Lotus Strat Copy

I have 3 of these. One Korean I believe and two Japanese. Not much to say, Strat style guitar.

The reason I have three is because I like 'em. I bought a tele style in the late 80's and decided I wanted the Strat version. There is considerable differences in the three so it seems there was a lot of building methods over the production run. These sound better than most real Strats I have owned. I own a MIM Strat I bought in the early 90's and is OK but I don't like the vintage frets much. The Lotus has nice big frets, Jumbo I guess. One of the ones I have has the most perfect neck I have used on a Strat, it is SUPER, and sounds really good. They all sound good but this one sounds REAL good.

I got them all used so there was a lot of set up work involved, not a problem. I was a guitar tech at one time so actually enjoyed this process. They are heavy but I like this also, so no problem. Very solid, since the average age of these when bought was 20 years or so it shows they hold up well. One of the ones I have has a beautiful tobacco sunburst finish in super shape, one red which also is wonderful, and a black one, also nice. I will say the tuners could use an upgrade, I have done this to two of them but the other stays in tune fine with the stock tuners so will not fix it if it ain't broke. Since I got these used I leave this as no opinion since I can't say how they were new.

I have played out with my tele version for over 20 years so I would have no problem using the Strat version even without a back-up.

guess there isn't any

Been playing 40 years. Nothing you could really add to it, it does the strat thing just fine. If it were stolen I would still have two so would be mad but would get over it. I have a Fender '62 reissue, a MIM, and a few other knock-offs and like my Lotus better than any of these. Of the ones I played/owned they all have great necks. I have a slew of tele's but when I'm in the mood for a Strat I grab the Lotus. I have a total of 40 or so guitars, some very expensive so appreciate what you can get for 40 to 50 bucks. If I see another one around I just might buy it too.

Got this off ebay so don't know where it was made. I have a Lotus tele copy I got back in the late 80's that I believe was from China. S/S/S configuration. Basic Strat knock-off. Cheap tuners but hold tune fine. I have tons of parts laying around so may upgrade but everything seems to work fine.

This suits my styles fine, Classic Rock, Country, Blues. I have a simple set-up, TS 808 and an H2O chours/delay. This guitar has a very good sound, not wimpy like most Strats. I have 5 or so other strats including a '62 reissue, Squire with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage pickups, ect. The pickups in the Lotus are the normal Asian Ceramic bar magnet jobs but they seem more mellow than any other pickups I have used of this type, maybe because the guitar is over 20 years old they may have mellowed out. I like the sound a lot but I like a little harder sound than most Alnico pickups in American Strats. I was expecting noisy electronics but this thing is very quiet, no crackling switch or scratchy pots. I don't plan to change anything unless it needs it, everything works well, much more than I expected from a 40 dollar used guitar bought sight unseen.

This thing most likely sat in somebody's closet for the last 20 years. No fret wear at all. Did some minor adjustments and started playing. One of the best necks I have played on any guitar just like my old Lotus tele and the reason I bought this guitar. The finish is pretty good, a little orange peel but not noticeable unless you really look. One nice thing is the neck has turned a nice amber color. When removing the truss rod cover to adjust the relief a bit you can see how much it has aged. The bridge was all gunked up but took it all apart and polished it up and found the cheap chrome bridge shined up like new. I may replace this for a heavy steel sustain block but maybe not, it actually sounds fine as is. All screws had some surface rust but most of this came off with a little lighter fluid, all in all very good shape for a 20 year old guitar.

I used my other Lotus when playing out many times and wouldn't have any reservations doing the same with this one. Everything seems solid. I keep a few tools in my gig bag so should be able to fix any minor thing that comes up.

Been playing guitar 35 years and music for 40 years since I was 8. If it were stolen I'd just find another one for 40 or 50 bucks. I have no complaints with it, it plays better than my '62 reissue I think mainly because I like the fat frets on the Lotus. It may not have the thin vintage sound but that ain't a bad thing, it does have a nice full sound, the bridge pick-up is snappy without being annoying, the neck is nice and bluesy, and the in-between positions are strat like to me. I have some expensive guitars that don't sound as good and as good as this one plays I can't complain.

