Lotus Strat Copy

I bought this back in 99...it was my first guitar...it is pretty decent for begenning....the neck is slow and fat, which i dont like..the single coil pickups dont sound great distorted either..so i use my ibanez for most of that stuff...but like i said.good for begenniers...

eh..sounds ok clean...sounds crappy distorted...i like humbuckers better then single coils....i play metal..so doesnt suit great...but as a begenner i learned all metallica on this..so it works...

Slow neck...too fat for my liking.harder to do bar chords on...the whammy is cheap....but i dont use it much anyways...

pretty reliable.havent had problems with it.except the G string likes to go out of tune an awful lot....

Havent dealt with them....

Ive been playing over 2 years now..this was my first guitar..i now own 5..im a junkie..hehe....but i use this one least..i always keep it in standard tuning...havent changed the strings in awhile..why even bother....theres something about corroded strings i like though...hehe

5 way selector
3 single coil pickups
better than a fender headstock
the logo is attractive... at least something is
this is dark blue with a white pickguard

I would rather listen to someone puke chunks all over and over and over and over again. You can tell it's supposed to sound like a guitar, but this is a sorry copy.

the action is low
the finish is too thick and tacky and makes this Lotus like 10lbs heavier than even the heaviest bass I have owned

Oh it's sturdy. Heavy.
The claps broke off once. That's when I threw it away.

Others say they are out of business.
Good riddance.

Don't buy it. Not even for your kid.
Get a Squier or an Epiphone. Those sound actually really good.

---
On a side note, I've been playing for almost a year now. My friend sold me this when he taught me how to play. I can't remember for how much. It wasn't reasonable.. $5 is more like it. Hell not even that.
I own a Squier Affinity Stratocaster now and a Yamaha BE4XC Jazz Bass. I play through a Squier Champ Amp and a Fender Bronco Bass Amp (I play bass mainly, it's funner). I use a rocktek distortion pedal and a Rogue overdrive pedal.

This guitar was made a while ago over in India. The top is solid. It has a 5-way selector that sticks, a volume and 2 tone knobs. It has 3 strat style pickups, which, I might add, SUCK. The neck is I believe rosewood, and doesn't slide well. The fingerboard is also very awkward, weird to play on; it doesn't feel or play good. It has a 3-ply plastic pickguard (probably the only good thing about this POS). It's exactly a Strat copy. Nothing original about it.

The sound sucks. There is alot of weird background noise, which I believe is from the pickups it uses. I am using it with a Marshall Lead-12 Stack, and Marshalls do not sound shitty, so I know it is the guitar. It's noisy on all the settings, even clean, which is odd. I don't like it very much.

The action is very low. It causes everything to buzz. The guitar is very uncomfortable to play on, and usually Strats feel pretty good. The finish is shiny red, and it scuffs easy. It's plastic I believe. Probably nylon. The neck feels a bit crooked, also. The fretwire is all screwy. The wood is low-quality. Has a noisy pickup selector.

The guitar's exterior is sturdy, but it's full blown crap.

Once (I have since fixed it), I was tuning it, and instead of the string breaking, the string-mounting piece actually broke out of the headstock. It was the lower E piece.

The knobs are loose (I can fix that easily though), but the 5-way selector sticks like it has rust under it.

I have been playing the guitar for 2 years. I own a few other guitars, nothing this crappy (I won't make that mistake again - don't believe the myth that you can make any guitar sound good, or sound even remotely like you want, it's not true). My favourite feature is the.. uhh.. NOTHING. I do not like Lotus. I have had better budget, no name guitars that costed less and lasted better - even sounded better. The sound is icky.

Features
1999-India
21 frets
1 volume, 2 tone, 3 pickups
Glossy black finish
stock hardware w/whammy

I got this for my 40th birthday last year after being 'retired' from music for almost a decade. I got it with a Stone amplifier. Here's my verdict.

I really like this guitar. The action is reliable, the harmonics are crisp, and it has an in-your-face tone to it whereas others I tried have been rather muddy.

My only caveat is that, when I crank on that whammy, the G string comes up sharp. My guru tells me that is more a matter of intonation with than anything.

Any of the rest of you that gave these a bad review and want to put your's out on the curb, email me at mills224@theramp.net. You can ship it to me and I'll pay the freight.

