Austin AU731 Strat Copy

srat-style body, the tuners are pretty high quality. This guitar has little features it's just a strat copy.

I have never noticed anything wrong with the sound i think it is pretty good. it has a good variety i can play clean jazz, rock, and metal with it.

This guitar has good solid wood, good finish and the action was a bit low but that wasnt a big problem.

I have had this guitar for over 3 years now and it has never failed me. It is very durable, i have slammed it into a pole and nothing happend i have dropped it sevral times and my friend slammed the head stock into the side of a wall and it only has one chip on the back. The tuners are very good this guitar is almost never out of tune.

Never needed to.

I am happy with this guitar it was my first guitar and i still play it a lot.

Clean tone can be a surprise to those who expected to hear a dull "ding" sound.

With a skillful hand on dials, you can actually produce an okay clean sound from this guitar; however, the range is very limited; anything beyoud its limit, you will get a very muddy sound.

The distortion/overdrive tone can again produce an okay sound but this time, you have the luxury of extremely annoying noises.

Position 5 produces ALOT of noises. Sadly, this position is the only selection that has enough output to get some harmonics and heavy sounds. So if you are into heavy stuffs, you'll either have live with the noise or play something else.

Position 3 and 4 are muddy. Do not expect fender-like thick sounds from these positions.

Position 1 and 2 are where the guitar has its meat. 1 can get pretty noise too but with a careful adjustment with dials, you should be able to get an okay sound. 2 is a bit muddier than position 1 but it has more power into it. Remember, any position other than 5 does not have enough power to produce a clear harmonics, so you are pretty better off with playing jazz or blues on this guitar.

Notice that I have never used a word "good."

Also, you'll get a horrible buzz when you dial the volume knob.

The factory set up was what you would expect from a low budjet guitar; string heights were off, flat/sharp intonation...etc.

The neck and bridge alignment was off; this problem is permanent and there is nothing you can do about it. It does not affect the sound very much but it seems to affect the tuning stability.

This guitar is very sturday. You can throw it around, bash it, stab it, burn it or do pretty much anything desturctive.

This guitar is perfect for parents to appease their chidren.

This axe has got the nicest body. Transparent green (almost teal) really shows the wood grain. I orginally bought with the standard 3 single-coil setup. Switched that out with a pre-assembled Carvin start set with 2 single coils and 1 humbucker (white perloid pickguard w/ black pickups), which really pushed the looks and sound of the guitar over the edge of "awesome." Has standard maple neck with rosewood fretboard. The frets are medium, and very professionally set. The neck is smooth all the way, up and down, no fret buzzing anywhere. This is the most comfortable "strat" that I have ever played. Vintage style chrome tuners work beautifully. Trem/bridge is great, too!

When I first got it, it was set up with 2 single coil Austin pickups. The middle pickup was reverse wound, which really helped to cancel any hum on this guitar. I opted to switch the pickups out for the Carvin pre-assembled set with 2 single coils and 1 humbucker because I really love the tone of carvin pickups, although I still have the orginal pickup/pickguard assembly for this axe at home. The orginal pickups: Bridge-hot output, nice classic rock tone, great chime, tantelizing overdrive. Middle-TWANGY, all country, great for fingerpicking. Neck- smooothe, warm, beautiful. Got some really nice "Collective Soul" sounding overdrive tones. SWEET!

I picked mine up on trade from the local guitar store (where I am now employed.) I was impressed on first sight by the looks. Decided to give it a try, 20 minutes later I WAS CONVINCED. There was no way I was leaving without this guitar. Neck was smooth, trem was stable and easy to engage, tuner were tight and accurate. This guitar is 100% on looks and playability.

I have only had the guitar for a few months, but it's great. Built like a tank, plays like a dream. I would definately rely on this alone for any gig, jam, or recording session!

Don't know, haven;t had to call 'em before!