My Lotus "strat" is PROBABLY an early- to mid-80s one and I'd guess Japanese in origin. Since Lotus was just one of those anonymous "Let's build guitars" companies, it's hard to know. They were made in Japan, India, and possibly Indonesia and Korea over the years but were originally Japanese from what I can tell. I think the reviews below are all over the map because the guitars themselves varied so widely from factory to factory. Mine says "Electric Guitar" after the logo on the headstock, has the truss rod adjuster at the butt of the neck, has a slightly aged gloss lacquer over the neck and maple fretboard, a pretty heavy-duty Fender-styled traditional Strat vibrato with chunky saddles with tiny allen adjusters, a beveled pickguard, and overall is a REALLY precise copy of a Japanese Fender Stratocaster. And that is not a bad thing. It LOOKS precisely like the $4000 David Gilmour Strat.

It sounds like a Strat. The "sounds like garbage" reviews may be for ones that were a different vintage or were abused or set up wrong. I do see a lot of 'I BEEN PLAYING 8 WEEKS BIT I M PRTY GUD, SLAYER RULZ AND THIS GUITAR IS SUCKY THRU MY 15 WATT RANDALL THAT RULEZ" reviews. Also Professor Single Coils Are Superior... please tell Jimmy Page, Peter Green, EVH, George Benson, Steve Vai, etc. They'll be grateful to know their tones suck. This guitar has staggered poles, and the 5-way switch makes it sound like it should. I used to have a G&L Legacy and while I'm sure A-Bing them would be fun, overall this guitar makes Strat sounds like one would expect.

Hard to say on a 25-year-old (more or less) guitar. Weighs a LOT, well-finished. Med-jumbo frets are finished as well as a normal guitar. Neck is straight. Had dramatic tuning problems until I spent a couple hours doing a setup on pickups, neck and bridge (kids at home, Google "Strat vibrato setup" and follow the instructions) so once it was floating 3/16" off the body, parallel, intonated and with the action low... played fine. A very good tech-to-the-local-heavies here in Atlanta checked it out and congratulated me on getting a guitar that played as well as a David Gilmour Strat guitar for forty bucks.

Built well. I added Schaller straplocks and have gigged with it.

N/A

I've played a long time, and hobnobbed/jammed/recorded with/opened for some big shots. I'm just a competent player, nothing special. But I know tone and how to play professionally. I use 30-watt EL84 combos, whatever brand, with 2 12s, and few effects. Usually play Guild Bluesbirds (I have two) but this guitar is perfectly good and I won't be upset if I scratch it. I'd give it an 8 but if you can find a JAPANESE EIGHTIES Lotus Strat, GRAB IT. It's a "10" for sheer value.

I dunno some type of Korean job. Typical strat copy, 22 frets, S-S-S configuration, double cut, 5-way, cheap factory imitation Gotoh tuners and stock tremolo. Pickups servicable, but no great shakes. Nice maple neck and alder body though.

Doesn't really apply now, since it's been totally rebuilt, but I did plug it in and play it right after I bought it. Sounded like ****, but I dunno who owned it before. The action and intonation were not set up (the previous owner had taken all the saddles and adjusted them flush with the back of the bridge) and the hole for the tremolo arm was stripped out. The slots in the nut were all gouged out. The electronics crackled like a bad transistor radio, and the paint job looked like it had been done with a paintbrush using old black exterior house paint - atrocious! It's not fair to blame that on the guitar in orignal condition however.

I bought this thing because I liked the weight, the neck, and the way it fit together, oh and it was cheap. My sole purpose was to strip it down and make it my project guitar, which required only that the neck and body fit well together, I didn't care about much else.

Yeah, the neck and body are like a rock, but they're the only original parts I still have.

I don't know if they're still in business. In any case I definitely voided the warranty.

This is an awesome guitar for the Dr. Frankenstein lurking within each of us. Body and neck wise, it's damn near indestructable. I've refinished the neck twice, the body innumerable times. I've had it in the original S-S-S configuration and modified it to S-S-H. Of course, I've changed everything out. New electronics tuners, nut, bridge, etc. I agree with one of the users that commented about how hard it is to get the original nut removed, I used a hammer with a nail set to pop it out and then filed the slot to get all the gunk out. I only paid $60 at a second hand music shop whereas if I had gone through Stew-Mac or Warmouth I would easily have spent 3 times that for a new neck and body and who knows if they would have fit together as well. Right now, it's painted in a glossy seafoam green with a white sparkle pickguard (very vintage looking) with Duncan SSL-3's and a Pearly Gates in S-S-H configuration. I play it mostly through a hot-rodded 70's era Princeton or this homemade beast I built from a gutted out Sears Roebuck bass amp. As you can tell, I'm a very hands-on type of guy.

