replace the pickups/tuners/pots and this will be a knocker of a guitar. But i digress great video bud.
The best thing about it is that it's shaped like a Mayones Regius. A really basic version, but still. For me, the shape is more attractive than the more Fender/Jackson/Ibanez-styled superstrats that usually are aimed at metalheads in these price ranges. Maybe it'll at least make other manufacturers like Harley Benton take a stab on it, maybe with a bit better specs.
Rather have the jumbo frets because after time frets wear down and if they already are low frets then it will be like your playing fretless after a while from the frets that do eventually wear down.
I regret not mentioning that in the video. If you are in love with the idea of this guitar, you could certainly spice it up for another couple hundred bucks.
A micron is short for micro meter which is 10^(-6) meters or 10^(-3) mm so the 648 micron should be 0,648 mm but they said 648 micro is 648 mm so I believe this is a mistake on their part but I might be wrong.
I'm no shredder. I'm a not an experienced player and am still learning. I like a neck with some meat on it. I dont like the Ibanez wizard necks. I play alot of rythum riffs so the chunky neck is welcome. Plus my Deam C350 and my Guild D40 feel so much different I usually only play my Guild
i refuse to spend over $250 since i know by changing tuners electronics and if it needs fret work i can fix those.....im gonna piss engL fans off but that free plugin amp sounds so much better than that engL head but thats me..i grew up with peavey and CRATE amps and love them..🤘90S DEATH METAL FOREVER🤘
I actually really like the design of the headstock straight string through the nut shoulder help with tuning stability, it’s got to be those hog cables getting pinched in the nut, anyway the headstock reminds me of Mayones and Caparison. I like it better than the Jackson Broderick 3+3 headstock.
The deal breaker is the microphonic pickups. The rest is a relatively easy fix. The guitar looking as it do behind the neck joint don't bother me at all
@@TaylorDanley the reason the electronics are a downer is because changing nut and tuners is easy and relatively cheap but changing pickups cost just as much as the guitar and probably needs soldering. I can solder but I'd rather not 😆
Poplar is becoming popular 😅. Actually I think it sounds 👍. Great beginners guitar paired with a decent amp. Hope it's not one of those that cost 200 but needs 600 worth of work 😅. I too hate the painted neck
Sooooo glad decent guitars are being made... and sold to players who live in the real world. I have 1 guitar. I bought, traded, scrapped, saved to afford my fender parts caster that I have. I love my tele more than any I've ever owned or played. I'm glad that guitars are being made that are financially attainable for some pretty decent players out here.
6:38 I've got an Ibanez RGA742FM that has the same problem: microphonic pickups. I didn't notice the problem until last year, and I've had this guitar since 2017. I didn't notice the pickups had this problem because I always have a noise gate in my signal chain, whether it's a cheap multieffects pedal or plugins.
Even floating tremolo needs string stretching and you need to adjust the fine tuner or else it also get off of tune after a couple of dive bombs and whammy tricks so stretch it
Your peeve on the painted neck, mine on the not cleaning up the neck with some lemon oil, and light fret polish when the strings were off. lol It's all good brother.
It’s a camera slider. It’s a motorized mount that is on a track that sits on a tripod. The one I have is a neewer, it was pretty cheap like $150. Big upgrade to the footage IMO, so worth it 🥳
TBH: i don´t get the point, why people buy these cheap guitars and then put pickups in it, which cost more than the guitar in the firstplace. The microphonics turn me completely off right away... for double the price you can get a good LTD, Ibanez, Squier or even a used PRS SE (i once bought a Gibson LP Worn Brown with Duncan Distortions from Ebay for 400€...)
Taylor, I guessed that you were headed for trouble with tuning when I heard you say that you thought you were done with the guitar after loading it with (much) thicker strings and then intonating it. I knew that the neck would move, necessitating a full setup. I'm no tech, but I do fret jobs, so I know how little changes can force full setup necessity. Significant string gauge changes WILL bring the need for a full setup -- a pain in the butt for sure, but we guitarists have little business complaining about pain after growing the calluses necessary to play ... right?
