20 Best Guitars For Pop Punk (2023 Updated)

First the good: This is a solid feeling guitar and much heavier than I thought it would be (bought online). It weighs in at 8. 5 lbs where the other thinline models I’ve played were in the 6 lb range.

I really like the 24. 75″ scale and as mine is a 2019 it has the laurel fret-board. I was a little apprehensive about laurel, but it’s just fine in appearance, feel and perceived tone. It plays easily and is a fun guitar to play.

The paint on this one is white and the guitar has a “tuxedo” appearance. I also like the 2-tone, 2-vol pots setup. They work well and can help make some cool blends between the pickups. The SD pickups are really nice sounding and can go from sparkle clean to hard rock easily.

There is a limit though to the amp gain you can throw at this one. As it’s semi-hollow at some point you’ll get feed back. Now the not so good: While I generally like the feel of the neck, it’s a little sticky due to paint and finish and not as fast as I’d prefer.

Once I’ve 100% decided to keep it, I might take some steel wool to the back of the neck to remove the plastic, sticky feel. One other thing is the 60-cycle hum from these pickups. It is annoyingly loud.

Other reviews I’ve seen on-line for this model have the same, loud humming thing going on. It’s weird because I have some other guitars w/ P90’s and they are much quieter. I’ll check this one to make sure there isn’t a weak ground and maybe add some copper foil in the cavity.

I really like how they sound when being played, but I’ll find some quieter pickups if I can’t cure it. Lastly, this guitar is made in the Indonesia factory where some Squiers are made so Fender opted to “cheap it out” with lower quality tuners, lower quality pots and laurel for the fingerboard.

And then they charge more new than a MIM guitar. Weird thinking. Everything said, I really like the guitar and think the Gibson/Fender blend of features is remarkably good! I can’t think many people would be unhappy with the tone, feel and play-ability.

Cons: When I unboxed the Tele and did my initial inspection, the fit and finish was almost perfect. Only one area on the back where the finish sucked into the grain, leaving a dimpled, coarse area. The switches and knobs are absolutely terrible.

They seem to work cleanly without noise, but they feel like they are falling apart. The action seemed a little on the high side, and the neck appeared to have a bend in it. Playing the guitar, it had a very jangly sound, even with those SD humbuckers.

Also, I could tune it standard, and intonation was close, but don’t press any frets! ICK! It would be so far out of tune! Barre chords sounded terrible. Pros: After playing the guitar for about 30 minutes, trying different amps and effects, I put it on the bench and checked the neck with a straight edge.

It had at least 0. 018 inches of gap on the fretboard from the 5th – 8th frets. I gave the truss rod a few tweaks and it was perfect. With the neck straight, the frets were perfectly leveled. The radius of the string heights at the bridge saddles was perfect, and the action was very nice.

It shipped with 9 – 42 strings, so I put a new set of Ernie Ball Super Slinky’s on it, tuned and set the intonation. Conclusion: The neck and frets were nicer than I expected for this price range with nicely finished fret ends and smooth edges.

They would only need to be polished a little better to match a guitar of many times that price. The guitar is MUCH lighter than my other Tele, and it is very comfortable to play. The look and fit of the set neck is perfect, and access to the upper frets is fantastic.

The sound is MUCH nicer with the new strings, and it plays and sounds great after a proper setup. I believe the nut is graphite, and the tuners are nice and smooth, so tuning was a pleasure. no popping.

I will definitely look into upgrading the electronics in the future, as well as taking the time to polish the frets during a future string change.

I’ve been a Gibson guy my whole life (still am) but after I heard the P90s in this Telecaster, I realized that this was the change of pace I needed. I bought mine used through GC and it came with Graph Tech Ratio Tuners (highly recommended).

This guitar has the bite and clarity of a Telecaster with the presence and balls of a LP. Great for almost any genre of music except maybe metal. Build quality is what you would expect at this price point.

Sounds good through all my amps. Warning: these P90s are hot! Very touch-sensitive! They will make you readjust every knob on your amp.

I was very disappointed with this and yes, I did return it to GC one week after getting it. First, this is a good feel and the shallow profile is comfortable. But I got this after trading in a dreadnaught Fender California Sonoran (2014).

The profile was a bit too deep on that guitar and started to cause pain in my shoulder which is why I wanted the thinner profile. I did research the Newporter Player for a while and played around with a model at the store.

But when mine arrived, wow, I was really put off by this. This guitar simply does not project much at all. In the end this is more akin to a parlor guitar and is even a bit too light in terms of weight.

I will say this does sound spectacular plugged in and with the effects I have on my Line 6 Pod HD 500 X, this sounded great. So it is really an electric guitar that sounds acoustic. But playing on its own without plugging in? No.

I was simply accustomed to the much crisper and fuller projection and resonance from the dreadnaught. Tuner was off as well and for precise tuning I plugged into my tuner on the Line 6 and saw the onboard tuner was significantly deficient.

Guitar Center was very cool with my return and did not hesitate to take it back and I glided into an Ovation Celebrity Elite. We’ll get to that some other day when it arrives. But I was put off by this fender, it just didn’t feel like they put the workmanship into this as they did my previous acoustic that felt like a real guitar.

This almost seems like a toy or as I said a parlor guitar. It’s a shame because I did like the satin olive color of the guitar I got here. One other note, the walnut fret board never felt fully comfortable and seemed a bit slow on movement up and down the fret board.

Sorry, I wanted to like it. Drew Dixon.

This series of Fender guitars are excellent. The shorter form factor makes for both easy playing and easier transport. It’s not quite a 3/4 size but also not a full size, somewhere in between. Overall build quality: Stunning.

The tuner is accurate and pickup is excellent, the tone knobs can get you a good balance in any environment. The mahogany finish is beautiful. The tuners are good, but they aren’t the most desirable – still have a good movement and no jumpiness.