Basic strat copy as all the other users here have described. This one is all stock as far as I can tell. Had the stock tremolo with handle (now disabled) and was missing the little knob for the 5 way pick up switch. Mine is gloss black with white trim. I have no idea what year (how would you tell?) or woods used (Rosewood neck maybe?),or country of origin, however this thing is heavy as hell and appears to be built like a tank. It's actually one of the heaviest electric guitars I've ever handled. Extremely cheap tuners, rest of the hardware is ok, nothing great.

I have some trouble judging this as I'm an acoustic player and a huge part of getting a good sound with an electric is what amp you're using and how you set it, which I'm still a novice at. To me the pickups sound kind of thin and reedy, harsh actually. I typically play it with the neck and center pickup together. I think with some level of trial it could sound ok, however I'm sure these are crappy pickups to start with so that's a limitation. I'm used to playing a Martin HD28 which sounds beautiful amped or not, but that's hardly a fair comparison. Ironically enough, I play this thing almost all the time WITHOUT an amp because I can practice with it and not disturb anyone late at night. I love it for that.

This is what actually attracted me to the guitar(and of course the price)in the first place. The neck was totally straight and felt great. The frets were good and the body just "felt" right. For a cheap guitar it's put together pretty well. I found mine in an antique store with old strings on it and who knows the last time anyone did any adjustments on it and it just felt really good. One thing I DON'T like is the tail piece/saddle assembly. The saddles are adjusted up and down with little allen head screws and the ones on mine stick up 1/8" or so, and they're kind of sharp. I tend to rest my struminng hand right on this part of the tail piece and if I played it a lot I think it would be uncomfortable after a while.

Seems ok, however I have changed some of the items to improve it. I blocked up the tremolo solid to the body because a.) it was chaep and wouldn't have stayed in tune, b.) what the hell would I do with a tremolo anyway? I also installed some decent tuning heads off a junked Yamaha strat copy I had laying around. After setting the action and intonation, it holds a tune and stays in tune as you move up the neck. I do a lot of giging but it's all with my Martin. But I'd say it's a decent product.

Are these guys even still in business?

I've been playing for over 20 years, however it's pretty much acoustic guitar or electric bass. As I said, I bought this at an anique store for $60 on the off chance that it would need some work but might be playable. Just for the hell of it really. I've been very pleasantly surprised, delighted in fact. The action is great and it's a lot of fun to play and handy to practice with. The few times I've run it through an amp and jammed with people I've had mixed feelings about the sound, but it's still a lot of fun to play and a nice guitar to have around. If you can find one cheap (up to $125 maybe) check it out. My guess is that there's a lot of variation in these, and I happened to get a decent one. The next one you see might be pretty worthless.

Okay, this is just a regular strat styled guitar. I don't know what kind of wood the body is made out of (it might even be plywood), but I am most definite that the neck is maple, and the finger board is rosewood. The electronics are standard strat electronics 3 sweet sounding singles with a 5way switch and one volume and two tone controls. Mine is slightly modified(will explain in the sound section). The tuners are really cheap and I might replace them eventually. The bridge is a standard vintage style tremelo. 21 frets. The 10 rating is for the tone.