Not necessarily. I went from an E standard tuning with whatever strings were on it, to a C standard tuning with thicker strings. This keeps the tension about the same. If I was tuning to the same pitch, yes absolutely would need to adjust the truss rod, but I've found since I switched to the EB suggested string gauge for my tuning (beefy slinky), I rarely have to do that when changing a guitar that's been setup in E standard with 9's (or whatever they are).
@@edwinstovall3334 yeah I pretty aggressively cut that part of the video. In retrospect I should have kept in things like; me stretching the strings, checking/adjusting the height, and checking the neck.
not stayn in tune is the downside of cheapos, n def dont need that hassle when tryn to learn, nice lookn tho.... but arent all necks C shape? what tune peg spinner is that? whats the rule of thumb on how much slack to leave b4 winding? btw new strings stretch at 1st wonder if that was tuning issue....?
I've been looking at some videos and haven't made it all the way through this one. My hands cramp on a thin neck. It this one thin, thick, or somewhere in between? C, D, or possibly U shaped?
Edit: a couple things I want to clarify, because when I was editing, I cut these portions out to keep the pace of the video up, and people keep commenting about them.
1. I did stretch the strings.
2. When you intonate, loosen your string all the way. I did that here, just didn’t leave it in the edit.
3. The string gauge difference didn’t change the tension significantly because I also went from an e standard tuning to C standard.
I apologize for any confusion, I will learn from these mistakes in the future.
As of right now, they are actually on sale on Amazon! amzn.to/41jX59f
i have come to the Conclusion that these cheap guitars are perfect for learning Luthier skills. you can find what went wrong, what can be improved and what can be modded. I hate cheap guitars that are bottom barrel put together haphazardly and then advertised as a "Beginner Guitar". These guitars if you find cheap but its reasonable setup and is ok before setup around the 200 dollar range i think is great. the wood really is not the stuff you are buying, mainly the electronics and parts that are used.
Unavailable now 16th March 2023.
How is going from e standard to C not Significant? It defebetly calls for a higher string gauge for most people
@@neonblack211 depending on gauge and tuning, you can get the tensions almost or close to exact. best way is if you have 9-42 for e standard, if going to D standard would be 10-46 and the tension would feel the same. super light gauge for b standard i have usually seen 12-52 and works well for c standard because it is only half a step up intuning. Now the feeling and just the overall size difference i would say is big difference.
@@MorrisChannel4 I dano man if my guitar is set up for e standard... D standard works but feels completely different and C standard would be fine to play at home but not recordable without constant retuning and out of tune rock chords if you play too hard
As an alternative, you can pick up an entry level Jackson for around $200 as well. I picked up my JS22 7 string for $175 on sale, and the only guitar that I have which has more sustain is my $6k ESP neck thru. Seriously, these new Jacksons are awesome!
I was gonna say the same thing haha. Two friends and I all have one of the JS models, and mine was the worst out of the three. Sharp frets, but totally playable other than that. The other two guitars weren't nearly as sharp.
My JS22-7 lasted 6 months before the electronics failed lol. Jackson QC is dog now.
They are Not cheap in germany.unfortunly.
@@zsaz4453 Music City in Prague had alot of them for almost the same price as US. They might ship to you
Yep. 100% agreed
I got the white one, it came perfectly setup out of the box, plays incredible no buzzing anywhere, enough I justified putting a Nazgul/Sentient Duncan combo in it and its now one of my mains.
I just got those put in my Ibanez S maybe 2 months ago and love those. And a couple months before that, I got the Black Winters in my RG. Love both gitfiddles even more haha
Niiiiice!! Man, I got a 2012 Schecter Omen 7 that has been modded to hell and back, and ended up as my 'daily' player. My Solar tries to catch up but just can't lol.
I got the same pups btw, Nazgul/Sentient ;)
Hey Ed!
Cheap guitars like this always make great project guitars. If the crappy stock pickups are microphonic or noisy, just swap them. Others have said that graphite or machine oil in the nut and stretching the strings are often the easiest solutions to tuning stability issues. Intentionally tuning a bit sharper than you normally would and running through your warmups like that when you first change them will often also help with breaking the strings in faster as well. I tend to play in C#, B, and A (both drop and standard for all 3) on non-baritone 6 string guitars, and when I first change the strings I tune to the standard tuning of the next one up for a bit before settling into whatever tuning I'm going to end up in.
Yeah, I forgot to mention that it could work well as a mod platform.
