Bridgecraft GE3911R Strat Copy

Standard Strat copy, SSS, vintage trem, sealed tuners, basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. Came with a Gigbag, strap, really large pick, extra e string, trussrod & trem wrenches.

surprisingly, it sounds like a strat. bright but not harsh, nice bottom end, near perfect strat tone in middle pup position. suits my not so clean blues style well. nice distinct sounding chords, lead notes sound sharp & bright with that spanky, glassy single coil sound. I'm playing this through a fender g-dec and a seymour duncan 84-40 60 watt tube combo. basically, on amp settings where a humbucker equipped guitar (like a les paul)would produce a medium dist. sound, this guitar will produce a lighter distortion, just under the radar like a strat should. output level was higher than a lot of strats i've played. excellent sustain. I like this guitar for cleaner sounds, up to santana-ish distortion levels. i'd never use this for heavy distortion, I prefer the sound of humbuckers and a hard tail for that kind of stuff.

this guitar took quite a bit of setup to suit my tastes, the action was set way too high for me, when i lowered it to a reasonable level, there was a lot of frett buzz and i couldn't intonate it properly at that point. a 1/4 turn of the truss rod fixed all that up. pickups were very high, causing that hollow, bottley kind of tone. after setting those to low for neck & middle, and medium for the bridge, it sounds surprisngly like a strat!
Finish is a cool transparent purple, it had one very minor flaw on the back of the body. everything fits together well.
This guitar is extremely light, like 5-6 lbs total. it is very well balanced, making it comfortable to play. i was very surprised at the tone and sustain of this thing considering the light weight. string alignement was dead on. shockingly, the tuners are smooth & stay in tune.
I wouldn't recommend playing this guitar straight out of the box, but after setting it up and putting some fresh strings on it, it's a keeper.

i would use this as a backup for gig purposes, i suppose. the finish & hardware is better than i was expecting, particularly the tuners. i would replace the strap buttons with strap locks for any gigging guitar.

oh please, it's so cheap you'd just buy another if it broke.

I've been playing for 25 years, and did audio qc for an amp company for 10 years. IMO these are great times to be a player. if you know how to set up a guitar properly, there are amazing values coming over from asia nowadays. i've owned (and own) many guitars, at one time i had a seventies american fender strat, and while that guitar felt (a lot) more solid and played well, this axe actually is much less noisy and sounds more like i expect a strat to sound! i've spent a lot more on a lot less, that's for sure.

It's a classic styled strat
Basswood body
rosewood fingerboard
3 ply white pickguard
S-S-S pickup configuration
sealed die cast tuners
classic style fulcrum tremolo

The sound is astounding for this money.
Very SRV-ish but more versatile and modern.
It has that cheapy guitar string buzz on the higher frets when you get the action down to a useable level but these guitars still sound really great. The harmonic squeal these pickups deliver makes the guitar worth the investment. They're actually really quiet if you're not near a source of 60 cycle hum like a TV/monitor. in fact, they are as quiet as any good, high output humbucker. They give a very blubbery sound that is just in the realm of muddy but it really works. You can get a nice metal stratocaster tone out of these guitars. It's definitely due to the basswood body and the pickups.
I'd say it's just about as good as any quality strat out there because it will handle any style of music. After I scallop the fretwire and set the action again, the level of buzz should be close to eliminated or at least heftily mellowed.

The bridge pickup is nice and raunchy, well balanced output and no lack of balls. The mid is also well balanced and gives useable tones with a nice vocal like midrange. The neck pickup sounds great but not quite my taste and a can get a bit muddy. They aren't high output but are VERY responsive to touch techniques and have that Tex Mex sound at about a 6 k output.

It would get an 8 if not for the string buzz. I also really like the sound and even weight of this basswood.
It could use a more classic voiced strat style pickup in the neck though. Bottly, plunky and hollow sounding. Without that, the strat "quak" sound means little to me. A strat neck pickup needs to be all bass and treble with the mids scooped out. For this cash though, that's asking too much. At the same time, it holds it's own against most stock strats. Installing a 1 meg volume pot may very well sharpen the tones and ditch the mud, this often works with many pickups....

