Alden XG Special

bought the XG in '06,from Cranes Music, Cardiff. its from Korean manufacturer, has 22 frets, 3-way toggle switch 2 tone, 2 volume.2 entwhistle designed p-90 pick-ups (kikass pick-ups!).Mahogany body, rosewood f/board. cost ??140 free P&P. has ablalone M.O.P inlay on headstock ala' Gibson Standard but with Aldens own design, pretty cool :) 9 cos its standard features I'd've gave it 10 if it had a phase switch but saying that it might of ruined the point of the guitar which I'll cmon too later...

I'd not really been a fan of p-90's, oh, cool sound, beefy like a humbucker with a little crisp edge but the hum would drive me nuts!!
but I like these one's grunge-y with my Spider 2 amp on insane setting mesa like on crunch. clean wise its really nice, not what usually like, the lower treble is a little too thick for me, but you get that with some p-90's.

Cranes did a great job of setting it up, but before i had bought it i had went all snobbery n bought a Badass bridge for it, which 1. wouldn't fit 2. didn't need. you can't actually adjust the pick-up's, just the pole screws, but it didn't need it. finish wise pretty kik ass, its cherry, not as rich as Gibson's but still pretty good. oh, about the action, I think it would benifit from tens (i think it may have been designed for tens) mine came with nines, but thats what i use anyway :)

I dunno bout this ask me in ten years... I'v only had it two...still okay so far.

Cranes are nice guys usually answering email and such..I sometimes use them on ebay.

okay so this is the section where i brag about the guitars i've owned/own so you get the idea I'm used to nice guitars.

well, here goes:
Mexican '94 Fender Contemporary Stratocaster
Avon Marauder copy (sold)
Fender USA '96 Stratocaster m/headstock (sold)
Gibson Marauder '75 (sold)
Squire 7-string Stagemaster
Epiphone Flying V '57 korina (sold)
Epiphone SG Standard
Gibson SG Special '94 (bought last week)

and I've owned various cheppos distasters, like the hohner les paul, that fell to bits when i got it, ah the days before the internet when guys (a music store in clydebank) could sell you trash n get away with..!?! this back in the days(a year after i started playing '94/95) when I thought all guitars where made of plastic and cost ??100
then i bought my first guitar mag.. what a shock!!

now the point... this guitar is pretty much a copy of a Gibbo Pete Townsend, I haven't tryed the original, and it would prolly kik the Alden's ass, but they say 'if you shoot for the stars you'll probably catch the moon', what Im saying is this does not 'feel' like a ??140 guitar more like a ??400-500 IMHO on the strength of his guitar i went on to buy a Jazzcaster, another cool guitar, and my mate charlie wants a beatbacker but can't prolly get one for love nor money (if you've got one for sale e-mail me dava4444@hotmail.com with a price and I'll pass it on to him :)

anyway as you can prolly tell i thought got the bargain of the century,
BUT as it goes supply and demand prices are creeping up soon they'll be around ??300, not this model specifically but as a general baseline what I'm saying is Alden's are sometime hard to get hold of, and when they come back the price is increased. I guess the first buyers where lucky???