EKO VT-380

This is basically a follow-up to my previous review.... The issue i had with the finish i now think is SUPPOSED to be like that. I just saw a Fender Strat at GC with the sam color finish and you could see the wood grain slightly right through the finish. I am even more in love with the sound of this thing than before and I would DEFINITELY replace it if it were stolen.

OK. I'm assuming this is a 2002 model made in Italy. It has 21 medium frets, rosewood fingerboard, unfinished maple neck. Body is indeterminate wood and finish is a glossy antique yellow (very light yellow). Given that this is a Telecaster copy, it has basically the same features. 3-way pickup selector, lipstick pickup in neck position, and a slant single coil in the bridge. Bridge is same as bridges on old Telecasters. Tuners are sealed-type, non-adjustable. Came with a cheapy cable. Since telecasters aren't loaded with features, i'm not gonna hold that against the guitar.

I wasn't sure what expect when i plugged it in, but was very pleasantly surprised. Since my baby (a SUNN T50C) is at the doctor, I plugged it into a 15W Danelectro Honeytone amp (NOT the little battery powered one!!). You can get that 'tele twang' from the bridge pickup and some real nice warm sounds from the neck pickup. Very nice clean sounds. I haven't tried this guitar with any distortion , so i can't make a comment. However, I purchased it mainly to play clean, so it fits the bill. The volume control has a a fairly linear attenuation and the tone control has a very wide range. You can actually use it to make wah sounds.

The guitar was setup pretty nicely -- playable right out of the box. The action wasn't terribly low, but i'm not complaining. The guitar at first made some alarming tizzy sounds when i plucked a string. I figured out that a couple of the saddle screws were not quite touching the bridge plate and were vibrating. I just had to tighten them down and it stopped. The neck is very comfortable and plays nicely. The only thing that feels cheap is the pickup selector. I'm not sure how long it would last under repeated use. There is also an odd discoloration on the back of the guitar -- looks as if the left side is darker than the right. I think that maybe the wood underneath is showing through...hard to say. No flaws other than that. Nice smooth gloss.

This is hard to say. I haven't gigged in a long time. I just play at home now but the guitar seems sturdy enough to play out with. Like i said, the only issue is the pickup selector. I'm sure that the selector could be replaced relatively easily with a better one.

Not too much in the way of contact with seller. Seems pleasant enough and answers e-mails promptly.

I've been playing off and on (more off) for about twenty years. I have a wide range of instruments including a LP Custom, Strat, PRS, a bunch of Danelectros, some Burns models, an Epi Sheraton, Ibanez RG3120 and this. Some of my favorite guitars are the cheapest ones, so this definitely has a place in my collection. If it was stolen, I might replace it -- hard to say. I would say that i love the tone and playability of this guitar most of all. Nothing about it that i would say that i hate. Obviously, there are other companies that offer guitars near this price point (Ibanez, Jackson, et al). This is my first telecaster and i don't think anything comes down to this price, not even a Squier (ugh!). I was curious to try something different, so that's why I bought it.