The finish is gorgeous and the strings are properly centered over the fretboard. The wood grain looks beautiful so the color stain finishes should look outstanding. Since tone woods seem to grow in every region of the world, it's understandable how these guitars are so well priced. There must be 50 different types of maples, rosewoods and basswoods out there.

The bridges are good but not great, I credit some of the buzz to the bridge. Denser and purer metals mean better string stability and vibration transfer. If the strings buzz, thats generally a sign that the vibration isn't transmiting into the body of the guitar as much as it needs to and it's staying in the strings which is why they are buzzing.
If you are a heavy trem user and set the springs loose so the bridge isn't flush and you can get forward and backward trem use, I'm certain you'll eventually bust out the thredding for the trem bar. No big deal with how cheap you can get quality Korean replacement parts but it does seem bound to happen.

Never gig without a back up.
It's reliable and durable, who ever wires these is very skilled with a soldering iron. It would definitely stand some serious abuse before crapping out on you. As I said, the bridges could be better but they aren't bad, just not great or better than average.

great customer support

I'd buy one of these again.
If I were going to build a frankenstein strat, these are worth the cost alone for the quality of the body and the pickups that come installed. Even the tuners are good quality. I wouldn't want to rely on it if I were a regular performer without replacing the bridge, be a real kick in the nuts for it to bust out on you in the middle of a song. It does have that cheapy guitar string buzz too and not everyone knows how to eliminate it or at least minimize it so that is another set back.

The appearance is very professional and eye catching though. It looks like an expensive show piece unless you start inspecting it like most us pros do. The sound is incredibly pleasing and the only thing I would change on it as mentioned already is the bridge. For the price though, you might as well snag one in every color. Spend about an hour scalloping the fretwire, maybe thin out the neck thickness then set the action..maybe stick in a 1 meg volume pot and you've got a pretty damn nice instrument to play.

If you love stratocasters and tend to frankenstein them, this is a great buy even if you decide not to frank' it.

G.Burton who? Another generic copy made in China. The ad said it
was a Bridgecraft (another who?) but this was sent instead.
2006 Model. 22 frets. Hollowbody made of basswood. Generic
humbucker pickups. Neck is maple with rosewood fingerboard.
Has two volume controls & switches for bass,treble &
rhythm/solo.
Short scale 31" typical of this style of copy bass. Accessories
included were a thin gig bag,pick,cord (useless) and strap.

I'm using mine through a Behringer BX300 amp.The bass is pretty
noisy,in particular when the rhythm/solo switch is pushed to
solo be prepared for a thunderstorm.
For 60s pop/rock I think the sound works well and has more
punch than I expected.

String action wasn't too bad but I adjusted mine to kill some slight
fret buzz. Solo pickup near the bridge was way too high for my
liking so was lowered. Overall finish is about what one would
expect for an instrument in this price range. Not too great but I
have seen alot worse on even higher priced imports.

I'm a hobbyist who has never gigged so cannot say if it would survive
gigging but most likely would not. Hardware is fair/ok and the finish
appears ok but not real dureable.

Bought off eBay cheap so didn't think or worry about
warranty.

I'm only gotten back into playing in the last six months after being
away for many years.I always wanted to try a Beatle Bass but didn't won't to lay out 2K for a Hofner.
There's better copy Beatle Basses out there (Rogue,Jay Turser)
that I will most likely consider buying in the future. I do like
the fast action of the neck and the light weight of the instrument.
Compared to other basses it weighs in like balsa wood.
As much as anything it was an impulse buy (isn't eBay great for
that sort of thing?)and with the low price I really cannot
complain.
It's now sporting a union jack flag decal in between the pickups
which is only fitting considering who made the original so famous.

