Italia Maranello Speedster

Limited edition British Racing Green, with go faster stripes (!) numbered 20.

For what I paid, it sounds great.

For what I paid, the action, fit and finish are fantastic.

If it breaks within a year, I'll have had my money's worth, for what IO paid (not again, groan!)

For what I paid, it's FUNTASTIC!

Very, Very simple design which suits this guitar down to the ground. 22 frets 1 wilkinson pickup and 1 volume knob. Hard maple neck, Korina wood body with laminated top i think. Italia die cast tuners and a tune o matic bridge. The body shape is a lovely double cutaway and it looks similar to the Grestch Malcolm Young guitar. I bought mine from sound control and bought a hard case for it becuase it was too pretty but i does come with an amazingly cool gigbag.

i play a huge range of styles and this guitar suits pretty much all of them. Indie, blues, jazz and it even handles metal. It has a bassy tone and hardly has any noise at all. I play the Italia into a crybaby into a Vox AD60 valvetronix and it is a brilliant bright sound

Set up perfectly for me although change the strings because the factory strings probably buzz a little bit. Pickups were perfect and everything was perfect
Finish is completely FLAWLESS

Haven't played it live yet but will be soon. Have only owned the guitar for a few days but it feels like it will last a lifetime. Everything is completely solid. Id be happy to play this without a backup

Ive been playing guitar for almost seven years. I havent had much money and ive owned a Squier strat, a les paul, an sg and also an epiphone explorer and it blows these out of the water completely. a real solid buy and a great investment. if it was stolen i would but another without question

this guitar is pretty simple, one pickup one volume pot. nice. features aren't why you buy this guitar. if you like simple this is good, less is more.

sounds amazing, a little weary about the wilkinson pickup in it at first (same name as the razor make) but i've played it through a variety of amps and i can't pick apart this. its got a clean smooth sound with a bit of grit when played hard. the overdrive sound with this guitar lacks in presence and is full of dark tone but with a real clarity as well, sounds abit like taking back sunday or blink 182 in there later days. the pickup being a humbucking pickup is completely silent.

the action is perfect, came much better set up than both the fender strats i've bought. this guitar plays like a PRS, the fingerboard is pretty much flat. no flaws at all the this guitar, the finish is perfect, reflects my face like a mirror, there is no wavyness to the surface.

doesn't seem like there is anything to go wrong on this guitar, though is does seem abit to pretty to bash about like i can do with my strats, i chip in this would ruin its looks. strap buttons look fine but i replace mine with strap locks anyway. i would use it without a backup, nothing to go wrong.

warranty is a year as usual with most things, first one i ordered was damaged so i have been lent one of a different colour until my cream one gets delivered, sounds good but thats mostly down to sound control rather than Italia.

been playing guitar 9 years now and am used to playing with decent guitars such as fenders, Prs (don't like gibsons) and this is in the same quality league but much cheaper. i play mine through a line 6 flexitone but also have access to vox AC-30 and JCM 2000 for recording. if it was stolen or lost i would get the same thing again. i love the styling of this guitar, hasn't tried to copy anything and i am most likely not to be playing a gig with another band where the guitarist has this same guitar. i have played many guitars over the years and this is the first guitar i have bought that isn't a fender. i'd recommend playing this guitar through a JCM 2000 as this is the best i've heard both the amp and the guitar sound, they are made for each other.

I have the blue version of this ace guitar. It's got stripes. Woo! And they're on the headstock too. Double Woo! And it makes a great omlette. Triple Woo! One of those things isn't true.

One pickup and one knob. Even I can't mess up. Looks a bit like a grtch Malcolm Young, but with stripes. Woo! Oh sorry, we've been there already.

Beautiful neck, lovely to play.

This sounds well proper. Very powerful pickup (which does get pretty noisy, but thats what noise gates are for), very dark sounding. If a sound can have an appearance. But it does, trust me.

Here's the thng you see. This guitar is, as has been previously said, made in Korea, but Trevor Wilkinson, the guy who owns and runs the company, sets them up in sunny Southport (its in England and isn't that sunny...irony, y'see). When ordering mine, my other half (for twas a gift) got two or three phone calls asking how I'd like it set up and updating them on delivery times etc. Trev really is a god.... look out for his forthcoming self-tuning bridge.

I'm sure its fine... its bloody heavy, I know that.

See above...second to none.

Buy one and ensure that these guitars get the credit and exposure they deserve... Chris Rea plays an Italia, y'know. Whaddyamean 'who'?

