Academy Strat copy

21 frets, SSS just like any other cheap strat copies.

5 months ago, it was absolutely stunning. The pickups did their jobs and it was great. For some reason, 5 months later, the pickups started to hum real mad!

Used it in the stock amp it came with. I have rich sound but like I said, it was humming like crazy.

It is a versitile guitar with that kind of sound. I was actually suprised with its power.

FRET BUZZZZZZZZZZ
The neck was bent, but after adjusting the truss rod, it became much better.

Tuning pegs...some were really hard to turn, others were just so loose that I even broke a string because of that.

Nut...there were like plastic residues on it.

And this is pretty much it

I think it would withstand a live, but i would not bring it.

Hardware seems to last...

Finish is thin. I don't know why, but after a few weeks of playing, there were scratches on the back and dents on the guitar body.

Strap buttons are solid.

It is dependable...i think

NO i would not use it on a gig without backup.

The company is gone....

I've been playing for 4 years and let me tell you that this is my first guitar.
I use a les paul standard right now (and it really does pays off)

I wish that i have read other reviews before buying this guitar...

Stolen, lost...get another one.

Love: Powerful pickups
Hates: Weak neck, weak tuning pegs, finish.

I would be better if it had a humbucker puckup.
Get new tuning pegs! It would save you!

Giving it a 7 for the price and the pickups only.

Made in China - probably recently, but I don't know.
Standard cheap Strat copy (think First Act, Robson, Nova, etc.)
Particle board, with thick urethane(?) covering
One volume and two tone controls.
S/S/S no name pickups, passive - all in the vicinity of 7k ohms
Particle board, plastic, wood neck with possibly real wood fretboard - really cheap and maybe artificial.
Black gloss finish, with white pickguard
Tune-o-matic bridge, string through, with cheap whammy.
Tuners are no name and suck, but no worse than a lot of other cheap guitars
I don't know the neck scale, the frets are not jumbo frets.
The cheap import 5 way switch has only 7 lugs, and the pots are miniature - it still does the job ... it's just amazing to see the cost cutting measures taken here.
It came (used) with a nylon carry bag, a whammy bar, extra strings, a patch cord, picks, and a 15 w amp with clean and dirty.

I would imagine this was about $150 new ... so my expectations were low.

This guitar hums like crazy (especially in 1,3 and 5 position, as you would expect), and the cheap amp hums like crazy.

The parts are all there and it looks nice, but it's a POS out of the box.

I bought it to experiment though, and after shielding it, hum is greatly reduced, so that it would be a good beginner guitar.

The pickups are actually reasonably high output, and so you can have some real fun with this guitar.

There are five pickup choices, as with any strat, and so it's reasonably versatile, keeping in mind that it's an incredibly cheap guitar (i.e. don't expect a malmsteen strat here).

My score, however, is based on "out of the box" - which is not good.

I bought it used, but I suspect it was not set up by the previous owner. Therefore, the action was not bad ... just a little buzz. Ditto for the pickups, not badly set up out of the box.

As with many of these types of guitars, they look nice and are actually not terribly constructed ... but the details suck: in this case the frets could cut you. Oh, and I wouldn't hold out much hope for the whammy ... it might make the guitar go ker-blammy.

Surprisingly, everything else was satisfacory.

I'll dock it BIG TIME for the frets, as this guitar was practically unplayable, but I'll be generous about the other stuff.

Will this guitar withstand live playing? NO!
Does the hardware seem like it will last? no, but but it's sort of "okay"
Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off with lots of playing? I think it will last.
Are the strap buttons solid? Yes
Can you depend on it? It's not that bad, but no, I wouldn't stake a gig on it.
Would you use it on a gig without a backup? NO!

I don't think the company exists anymore.

How long have you been playing? 3 years
What other gear do you own? stuff that's better than this
Is there something you wish you had asked before buying this guitar? I bought it blindly, for experimentation.
If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else? Something else.
What do you love about it? Out of the box, not much
What do you hate? The frets.
What is your favorite feature? Honestly, that I couldn't give a darn what happens to it ... this allows a LOT of flexibility in how you treat stuff.
Did you compare it to other guitars? Which ones? Why did you choose this one? Sort of - it's comparable to other crappy strat copies like Robson, Nova, First Act, etc. ... I bought this used because it was dirt cheap used.
Anything you wish it had? No, it's good at doing what it does.

Anything else you'd like to share? Yes, if you buy a guitar that has crappy frets that are sharp at the edges, take a file and hold it paralled to the edge of the fretboard and file the frets down, and then bend a piece of sandpaper over a roll of packing tape and sand down the ends of the frets that you just filed. You will slightly mar the finish of the side of the fretboard, but you'll be a heck of a lot happier having a guitar that you can actually play without risking physical harm to your fingers.

Good luck!

Overall rating is again, penalized heavily due to the frets. Fix those and you've got a 6 or 7 for the money.