This has become my main axe. I have owned Fender MIM nd American strats, as well as a few "strat copies." This guitar blows them all out of the water. I tried some Les Pauls and SGs as well as other style guitars, just couldn't get used to them. I grew up on strats, loved them, but wished they were something more. The Austin Strat guitars delivers what I've always wanted, pure strat, but so much more. I am definately adding a few more of these to my collection. This guitar is so beautiful that I believe I would cry if it were stolen or destroyed. I would cry until I found another one just like it.

Typical Strat Copy, 3 singles, 21 frets. Mine is a Black Lefty with White P/G. I'v had this guitar for about 9 years or so. Bought this guitar as a back-up. Played it for about 2 months & realized this thing playes better than my G&L. I own a 1995 G&L Legacy with Duncan P/U. This guitar quickly moved up to my primary axe. The neck is birds eye maple & the fret board is very flat, almost Gibson like. Action is unreal, playes better than my Epi-LesPaul & my 335. The body is plywood...that's right, laminated. Compaird to my G&L, without being plugged in, this thing has a ring to it that is sweet. Much better tone & clarity than the G&L. When plugged in, well, sounds as good as any Strat I ever heard. Intonation us unreal, can play bar cords as high on the neck as you want, perfectly in tune. I own 10 guitars, some cheap, some not, this is by far my favorite, best sounding, best playing guitar in the bunch. Bought a Red one with ash body, not the same, can't get it to play like the black one. Wouldn't part with this guitar for anything!

Fantastic tone, clear sweet ring, great over-tones. People say they are noisy, yea, when your in the high gain chnl trying to get the metal crunch. Isn't designed for that, it's a Strat. No noisyer than any Strat. Rear P/U is very usable, great for country pickin.

Factory setup was not great, but being a lefty, no one can set up correctly from the right side, sorry, holding it right handed puts certain stress on the instrument from the oppisite side that no right handed guitar tech could set correctly. I do my own setups. Tunning keys were junk, put some Sperzels on it, $36 for a lefty set. No flaws I could find, frets, neck, body all nicely manufactured, tight & solid.

After 9-10 years, if I let it sit for several weeks with out playing, volume pot is a little scratchy. Takes a minute or 2 to work it out.
Finish is great, replaced strap buttons with Schaler strap locks & tunners with Sperzels.
I Always use this guitar, The G&L is backup.

N/A.
No problems.

I am mostly a bass player, been playing for 30 years. I play guitar in Doobie Brother Tribute here in STL for one of St Louis's premium bands. If it was stolen, I would buy a new one tomorrow, but finding one like this is not easy, I think there was some luck involved here.
I would add, I believe there is a misconception about what is "good wood" & what is not. I own an exotic wood bass [Tobias Classic] that cost $3k, I don't play it any more, I play my Schecter bass, [$600]neck thru, EMGs, great bass. Blows my Tobias away. Never again would I spend that kind of money on an instrument. Who is to say that laminated plywood could never sound as good as "real" wood. What law says so? You have to be willing to put preconceived notions away, & let your ears be your guide. This is the finest, best playing, best sounding instrument I own. Everything else in my arsenal is secondary to my "Blacky".

Who knows what year this was made. Who knows where it was made. There is nothing on this guitar to indicate that it was made overseas. For all I know this guitar is old enough to have been built here. I sincerely doubt it though. I traded a Fender jr. for this guitar fifteen years ago and I think the guitar was a few years old then. Guessing approximate age, mid 1980s. I think this is the oldest one of these on this website.
22 Frets.
This is a solid body guitar.
Has the two volumes, one tone and a five way selector switch.
Pickup config is s/s/s
I don't know the make and model of the pickups. Generic asian would be my guess. They have a nice aged look now. They look better than they sound.
Body body is unknown but judging by the sound it is some sort of wood whose tonal qualities improve with age. I know this guitar didn't sound this good when I got it fifteen years ago. The neck is maple. Nice dark yellow aged look now.
The finish is the natural or tobacco sunburst color.
Body style is identical to the 1957 Strat that put Fender on the map.
Bridge style is string through body.
Tuners are generic chrome.
Neck is a nice fat neck with the jumbo maple frets. No Rosewood on this baby.
The only included accessory I got with this guitar was a flimsy case that isn't made for this guitar and doesn't fit very well. Nice cheap red felt too!!!!