My setup right now is this guitar to a DOD fx50 overdrive preamp (almost the same electronics as the 250 overdrive preamp) from that to a DOD fx57 hard rock distortion (slightly modified you can read that in my review of the pedal) to a DOD fuzz, to my own creation (not patented yet, can't share), to a morley PWA wah (best wah) to a Laney GC 50A amp (best amp ever at least check one out if you see one.) I also have a DOD fx90 delay that I am fixing. I also just won a dod phaser on eBay they will both probably go in my amps effects loop. Well anyway my style is something that I like to call Funk/Metal or Hard Funk Rock. Sometimes it goes to a straight funk or straight metal, but most of the time I write songs in between. I would start a band, but I don't think that anyone is interested in playing George Clinton and Black Sabbath at the same time (email me if you are). Well anyway you could really describe this amp as being twangy. It almost sounds more like a Tele than a Strat. This is perfect.To be honest single coils will always have better tone than humbuckers. Humbuckers should be described as toneless, but if you get a good single coil that sound actually has life into it. If you think that guys like Linkin Park have good tone, then your ears are probably not developed enough. I am not saying that I never listen to music that uses humbuckers, but I can always wish that they used single. The guy with the single best tone in all of hard rock is Tom Morello most of the time he is playing a standard strat with the neck single coil pickup. Try to think about that when you are trying to develop your tone.
I mostly use the middle pickup because it gives you a great funky hitchainyochest punch, the bridge is fairly good for leads and the neck is fine for some other stuff. My slight modification is that on the five way switch I switched the wires for the middle and the neck pickups. You might ask, Why in the hell would this guy do this? Well because .......... At this setting the middle pickup is used when the switch is all the way up (where the neck position usually is). Because I use the middle pickup alot by itself this makes alot of since. If I am using any other setting all I have to do is flick the switch all the way up and I am there for some great punch. The neck pickup is still of course easily accessible. The second reason for this is because I wanted to be able to use the bridge and neck pickups ath the same time. This is a really awesome rythym tone for hard rock riffs. If you have one of these (or almost any strat) you should try this. All it will cost you is a little solder, and it won't even take five minutes to switch back if you don't like it. There is two draw back to this mod though. One is that you are losing another pickup combination (the bridge and middle together) this was no big deal to me, but it might be to you. The other is that NONE OF THE SWITCH POSITIONS CANCEL HUM. This again is no big deal to me because I never use gobs of distortion. I am also into noise guitar so sometimes single coil hum is useful anyway. Oh and by the way anyone that complains about this or any other guitar with single coils being noisy is a dumbass. I mean get real that is what single coils do. Unless you get some Kinman's or Fender vintage noisless or something like that you are just going to have to live with it. Either that or get some crappy humbuckers! Oh yeah and by the way the tone controls are really responsive even before I replaced them (you will see why in the reliability section.)

Okay this section should almost not even be in here. No offence to the guys at harmony central, but action and setup is a personal thing. I don't care if you just bought a $4,000 guitar from Fender the setup is not going to be exactly how you want it. Why? Fender is not psychic (the morons at Gison aren't either.) That is why you either need the money to pay someone to set stuff up for you or do it yourself. It isn't rocket science so I suggest the later. There don't seem to be any real flaws, but I got this guitar used and REALLY used so I am not counting the abuse it took as flaws. Not the guitars fault. The finish doesn't effect playabilty so I don't give a crap.

This guitar would probably be able to be played live. Fact is guitars are not that hard to be wired up. Unlike effects and amps as long as they hold up physically (i.e. the neck doesn't snap in half and the body doesn't fall apart) they should be fine. The electronics are so frickin' easy to replace. If you google "strat wiring diagram" you will find like 5,000 or so sites with the right wiring diagram for this and other guitars like it. That said this guitar did have some major problems when I got it. This again was due to some abuse (possibly) and the fact that it sat in somebodies attic for like 10 years or so. When I got it the switch was just fried. It would only work with the middle pickup position. On top of that the volume pot would only work if you turned it all the way up. Before I changed the strings I opened it up. I took out the old switch and the volume pot. I had the entire guts for a strat put together anyway so I just wired up the pickups to the other "guts." This is why the tone controls where also replaced because they were already wired. I did the slight modification that I mentioned earlier, slapped it back together, and it was ready to rock er... FUNK in my case. That said for most guitars there almost really isn't a reason to rate durability. The electronics are so easy to wire a trained monkey could do it. I believe that the body and neck will hold up. If the pickups ever failed I would be ragingly pissed. I don't know if I could ever find another pickup set like that so funky. I would probably have to make my own. I don't believe that they will ever fail though. I don't plan on pooring Dr pepper on them any time soon. If they did go out I would probably buy another one on eBay. These things only go for like $20 so it wouldn't really matter. Then I could maybe expirement with the other Lotus strat.

Don't know who the hell lotus is so I can't rat this category. Maybe if I ever need assistance (which I never will) I could call the car company. Hey maybe that's a good idea for a prank call. "Yeah, I've got this Lotus and my volume pot just went bad." They will probably think that I am talking about drugs that would be funny.