This is exactly why I'm interested in this guitar. I am more interested in learning how to fix/set up guitars, so I'm in the market for problematic instruments, lol. Not too problematic, though, because I just want to learn how to make a decently playable instrument out of one that doesn't play well. Turning trash into treasure
I’m always amazed that tuning stability is discussed when people take a brand new guitar, drop way heavier strings on it right away. You need to re-cut the nut and account for the fact that you probably changed string tension by 15 lbs either way. You have to allow for the neck to adjust and acclimate itself. And make sure the strings move freely in the nut slots.
lol great point
My ESP blackmetal came tuned standard I put 14-60s on it and it stayed in tune and the neck kept intonation. Sometimes it just works
I was thinking the exact same thing
He did at the end say to take his comment on tuning stability w/a grain of salt b/c he does a lot of bending and he plays w/heavier picks so it's not uncommon for him to throw guitars that are in this price range out of tune. The strings are a good point. But at least he did acknowledge that it might just be him.
Absolutely true 😅
I paid $90 for a black Jackson Dinky off of craigslist... I detailed it, and spent $200 for a Seymore Duncan distortion set and $10 for new strings, set it up myself.. $300 total and i love that guitar...
Yep, personally I think that's the way to go. But I understand why people wouldn't want to do it.
Stretch the strings and graphite the nut to keep it in tunage lol
I don’t think this is his first rodeo I’m sure he did that stuff already 😂
@@ZL1LoVeR then why did he say to give tips in the comment section bucko?
@@SKRooU2 admittedly I didn’t get to that part lol 😂 my bad
@@SKRooU2 He mockingly said people are going to chime in with their comments about how to keep it in tune.
I still wonder if he filed the nut slots so they don't bind up on the thicker strings not trying to be insulting but even guys that have been playing awhile sometimes over look small details like that.
I've heard of short scale guitars, but 648 microns is ridiculous.
😂
I mean, you can pick up a Jackson for like £200 too, and the pickups are decent. The neck is also not a chunky speed killer
I'd probably go with a Kramer Beretta at this price point. The one I had was perfect, the stock pickup was surprisingly very good for metal as well. Tuners were slightly less than good, but the action and neck shape was very comfortable to me.
Gotta file the nut out a bit for the bigger strings for tuning stability. Not as critical for a graphite based nut but for anything else, if you don't, you're gonna have a bad time
Glad to see guitar companies installing the bridge pickup closer to the bridge where it sounds the best, it literally loses all the harmonics if it's not in that sweet spot
You know what would be cool? Have one pickup but you can fine-tune it's position anywhere from bridge to neck. Or maybe even two single coils, but they can act as a humbucker and you can have them near each other, or one at the bridge and one at the neck and use them independently.
I have also discovered that I hate all floating trems. I don't use them 90% of the time, and they annoy me, tuning wise.
Fair
Same here I play both bass and guitar I hate the 2 point tremolo on my Jackson dinky js12 I don't even use it.
I've had my eye on one of these for a while now since they're kinda reminiscent of a Mayones. Except WAY cheaper. I love modding cheap guitars so I'll end up swapping everything anyways. 200 for the guitar, 55 for Tone Ninja locking tuners, 60 for a pair of GFS pickups (GuitarFetishs brand, they're excellent budget pickups), and maybe some strap locks.
Amazon had the white ones on sale for $120 a little while back (after coupon). I used different accounts and bought 5 of them to fix/set up so I can donate them to young aspiring guitarists this Christmas. All 5 came almost good to go out of the box. They were very playable, but needed nut work, fret polishing, neck and bridge adjustments, etc to be their best.. Did a fret level job on 3 of the 5. Great guitars for the price, but I would have preferred Jumbo or XJumbo frets instead of the narrow/tall. The gig bag is surprisingly decent too!
That's A LOT of work for "almost good to go" 😬😵
New strings tends to go flat so stretching each individual strings helps the guitar to stay in tune
My strat which does not have a locking system or good tuning pegs but when I stretch the string back and forth until it gets in tune promise me I don't have to tune it for a week or so
Brush some gun oil on the saddles and nut. You don't want a friction grab there, it'll go out of tune fast. It will be on point first, then when you play it, the friction grab will let go.
