Electra X-130

I reviewed this guitar already when I bought this guitar about six years ago from a local music store. This guitar model was of the Electra's Phoenix series and looks like a cross between an SG an a Strat. I found the information on the guitar at http://www.rivercityamps.com/electra/x130.php. It looked exactly like Tim Root's guitar even with the gashes on the fingerboard from 2 decades worth of open chords. From the webpage, the guitar was made somewhere in between 1981-83 in Japan. It had the brown finish which I really didn't like, because it seemed to not have a protective coat and every single scratch or bump left a mark. Since I love the guitar so much and it was my first electric, I've done a number of things to it over the years. It has a new white paint job. I took the stock pickups out and put in new Seymour Duncan SH-2 Jazz neck pickup and Sh-6 Distortion bridge pickup and gave it a volume push pull pot.

I was wrong about saying that they were active pickups. I didn't know what I was talking about. They're passive, but they were so muc louder and "active" sounding than many other guitars I heard. The original sound was great, but as I compared it to many other guitars, it couldn't achieve the sounds I wanted. The original ones couldn't get the distortion or sustain I liked. Sometimes, I just felt that they made the guitar sound like an acoustic guitar.

So. I bought new Seymour Duncan humbuckers and put them in myself. Luckily I didn't fry everything or electrocute myself and now the guitar sounds tons better. With the push pull volume knob, I can achieve even more sounds as it switches the neck pickup from double to single coil independently from the bridge pickup. Plus push pulls are cool.

I don't know too much about the factory settings since the guitar is over 20 years old and has seen a previous life. The action was a little high, but I've adjusted it here and ther. I'm an amateur do-it-yourself guy so I'm not as good as one of the professionals at setting up my guitar, but overall it's nice.

Overall this guitar was built very solidly and feels great. It feels nicer than a lot of the more expensive guitars. I'd say that the guitar feels somewhere in between $500 to $1200. It might feel nicer if it was set up by a professional and the fretboard was reconditioned.

I would completely depend on this guitar. It stays in tune well. It's endured 25 years and is still kicking. The strap buttons come loose because I put in Fender straplocks and the screws are a little narrower than the originals. It's nothing wood putty couldn't fix. I would definitely use this guitar as main guitar especially for all the work I put into it.

There isn't any customer support. It's 25 years old!

I've been playing almost 9 years. I'm so glad bought this one. I was so close to buying a cheap and crappy Squier or Epiphone beginner guitar. This one totally rocks their boats.

I think I've become so attached to this guitar and I've put so much work into it that I will mostly keep it forever and still work on it. It sounds great, looks great, and is more versatile than when I first bought it. If it had a collector's value, I probably screwed it up, but to me the guitar is priceless. Unless, someone pays me a large large sum of money, I'm keeping it forever.

If someone stole this guitar, I'm gonna be a very very very really sad man.

X-130 Japanese made Electra distributed by Saint Louis Music. Solid heavy wood body probably ash. One volume, one tone, one coil splitter. Three way toggle switch. Two humbuckers. Passive electronics. Maple neck and fretboard. Dark stained natural wood finish. As described elsewhere, this guitar is like a cross btween an SG and an strat. Bridge is heavy brass string through body with brass strat style saddles. The nut is a fat brass piece. Not sure of tuner style, rectangular covered tuners. Medium jumbo frets.

I like to play blues, jazz, and rock. This guitar has an amazing array of sound possibilities. I use a Marshall VS265, Peavey Pacer, and a Korg Pandora PX4 signal processor. This guitar can go from telecaster to les paul, and give you everything in between. I simply love this guitar. It is the best girlfriend I ever had.

I bought this guitar from a pawnshop in 1982 and struggled with keeping it in tune for quite a while. I nearly made myself crazy with it. Then someone told me it need to be set up. Huh? Once set up this thing practically played itself. All of the other reviewers of the Electra guitars that had problems, I would bet this was their problem also. I took it back to the same wizard guitar tech ten years later, and it was still in excellent shape. No real work needed. Quality build through and through. Frets especially. I've picked up $3000-$4000 guitars that aren't any better.

I've been beating this guitar around for 20 years. I've had to replace the jack once, and resolder a couple of times. This guitar will outlast me.

N/A

Playing twenty five years. Also own Electra x-155, Aria Pro II Thor sound, Ovation acoustic.
If Stolen, I'd have to track them down and kill them dead.
I love the sound and playability. It just keeps getting better. Brass hardware makes for excellent sustain and harmonics. I keep looking for comparable guitars, and they keep going up in price. I don't think you can buy a better guitar for the money.