My musical style runs from Dwight Yoakam to Metallica (which isn't as much of a strech as you might think!).

I have a Cry-Baby wah pedal and a Danelectro compressor. I have a noise problem on the #2 and #4 switch settings, but this may be bad wiring at my house. I'm not gigging yet, so the jury's out on that.

The action is easy, with the pickups suited just fine for what I need. Again, the whammy is the only flaw.

I think that this model would survive the apocalypse. Its just that durable. The finish hasn't chipped with two kids, two cats and a dog along with (most damaging of all) a wife who is religious about cleaning.

I've used MUCH worse ata a gig without a backup.

I started playing when I was 14, went to sleep at 28, and took it up again at 40. I have a Yamaha acoustic 12-string and am looking to get some kind of tree to play on for electric bottleneck stuff so I'm not tuning one guitar all over the place.

This guitar ROCKS the nutz off the cherry tree! It has it all! I've never seen a guitar with so many totally cool feturs. I mean it has TWO tone nobs and THREE pick ups. It has WHITE pick guard that is tough and hasn't ever given me any problems! It also have a volume nob that could spank a mule!

This thing sounds like a FAT donkey on a hot day spanking it self! I mean come on people! I read some of the reviews and see that people think that this thing sounds like a misquito. Those people are liars! This guitar pumps out death metal riffs like none other DUDE! All i play is DEATH METAL and this thing craps out FAT riff after FAT riff! Dude.

This guitar seemed like it was setup by a professional! yes, a professional! This thing came out of it's awesome cardboard case and started playing for it self pretty much dude! finish is totally out of this world! it is BLACK with a tough as nails white pick guard that will never give you any trouble! NO LIE

This think is built like the planet mars!!!!!! It is hard as a rock!!!!!! This thing once fell off my bed and didn't fall apart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

These dude rock! They are the coolest! They told me that my guitar sucked big time but i told them off and then went and craped out some FAT FAT DEATH METAL riffs.

i have been playing for atleast 50 years and this guitar has lasted me for all of them. Like i said i play DEATH METAL and this BUGGER pumps out like MOTHER! 50 years of abuse and it still is crapping out sounds like none other! EVER!!! Built like the planet MARS!!!! THis guitar rocks the universe!!!!!!!!!

The rhythm guitarist in my band got one of these as a first guitar. That was 75 bucks that could've been used for more profitable things, like flushing it down the toilet. That would definately be more profitable than playing this sore excuse for a stringed instrument. It's a 21 fret (that's fine) guitar with a solid-top. It has a volume, two tones, three strat (single coil Lotus) pickups and a five way selector. Rosewood fretboard with "ACK" medium frets. It has about a 25 1/2 scale neck (adequately comfortable) and a regular fixed tremolo. This means that the tremolo lies flat against the body. I have nothing against those trems. My guitar is an Ibanez RG-170 with a Seymour Duncan George Lynch Screamin' Demon in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck position. Guitars do not necesarily "need" a tone nob, I mean, why would you want to turn a good tone down? This guitar is pointless. We're fixing his Lotus up with a custom neck and a new pickguard with humbucker compatibility. The wiring shouldn't be too tough, we might need to purchase a new 5-way switcher.

We play just about everything from punk (not "punk" like those metal bands that call themselves punk, but actual "punk" in the laiden term. We play music that suits the lifestyle. Upbeat at times, lazy at others. We sound like a mixture of Green Day, the Offspring... it's origonal music though. He likes Metallica, and our band's stuff.
He has a ZOOM 505 II (actually MK-II) and a homemade speaker enclosure. He has a JCM900 head (Marshall). I've never heard a Marshall sound bad. No, it didn't. It was just the guitar... Noisy? Hell yeah... noisy on all settings, even the clean. And that annoying TWANG pisses me off. I've heard better sounds out of a Fender American Strat. THOSE are NICE Strats. THe sound in the neck position is alright, you have to select the neck pickup and mid pickup. THe bridge pickup is too twangy, as is the bridge by itself, but all strats are like that. No tone whatsoever though. I like that the guitar can be dropped and not broken. I dislike... I dislike... the guitar itself.

Wired like a 12 piece puzzle put together by a chihuahua (spelling?) It's a pickguard mount, there's no adjusting to it for Lotus to do. Bookmatched top? Who cares? I like the finish, it's beautiful. It's a cool looking blue gradient sunburst into black glitter. It's the most beautiful finish in the world. The reason I rate it a "1" is because that finish is a deception and not a realistic custom-shop effect.