The sound does not suit my music style too well. I am more into alternative and indie with some classic rock. This guitar is great for early rock and roll, country, and sixties prehippie rock.
I have a Marshall amp.
It is not too noisy. I notice some of the reviews seem to comment on hum or noise. I didn't notice it. Of course their guitars are fifteen years newer than this one.
The sound would almost be described as fat, maybe punchy. I think the thing I noticed about the sound is how much variation I get out of it with only three single pickups. The difference between each of the five selections is very nice.
I like the tonal quality. Again the mystery wood is nice in that it obvioulsy isn't plywood and seems to age well. My only dislike is that the sound itself is not geared toward my taste. Nothing I can fault Austin for though.

I have no earthly idea how it came from the factory.
Pickup adjustment has been fine.
This is definitely the category that doesn't win Austin any awards. The problem with cheap parts is that they don't age well. The bridge has slowly come up over time. No it doesn't sit with the strings wound tight. I usually remove them or loosen them so as not to cause strain. The tuning pegs have a tendency to slip. The electronics cut out but that has more to do with age. I need to hit them with a contact spray before I officially call them shot. The metal parts are slowly rusting away. I need to replace all the metal if I decide to keep this guitar.

I think this guitar could withstand live playing after getting a serious tune up. As to whether the hardware will last, I am already seeing that some has held up well while others not so well. No complaints as to the strap buttons. I could probably depend on this guitar but I choose not to. I would never trust any guitar to gig without a backup. I wouldn't choose to gig with this guitar unless I suddenly got tapped to be the lead guitarist in a Jerry Reed tribute band. "I'm East Bound and Down, Bandit!!!!"

I have never dealt with Austin.

I have been playing for about twenty years. I just recently purchased a Cort Z44, I just sold a BC Rich and I have a Squier HM3.
If this guitar were stolen or lost, I would probably thank someone above that they took the Austin and not the Squier or the Cort.
I best part about this guitar is the sound. It may not be my kind of sound but it is definitely a great sound. The sound combined with the price make this guitar a good buy. If you pay more than $150 bucks for one of these, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell you. I hate the rusty, crappy hardware the most.
I didn't really compare it to other guitars, I simply got it in trade and it was simply supposed to be an alternative guitar to my Squier.
I wish it had a better case.

Features are listed adequately below. Don't own one, merely gave it a good workout at the local music store. Has everything a regular strat does, only this one comes from China. I am a strat player, so I'll rate the features highly. A les paul guy might miss the second volume and tone control and feel differently...

I was very surprised at how good sounding this instrument is. To be honest, when I picked it up I expected an extremely thin sounding, cheesy guitar but I was dead wrong! I normally play a MIM Fender Strat, and actually preferred the sound of this instrument in its stock configuration. The pickups were somewhat noisy, but so are all single coils. The pickups had a nice, full, fat tone that was very pleasing to my ears. The guitar is made from a solid body and has substantial hardware and the right pieces of wood where it counts, so the tone is delivered in spades. Rating is a damn solid 9 even when compared to other more expensive guitars.

The one I played was set up flawlessly. The body seemed impeccable, though it appears to be a fairly heavy polyeruethane finish, which will inhibit 'breathing' compared to a vintage strat, but c'mon man, for this price... The neck is almost a one piece (had a couple of tiny 'wings' on the headstock--a cost-cutting measure to be certain). Anyway, the neck had a satin finish which made it seem very comfortable to play. The neck was a little fatter than the usual strat neck and the radius felt flatter-which lead to some lightning fast licks on my part, which is something that almost never happens on my Strat *frown*. The frets seemed to be adequately seated and there were no jagged edges that I could feel. Overall, very impressive for a guitar in this price range.