This was my first guitar, bought in early november of 2K5. Judging from the way they are sold it is probably made the same year or just before. It's made in china I think 21 jumbo frets, rosewood fretboard, satin finished maple neck (very fast)three generic fender-lookin single coils. Its got a floating bridge, plastic nut, came with really lousy strings when I bought it it included a gig bag (ripped at the handle the first day) a disgraceful cord, a pick so thick I use it to scrape paint now, a strap , a wammy bar, and one extra e string. The tuners are chrome (not chrome plated plastic) and despite their obvious cheapness seem to hold the tune. I have to tune it every other day or so and its usually just a little flat on all six strings. I'm not good enough to understand intonation yet so I can't speak to that. The Strap buttons are metal, big enough so I've never dropped it hanging around the apartment blasting out noise.

This is a Strat copy, not a squier copy so the headstock is not palm sized and the neck just below the headstock is big enough so you can actually play individual strings. My brother plays a squier strat and hates how tiny the neck is at the first and second fret. This plays easier than a squier strat does for a person of normal proportions.

The finish is a metallic pink with a white pickguard and chrome jack.

It has what you need to get started without any problems and more than you'd expect for such an outrageously low price.

Music style - I don't really have one yet, I've been leaning towards blues stuff but I also like playing punky chords progressions. I'm using a Jay Turser classic 25 - which I'm told is a great amp and I've found that to be the case - When I first started I didn't know how to play with the gain and the overdrive so I just played it straight up with no distortion. Like that I found the neck pickup real harpy almost too bright - you can't really pick out the higher strings and they don't play loud, the bass is very pronounced, it has great sustain and just keeps humming this harp sound. The middle pickup is pretty even if uninspired with no effects and the bottom pickup rocks. Real twangy rock sound. between it and the middle pickup is my favorite toggle on this thing.

When I figured out distortion I found where this little pos really shines. On the middle or bottom pickup its noisy and raw sounding. It just feels like its rocking.

This guitar seems about 10 times more versitile than my roommate's Jackson which only has one sound. With effects this thing can bounce around to whatever you're thinking about at the moment.

Like I said, this was my first guitar and I had it delivered to my folks house. When I got it and pulled it out of the box I was first surprised that it was so light. Not cheap light but just not heavy at all. Lighter than that Jackson or the Squier (the latter by a ton). I don't know if the pups were adjusted - they worked. The action was in the perfect spot, I haven't touched it and I try to get my other guitars to match it now. The frets don't buz except when you really blast an open low e then sometimes it jangles against the fret but you really gotta bend that thing when you hit it.

To be honest I haven't noticed any flaws at all in the finish or fit. Everything's where it should be and everything stays there. The pots still have some of the plastic backing stuck to them and are set higher than a strats, the plastic topper on the pickup selector is also of a more translucent, lower end variety.Overall I'm very happy.

Lots of questions here beyond my scope. Would it withstand live playing - definitely, you can hack this thing and it'll be okay - possibly because I still think its not made of wood but rather some resin or something, I'm telling you I drilled a peephole in the back and got about a quarter of an inch in and the material was still grey and plasticky. No complaints though, I'm not expecting a mahogany slab for what I paid. The finish seems bomber, hasn't chipped or scratched at all and that mongo strat pickguard does all the protecting (the pickguard looks like its made of three layers of plastic).

The strap buttons are big enough that I've never had a problem with it, if you're jumping around the stage though I'd probably get straplocks.

Here's the deal though. For the time and energy it would take you to upgrade this into an okay guitar, you could you know, buy like six of them and just smash one after every set. I'm sure you'd get them for even cheaper if you bought them in bulk.

NA.
This is a tool company from california and I think they've even stopped selling this type of guitar in favor of "Crescent" brand guitars now.

I've only been playing since I got this guitar about four months ago. I bought it because my roommate had been given a Jackson electric (no amp) from his brother and I started to enjoy punking around on it. So I bought the cheapest guitar I could find because I was afraid I'd lose interest. I saw this guitar for $5 and bought it instantly, two minutes left on the auction and Pink, because why not, pink's cool. I later found out I could have had any color in the rainbow but I'm happy with what I got. People always prefer to play my axe over my roommates name brand, it sounds good and I'm not afraid to hurt it.