Sound quality: Unplugged – I describe it as a ‘sweet’ tone, it’s well balanced and you’d expect with it being smaller that you might get some tinniness but you don’t. Sure it sounds more on the mid side of things when you strum hard and compare against a dreadnought, but this little thing really holds it’s own against more boomier guitars.

Plugged in – The quality of the pickup is great. There’s no fizziness or hissing. In fact I found it to be quite boomy going directly in to a home studio with all settings default. This could be intentional to make up for the smaller size and more natural mid tones.

It will definitely perform well live and your individual bass and treble knobs can help you dial in your tone whether it’s live or in the studio. Playability: For me, one of the easiest guitars to play.

I do have slightly smaller than average hands and usually do struggle playing a Gibson for a long time. If you have larger hands, you’d still enjoy playing this but remember the neck is shorter so the frets are closer together.

I can sit and play this for hours at a time and I don’t get any cramps or fatigue. Overall it feels like this series has been designed around this particular model. The mahogany body does naturally create a boomier, bassier tone – so combined with the smaller form factor, this is a very well balanced guitar.

The pick guard is just a cheap adhesive sticker thingy and it was already damaged and peeling off when I opened the box. Not a great first impression. But I chose to take it off completely and thankfully, the glossy finish that’s all over the body of this guitar is also underneath the pick guard, so it doesn’t look too bad at all and I can always replace it if I want to.

The “champagne” color looks champagne in the right light, but appears khaki or even greenish the rest of the time. I do love the shape though. It’s smaller, lighter, and sleeker than most guitars I’ve handled, awesome for a more petite person like me.

I’m 5 feet tall and 90lbs, so a lot of guitars have been too bulky and awkward for me. In that respect, the Newporter has made me a better player since you naturally do better when you’re more comfortable.

I also love the neck/head with the electric style shape and inline strings. I like the strings it came with a lot. It didn’t come properly tuned, but that was a quick fix, especially since the tuner works so nicely.

The sound is surprisingly rich. Great volume, especially with a pick. Overall, it’s a really nice option at a really nice price, I just wish the quality control was better. Getting a new instrument with peeling parts is really disappointing, feels like I got it used or something 🙁 but if you’re lucky and get a unit that is perfectly intact, you’ll love this rich, beautiful, comfortable guitar.

But if you can afford to spend about double, then I would suggest you do that so you won’t be gambling with the quality as much.

Pros: Affordable, well built, and beautiful guitar. It’s low end and rhythm versatility cannot be beat, even in more expensive guitars. This guitar can play basically any style exceptionally well. You can go from playing Goo Goo Dolls to Disturbed in an instant and it sound like you’re playing two different guitars.

Con: The high notes are the only time you can tell it’s a cheaper guitar. Basically frets 12-20 do not sound all that great unless you’re playing jazz or country lead. If you are wanting to shred and sweep all the way up the feet board and max gain/distortion, this guitar is simply not going to sound good.

But hey, it’s a hollow body sooo what would you expect.

For the love of all that is good and decent, don’t deny yourself the pleasure of getting this guitar. I got the AF-75 Red Sunburst and it is AMAZING. I’ve read some reviews that complain about the pick-ups, in that case you can always upgrade, but I am happy just the way they are.

Plenty of pedals and other effects can really maximize the sound. The craftsmanship is excellent, it is just so much fun to play. Even my wife had to give her a nickname “the mistress” because it can be very addictive hanging out with such a great instrument.

Some people said it best, beware of the floating bridge, if you’re careful changing the strings, you won’t have a problem. Also it is a good idea to use some non-abrasive “markers” such as post-it around the corners of the bridge so you won’t miss the place it should be when you re-string.

If you move the bridge from where it is supposed to be, your whole intonation will go south, very fast. In my case just had to adjust the action a little bit, and it fixed the problem. I’ve read about “fret buzz” — it still has a bit of that, but only when I get very spirited with it, but it does not come out of the amp, so it is not a big deal for me.

The guitar is plenty loud if you want to play it unplugged, but it will definitely come to life when you plug her in. I can hear a very distinctive difference between the bridge and the neck pick-ups, and any little adjustments will create a very wide range of tonalities.

— each pick up has its own volume and tone, so you can really get a big range to explore what she has to offer. The guitar is light, but for some it might feel a bit “big” especially if you’re used to place smaller body guitars such a stratocaster, but overall it is very comfortable (at least to me).

The guitar does not come with a case, but for this price I got the exact recommended case (you can see my other review), and it fits perfectly without breaking the bank. get yourself one, you won’t be disappointed!.

Overall: I just got this 3/27/2018, after my Gretsch Streamliner was stolen by a FedEx driver a week earlier and marked it as it was delivered and it was not. but when I followed up a couple days later.

I was told by a zZounds customer service rep, that the driver told them he had lost it? So I bought this Ibanez and it is indeed blemished at the neck pocket, just a hair line crack in the finish not the support foundation.

the guitar has a very nice acoustic tone and the pickups sound good as well. I recommend prepping the neck nut and the intonation bridge or your strings will not slide smoothly and will hang up and you will be out of tune.

the electronics meaning the volume/tone, Input jack and 3way toggle are very cheap but work with a little noise when turning the controls. being in the wholesale / retail business zZounds is paying less than half what it is being sold for in most cases.

buy it blemished and save a few dollars. it is a good instrument, plays well and sounds good and I will take it to my next Jazz gig.

The beginning of this story is I went to Guitar Center to try out some Ibanez RG’s. Well they didn’t have any, all they had was an expensive Jem that cost a grand & a half. I couldn’t believe it didn’t have any binding on the fretboard/neck, an unfinished back of neck, basswood body and what’s this? MADE IN INDONESIA!! I couldn’t believe it! Well, I thought about it and went with this MH103 for a few reasons: the price was unbeatable, it had all the features I wanted (maple fretboard, 24 frets, Floyd Rose) and LTD’s reputation is excellent.