Cheap guitars are fun and if you put some work into it, can be amazing. Thanks for the dope video
💪
So true. I got an Ibanez GIO and added some Seymour Duncan pickups and it sounds incredible!
While it is true that you could score a much better name brand guitar if you hunt around, but for me it's the the thrill of having something different. I love the idea of putting a little money into a great looking budget guitar, and have it perform as good as any.
Yeah, I agree with a previous comment you need to really stretch those Ernie ball strings, which are my personal choice as well. Also you cant intonate properly till those strings are stretched and resting in tune. They are in a constant state of pitch shift.
Pretty cool. Something I see all the time is some kid wants to get a guitar, and the parents don’t want to dump money just for the kid to toss it aside, so they go for the cheapest thing they can get by with. More times than not, it’s usually one of those squier starter packs that have the cheapest 6pt trem bridges, and it just doesn’t serve the student, especially if they like heavier music. This at least seems like a better option than that for a kid wanting to learn.
@@IndependenceGuitar This is why guitar manufacturing is in it's golden age at the moment. There are so many killer budget options available that can appeal to everyone. I would have killed for something like this when I was a kid and not the painful First Act starter kit I started out on.
Actually the #1 thing that affects tone isn’t even in the guitar. It’s the speakers within your amp/cab that changes sound, so those angry people could have had a good reason without realizing it.
Thanks for the review. I really like your production quality. It was entertaining and looked professional.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I agree about the painted bolt-on neck. Usually looks tacky, plus I prefer an oil finishes neck, or just a clear satin...
You could totally buy some GFS Kwik-Plug pickups for that with a prewired harness for under $100. No soldering required! Add some quality locking tuners too. Now you have a serious metal machine for less than $200 more. The alternative is to get a Harley Benton for about $300 to $400 with better hardware.
BTW, Harley Benton has an official US store on Reverb!
I know, I've been eyeballing it!
Ibanez Gio is probably one of the best budget/starter guitars you can get.
There's TONS of them used everywhere online. New they're in the $150-200 range. Used, they usually go for around $100-120.
I picked up an RG120 for $75 off Reverb. They were a Guitar Center exclusive model. Only real difference to the Gio is it has a floating bridge instead of fixed bridge.
Has some chips and scratches but plays perfect with some TLC and new strings.
I have a Gio for free from my friend. And for being a beginner guitar that thing slaps. I never had it detune after the initial tuning, even going from E standard to Drop C. The pickups are definitely enough for the price and work good for metal.
I 100% recommend Gios
I own one of these gios 😂 surprised the quality isn't shit I mean with the bill Lawrence l-500 this things a beast on a budget
Probably ships with 10s or even 9s and nut is probably cut accordingly. Putting your monster gauge strings on might mean you need to widen the nut slots a little or they will be catching ergo your tuning issues. I play hard tails with 10s and always use nut files 3 to 5 thou wider than the string. So long as you have a round/U profile to the slot, zero tuning issues 🤘
I bought myself a Jackson JS12 Dinky MR a month or two ago (in order to simply have a guitar at the ready on D sharp tuning) for roughly 190 bucks, and it continues to surprise me just how good that thing actually is. A solid guitar doesn't have to break the bank.
My first guitar was a Washburn, beginners pack. Around 2005 year. It always sounded good compared to expensive guitars. And is easy to play. It was $200 back then. Looks the same as the guitar you showed except all 4 pickups have controls on the Washburn and a whammy bar. I'd use the same strings too heavy gauge. I could toss it on the couch pick it up and it still be in tune.
Adding wax to pickups isn't all that difficult. Dipping them is a bit more intensive, but also doable. A friend of mine just did his pickups, "slightly" microphonic. He flaked up some wax, don't recall if it was beeswax or paraffin, but used his cigar lighter to melt it in. He claims it works wonders, and, was uber simple.
I'm sure it's not, but I also wouldn't expect a beginning guitar player to venture down that road. I mean, just getting through the first couple weeks until you get callouses is a daunting enough task
Apparently I enjoy clean demos. It went from noise...noise....noise to music instantly. This guitar seems a good option for the "I think I might like this but I am not sure" crowd.
I mean.....tbh...for a non-pointy, it is a pretty damn sweet guitar and that price seems crazy. Strange how lately there are companies really testing the super low cost guitar market with much higher specs that people would think.