Like I mentioned earlier, I didn't buy this one because I already own a MIM strat, but everything seemed to be at least as durable as my strat, which has been a real dependable axe.

N/A

Like I said, I just tried the thing at the local shop but was impressed enough to come home and spend a few minutes writing a review. The next time I find myself with a couple hundred bucks to throw around I'm getting one of these and will have enough left over to get a cheap pedal in the bundle! If you get a chance to try one of these guitars, you owe it to yourself to do so. I've been playing for nearly 18 years, several of those spent in active, gigging bands playing regularly. I know when I like a guitar and I was surprised by how much I like this one. You might just decide to buy one and save yourself some considerable cash over the typical competition.

2002 Austin AU731N Made in China 21 Medium-Jumbo frets Solid wood body with beautiful grain, color and finish. One Volume, Two Tone controls 5-way selector switch with S-S-S pickup configuration. I do not know who made the pickups, but they have excellent tone and consist of a three magnet-slightly overwound constitution which explains the excellent tone and sustain ( unusual for cheap pickups not to mention single coils) Slight noise in the 1-3-5 position can be dialed out easily by lowering the volume to 2 or 3 and letting the amp do the volume work. position 2 and 4 are surprisingly quiet, so go nuts! Body is Chinese Ash or something like that. All I know is that the grain is breath-taking. Neck is maple with rosewood fingerboard. Transparent body finish. Satin poly-urethane neck coating. Strat body style, lightweight and comfortable. String through body. Decent saddles. Adjust real good for killer action if you know what you're doing with the truss rod adjustment and the saddle height and angle adjustment. The correct strings make all the difference also. I prefer either Fender super 250L .042-.009 or GHS Nickel Rockers. Tuners are Grover-style non-locking and they hold tune well once you stress your fresh strings a little. I am not a whammy man so I covered the threadhole with a chrome threadhole plug and play it as a hardtail.I removed that ugly 3-ply white pickguard and installed a green tortoise shell, adjusted the pickups, neck, and saddles. It has all the moan and growl a man could ask for. I push it through a line 6 flextone II XL 2-12 Stereo amp with floorboard and Cry Baby. DAMNATION this thing is the RIFFDADDY WILDSTYLE DeLuxe!!!!

For a complete toy-priced cheap guitar (I'm talking $160 NEW pocket change disposable axe, this thing is one of the most fun to play and truly one of my favorite guitars. It screams, cries, moans, laughs, growls, howls, and even rings on the cleaner channels. It is suited nicely to the Line 6 Flextone II XL 2-12 Stereo amp with floorboard and cry baby. Slight noise on 1-3-5 can be dialed out. Full spectrum of sound from bright crisp right down to dirty gritty lowdown and everything in between.

Factory setup was not player friendly. Pickups were kinda close to right but after saddle adjustment I was gonna have to adjust them any way. Unless you are buying a Gibson/Epiphone, High-end Fender, or other Semi-pro or Pro quality guitar, the first thing you're gonna do is adjust the truss rod, bridge, saddles, pickups and restring anyway. Didn't find any flaws except that butt ugly white pickguard, but that is just my own personal taste.

The Guitar withstands live play, I admit It is an off brand so people look at you funny till they hear it. Hardware will probably last a long time. EXCELLENT finish will probably last forever. HIGH QUALITY FINISH. Strap buttons are solid. It is dependable so far. No one should ever gig without a backup. I've never played out with less than three anyway... Strats, Teles, Pauls, an Ibanez or two, Alvarez, Epiphones, Kramer, It's all good.

Never dealt with the company. Do all my own tech work.