2004 Korean made. My undersatanding is that all Italia guitars are made in Korea, not Italy. If I'm incorrect I apologize. This is a solid alder body guitar. The body resembles the Les Paul double cut or the Gretsch Double Jet, but with the "horns" cut off: they are flat. Mine is in Italia Blue, which is sort of a faded Lake Placid blue with more fine sparkle than Fender's. It has two asymmetrically placed racing stripes in white and they are also found on the headstock. There is white binding on the body top, neck and headstock. I bought the one humbucker pickup model which only has a volume pot. It is available in a two 'bucker version. I like simplicity. It has a hard maple 25" scale set neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 jumbo frets with a 1.65" wide graphite nut: into the fat category. The fretboard markers are acrylic swirl or mother of pearl in a very nice split rectangle and square shape except the 12th fret which is like two opposing L's. The headstock shape is the proprietary Italia headstock with 3x3 Grover tuners with translucent white acrylic or plastic buttons: very classy. The headstock has the Italia "car type" nameplate as all Italias do. The humbucker is a Wilkinson design, WVC, nicklel covered pickup and the 500K pot is full sized: a relief from the crappy mini pots most manufacturers use today. The bridge is a chrome Wilkinson design combination bridge stoptail with non-adjustable bridge ridges. No gigbag or case, only the truss rod hex key. Ahh, access to the truss rod is through the headstock through a two-ply black cover. I'd really wish for them to include at the least a cheap gigbag.

I play punk, emo, alt, ska and hard rock. I like it. The pup is nicely voiced and has a tendency toward lower frequencies, but the highs do come through. The pup does not get muddy with high gain. I run it through a Peavey Triple XXX 212 combo without effects: at the moment. It drives the amp's distortion well, but it seems to be a bit weak on clean although I rarely use clean. The pup is a bit noisy, like a Duncan JB since I suspect it's also made of AlNiCo. It really does not bother me. Since it has only a volume pot, there is nothing to be changed on the guitar itself. Some people may dislike this, but it does not bother me. I modify most of my guitars to one pickup configuration anyway, and that was before Delonge came along, for you Delonge haters. I think this guitar is made with high gain amps in mind since there is not much else to be done with it. I really like it, no dislikes here.

Now, here is where I am most impressed. I already own a Maranello Classic. The setup for that one was dead on. This one was no exception. The neck was well adjusted, the pickup had correct height. The intonation cannot be adjusted, but only the G string is a bit off in intonation. All the rest are surprisingly dead on balls. There is no, and I do mean no, fret buzz at all, which is very remarkable. I have owned high end Gibsons and Fenders with loose frets or poorly crowned frets that have required time and mucho dinero. The finish is flawless. Very well finished and polished: no fish eyes or missed polishing spots. The racing stripes are well defined with no over runs of the paint. No hardware lasts a lifetime soI suspect it will evetually pit. The pickup and pot cavity are neatly routed and painted with shielding paint.

I have used it for a very short while, but I think it will hold its own during live playing. My Maranello classic has withstood abuse, so I don't think this one will be any different. The strap buttons are oversized, which I suspect will not come loose or the strap will not fall off, but regardless, I always change them to Dunlop Strap Locks. I would trust and depend on it, but I still always carry backup... you never know what will happen.

Never dealt with the company. Crap!!! Warranty?!?!?!? I have no fricking clue!!! Hey, hey, hey... not true. I did write to them through their website regarding the two pickup model and they answered within two days. They even sent me a picture of the two pup model. I have never dealt with them regarding the guitar though.

I have been playing for over 10 years. I bought my first Italia a few months ago because it looked interesting and in case I didn't like it, it looked simple enough to modify. I was impressed by the quality, sound and tone, and did not do anything to it. I am not doing anything to this one either. I suspect this will become my main axe for some time. I own Fender Mustangs, Strats, Jaguars, Gibson Les Pauls, and a Fernandes Monterey and a Maranello classic. These Italias very quickly became one of my favorites. I was lucky to have received this one so early since I pre-bought this before they were imported into the US. Mine is one of the "extras" brought over for the upcoming NAMM show. I really, really like this guitar. It is definitely a player. The only thing I can tell you that, well, it really doesn't bother me, but it might other people, is that much, much less than a Gibson Explorer or a V, the design of the top cutaway, and the placement of the strap button causes it to be a little top heavy. It seems a bit unbalanced and the headstock tends to pull its weight down. Not as bad and uncomfortable as an Explorer, I used to own one, but still may be factored in if you jump around a lot like I do. You have to use a bit more energy to hold the neck. Remember all these are subjetive opinions. I suggest you try them out when they become available and come to your own judgement. Anyway, checkout the Italia website. They don't have a pic of the two pickup model, but write to them and they'll e-mail you one. Good luck.