I think it's a pretty killer deal all things considered but it depends on what you wanna do. If you wanna buy a project guitar and turn it into something all your own, this may be a good candidate to do it. But imo doing that you're looking at spending a minimum of $300. New pickups and electronics, graphtec nut, locking tuners. And a professional set up if you can't do it yourself. But after that, you have a guitar that spec wise will compete with a lot of the other import guitars from the big brands.
If you don't feel like doing all that, then yeah I'd save up more and get something different, and I'd definitely be looking on the used market. You'd be surprised what you can find for $500 on the used market. I've bought early 90's Japanese Jacksons for less than that... and those guitars have a reputation for being every bit as good as the USA made Jacksons of that era. I paid $450 for a 1992 Jackson Soloist XL. Schaller built German floyd, ebony fretboard, neck through. It had some buckle rash and one ding on the tip of the headstock, that's pretty much it. Guy hated that it was H/S/S and not H/H, and didn't really know what he had.
Yeah, I agree. I know used gear hunting isn't something a lot of people are comfortable with, especially when it comes to negotiations and actual acquisition, but that's where the best deals are had.
Thanks! I know your busy with your newer addition to your family but was waiting for this when I saw the reel that long time ago.
You should enter treys contest on gear gods.
Yeah, there's a lot of other things that go on behind the scenes too. I honestly didn't want to promote this product for them, but in the end you guys are what's important so if you want to see it, I'll make it.
Trey's contest? Is it for sexiest man bun?
@@TaylorDanley lol! It was for a revv g20 (the small revv amp) but now he changes it every month. Would like to see/hear how his reaction would go and if you'd win, you most likely would win he hates most of them for good reason, long intros, no top line.) Production doesn't matter but is a plus. Check the rules. The only things I remember is it has to be a new song for the contest, not released, and i think you can't be in a contract with a label. this month of you get in is a free thanos kiesel. But I'd guess you wouldn't get in until the March contest.
My tech mentioned that as I was complaining about my M1000 struggling to keep tune after I bought it, apparently the nut after being cut properly, takes a bit of time to settle in and thats the majority of the tuning stability, even after stretching strings etc. I've noticed now after a couple of months and a couple of string changes, the stability has improved dramatically!
I have a Donner pedal. Has Delay. Chorus. And Distortion. It sounds and works good. So far so good. No problems. 👍💪🙌💯🎸🎸. Definitely worth the money!! Yes I use Ernie Ball strings for years. Probably before you were born uggh. 😂😂🤣
For this price range some possibly better alternatives might be:
-Jackson JS-range 159€-329€
-Harley Benton R-446 159€
I got a JS12 and that HB. Both are great! I got some string buzzing issue on the HB thou, but I gotta look into that... The pickups on the HB are really good thou! Better than the Jacksons and probably some of the best in budget guitars. The Jackson has a killer neck, very much like my old Ibanez. The HB has a bit thicker neck, still very playable thou.
And damn, that Soloist u got for 200$ is the kind of deal that NO ONE else will ever make! Lol... That's more like a 400-600$ guitar. U literally won the lottery on that one. Any guitar with EMG's used is prolly at least 300$ if lucky...
I've owned a couple of cheap guitars. I bought them because I assessed the "Pros & Cons" and figured out what it would take to make the guitar comparable to a mid range guitar. Usually a nice set of tuners and a Floyd Rose tremolo bridge (yes I have a template and a router, and I know how to measure for correct intonation), will improve the guitar's tuning and intonation exponentially. Of course you can replace the pickups and electronics, but at that point you may as well just buy a better guitar. I've done the same thing with a mid range guitar and ended up with a $900 guitar that plays and sounds as good as a $3500 guitar. Now I will say that price doesn't always equal quality, because in many cases you're paying for the name and model, but you have to remember there are $500 Stratocasters and there are $5000 Stratocasters. You have to do the research to find out where the difference in price is actually reflected in the guitar.
Check tremelos. Look up specs and adjust. The front screws must be correct or the knife edges. It cannot return if one is wrong. 1600.00 PRS or any requires 2.5 mm relief. Mine was all different. Check it out
I completely relate to the finished bolt-on neck pet peeve. In fact, I just straight-up avoid all bolt-on guitars with painted necks.