Let me say that’s for good reason. I got this thing from MF on time, undamaged and setup the absolute best it could have possibly been! Fret edges are smooth, finish is perfect, neck is straight, fit & finish is flawless! I had a M300fm years ago that cost 3 times as much as this and was made in china.

This MH103 is made in Indonesia just like that expensive Jem! It plays a lot like that Jem I played at GC because it has an unbound fretboard and an unfinished smooth back of neck. I swear I don’t know how they can sell these for this cheap.

Get one of these now, is all I can say because the quality is unbelievable!!!.

Purchased this as a Level 2 return item with supposedly hairline scratches on the top. What I found was a beautiful finish on the entire body of the instrument, but a 1/2″ long hairline crack near the volute on the top side of the neck right at the routed square where the FR locking nut is installed.

I attributed this to the speed of the factory worker at that step, sanded it out, and finished the entire neck with clear MinWax polyurethane gloss. I do not sweat to the level of some on my left hand when playing, and find a finished neck much more comfortable, faster to play, and provides a moisture barrier to protect that nice rock maple neck and fingerboard.

A couple of high frets, which I re-seated, and some excess oxidation on all of them, but you can’t knock the feel of a thin-U neck with 24 jumbo frets. I put a DiMarzio Super 3 in the bridge, and also bought an HS-2 for the middle position, but after playing a bit with the factory pups, I got attached to the tonal palate of the hot single coils ESP is using in the neck and the middle position; they sound great together or individually, and at lower volumes, clean up to be very useable and articulate for jazz and other types of music.

With the Super 3 in the bridge and the middle single coil running, you have a shred machine deluxe. The Super 3 is wound to 25Kohm and starts pushing your preamp at less than half way on your guitar volume pot.

The sounds coming out of my JCM 900 and 2X12 are exactly what I was trying to achieve to cover Def Leppard, Whitesnake, etc. A nice surprise was finding full sized Alpha brand pots in both positions for tone and volume, and the wiring and soldering was as neat as a pin.

This is my first guitar with a FR, and while I am really enjoying it while learing what I can do, make sure you get your strings stretched as best as you can before evaluating tuning and bridge stability.

Black chrome hardware is top notch and beautiful.

This is my first Floyd Rose bridge guitar so its kind of a new style of playing for me. I’ve been playing guitar for many years and own vintage Gibson’s and Fenders in addition to newer models. I decided that I’m not going to buy a guitar that I’m afraid to take out of the house for fear of damage.

This guitar. my first ever made in China, is a real rocker and plays and sounds like a guitar for much more money. Its a tremendous value. The single coil pickups are bright and deliver the bite you would expect in a single coil.

The humbucker in the bridge packs a fat tone. It came set up in America, and the action, intonation, was right on. The extra jumbo frets are a slight bit rough along the neck side. but not a big concern.

For players who do not understand the Floyd Rose bridge concept with locking tuners, this type of guitar may be a challenge. The description of the guitar and pictures convey exactly what I expected.

This is a very well built guitar for the price and a great value. I would recommend it for mostly rock and whammy bar use in particular. It stays in tune after much use.

I’m a huge fan. Bang for buck can’t fault it. Have it tuned down to B and this thing hammers. The pick ups provide solid tone and can’t fault them at all given there not top of the range. Love simplicity and the fact that it’s only rocking a volume dial and pick up switch.

The vintage white is a way more dynamic colour then the photos, so I’m stoked the lads at the shop sent me picks before I bought off the online store. With blacked out running gear it has an old school but hardened look.

ESP you’ve got a fan.

Great guitar my second esp from and always expertly packed no setup issues whatsoever. A tad heavier than a strat but the top doesn’t resonate like a 3 or 4 ply semihollow it’s more weight relief. The p90s are more lively than woody I really like them nice mid-range string definition and balance.

5 star no bag or case I bought the only case that will fit this from esp direct stone xl formfit case is what it’s called $198 it’s $230 anywhere else hope this helped.

plays great and the duncan phat cat pickups are tone monsters,plenty of blues grit and if you roll the volume off, it cleans up very nicely. I bought the purple sparkle one and it is drop dead gorgeous! I am very please with this purchase.

AMS Rocks!.

I’d rate this as more of a 7. 6/10 for a few reasons. Pros: First of all, the thing looks absolutely awesome. Second the pickups are really clean and sound pretty good. The trem bar is threaded so it screws in and won’t go anywhere.

Cons: I have only a few minor “issues” if you can even call them that with this guitar. The biggest one to me is the saddles are not easy to adjust if you screw up with adjusting them, the action on my guitar is still playable, but I had to abandon the Allan wrenches and use pliers to manually turn the screws.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that the jack is a little tight. Your cord can slide in pretty easy, but it’s fairly difficult to get it back out. The last thing is this, if you are expecting a protective case and a great strap, don’t.

The guitar is pretty good quality, but the accessories are not. It’s still nice to have them, but the case is more of a bag than an actual case. Conclusion: If you’re thinking about buying this guitar, I’d say go for it.

If you’re looking for a sick guitar with double humbuckers for an affordable price, look no further. Also here’s a little tip, Glarry runs sales all the time on their website, and you can email them to get coupon codes to lessen the cost further.

This is the third instrument I’ve bought off of their site, and two of those three are my favorite instruments out of my entire collection of instruments.

I bought this as a backup guitar to the MusicMan JP6 I use as my main guitar for gigging. I had read a lot of other reviews that the stock pickups are quite a disappointment, but was prepared to replace them with Liquifiers if they fell short of my expectations.

