Electra HM Strat copy

mine has a solid white finish, had a few knoks here and there but hay its nealry 20 years old. it looks very much like a jackson
infact, i was convinced it was a ripp off at one point.
LOVELY floyd rose and good whammy sensetivity. with the locks at the top.
not sure about exact year, but its USA
24 FRETS

i got the guitar around 8 years ago, i was into alot of metal when i was younger (about 11-12) and its thrashy sound with the EMG humbucker was excelent.
now i am into things liek Pink Floyd and Dire Straits, so i just
whak on the sinle coils, do abit of alteration to my amp settings
and im laughing all the way!. the humbucker still gets used for that style aslo.

i didnt get the guitar new, but it was ready to go and fealt great
to play.

i just wish that it looked more like a fender stratocaster, oter than a jackson. but its not about what it looks liek is it?

the guitar will wishstand a great deal, studio, practice, and gigs
but i have had a few occasions of the strap buttons comming loose!

the internal whireing could have been done better though, it lookes very unprofesional soldouring

BUT, this guitar is number one, as i have only had minor problems with the above, and its ready for ANYTHING.

i have played for 10 years and i think the guitar is awsome!
i would love to buy a normal fender stratocaster for its ''naturaly''
warm tonal qualites.

but dont get me wrong, this one can sound just as good, also i think the HM start is nicer to play (feel-wise)
with a wider range of uses...

if it was stolen i would be devostated, and would have a HM strat
over a normal strat.

i wish it looked more like a fender, and that it could pull off that origonal stratocaster sound a bit better. but lets not forget! THIS IS NOT A NORMAL STRATOCASTER! :)

A very unusual guitar, I believe made in Japan, probably circa 1988; it featured (if memory serves me well) 22 jumbo frets on a rosewood fingerboard, and plastic dot markers.

I haven't a clue of the wood types used for the body and neck, but by the feather-light weight, I would think it had a maple neck and a body made of either alder or basswood - the dings in the body would point to a soft wood, and basswood is very soft.

It featured dual splittable humbuckers hooked up to push-pull tone pots and individual volume controls, a double locking tremolo system, black chrome hardware and black plastic knobs. Nice contrast with the Ferrari red body finish and jet black neck!

A good all-around sounding axe, the splittable humbuckers did yield a good range of tones but lacked a bit of smoothness, depth and warmth.

When I owned that particular axe, I was playing it through a Ross 30W amp, probably the most uninspiring, sterile-sounding POS amp I ever owned ... I often wonder how it would sound rihght now through my Fender Blues Junior had I decided to keep it ... I guess I'll never know!

It was one of those dime-a-dozen Strat copies, but in fairness it was a good one.

The action was low and comfy,if a bit buzzy. This was a second or third hand guitar, it had a few scars to prove it ... the pickups were set a bit too high - playing certain notes around the 10th fret would produce a weird squeeking noise as the string would rattle against the adjacent polepiece, and the pickup mounting screws were a bit hard to turn (rusted?)so lowering the pickup was near imossible.

On the other hand, the locking trem was effective and kept the guitar in tune.

The neck was a glossy jet black and the body was a nice Ferrari Red, the neck pocket was spotless. The top of the body had a few dings with it, that's why I feel it must be a basswood: light but soft.

Reliable, yes. I found that the locking trem was of reasonably good quality - kept the guitart in tune - and the action was low and playable.

I was having bad neck problems back then and needed a feather-light guitar, it suited the purpose very well. I jammed with friends a few times with it, but nothing major.

Because of the locking tremolo though, I wouldn't have gigged with it without a backup because if a string breaks, the lock nut makes restringing a royal pain in the keister ...

Never had the opportunity ...

Overall, this was a good, reliable workhorse guitar, in spite ofits quirks, with a voice all its own. It was originally meant for Heavy Metal, the pickups were very loud and as I stated earlier, the overall sound lacked a bit of warmth and smoothness, but decent enough clean tones could be obtained from it as well.

I loved the weight and action, the locking tremolo was a nice touch as were the splittable 'buckers. Then why, you ask, did I sell it?

Well, I wanted rounder, deeper, smoother tone from the humbuckers and a brighter edge to the single coil tone ... splittable humbuckers are a great commodity, but to my ears, a tapped humbucker doesn't quite sound like a true single coil ... this was a guitar intended for shred heads.

Changing the pickups might have improved the humbucking tone, but it wouldn't have done much for the single coil tone.

I realize that not every player out there can afford 2 electric solid bodies, but for the best tonal range, a Les Paul (or similar humbucker-equipped guitar) should cover the "fat", round 'bucker tones and a Strat (or similar single-coil equipped guitar)should cover the thin, bright, "twangy, quacky" tones.

I've been truely happy once I got a Les Paul and a Strat, but that's another story altogether!

But as a backup guitar, that Electra-Westone was a serious contender!