This is an unbelievable value - You can't go out and buy a poster of a fender strat for $5, but you can buy a knockoff copy that you can play.
As this is my first guitar also and because of the price and love of the instrument it has wrought, I have to give this guitar a personal 10 here. Its just such a great way to introduce someone to the guitar. I want to give these away as christmas presents next year.

Very simply if you "wonder" if this is the guitar for you, it probably is. If you know what "intonation" means, it is not.

It's a basic strat copy with 21 frets, a rosewood fingerboard, 3 generic single coil pickups, floating bridge, a whammy bar and all the usual suspects. The one I purchased is transparent red and I believe it's body is made out of basswood. The neck is unfinished maple. The tuners are some generic chrome plated brand. No clue as to the country of origin, but if I had to guess I'd say China.

I play mostly acoustic and the music I play is blues, country, bluegrass and occasionaly some classic rock. As is the sound of this guitar doesn't suit my style, but played through the overdrive setting on my amp it's workable. I should mention that because my main focus is on acoustics, my only amp is a little 10W practice amp. However, I have played this guitar through a friend's Marshall stack and it didn't change my impression of the sound.

I find the bridge pickup to be very bright but not to the point of being tinny, the middle pickup is a little muddy but it has a nice punch on the low end, and the neck pickup is heavy on the low end and is good for rhythm. All in all, it's about what I expect out of a strat copy. Not great but not bloody terrible either. You know, you're not going to get anything real growly out of it but that's to be expected. No doubt some good pickups would greatly improve the sound.

What surprised me the most was how quiet it was for a generic strat copy. A quick look under the pickguard revealed it was well shielded and the electronics were all properly soldered and grounded, which is the opposite of what I expected from such a cheap guitar.

A word about the whammy bar: Remove it. If you use it it will cause this guitar to go out of tune like a mofo. I don't see this as a big problem though because this has been my experience with whammy bars in general.

As can be expected with any guitar, it needed to be set up right out of the box. The action was way too high, but when I lowered it to my liking I got fretbuzz from the 13 fret on down so some filing was in order. The intonation was a little off and needed some adjustments. The biggest problem I had was with the G string being EXTREMELY sharp around the first 5 frets and I had to file the nut a little bit to get it sounding decent.

The finish on this guitar is fantastic and I couldn't find any flaws.

All in all, it was better than I expected for a cheap guitar. If I had no knowledge of basic guitar maintenance, then I would be pretty pissed off. However, if I didn't know how to setup a guitar in the first place I'm not sure I would have much business whining about it.

I don't play live anymore (all work and no play...), but if I did I wouldn't use this on stage.

It seems solid enough, but a minor drop was enough to put a rather larger dent in the body. I think the finish is good enough to withstand the test of time.

The strap buttons are of the non-straplock variety that should be replaced ASAP. There's nothing more embarrassing than jumping around on stage and having your guitar fall right out of your hands, right off the stiage and smash into a hard concrete floor. Basswood isn't a particularly hard wood and such an incident would most likely be the end of this guitar.

As far as the hardware is concerned, the tuners are the only things I wouldn't rely on in the long run. They do keep in tune pretty well, but they're chrome plated plastic and I would fear they'd break.

No clue as to customer support. The company is a tool manufacturer out in California and I think they got into the lowend instrument market on a whim. As such, customer support is probably non existant. Their website is http://www.bridgecraftonline.com, but good luck on finding anything related to your guitar.

I've been playing on and off for 8 years. My collection includes 14 guitars, 9 acoustic, 5 electric. The most expensive electric I own is an Agile Les Paul copy, but my favorite is my Oscar Schmidt sunburst OE30 (I'm in love with it). I don't currently own any guitars that are over $600 because I feel that at a certain point it's less about quality than it is about snob appeal.

With that said, this guitar is on the low end of my collection. It's not bad, and it's on par with some of the low end Squiers and Epiphones I've played. If you're just starting out and need a *very* cheap guitar I think this would work for you if you remember to have it professionally set up. Anyone else should avoid this guitar.

I purchased this off of ebay on a lark just to see if it was rubbish or not. I can honestly say I'm surprised at the quality of it considering the price I paid and what my expectations were - that I'd recieve a non-functional or barely functional guitar. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.