As many others have commented, they do leave much to be desired. I found them to be very harsh to my taste with a very annoying nasally overall tone. Out of the box, it is pretty close replica of my JP6.

The only real difference is the the neck is just slightly chunkier. As for the finish, I found only one very small area where the coating look a little hazy, but hardly worth mentioning. SET-UP: This was atrocious – I’m sorry Sterling but you should be ashamed to have let this ship out this way.

I seriously though about just sending it back. It was un-playable out of the box. The bridge was set with the backside dipping nearly 1/4″ into the body, and everyone of the saddles set at the highest point possible.

When I opened the back to adjust the spring tension to level the bridge I found 2 different screws 1 of which was about 1/4″ shorter than the other. I had to replace both in order to get the bridge leveled.

After 2 hours set up I was able to play it. FRETWORK: While this were decently dress and felt comfortable, I found quite a few issues with the leveling just in playing. I found out just how bad the leveling was when I leveled and redressed the frets myself.

Bottom line: It is a good start to an awesome guitar, but plan on having it professionally set up, and I really recommend replacing the pickups. After a lot of work, this guitar is up to snuff for gigging.

Sounds great looks great, can take high gain like a boss. and those clean sounds! I’m playing it using a fender champion 20 and all effects sound great. this is my first electric guitar after i swapped from acoustic and fits a beginners needs great I recommend buying this guitar!.

Im a music man and sterling fan. However, Ive noticed some of the sterling guitars seem to be getting really low quality. I got this jp70 and it was new sealed in the box. The fret wires are all discolored and almost look like tarnished brass, the finish on the body ath the base of the neck is cracked on both sides, I believe the neck is pulling the cheap components and cracked the finish, maybe even the wood.

the pickups magnetsd are also white with corrosion, maybe sitting in the warehouse a long time with too much humidity? I wish I could say this is the first time Musicians friend sent me something like this, but its not.

Ive sent back about a dozen guitars that had cracked necks, bent knobs, scratches, etc.

I obtained one of these in May 2021, opting for it over a Fender Player Strat HSS. Weight: just over 7. 5 lbs. Extras: two sizes of hex wrenches, spare “tremolo” spring, thin metal rod for truss rod’s capstan-like wheel (a very cool feature).

Hard Maple unfinished neck and smooth Laurel fingerboard-bordering on an exotic look- with 12″ radius and narrow frets make for fast playing. Neck is chunky but rock solid, aiding tuning and sustain.

Neck heel contour enables easy access to uppermost frets. Hard Maple (neck) and Poplar (body) make for a nice combination of tone woods. 5-way pickup selector switch is smooth and solid. Pickups produce remarkable articulation and tone.

Single tone control (who needs two?) works very well. What is Strat tone? If it sounds like a Strat. Fret ends slightly sharp and fret tops slightly rough. StewMac “Rough Fret Smooth + Shine Set” took care of that.

Five months after purchase, developed a small amount of fret buzz when fingering at the 1st fret; the 2nd fret seeming a bit high. StewMac Fret End Dressing File rectified that. Some tuners had a slight amount of play to begin with though none posed a problem in maintaining tuning.

Tuning machine nuts weren’t fully tightened. I used an LP conga wrench to fix that. Serial number in metal neckplate rather than back of headstock is a smart idea. 4 + 2 headstock tuner configuration means no string tree needed for 1st and 2nd strings and quick location of machine for the G string.

No need to necessarily install the “tremolo” bar as vibrato can be had by simply taking hold of the tailpiece and tilting it. A coil splitter for the humbucker to cancel hum in Position 2 would have been nice; but unlike an SSS config with single coil at the bridge, there’s no hum in Position 1 with a humbucker there.

It’s a tradeoff. The Sterling Cutlass fits well in a Fender FE620 gig bag. The CT30. It sings. It plays fast. Not much more to want.

I have owned and played so many guitars. But, other than a 1950s Gibson acoustic that was worth at least $5K, I have never fallen in love with the tone and playability of a guitar to the extent that I love this Sterling Cutlass.

Comparing an electric and acoustic is relatively pointless, I know, but this thing is the only axe I’ve ever played for any length of time that is as magical as that Gibson, and I fell in love with the Cutlass quickly.

The thick, rounded neck fills the arc of my fretting hand so well that I barely have to use pressure from my thumb from the back of the neck to get the notes to ring, and barre chords are relatively effortless.

Playing jazz chords high up on the neck creates epic chime. For me you can tell the difference between an expensive guitar and a cheap guitar by the contours of the harmonics. The harmonics on this baby ring loud and proud.

I don’t like to go heavy on effects with this guitar because I don’t want to adulterate the beautiful tones that you get playing it clean or with lighter levels of effects. The way the strings are spaced apart allows for easy finger-picking but they are still close enough reduce the amount of effort necessary to form barre chords.

I bend notes like a madman and have a hard time finding guitars that stay in tune properly. This withstands deep bends well. The only drawbacks I can think of: 1. if you have really small hands the neck might be too thick for you to get around it adequately with your fretting hand 2.

the high and low E strings are so close to the edge of the fretboard that you need to be very precise or risk bending off the board. Sounded great out of the box for me, though others have claimed they needed a professional set-up before they were able to truly appreciate the Cutlass.

Don’t miss out on this instant classic. I even like it way better than the U. S. -made Strat I used to own.

I had been feeling the need to acquire a stratocaster styled guitar for some time now. However I dont find the offerings from Fender to be to my liking (mainly the priciness), so when I stumbled upon this SBMM Cutlass I was pleasantly surprised.

I was initially pulled in by the roasted Maple neck and locking tuners coming standard, though its remaining features are also quite adequate. Wasn’t sure how I would feel about the vintage 2 point trem system but it seems to work just as well as any other, if not just a little stiffer at first.