My Electra is actually an X135. It is an anniversary model built in 1982. There is a little plaque behind the headstock. It is a sort of lime / yellow / glitter color. It has 22 frets I believe. It has one volume and one tone control, a 3 way switch, and also a tway switch for coil tapping.

The pickups are passive. I just replaced both pickups with Semor Duncan humbuckers (59 in the bridge, and Alcino II in the neck) The original pickups squeled like crazy anytime I put any volume on the amp. The luthier said they were "microphonic" ...common in older pickups. It's quiet as a mouse now.

The body style is more strat style than anything, although it has more to it. The bridge style is a stop tailpiece with strings going through the body. The bridge is what I am least happy with about the guitar. It is showing some age, and is a little clumsy..does not hold the strings directly over the pickup poles. The bridge is next on the list to be replaced.

The tuners are suprisingly really nice. Not sure what type they are but they are a good grade.

The neck is a maple neck, with fairly thin frets. The neck is very comfortable, and bending strings up around the twelve fret is really easy and accurate. I bought the guitar second hand about 8 years ago. I have recently started playing it a lot lately as I play in an 80's band. It is a workhorse guitar capable of a number of different style of sounds.

I like the sound a lot. It is a brighter sounding guitar than my Les Paul, but maple neck guitars tend to be like that. My new pickups really beefed up the sound. I'm quite happy about that. I have a Johnson JT50 Mirage. (GREAT AMP by the way) It is a digital amp with a lot of versatility..that I need playing in a cover band. I really make an effort to sound like whoever I'm playing like.

The distortion is rich, however, I really appreciate the clean sounds I get from this guitar. Especially when the coils are tapped. Almost a Tele sound.

There is not much I don't like about the sound - especially with the Semor Duncan pickups in it now.

Action has always been really nice on it. It's an easy guitar to play. I would probably prefer the action a little lower up in the upper register, but I tend to like guitar action tighter than most.

The color is uh...a little on the bright side. I'm known to my friends as being conservative, so it doesn't match the image, but I'm gwoing into it. The nut at the top is a metal nut, which looks to be pretty heavy duty.

The volume and control are almost tooo easy to move, sometimes they'll move when I'm playing.

Yes, this guitar is a guitar I'll play live. The hardware, except for the bridge is pretty good. I would not use this guitar live without a backup......but you should never gig without a backup. This is a good, heavy, solid, dependable guitar.

used guitar, no customer support.

I've been playing for a long time. I have a gig about once / month.

For All I know... This guitar was made in the 80s. It's made in Japan and Everyone can tell that it was a mass produced instrument, but it was very well made. I has active electronics with two sets of double hunbuckers, a three way selector and another two way selector. and I dunno maybe brass plated hardware. it's worn down. I don't know what type of wood it's made of, but the boday is pretty heavy. It's got a unique style of cut. It's shaped like a hybrid of a Gibson SG and Fender strat. A mix of two nice things. it's headstock very neat. It's got 22 frets and a maneuverable neck. I got this beauty used at a musice store by itself. I had to get a case and strap separately.

It sounds great. It has kind of an acoustic sound. I'm kind of annoyed when I plug it into an amp after a guitar with passive electronics was on it. it gets quite feedbacky with it's active electronics, but it has a full and rich sound. it has a bluesy style but it's great for rocking. I currently don't have an amp so I haven't really seen the full potential of guitar. but So far it sounds nice on Fender amps. It sounds aweful on the acoustic I use of course.

The action is nice. I set it on low so I can move fast. It kinda feels bass-y when you slide around. You can feel the crunch of the sound when you play. It feels great.

When I got this guitar the finish didn't look very appealing. It was just a dull natural dark wood finish. But I eliminated this by using scratch remover and such. It's shined up and looks beautiful. Since I've had it, I've put many dents I don't konw how into it. the brass plating I'm guessing is worn down. but I'll probably never replace it. OVerall it's well made and So far I haven't seen anytning like it.

I've dropped it maybe once or twice and bumped it many times. the strap buttons come loose every once in a while, but it is extremely reliable. It doesn't really come out of tune unless you tune it or the temperature changes rapidly. I love this thing.

I can't even find information on this guitar at all. I've never heard of Electra until I bought this. So I'm not gonna bother.

I love this. I've been playing for three years. This is my first electric guitar. I also own a yamaha acoustic that's also aged and sounds great. I play a variety of other instruments. If it were stolen or lost I would be very grieved b/c this is a very unique guitar and it'd be hard to replace. I loved the price I paid for it and that it's worth a whole lot more than what I got it for. I'd probably keep this guitar for a long time,