Stings take some time to get the stretch out after intonation, especially if you arent using lockers. Stretching strings for me means just starting at estandard or nashville for a few days and setting the action. I intonate on the lowest possible root note for my playing, which in my case in s B. If youre going cheap, id probably rather have singles since they are a little easier to deal with noise wise. I think thats the biggest mistake people make getting new guitars. Get single coils if youre buying cheap, buy new strings instead of new pickups for it, make sure your saddles and machines are lubed, and get stiffer picks.
I would pay $200 just to see you awkwardly play clean tones for 1 hour
@@impossivel2006 goat comment lmao
What Ive found to be the two biggest issues(by far), with these budget/generic instruments, is 1) quality control and 2) *SETUP NEEDED*
The setup is probably the worst issue, because they are mostly marketed to beginners, who are most critically in need of a properly setup guitar, out of the box.
That said, most of these ~$200 guitars are as good or better than the midrange guitars available in the 80s.
Decent pickups are cheap enough to replace stock coils.
Those probably are not microphonic pickups, but they are mounted TOO directly to the body without any dampening. I have lazily mounted Lace Alumitone and those just can't be microphonic - they are screwed to the body directly, so picks up vibration from the body.
for 200 you can get a jackson js22 dinky or LTD m10/ec10 or something from ibanez. or even a mitchell. would rather have something with some brand backing it. i bought my daughter a 30" donner for christmas and its a cool toy for 80 dollars i spent, but really it shouldve been no more than 50.
I bought a white one based on the hype in early December 2022 when they were on sale for $159.00. I figured at worst I had a mod platform with a white base coat. OOO but it was good and still on sale! So I got a black one... I have put 1/21 locking tuners on both with new strings. Dunlop 11 to 50 heavy cores on the black one and D'addario 10 to 46 on the white one. Still have less than $200.00 in each one. Deals around where I am on used guitars are not so great. I see crazy deals instead. Like a "REAL "Chibson"offered for 1K or trade for a real whatever worth more than 1K. Gee I wonder if that happened? :) I have bought some deals but the deals are usually something I don't really want except I want a deal. $200.00 is the new $50.00 guitar.... well not really but if something does it for you at what ever price you got your moneys worth.
I don't really consider pickups microphonic if they make nose from tapping on them. But if they pickup other signals or you can practically talk through them, then they're microphonic and probably not potted.
I wonder if that bridge was grounded properly or needs some paint scraped off so the ground wire will touch it correctly to eliminate some of that noise you were getting
Agreed. Definitely a grounding issue.
The fact that you didn’t have any issues that would make you return it is impressive. For example if you buy a Fender, you already need to do a complete level and crowning to get it to play well so for $200 this seems like a good buy.
Pretty cool guitar. Nice work buddy 🤘
💪
Honestly most guitars are going to need a truss rod adjustment with a large change in string tension. New strings and large change in tension I would expect it to move a little then settle down. If I’d given it a couple days and a truss rod adjustment then I’d probably condemn it if it didn’t settle down.
This is true if you stay in the same tuning. I put larger gauge strings on, and dropped my tuning down, which means the tension on the neck was pretty much the same.
You don't need to loosen strings when intonating especially when lengthening the string as long as you push saddle forward when shortening length a half turn of machine head not post is plenty to loosen ! Loosening too much will loosen winds on p9st and then will,detune many times as they tighten again . Strings are probably getting snagged in nut as they're much heavier just make them bigger with cut off stringbends and wet or dry sandpaper if no nut files around . Then lube with a soft graphite pencil or nut sauce !
seeing a metal guitar being played in clean feels like it's an edited video.
Was my first guitar, reliable, good tone and comes with an amp it's probably one of the best budget guitars out there
Got a used Harley Benton SC-1000 for $127, spent another $116 on a set of used EMG 81/85. I wouldn't say it's a better solution for budget metal, definitely less straight forward and costs more, but probably better.