Well anyway. This guitar was literally just given to me. I was playing a Washburn 7string and missing single coil sound BAD! A friend at work told me that he had a guitar sitting in his parents basement. Apparently it had been sitting there for about 10-15 years or so. He bought it (he doesn't even know where) for his first guitar, but gave up playing before a year even went by. I told him about how I had to sell my guitar for $200 on eBay (the truth) to make my house payment. He then offered to give me this for free. I sell guitars and other musical equipment on eBay all the time, so I figured I could just play it for a while and just use it for parts. I was totally blown away by the sound. The tuners do need upgrading, but I already have those if there aren't any guitars that I am selling that need them. This guitar literally outshines any $500 Fender that I could sell in both the tone and playability category. I am almost shooting myself in the foot for saying that because I don't want one of my customers to find out a dirty little secret. When you buy a $500 guitar you are buying a $100 guitar and a $400 name tag. When you buy a $3000 Les Paul (talking of the modern not vintage ones) you are buying a $500 guitar and a $2,500 name tag. There are plenty of guitars made overseas that match or outperform their name brand counterparts. Don't let it bother you that it is not "Made in the U.S.A." because contrary to popular belief people in China, India, and Indonesia need to eat too! Well anyway back to about the guitar. This guitar is perfect especially for getting it for free. I will eventually be getting a SX brand strat copy from Rondo music. They sell one with a Floyd Rose a middle singl and two humbuckers for only $150. You can't beat that. Unless of course you want to pay another $500 for a name tag. This will probably be my main guitar and the SX will be for stuff that needs a Floyd rose. Also there are some guitar tricks and noises that I do that unfortunatley need a humbucker (or a Kinman single) so that guitar would be useful to. When I get this other guitar I don't picture needing anymore solid bodied guitars for a while.

Okay, I'll try my best to discribe this guitar. The one I have is a Fender Strat copy with 3 single coil strat style pick-ups, 1 volume, 2 tone, and a 5 way selector switch. It's black with a white pickguard, and has the usual recessed jack input like on a real Stratocaster. I think it's a 1998 model. It has a bolt on neck that is unfinished the same as the headstock. It has 21 frets, and what I think is called a "zero fret" near the headstock, behind the nut, up where the cheap vinyl truss rod cover is located. It has string spacers on the headstock, and a flower decal next to the "Lotus" Logo. The tuners are cheap, but it seems to stay in tune fairly well.

Presently, I am using this Strat clone with an MX-120watt CRATE Combo AMP w/2-12's. While it does imitate a Fender Strat with the 5 way selector switch, it seems to be "extremely twangy" to the point of being harsh and annoying. A very bright sound, able to cut through just about anything. Output is fairly hot even with pick up hieght at lowest position, and it will make your ears bleed if you have the trebel up too high on the amp. While it has a variety of sounds, there is only one that I consider "usable" for the clean style needed for the classic rock that I cover.

This guitar seems to have absolutly no tuning problems, or fret buzz. Since I bought this used, the nut had a small chip out of it, but the string still stays in place alright so far. The string height is very playable, and the neck seems rather wide...something like on a Gretsch Duo Jet.

I havent used this guitar live outside of a practice session. I would hesitate to use it without a back-up in a live situation, but would use it as a "switch over guitar" for certain songs. The finish is very durable, and the guitar is like a piece of petrified wood... very heavy and hard. This could take some fairly heavy misuse or abuse or unfortunate accident.

Never needed to contact them, or cared to.

I have been playing guitar for 37 years. I have quite a few guitars, but no Fenders. The closest thing I have to this guitar is an old Harmony brand strat copy, and a TOKAI 38 Special, both of which sound better than this guitar for a Strat sound. I like the extra heavy duty pick guard, and how well built the whole guitar seems to be. Compared to anything else you would find at the price I paid for this, I think I got a great deal. If it was lost or stolen, yes, I would be checking out the other flea markets to see if it reappeared again. The only thing I compared it to, was "what else" I could get for $25. At that price, I didn't care what it sounded like, it was "a guitar" and it was in very good condition. It makes a nice addition to the family, even if it is a LOTUS that seems to get a lot of bad reviews. It's my Lotus now, and I don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon.

Well here's what i think. I totally agree with Nathan Sheridan. My friend has this guitar. He got it from his grandfather and it was supposed to be a nice guitar. I'm not sure of the year, probably an '80 sumthin based on the lookes of it.
Its a peace of crap, exact copy of a strat. It has the standar lotus pickups and is hard to play. The wammy bar has mad the peace of junk bridge come up making the strings higher off the rosewood fretboard.If by chance your playing it in tune and break a string the whole thing goes out of tune. It has a five way selector and the same knobs as a strat. The only good thing about it is the 15w crate amp that came with it.

I play punk and rock, Green day is a major favorite. I'll admit with a decent amp you can get a fairly good sound, however I;d still rather spend 1000 dollars on a real strat than it. It's pickups are noisy and they scream alot. I'll say it again its hard to play which make it sound worst because the strings are so high of the neck. It would be beter if it had parts that were worth something.

