Gstring
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As this is about a cheap chinese Strat copy I suspect there will be little interest in this post but I felt it necessary to sing the praises of this little beauty
A teenage relative of mine ,a very talented acoustic player, has just put together his first electric rig on a pretty tight budget after many months of research. The main components being a Harley Benton 15 watt celestion Tube amp .a Behringer TO 800 Tube overdrive pedal and a Donner RetroNova 600 strat copy. The amp is a good choice at around £210 as it has the potential to do small gigs and by using the 1 Watt switch becomes a good bedroom amp. I think it is called The Stage Fright in the US
The guitar is nothing short of incredible for the price. In fact, I immediately ordered one for myself and have been completely blown away. These were being sold a year ago for around £350 (around $437) but have popped up on Donners website for £199 (around $250 ) .But if you sgn up with Donnert they were offering a further 20% discount on your first purchase, So for £160 shipped (around $200.) you get one hell of a guitar. Plus it comes with a very nice padded gig bag.
So what is so great about this guitar. Well incredibly both guitars played brilliantly straight out of the box with just a tune up..Intonation was spot on Normally I would expect to immediately send this sort of guitar for a fret job and nut recut/replace but the frets are nigh on perfect with a high polish. With the action set fairly low not a trace of buzz anywhere on all 22 frets. How on earth companies can make a guitar of this quality for this price is beyond me.The rosewood fretboard is slightly rounded and blends perfect with the well finished fret ends
The guitar is allegedly a copy of a 60s Strat and only comes in fiesta Red with a 3 ply parchment pick guard . Looks like the Strat Hank Marvin played all those years ago. Body is Alder ,neck is maple with a nice Rosewood fretboard , Weight for me is a very nice just a tad over 7lbs,
The C shape neck plays beautifully, especially with the edge of the fretboard being slightly rolled. One of the nicest necks I have ever played.The nut is synthetic bone and appears very well cut I gently wiped the grooves with 1000 grade grit wrapped around some old strings and rubbed in some pencil lead but I am not sure how much better that made things
And the sound of the Alnico 5 pups is amazing Sounds more like a Strat than many Strats . And much as I tried I could not induce any 60 cycle hum whatsoever, so assume shielding is very good. . ,I have a set of Ken Rose hand wound Mariposa pups that I could fit but don't think it necessary for the moment The tuners which are based on the enclosed vintage design I would describe as adequate . Tuning is fairly solid but a very active whammy bar user would probably want lockers
Really love this guitar and am currently playing it lots both to wear it in.and because I want to.For some reason I never really gelled with my Highway one strat was not unhappy when I sold it for a good price some years back. Mistakenly I bought a very cheap second hand SX Hawk while on vacation in the US but hated the huge base ball bat neck. So its good to have found a strat I am very very happy with
Will no doubt be carrying out some minor wiring mods sometime . For a strat type I like a master tone with no-load on 10 and for the lower tone knob to be a push pull giving me series options sand the pot acting as a blender for the neck pup.
Incidentally,I have just realized that other than my B stock Harley Benton PRS copy this is is the ONLY new electric guitar I have ever bought.
Sorry if this has been a bit boring but I really wanted to share my latest acquisition.
Tried to post some pics but oversize.
This YouTube vid covers it for those interested. My headstock decal is slightly different but 100 % sure its the identical guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rso-jWD5eB8
A teenage relative of mine ,a very talented acoustic player, has just put together his first electric rig on a pretty tight budget after many months of research. The main components being a Harley Benton 15 watt celestion Tube amp .a Behringer TO 800 Tube overdrive pedal and a Donner RetroNova 600 strat copy. The amp is a good choice at around £210 as it has the potential to do small gigs and by using the 1 Watt switch becomes a good bedroom amp. I think it is called The Stage Fright in the US
The guitar is nothing short of incredible for the price. In fact, I immediately ordered one for myself and have been completely blown away. These were being sold a year ago for around £350 (around $437) but have popped up on Donners website for £199 (around $250 ) .But if you sgn up with Donnert they were offering a further 20% discount on your first purchase, So for £160 shipped (around $200.) you get one hell of a guitar. Plus it comes with a very nice padded gig bag.
So what is so great about this guitar. Well incredibly both guitars played brilliantly straight out of the box with just a tune up..Intonation was spot on Normally I would expect to immediately send this sort of guitar for a fret job and nut recut/replace but the frets are nigh on perfect with a high polish. With the action set fairly low not a trace of buzz anywhere on all 22 frets. How on earth companies can make a guitar of this quality for this price is beyond me.The rosewood fretboard is slightly rounded and blends perfect with the well finished fret ends
The guitar is allegedly a copy of a 60s Strat and only comes in fiesta Red with a 3 ply parchment pick guard . Looks like the Strat Hank Marvin played all those years ago. Body is Alder ,neck is maple with a nice Rosewood fretboard , Weight for me is a very nice just a tad over 7lbs,
The C shape neck plays beautifully, especially with the edge of the fretboard being slightly rolled. One of the nicest necks I have ever played.The nut is synthetic bone and appears very well cut I gently wiped the grooves with 1000 grade grit wrapped around some old strings and rubbed in some pencil lead but I am not sure how much better that made things
And the sound of the Alnico 5 pups is amazing Sounds more like a Strat than many Strats . And much as I tried I could not induce any 60 cycle hum whatsoever, so assume shielding is very good. . ,I have a set of Ken Rose hand wound Mariposa pups that I could fit but don't think it necessary for the moment The tuners which are based on the enclosed vintage design I would describe as adequate . Tuning is fairly solid but a very active whammy bar user would probably want lockers
Really love this guitar and am currently playing it lots both to wear it in.and because I want to.For some reason I never really gelled with my Highway one strat was not unhappy when I sold it for a good price some years back. Mistakenly I bought a very cheap second hand SX Hawk while on vacation in the US but hated the huge base ball bat neck. So its good to have found a strat I am very very happy with
Will no doubt be carrying out some minor wiring mods sometime . For a strat type I like a master tone with no-load on 10 and for the lower tone knob to be a push pull giving me series options sand the pot acting as a blender for the neck pup.
Incidentally,I have just realized that other than my B stock Harley Benton PRS copy this is is the ONLY new electric guitar I have ever bought.
Sorry if this has been a bit boring but I really wanted to share my latest acquisition.
Tried to post some pics but oversize.
This YouTube vid covers it for those interested. My headstock decal is slightly different but 100 % sure its the identical guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rso-jWD5eB8