I picked up a Jackson dinky js22 for 217 bucks out the door. I was looking for something that had that 80's thrash metal crunch and let me tell you it does it. The stock strings were abysmal so they got yanked and replaced lol other than that it's an outstanding guitar for the price
@@cliffmitchell5451 What do mean they were abysmal, lol? 😀 How did that manifest? 🤔 I mean, I bought a JS12 last autumn, haven't changed a thing, and have been just happy-go-lucky playing it! 🙉
@@MaximusAdonicus They wouldn't stay in tune they sounded tinny and horrible LOL
@@cliffmitchell5451 Damn 😀 Thanx for answering, mate! I did buy a bunch of new strings a while back and planned to change them to slightly beefier, but haven't done so yet...
@@MaximusAdonicus try a brand called elixir my son's friend turned me on to them. I like them a lot!
Great vid man! For the guitar just do a little tweaks like replace the pickups/tuners/pots and this will be a knocker of a guitar. But i digress great video bud.
Thank you! 🥳
The best thing about it is that it's shaped like a Mayones Regius. A really basic version, but still. For me, the shape is more attractive than the more Fender/Jackson/Ibanez-styled superstrats that usually are aimed at metalheads in these price ranges. Maybe it'll at least make other manufacturers like Harley Benton take a stab on it, maybe with a bit better specs.
Rather have the jumbo frets because after time frets wear down and if they already are low frets then it will be like your playing fretless after a while from the frets that do eventually wear down.
Man it feels like 8 string multi scales for $200 are just around the corner lol
You're probably not wrong... Although you gotta wonder what a guitar like that would play like.
Burl top 8 string on ebay $260.00 fun guitar, no name MIC
I feel like this guitar could work well as a project guitar. Swap out the bridge, tuners, electronics and pickups and have a decent riff machine
I regret not mentioning that in the video. If you are in love with the idea of this guitar, you could certainly spice it up for another couple hundred bucks.
7:35 thats me bro, I was just starting to think about the clean tone
A micron is short for micro meter which is 10^(-6) meters or 10^(-3) mm so the 648 micron should be 0,648 mm but they said 648 micro is 648 mm so I believe this is a mistake on their part but I might be wrong.
I'm no shredder. I'm a not an experienced player and am still learning. I like a neck with some meat on it. I dont like the Ibanez wizard necks. I play alot of rythum riffs so the chunky neck is welcome. Plus my Deam C350 and my Guild D40 feel so much different I usually only play my Guild
i refuse to spend over $250 since i know by changing tuners electronics and if it needs fret work i can fix those.....im gonna piss engL fans off but that free plugin amp sounds so much better than that engL head but thats me..i grew up with peavey and CRATE amps and love them..🤘90S DEATH METAL FOREVER🤘
I actually really like the design of the headstock straight string through the nut shoulder help with tuning stability, it’s got to be those hog cables getting pinched in the nut, anyway the headstock reminds me of Mayones and Caparison. I like it better than the Jackson Broderick 3+3 headstock.
The deal breaker is the microphonic pickups. The rest is a relatively easy fix. The guitar looking as it do behind the neck joint don't bother me at all
Yeah, the pickups don't bother me all that much, but I totally get why that would turn some people off.
@@TaylorDanley the reason the electronics are a downer is because changing nut and tuners is easy and relatively cheap but changing pickups cost just as much as the guitar and probably needs soldering. I can solder but I'd rather not 😆
40.00 set of gotohs and a tube of nut lube or graphite powder in the nut and on the string saddles where the string meets the saddle will go far.
stretch the strings a bit after installing so the can stay in tune better.....
Poplar is becoming popular 😅. Actually I think it sounds 👍. Great beginners guitar paired with a decent amp. Hope it's not one of those that cost 200 but needs 600 worth of work 😅. I too hate the painted neck
I love the look of those bridge saddles
I really wanna grab one of these, they seem super solid for the price
I want to see you grab one and slam some ridiculous string gauges on it in drop X tuning, and see if it holds up. Also, new logo? Looks good!
@@TaylorDanley That is exactly what I want one for, some Drop A# brutality 🤘And yeah, new logo just to clean things up a little
Great honest review
Sooooo glad decent guitars are being made... and sold to players who live in the real world. I have 1 guitar. I bought, traded, scrapped, saved to afford my fender parts caster that I have. I love my tele more than any I've ever owned or played. I'm glad that guitars are being made that are financially attainable for some pretty decent players out here.