Well it has terrible action and shard frets. The neck is wider than a real strats. The finish is dull and un even in someplaces.In the places were it it went inside the wood, like under the pick guard are poorly sanded and have a very bad paint job.

It is durable i'll give it that thought it isnt reliable. I have a Gibson les paul and a fender telecaster and this guitar is junk compared to them.

For people that cant afford a decent guitar, it is okay for starters. If it were stolen my friend would be happy becasue he could get a fender mexican made. I love nothing about the guitar aside from the fact that it looks like a strat.

This was my first electric guitar (1994). I believe it was made in India, but the sticker rubbed off years ago.

purchased in package with 15w crate amplifier, two sets of strings, and guitar cord.

-5-way selector
-s/s/s wax-filled pickups
-maple neck, ash body
-sunburst finish (well, it was...)
-tremolo bridge
-21-fret scale

pups were noisy, bad wiring job (you could stop the buzzing if you smacked the pickguard, though). decent sound if it wasn't buzzing.

since i upgraded it (s/s/h configuration), guitar sounds awesome.


rating is for original sound.

nice action on the neck, it just feels right to play, better than a real fender, in my opinion. it seems to be made for smaller hands. refinishing the guitar in tung oil makes the neck even faster.

this guitar lasted for over twelve years until the nut finally broke, which was the whole reason i refinished it. as others have stated, the nut is sealed in with some sort of epoxy, which makes it nearly impossible to remove. i had to use a lighter to melt mine out, which i thought charred the wood, but came right off with a sanding sponge. a graph-tech nut solves the tuning problems.

the finish was perfect before i power sanded it off.

i never had to deal with the company, and i don't think they exist anymore. can't find them anywhere. i figure it's a guitar, how much customer support could you need?

i've been playing since 1993, and i don't own any other guitars (i'm offically a keyboardist).

if it were stolen, i'd be pissed, it being my first and only guitar, and the work i put into it.

in stock form, i don't like the buzzing electronics. but modified, it's damn near perfect. the only guitar i've like as much was a jackson my friend had, and the lotus sounded better.

if you want to try customizing a guitar, you could do a lot worse than picking up one of these. even a guitar kit is more expensive, and the body is almost indestructible (i've played baseball with mine).

try to find one made in india, as those are the best ones.

Year unknown, paid $80 for it. 21 fret maple neck, ebony board, s,s,s w/vol, and 2 tone pots. The body's wood is whatever the other people's are. Had the fender style tremelo non-lock bridge. Sported 500k pots and 5-way selector. Light metallic blue w/black burst finish. Original features get the average 5.

New features. 24 fret made into 22 Ibanez RG-470 neck w/lock nuts(shimmed w/micro router to fit pocket), Fender h,h loaded pickguard, EMG HZ-4(passive)humbucking that replaced the bridge pup, Schaller licensed Flotd bridge(the first mod after I got it in '01). The only original parts are the body and strap buttons!

Then. Bright, due to the 500k pots. Next to no popping on vol and 5-way. average 5 again

Now. I never payed attention to the new pickguard's pot size. The original bridge pup that came w/the guard was a vast improvment. The HZ-4 is yet another step up! The neck pup is great, warm and jazzy!

Overall, action and finish were standard, nothing to brag about. 5

Now. The color change finish is cool, but needs repainted(soon to come) The action is LOW and very fast. The RG neck had 2 frets removed due to overlapping onto the neck pup, fret dressing, and the frets were flattened to make the action LOW. Having that done to the frets only will knock it off about 1-2 cents(not noticable to the ear)

Its held its ground on live performances, and various droppings from the strap buttons. An easy fix is to remove the "horn" button and undo one of the neck screws(bolt on only)then tighten the screw w/the button on it. All the hardware is good to go and I bet will last for quite some time! As far as having a back up for it, only to change over to the drop d tuning.

Heh, I am my own customer support on this one!

This thing has been going since '01. Since the first mod(Scaller, '01) to the RG neck('05). It runs through a Digitech RP-80, that goes into a mid to late 80's Crate G-212 thats hooked to a Behringer(spelling)cab. The only thing that brings it down is the lack of the EMG acitve pups, but I'm not going to install them in it. If it were stolen, I'd be screwed and PISSED! Wouldn't remake it, thats for sure! I chose the Lotus because it was cheap, and I was looking for a neat custom project.
Got a pic of that(new ones on the way) and of others I own or have owned on my site. www.geocities.com/bokkire_jin hit up the music button.