stratman in va
Most Honored Senior Member
From time to time I stop off at pawn shops and check out the amps and guitars.
I got a low budget strat copy by " Austin" yesterday. Given the fact that its a budget guitar, it seems pretty well made.
I did not get to totally put it thru its paces, but the pickups sound very vintage / Strat like to me, even though they are ceramic, and even though the strings need changing. The wiring is very neat, looks stock, and looks like its better wiring and components than an Affinity Strat. The switch is a little different than most, seems decent, and all the moving parts are enclosed in a box.
Its a nice looking sunburst, solid wood body, looks like 3 pieces. They did a great job of hiding the seams on the front, but you can tell on the back its at least 2 pieces. Its routed for HSH, neatly done too. None of the screws have stripped out the wood, so seems like a decent type of wood for the body, not the balsa like wood sometimes found on cheaper imports.
Neck is pretty straight, no rough fret edges or frets working their way up.
Tuners look to be really cheap... so depending on what I do with it may be swapping those out. Bridge and block are pretty typical for this price range. Previous owner decked the trem with the springs and tightened down the 6 screws on top.
I think the neck is the same type that I got in a trade a couple years back.. its pretty good - along the lines of an Squier.
Anyone have any experience with these? This one I may fix up with some parts I have on hand, perhaps mixing and matching things from another guitar.
I got a low budget strat copy by " Austin" yesterday. Given the fact that its a budget guitar, it seems pretty well made.
I did not get to totally put it thru its paces, but the pickups sound very vintage / Strat like to me, even though they are ceramic, and even though the strings need changing. The wiring is very neat, looks stock, and looks like its better wiring and components than an Affinity Strat. The switch is a little different than most, seems decent, and all the moving parts are enclosed in a box.
Its a nice looking sunburst, solid wood body, looks like 3 pieces. They did a great job of hiding the seams on the front, but you can tell on the back its at least 2 pieces. Its routed for HSH, neatly done too. None of the screws have stripped out the wood, so seems like a decent type of wood for the body, not the balsa like wood sometimes found on cheaper imports.
Neck is pretty straight, no rough fret edges or frets working their way up.
Tuners look to be really cheap... so depending on what I do with it may be swapping those out. Bridge and block are pretty typical for this price range. Previous owner decked the trem with the springs and tightened down the 6 screws on top.
I think the neck is the same type that I got in a trade a couple years back.. its pretty good - along the lines of an Squier.
Anyone have any experience with these? This one I may fix up with some parts I have on hand, perhaps mixing and matching things from another guitar.