Only issue I saw on the finish was a very slight hairline crack by the heel of the neck area. Which is never a welcome sight but for me it’s not something worth returning the product for, as it’s barely noticeable and I believe superficial enough to not be a real problem structurally.

The only other problem I’ve encountered was that upon my first string change one of the knurled knobs on the locking tuners came undone during the string change, not sure why I was backing it out so far but it just threaded right off the shaft it attaches to.

I could see slight traces of what looks to be cyanoacrylate or something similar but it didnt hold anyway. So I’ve just glued it back on with no issues yet. I did order a set of more robust locking tuners to swap out on my next string change.

I think that covers my main points for the guitar. I’ve been quite pleased with how it feels and plays, and especially how it sounds. I think for this price point you would have a hard time finding a better deal with similar features.

So as long as this guitar suits your current interests I wouldn’t hesitate to give it a try. It has shown me some of what the strat hype is based on even though I don’t tend to prefer strats, so definitely consider this if you’re shopping for something strat-like!.

I bought this for my son, who is a guitar newbie. He travels a lot for work, so I bought him the jamstik+ to bring with him and practice. All I have to say is wow! I am so impressed. It is so easy to use, and connects seamlessly to his phone or iPad.

The note transmission from the jamstik+ to my Iphone or tablet is instantaneous. He is a big fan of the guitar learning app called Yousician. So he connects the jamstik to my phone. That way, the phone can play the notes he plays and he can see where his fingers are on the frets, meanwhile his iPad runs the yousician app and he can play along with the lessons since he can hear the notes that are coming out of his iPhone.

He and I couldn’t be happier!.

Works better with my retired iPhone 6 plus than with my current Huawei Mate 10. Maybe it is an Android vs ios thing. Nonetheless, it is perfect as a travel guitar. Use headphones and no one gets disturbed.

I was practicing on the plane with this. Find a backing track on YouTube to practice with, and it all comes through on the same headphones. Works better with the addon body. I added a couple of magnets to the addon body and used it as a mount for the phone.

The apps that come with it are good. Also works with Garage Band and Yousician. If you have this, you have no excuse for missing your practice.

Great tool for learning. Especially when not practical to have your guitar with you. I keep mine in my desk at work and practice during breaks. The tutor reached the chords. The arcade mode is very challenging and fun.

It really enjoyed what you learned. I can’t review the other software, but the tutor is great.

I have been playing (at a fairly intermediate level) acoustic/electric guitars since 1996. I always wanted a true “rock” guitar, whammy bar and all. So, when I started doing some research, I was astonished to find this guitar and package.

Going with my gut with the help of so many positive reviews, I ordered one and MAN, has it been a love affair. As mentioned in other reviews, there is a little fret buzz, but nothing you can’t fix yourself with the included wrenches.

It’s a good learning experience. Just search YouTube and you can find all kinds of ways to tweak your guitars. The tone is clean and vibrant. I bought a DS-1 distortion pedal as well, and it really rocks out nicely on the small amp.

The string action is very comfortable. It makes me want to play longer and really get better. I’m 44 years old, and I have played around with quite a few really high-end guitars. For the money, you get a serious, quality instrument here.

Don’t even doubt yourself if you are considering getting one!.

I’m a diehard Gibson player and have wanted an ES style guitar for several years. Then, I received this beauty for Christmas from my wife and son! I am blown away by the quality, playability, sound, and looks of this guitar! This guitar is loaded with top quality stuff and plays like a dream! This is the best playing guitar that I own.

The Seth Lover A4 pickups sound amazing, and the control pots have a smooth roll up, and down. The only thing that wasn’t spot on about this guitar out of the box was that the action was set high, but that’s a minor, simple adjustment.

I could go on and on about this guitar. Instead, I will just say good luck finding a better guitar of this style for the price. Really, this is the one!.

This thing is hard to find. It’s listed for sale on all the websites, but trust me when I say that it is NOT available. On all of those sites, you can “purchase” the guitar and essentially be put on a waiting list for when more are made.

Unable to find it anywhere, I contacted D’Angelico directly and spoke with someone there. According to the employee, they are releasing another 40 of these guitars towards the end of October. So, if you purchase one now (really you’re reserving it), you should expect to wait.

If you’re thinking, “How did you get yours?”. the answer is luck. I totally lucked into this guitar. I had payed the money and was expecting to wait until October (at least), but good fortune shined on me and it magically showed up MUCH earlier than I expected.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. I do want to specifically talk about the pickup covers. Weird, I know, but this is important. D’Angelico says that the silver covers on the humbuckers are “Aged”.

It seems to be part of the aesthetic D’Angelico was going for. When viewing this guitar online you can see a slight wear to the covers. When it arrived, I was able to get a close look, and it just looks dingy.

Such a disappointment. It’s the only thing I dislike about the guitar. Actually “dislike” isn’t strong enough. I absolutely hate it. I have already ordered some new covers to replace these right away.

Ok, enough about the rusty covers. Overall, this guitar plays and sounds great. It can sound beautiful, it can sound mean and everything in between. I dialed in all kinds of sounds, from crystal clean, to overdriven heavy stuff, funk, or bluesy rock.

This guitar can perform and keep up with any guitar I’ve owned. I’m incredibly happy with this new addition to my guitar family. Aside from the issues with the humbucker covers, the entire experience has been a positive one.

I would 100% buy this guitar again.

Very happy with this guitar. Great value for the money. String spacing is correct as recent purchases have sent guitars with string spacing way out of parameters, paying up to and over $1k for guitars that are set up like $150 beginner guitars is disgusting, no excuse.

Whoever is running QC needs mental wellness training. I picked up the guitar yesterday at UPS center and am very happy with this model. I recently purchased another brand Limited Edition that the tremolo base was screwed on crooked on the face of the guitar and the strings were running off the bar on the side and binding.

