Italia Modena

These are new guitars with designs inspired by those old whacky-looking Eko's and other Italian-made guitars from the 60's. Has a body reminiscent of a Jazzmaster with three alnico mini-humbuckers, a 5-way Strat-style switch and a unique whammy bar vaguely similar to a Bigsby. There is apparently a blend feature allowing you to get 7 pickup combinations but I couldn't quite figure that out. Front of body is red glitter and back of body and back of neck is mother of toilet seat. Too cool! No idea what the body or neck is made of but it was a very light guitar.

Sounded like alnico minibuckers. Mellow and smooth but brighter than a standard humbucker. Whammy is great. Very smooth and precise. Goes up and down. Could get nice surfy tones though not quite as twangy as something with single-coils in it, such as a Jazzmaster. The pickups sounded pretty good with overdrive though again, not quite as fat and beefy as a standard size humbucker. A real Firebird kind of tone and vibe.

Incredibly great for being made in Korea. Neck was smooth, frets were flawless. Played wonderfully. Whammy bar was terrific. Far better quality than the new Danos.

Who knows really? Didn't buy just tried out in a store. Hardware seems top-notch though the bodies are covered in plastic/vinyl type substance. You wonder about this stuff shrinking up and warping in the long term. But again, great for a Korean made instrument. Heck, better than some of the American made stuff I've played.

These Italias are very cool if a tad pricey for what seem like plastic-covered retro guitars. I think it's great that someone's got the guts to break out of the mold and make something other than the usual boring Les Paul and Strat inspired designs. Much cooler than the new Danos.