Been playing 29 years. Other gear includes a bunch of line 6, Dunlop, Fender, Gibson, Epiphone, Ibanez, Alvarez, some Dano stuff, VINTAGE Oscar Schmidt, Takamine, some boutique stuff, some stuff I made myself, Blah,Blah,Blah. Blah,Blah,Blah. No regrets. My gear will not be lost. ALL of my gear is like a part of me, I put my heart and soul into every piece of it. If anybody ever stole any of my gear, I would hunt them down like the dirty dog that they are and rip their right arm off and beat them to death with the bloody end of it. Then I would gouge their left eye out and skull f**k them.Then I would tear their intestines out with a rusty Rake and feed them to the neighbor's dogs. Then I would tear their head off and s**t down their neck hole. Then I would put their head on a long pole and dance around in front of their mama's house with it chanting "Death to those who would stop the music!" Then I would collect my stolen gear and go home. Then I would probably go to jail but I bet all my gear would be there waiting for me when I got out!!! Or I could just file an insurance claim and replace it all. Whichever mood I was in that day I guess. Come on people, HAVE a sense of humor Here!!!

2003 Strat copy. Made in China. 21 frets,Volume with 2 tone
knobs , 5-way selector , S-S-S solid body , Platinum finish.

I have had this guitar for a month now, and I love it, for what I do (plinking around the house).I can get any kind of sound that I want out of this guitar to satisfy my taste from heavy metal to a rich jazzy tone depending on the switch selector and tone knobs. The pickups and pots are lower quality and do not provide the range as the higher quality pots and pickups do, but hey, I knew this going in that it's a strat COPY, not the real thing.
I use a peavy transtube 212 and a roland cube 30.

The action was too high for me from the store , but after about an hours worth of time I have lowered it to my satisfaction.The springs on the hand tremelo do not work as smooth as others I have played , but I never have really used or learned how to work one very well anyway.

Seems reliable and durable.

Have never had to use it.

I have been playing over 30 years in bands and for fun at home and as I said earlier I knew when I bought this guitar that it wasn't a Fender American Strat. But for the price I paid and where I play now, it works just fine.It does make noise with the single pickups but I plan on sheilding and re-wiring it to stop that.If it were stolen I would probably replace it.
The bottom line is , it is a cheap guitar as far as price goes but if you are able to work on it a little and maybe modify it some,it sounds and plays pretty damn good!

i have a 2001 made in korea austin strat copy.
21 frets, solid top, one volume two tone and a 5 way, 3 singles, not quite sure of make and model of the pickups. strat style obviously
string through the body. nonlocking tuners:(

this guitar is working for now i lan on purchaing a new one in the next month to step up my punk/ska/classic rock 1337ness. i currently plsay with a pos peavy backstage and an awesome ax100g korg pedal. the gutiar has a really dirty sound without distrorting the tone.

the action sucked out the factory had that fixed fast. the pickups are fine, i had to resolder the line out 3 times.

this guitar fairly solid hardware has given me no problems finsih remains fine after godd solid beating strap buttons are just fine. i wouldnt rely on it without a backup.

i have been playing about three years i also own a takehime electric/acoustic. i plan to ditch this for a hamer vector in the next month so yea

korea, 21 fret, 2 tone 1 volume, 5way selector, maple neck, strat, string thru body bridge, came w/ crap(once again...crate) amp

Produces soooooo much noise....you can kind of fix it if you play around w/ the tone and 5 way selector. I can't find a setting that I like at all. I really cant stand this guitar. AND THE FRETS ARENT IN TUNE! It is practacly unplayable, the 12th fret is a full half step higher than a harmonic, and there isn't enough room for adjustment at the bridge. It is impossible to tune.

Action was waaay to high. Can't get it very low w/ out buzz. Pickups are really high. It's pretty heavy too. Have I mentioned the tuning? Have I mentioned how much I HATE THIS GUITAR??? I like the feel of the maple neck though. Too bad everything else on it is sh*t.

Would never play w/ it live. I hope the hardware doesnt last, so that I get rid of it sooner. Finnish is coming off easily, w/ all my abuse. Strap buttons are somewhat loose. No, I cannot depend on it.

My main problems are the tuning and noise, because these are the most noticable. Even and untrained ear can notice that. I have played many guitars in the store, and this remains the worst :P.