What a waste of time and materials, anyone setting up the guitar could have seen it was installed out of perpendicular from the string line. The guitar was sent back and they had to order another one which was assembled well but the string spacing was wrong which I will correct myself but for over $1 k I shouldn’t have to do that and it wastes my time as I paid for something that should have been set up correctly at that price.

I have the tools to do it myself as most guitars come with nut height way too high and string spacing way out making the guitar uncomfortable to play and irritating, especially when you pay over $600- $800 dollars.

Rushed- bad manufacturing. Many people will purchase a lower cost guitar if the playability is set correctly but paying over $800 to $2K for a guitar that has a lousy set up is an insult and shows the corporates are not getting you the product you thought you purchased that would be set up to play not suffer with.

Over all, I am happy with this model and it was money well spent. Thank you for getting me a good to play guitar that doesn’t need hours of set up time before it becomes playable! Will consider buying from your company again! Been playing over 60 years if you wonder why I am critical and want my monies worth.

I don’t want firewood-regardless of price, just a playable guitar! The neck of the guitar is the heart, proper fretting, straight neck, dressed/polished frets, nut and bridge height, string spacing correct, all necessary no matter what the price, playability is key.

All the other is secondary, cosmetics, wood, electronics means nothing if the set up is garbage. Country of origin? If the set up is good and was assembled well in Tim Buck Two it doesn’t matter. We are seeing really wonderful quality coming from all different countries which sometimes can vary.

Costs of manufacturing, liability, EPA, insurance and gouge factor has made manufacturing in America very difficult and competition is ruthless in a shrinking market. In the 60’s and 70’s the music scene was huge, today we are seeing limited markets while music products have exploded with tons of guitar makers in the market and amp prices are off the charts for amps that don’t sound that great in tube markets.

Digital amps such as Fender’s new digital 200 watt twin for $500 is a deal seeing that re-tubing an old Twin or other tube amp can be $300 to $500 looking at tube prices today and re-tubing can come soon if you bang the amps around so constant cost is a factor to consider regardless of sound.

I ran an amp repair for 4 different manufactures years ago and know the drawbacks as repairs and parts are also getting scarce and expensive for tube markets. Always wanted a new Gibson L5 Jazz guitar but at $12 to $15K it should come with an armed guard to follow you to the gig.

It is the cost of manufacturing today in America and Master Luthiers need to be paid for their years of toil and expertise. Companies running in Korea, Japan, Indonesia, China are putting out some junk but most of the guitars are amazing with features that on other guitars would be way out of reach for most buyers.

The quality on most of the guitars from these countries regardless of brand is very high as the workers take pride in their work and are happy to have a job. When trained properly they do a very good job yielding a quality product at an affordable price.

D’Angelico is making some very nice guitars for affordable prices, I hope they stay in the market for years to come. I am happy with this guitar, it is unique and great for the price. Thank you again for getting me this great guitar at a great price!.

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.

This is not the only guitar I own. I wouldn’t recommend this as a first guitar to find out if a guitar is the right instrument for anyone going through some discovery phase or something. I don’t like that the bridge that comes stock feels as though it is made of plastic.

I am going to modify that out with a hard tail chrome bridge myself. Long story but I don’t like the feel of the original one. It feels “cheap. ” The brass bridge saddles I LIKE. Maybe that’s what the description implies by calling it a “compensated” bridge??? Not sure.

Otherwise, the Noventa is unique. You might need to adjust the height of the pickup. The one on mine, I feel, needs to be raised a little. I like the overall idea of the simplicity of it. Paired with a similarly simple Supro amp with just a volume control and nothing more might be an excellent set up for adding fx.

(For the record, you have to turn those amps full right to get any pure growl from it (which of course could be problematic if you don’t live alone in a house because that can get pretty uncomfortably loud.

) Okay. So I like the brass saddles that maybe compensate for the cheap tailpiece “housing. ” The neck on the one I received is perfect shape wise, with neither any belly or bow to it. The frets need to be sanded down along the edges on mine though as that can go.

Very rough there. However it was otherwise beautifully, expertly set up as far as the intonation goes. Nearly perfect when not tonally perfect at each and every fret. I LOVE that. So I didn’t give a full five stars, pretty much solely because of the problem I have personally with the inferior quality of the bridge, not including the brass saddles.

The saddles I like a LOT. It is definitely worth the money even though there will be additional costs naturally to modify it mire to my liking. I might go so far as to replace the pickup, so long as it is the soap bar type.

Maybe one from a Jaguar. Not sure yet. It’s a keeper though.

I purchased an Ed O’Brien Fender Stratocaster along with this strap (the strap is awesome, I love it) but the professionalism of purchasing through Chicago Music Exchange has declined atrociously in recent years.

I purchased the Fender and Strap online and was assisted by two different customer service representatives, Scott and Tanner. I asked for them to take some pictures of the guitar I was interested in purchasing- it was a brand new floor model.

Upon receiving the pictures, it looked as though the spacing of the strings at the nut were shifted to be off center, making it appear as though the high-e was much closer to the edge of the fretboard than the low-e.

I expressed to Scott, “Why does this appear the way it does?” And specifically explained in detail the issue I saw in the photos. He reassured me that it was a “camera angle issue” and that their techs had gone over the guitar and it was something they would have caught and assured me if something were wrong that I could return the guitar.

I trusted Scott and CME’s techs professionalism and elected to purchase the guitar. Upon receipt of the instrument, my suspicions were immediately confirmed. The nut spacing had a manufacturers defect and was completely off center.

Anyone with reasonably decent eyesight and (albeit not needed) a tape measure could see something is off on this guitar. My excitement for a new instrument shifted to a disheartened and distrustful energy.

