Product: Austin au733
Price Paid: USD 250
Submitted
11/23/2006
at
08:58am
by
UNKL_J
Features
:
6
From http://www.austingtr.com/products.php?CatID=1&PageID=74 :
Features
* Solid Hardwood Body
* Maple Neck with Rosewood Fingerboard
* Single-Single-Humbucking Pickups
* One Volume and Two Tone Controls
* Five-position Pickup Selector Switch
* Standard Tremolo Bridge Assembly
* Die-cast Tuning Machines
* Chrome Hardware
Two single-coil pickups and one humbucking pickup with a five-position pickup selector provide a wide variety of tones popular with today's contemporary electric guitars. Individually adjustable bridge saddles ensure precise tuning over the entire scale length of the instrument.
This is a strat body with the electronics built into the pick guard. I got this guitar a week ago as a 2nd / backup and keep it in a different tuning than my main axe for when our band plays songs in a different tuning. I wanted something that looked good and was built solid with quality materials; the plan was to replace the stock pickups if everything else about the guitar was satisfactory, but I found the stock pickups sound better than most after-market pickups I've tried out.
As for "everything else":
The quality materials and craftsmanship put into making this guitar makes it comparable to guitars 3x its cost. This guitar lists at $250 new, but I gladly traded a guitar worth twice the price of the Austin for it.
Sound
:
9
For a cheapie, these are surprisingly hot pickups that seemed to have been made for metal. A rule of thumb is that if a guitar sounds good for metal it usually can sound good for any type of music with a little knob-tweaking. Each string is as loud as any other string, and distortion comes across even and compressed-sounding. My other guitar is tuned down four frets across the neck with .12-.60's on it so I'm used to a low, bassy sound, so to me the Austin is very trebly and crunchy in comparison. It definitely stands out and cuts through when playing with a drummer and bassist.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Seems like it was set up specifically for me at the factory. The action was just right with no fret buzz. Intonation is perfect; harmonics at the 12th on each string are in perfect tune with the 12th fret picked. Solos are easy and fun because the neck is wide and fast. Solos also are articulated and clear; every note played in a fast solo is clearly heard.
I've to find any faults.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
I see no reason why this guitar couldn't withstand live playing, but I haven't had the chance to use it at a gig yet. Hardware seems solid and built to last.
As for using it without a backup: as a general rule I don't do that at a paying gig, regardless of the quality of the guitar. I also have a backup amp just in case.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
As of yet, I've not needed customer service or warranty work & actually hope I never do. Pretty sure the guitar was new when I bought it (still had cellophane on the pickups and back), but I didn't get any paperwork with it.
I don't know much about the Austin brand other than the fact that it's distributed by St Louis Music (Alvarez, Ampeg, Crate, etc.) and assembled in China. Austin's support number and address is the same as for the brands mentioned above.
Overall Rating
:
10
I've been playing for fun and profit for about 15 years now (I'm 32).
My current setup is as follows:
Guitar -> Fender Deluxe 90 (preamp out)-> Digitech RP80 -> '91 Peavey Bandit 112 (I have a 2 x 15 cabinet spliced directly to the 12" Sheffield speaker in the Bandit 112, too).
My usual sound closely resembles Kyuss due to the low end, thick strings, and down-tuning, and even without a PA I'm heard over the drums and bass. This guitar will make my sound a little more "mainstream metal", but that's okay because it fits the direction we're going now. We play mostly originals and obscure covers, but often lately we get requests for the more common metal and hard rock 'standards' like the bigger hits from AC/DC, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Sabbath, etc.