One of my fav guitars is my $200 NIB Squier Affinity Jazzmaster HH. Of course it’s modified now but I knew that was going to be the case going in.🤘
I picked up a Jackson Dinky JS32 from reverb for about $250 including shipping.
Off topic, What are you going to do with all those amp. heads behind you ? My guitar only has one lead jack for one amp. But now I got an idea.......
6:38
I've got an Ibanez RGA742FM that has the same problem: microphonic pickups. I didn't notice the problem until last year, and I've had this guitar since 2017. I didn't notice the pickups had this problem because I always have a noise gate in my signal chain, whether it's a cheap multieffects pedal or plugins.
Better than that one acoustic they had back in the day
Even floating tremolo needs string stretching and you need to adjust the fine tuner or else it also get off of tune after a couple of dive bombs and whammy tricks so stretch it
That Jackson now probably would be $600. Deals like $200 for that are not there anymore.
why would you take the tuner off the guitar
I'm pretty sure that a neck plate costs less than the countersunk spacers under the screws
8:26 i was like "IM SUBSCRIBING TO THIS MAN.... HES COOL!" litt frfr
Sounds like a decent guitar to me. I wish they had a lefty
Your peeve on the painted neck, mine on the not cleaning up the neck with some lemon oil, and light fret polish when the strings were off. lol It's all good brother.
This is unrelated to the guitar but how do you get those panning/moving camera shots without being behind the camera?
It’s a camera slider. It’s a motorized mount that is on a track that sits on a tripod. The one I have is a neewer, it was pretty cheap like $150. Big upgrade to the footage IMO, so worth it 🥳
648 microns is 0.648mm, or about 0.025 inches.
There's short scale and then there's that....
TBH: i don´t get the point, why people buy these cheap guitars and then put pickups in it, which cost more than the guitar in the firstplace. The microphonics turn me completely off right away...
for double the price you can get a good LTD, Ibanez, Squier or even a used PRS SE (i once bought a Gibson LP Worn Brown with Duncan Distortions from Ebay for 400€...)
I didn't see you stretch your strings. Did you ?
Would you recommend this over the Jackson JS22?
That is an exact replica of Ibanez Gio.
The guitar sound sick even for that price range. I was just wondering what kind of noise gate is that?
Lichtlaerm Gate and Key
Taylor, I guessed that you were headed for trouble with tuning when I heard you say that you thought you were done with the guitar after loading it with (much) thicker strings and then intonating it. I knew that the neck would move, necessitating a full setup. I'm no tech, but I do fret jobs, so I know how little changes can force full setup necessity. Significant string gauge changes WILL bring the need for a full setup -- a pain in the butt for sure, but we guitarists have little business complaining about pain after growing the calluses necessary to play ... right?
Not necessarily. I went from an E standard tuning with whatever strings were on it, to a C standard tuning with thicker strings. This keeps the tension about the same. If I was tuning to the same pitch, yes absolutely would need to adjust the truss rod, but I've found since I switched to the EB suggested string gauge for my tuning (beefy slinky), I rarely have to do that when changing a guitar that's been setup in E standard with 9's (or whatever they are).
@@TaylorDanley Well, I'll be darned. If it works out well, then I'm all for it!
@@edwinstovall3334 yeah I pretty aggressively cut that part of the video. In retrospect I should have kept in things like; me stretching the strings, checking/adjusting the height, and checking the neck.
@@TaylorDanley It would have helped people like me know that you knew what you were doing. That always helps.
What ENGL amp head is he using? Sounds killer!
How hard is it to stay in tune on a fixed bridge. I can make any fixed bridge stay in tune. Floating bridge is an art form and science.
not stayn in tune is the downside of cheapos, n def dont need that hassle when tryn to learn, nice lookn tho.... but arent all necks C shape? what tune peg spinner is that? whats the rule of thumb on how much slack to leave b4 winding? btw new strings stretch at 1st wonder if that was tuning issue....?
I love 24 fretters with no neck plate after I got an Ibanez knock off for $88 in 2020. I now longer will buy a guitar with any neck plate
I try to find some lefty model but it seems they do not make it . Someone knows if lefties are available ???
....the headstock just like caparison guitar... sounds great..
I've been looking at some videos and haven't made it all the way through this one. My hands cramp on a thin neck. It this one thin, thick, or somewhere in between? C, D, or possibly U shaped?