Regardless, I tuned up the guitar and played for less than 90 seconds with the high-e rolling off the edge of the fretboard when playing scales and chords. I re-packed the guitar back into the box not even an hour after accepting it from UPS.

It played worse than some $100 Squier’s I’ve handled in the past. I called, emailed, and “online chatted” with support and expressed my disappointment in their misleading guidance of this sale. Tanner, the rep I was speaking with, told me he played the very same guitar and it played just fine before it left their shop.

He said if I wanted to return it I could, but another option was they would pay for a technician to take a look at it and fix whatever issue I was having if there was one because sometimes set ups “come undone” in shipping.

There was no way I was keeping this thing. I informed Tanner that I would be returning the instrument and supplied photos of the nut of numerous other Fender Ed O’Brien strats, and then sent a photo of the nut on the guitar they sent me so he could see for himself the comparison.

The error was starkly clear. Tanner admitted to me that there was certainly an issue with nut spacing and it was something that everyone should have caught at CME- their techs, the two salespeople who handled my order, etc.

I took the guitar back to UPS the same day and sent it off with no regret, but much relief to have it out of my possession. Here are my qualms with what possibly occurred. 1: Either I was considered novice in my purchase and CME tried to pull a fast one on me, thinking I wouldn’t catch this (even though I caught it in photo’s and was told it was just the camera angle after expressing concern) aka- they are flat out liars and will do anything for a sale.

2: No one actually took the time to inspect the guitar and they treated the order without detail and negligently just shipped it out, hoping I wouldn’t send it back. Or my biggest suspicion- 3: The sales people and technicians at Chicago Music Exchange are novice themselves in their profession and don’t really know what they are doing.

Tanner- if you played that guitar and thought it played just fine, you haven’t had much experience, bud. Regardless, this purchase process took over $1300 from my bank account for over a week after I expressed my concerns and CME admitted they dropped the ball.

I lost opportunity to purchase a suitable replacement because of funds being tied up in this purchase/waiting for a refund to be processed. I was once a manager and top salesperson for Guitar Center in the guitar department years ago.

I treated my clients with respect and honesty, which is what made me a lead salesman. I had thousands of guitars come through my hands for set up and tune up. I am an everyday playing musician. Fortunately due to my experience, this was a no brainer for me- this guitar had something wrong with it.

The people I feel bad for are the players or purchasers who do not have the same level of knowledge or experience as myself and would be none the wiser to these issues and wind up purchasing a problem guitar that needs servicing straight from the manufacturer.

Needless to say, Chicago Music Exchange has gained an anti-customer at this point of our business relationship and I will direct other musicians to avoid them. There are many other options out there where this nonsense would not occur.

The only positive of this entire situation was their return policy, but it was a manufacturers defect on a brand new guit.

Bought this Gretsch G5427T while it was on sale at my local GC. Wow, I picked it up and it was love at first sight. The feel was perfect, needed no adjustments. The sound, tonal variation possibility & playability plus the fact that they only had one left, helped me decide to make this purchase now.

Got it home, plugged it in and it sounds even better on my amps which are the Fender Cyber Twin & the 25G which is a decent practice amp. The pure tones had me mesmerized for hours and I felt musical creative ideas coming to me almost instantly.

I have always wanted a Gretsch but for some odd reason never acquired one until now. I did not want to spend thousands on a high end guitar nor would it have been a wise idea on my part to do so despite my desire for a vintage Duo Jet or something much higher.

This guitar is well made, the action is just the way I like it (low strings but never buzzing on the frets) and the controls facilitate good variation of tones while playing. I am primarily a keyboard player and a decent on guitar but don’t really consider myself a virtuoso guitarist by any means.

This guitar is a great buy for the dollars all the way around. I guess you could classify me as an older retired former professional musician that actively gigged for many years in various bands in the USA plus Australia.

The Gretsch G5420 Electromatic is the middle category for this inspirational guitar. If you have a solid body guitar, get another alternative such as a hollow body for its own unique sound. I appreciate the Pro-series is the top of the range and made in Japan but is much more expensive as an introduction to these guitars.

the Electromatic series is a Korean built where the differences between the two categories is very small. It offers everything that the Pro series does, it has that special Gretsch sound that can move seamlessly between Rockabilly, Jazz and that Chet Atkins style finderpickin’ Nashville sound without the bigger costs.

I chose the Orange stain as a nod to Brian Setzer and Chet Atkins but it was a close run thing between the Walnut stain and the Airplane grey. The Filotron pick ups have a great quality and sound. It is a pity that it does not come with any sort of case but the lads at Mannys will provide this for a pretty good price if required.

I love the Bigsby set up. Legendary! It feels like a real guitar and you can see easily why the Gretsch brand has made such a great comeback. If you fall in love with this guitar you can always move up to the Pro series, but for now, I am pretty happy with this one.

I’m usually a semi-snobby MIUSA guitar guy – with multiple Gibson, Fenders and Martins, but this Chinese Made Gretsch is a thing of absolute beauty. Gretsch QC is remarkable and I’ve had others in the past decade that have been equally wonderful.

The finish and details are fantastic, even down to binding on the F Holes. The neck is ridiculously playable for a 12 string and I’ve had fun learning all the classic 12 strings songs, in addition to trying some new stuff.

Tuning is easy, and it stays in tune really well. I’ll be getting a professional setup done on this soon, but out of the box this guitar was exactly what I was looking to have to noodle around with, but be nice enough to hold a permanent spot.

If you are looking to add an electric 12 String to your lineup, this is the one. They’ve been dipping in and out of stock, so keep an eye out or pre-order one. It took me about a month from when I “reserved”.

