Post by rcuda on Feb 6, 2007 12:10:56 GMT -6
I went to a local Target store yesterday and was astonished to find that they actually have a selection of guitars! But what surprised me the most was how MUCH they were asking for these instruments. They had several guitars, acoustic and electrics for well north of $200. The brands were Lyon by Washburn and they had something called a "Starcaster" made by Fender.
The Starcaster is basically a Squier Strat. The body is quite clearly made of plywood (it weighed practically nothing and it had absolutely no resonance) and it's finish was black (the only color offered) epoxy. It was in desperate need of a fret job, as the frets were so sharp they could slice your fingers wide open.
It's only redeeming quality was the fact that the slim profile neck had a maple fingerboard with medium steel frets and it didn't have the ridiculously large 1970's style headstock that Squiers usually do. Oh, and it had a triple ply pickguard, which most squiers don't feature. But still, I can't possibly see how they are asking $200 for this guitar, when you can get a bullet strat for less than half of that.
The Lyon by Washburn's seemed to be of much better quality though, somewhere slightly above BC Rich bronze series, and probably about the same type of sound (moderately hot humbuckers without any notable tone characteristics, but decent electonics and hardware). The bodies actually seemed as though they were made of solid wood (probably several pieces of basswood, like a saga kit). They had a Les Paul style guitar, black with cream binding and bolt neck but no carved top. There was another one that seemed to be somewhere between the body shape of a Telecaster, a Les Paul and an old ES-100, but mechanically identical to the LP copy.
I didn't get a chance to play any of these guitars so I can't attest to their sound or playability. But I guess the point is that you're probably better off buying a cheap ibanez than one of these. Electronics and hardware are cheap and easily upgraded, which can make even crappy pickups sound decent.
The Starcaster is basically a Squier Strat. The body is quite clearly made of plywood (it weighed practically nothing and it had absolutely no resonance) and it's finish was black (the only color offered) epoxy. It was in desperate need of a fret job, as the frets were so sharp they could slice your fingers wide open.
It's only redeeming quality was the fact that the slim profile neck had a maple fingerboard with medium steel frets and it didn't have the ridiculously large 1970's style headstock that Squiers usually do. Oh, and it had a triple ply pickguard, which most squiers don't feature. But still, I can't possibly see how they are asking $200 for this guitar, when you can get a bullet strat for less than half of that.
The Lyon by Washburn's seemed to be of much better quality though, somewhere slightly above BC Rich bronze series, and probably about the same type of sound (moderately hot humbuckers without any notable tone characteristics, but decent electonics and hardware). The bodies actually seemed as though they were made of solid wood (probably several pieces of basswood, like a saga kit). They had a Les Paul style guitar, black with cream binding and bolt neck but no carved top. There was another one that seemed to be somewhere between the body shape of a Telecaster, a Les Paul and an old ES-100, but mechanically identical to the LP copy.
I didn't get a chance to play any of these guitars so I can't attest to their sound or playability. But I guess the point is that you're probably better off buying a cheap ibanez than one of these. Electronics and hardware are cheap and easily upgraded, which can make even crappy pickups sound decent.