Overall: I bought this Bass as a Blemished model & I’m still yet to find one. We lost our drummer in our all Original Music Band due to health issues & to keep going from a Power Trio, the guitarist & myself decided to start doing Unplugged Music Versions Acoustically.

When I ordered the Bass it arrived a day earlier & on a Sunday. I’m totally impressed with the Bass in every way. The Fishman Electronic Tuner has settings that’s so much better than any other Basses that I’d been looking at.

I’ve got the ability to take the Tone, Sound & even Phase to Realms that I had never imagined to be possible on an Acoustic. The action is Great, since it’s a Cutaway, I’m able to get up to the 21st Fret which I never imagined would be possible either on an Acoustic.

The Intonation is Spot On & the Harmonics will hold a Ring even though I’ve got a String Dampener on the Nut. I changed the Tuning Key Machines to a Better Set but it’s mostly because I like Black Hardware, the ones that came on the Bass were fine.

It was more about aesthetics personally than working ability to me. The input is in the Rear Strap which is fine even though I use Strap Locks & can’t with this setup. I’d definitely recommend this Bass for anyone who is in the Market for an Awesome Acoustic Bass that can be set to any Genre of Music.

We’re doing Classical Rock & Blues Mixture in our Band, however I’m also using it in another Band for Contemporary Christian Music at our Church. I’ve played some Jazz and Country on it just to see how far I was able to range the Tones.

I’m Satisfied in Every Way & am fixing to purchase the Dragonfly Java with multiple ports that’ll be secondary backup and may possibly become the Primary Instrument.

After about 6 years of owning my CC50 Fralin, it is still one of my favorite of my 10 or so guitars to play. The fit, finish, and fretwork were all near perfect, as is the beautiful striped ebony top.

The Fralin pickups are really amazingly articulate and produce a killer tone that I never get tired of hearing. I mostly play blues and a bit of jazz and funk, but the versatility is really good, and I always seem to get a lot of compliments on both its looks and how it sounds (my playing not withstanding).

The only issue I had with it is that while mine came with a push-pull tone pot for a phase reversal, it arrived wired backwards so that having the tone knob down reversed the phase, while having it pulled up turned it off.

I rarely use the phase reversal, so remembering to having to check it when the pickups are in the middle position got on my nerves just a bit. After a quick trip to Sam Ash, the tech re-wired it under warranty and had it ready for me the same day, so that is no longer a problem.

I am still giving it 5 stars because it was a quick and easy fix, the warranty experience was painless, and it is such a great guitar, particularly at that price point.

This guitar is NOTHING But Amazing! Just got this guitar 2 weeks ago, so what I have to say about it is very much a Honeymoon Phase. First, what an easy guitar to play. The neck is amazing, so smooth, love the slinky SS frets, neck is thin but not too thin.

Just fantastic. As for the pickups, I have never played an HSH guitar that was SO usable in all 5 (technically 7) positions. The neck is warm and punchy, the 2 and 4 spots have great strat quack (but of course not completely strat like), position 3 pushes tele type grind and the Bridge is just monstrous (almost too much) but talk about Modern Rock / Metal beauty! There is a switch that will put the neck or bridge pickup in single coil mode, it’s very usable, but not exactly single coil.

This has become my favorite guitar of the 8 I have. Well done Charvel!.

This is the best of that classic Charvel feel. The neck allows for all the speed you can throw at it. The pickups are wired just the way I like- giving me the stratty sound for the in betweens, a nice bluesy sound in the neck, and the fat high end and power in the bridge.

The satin finish with black hardware is just beautiful, and, my favorite version of the Floyd Rosa (top mount) just plays perfectly. I LOVE this guitar!.

This could do it all. This isn’t a shredders chervil , but you could absolutely shred. Gets one of the siickest les paul crunches ot of my 8 charvies i own!! Incredible piece and you could get your jazz or blues /country vibe goin as well.

Great for fingerpicking and chicken picken. Not to mention the absolutely drop dead gorgoeus flaming on the neck. Don’t know why the other flame maple model is 3800 and doesn’t have the coil split. Really tough to find the flame maple with the coil split.

If you ever get a chance to try one do yourself a favor and try this meticulously crafted machine for yourself.

Lighter than fender 3/4 but cost a little more. Better internals bar springs but pickup have some noise and not sensitive. You can replace with nicer ones down the line. Good fret height and neck solid maple.

It is very straight and you can adjust with bar in side neck. Body is solid too. The tone is very nice. Get quality strings. mine were very tarnished. Fun to play and can sound great with a little work.

My kids are still using and learning after 3 years. Best value guitar ever.

Very good customer service and delivery timeline. Highly recommend it

Great little axe for the boy , great value first guitar .

I played guitar on an off thru life. Picked it up seriously for last 4 5 yrs. My passion is actually working on them 😃.🎸

Fantastic

TranslateShow in original languageNon sono proprio un esperto ma questa chitarra a me sembra suoni molto bene Ho aquistato altre marche con le caratteristiche di questa ma o perdono l’accordatura dopo poco o non sono intonate Consigliatissima per bambini ma anche chi trova piu’ comodo uno strumento di dimensioni compatte L’ unica cosa un po’ partiolare e’ il corpo che per un adulto potrebbe risultare un po piccolo.

I bought this for a nine year old girl and it is the perfect size. The sound and amp are fine and the tuner is useful for someone learning. Great that it comes with a stand and whammy bar. Recommended!.

I bought this for my daughter and can’t fault it at all. She hasn’t put it down since she received it and it’s has enthused her love for music ten fold. For a budget starter pack the quality isn’t compromised.

I was left surprised at the neck action of guitar and it’s overall build. Highly recommend for a beginner!.

It comes with all the bells and whistles you need and the amp and guitar are of a great quality. Perfect for a Christmas gift or starting out, comes with a 6 month course which is handy.