"Will this guitar withstand live playing?" I hope we never have to find out! The hardware will definately last, as long as you keep it well. The tuners suck though. The finish is great.. The strap buttons are solid. Don't depend on it, you'd be a fool to do that. I would never use this guitar. Period. I guive it a "1" because of it's unreliability. It totally cancels out the durability. Who cares if it is durable? If it sounds like crap it isn't worth it.

Lotus is out of business. Luckily.

have been playing about 2 years. I have an Ibanez RG-170 (as I said above) and I am getting an Ibanez JEM7DBK, which you can find on this site as well. Make sure you're not looking at JEM77DBK, there's only one "7" in the one I'm gettting. It's overall rating was a 9.6. I have a ZOOM 505 (first edition) and a Marshall JCM 900 Half stack. I use my own patches for the ZOOM and play a LOT of different kinds of music. My influences are Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Slash, Kirk Hammet, James Hetfield (his rhythms ROCK), Les Paul, Yngwie Malmsteen (neo-classical guitarist), Bucket-head (who is rumored to BE Yngwie Malmsteen) Dave Grohl, Billie Joe Armstrong (listen to him solo on Green Day's earlier albums!), Noodles, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, and many many many other guitarists. My absolute favorite right now is Joe Perry. He has the most creative riffs I have heard for rhythm guitar. His leads are badass as well. Joe Satriani is my favorite solo guitarist. My idol. I go to sleep every night, praying to God that this guitar is stolen when I wake up in the morning. He wants an Ibanez RG-570. I hate that guitar. My favorite feature is the color. I'd rather be playing a turd. I wish it had tone, I wish it had... I wish it was a guitar. Don't buy the guitar. Get an Ibanez GIO or GTX... even a Fender Mexico strat. It's worth the money for beginners.

Lotus strat copy: its black and looks like a strat, with a more attractive headstock. It has a tremolo, which I'm not too fond of, just that I don't like tremolos. (I'm not much of a cock-rocker and don't play surf...anymore) I'd prefer a regular bridge. Rosewood neck, 21 frets, I'd rather have 22. It is the nicest feeling neck I've ever played. Just the right width (fairly small), perfect rounding off on the neck's back, it fits my thumb great. If you like Fender strats, this is comperable.

I've had this guitar for over 6 years, its the only electric I've ever owned (NOT the only I've ever played). It sounds great with all the styles I used to play (surf, Metallica, classic rock, Pink Floyd, emo) and sounds even better with the music I play now (hardcore/metalcore ie. Shai Hulud, Poison the Well) Basically I've only used one setup ever. The guitar's highs are very clean but soft (i use the middle position on the selector switch). The mids are good, but I wouldn't ever expect to get a good crunch sound.

As far as I know, everything was OK. I just plugged it in and started playing. It was magical. hahaha

This is THE road guitar. I'd trust it before any other. It has been played live several times without a backup. Never had any problems. I think its universal that Lotus strats last forever. The selector switch plastic head came off, but I didn't like it anyways. 6 years, no problems. I use straplocks, but I would for any guitar.

Never had to.

Me:
6 years playing
Yorkville Stage 150 head, Boss Metal Zone pedal, Ampeg 4x12
Currently in hardcore/metalcore band based in the SF bay area
I love my lotus and my yorkville amps

Note: My friend got the exact same Lotus as me...Its apiece of crap. I guess its hit or miss. I liked mine so much, I bought a lotus bass.

This was my first guitar, I was kind 10 y/o and desparate to just start playing so when thte salesperson recommended this one, I obliged. As a result, I'm not sure what the body is made of, but the fretboard is some kind of cheap rosewood. It's a 1998 (I think) model that was made out in India. It's got some kind of cheapass pickups and a really crappy quality bridge. It's always going out of tune on me. *grr*

Ugh. Not good sound. I'm the alt-metal, death-metal, punk, grindcore type and this guitar, well, it just doesn't...ROCK! It doesn't sound that great with pedals, not even my bf's $90 Boss MetalZone. I usually use my trusty DOD grunge and death metal pedals, but with this guitar they give a lot of hiss and feedback (it's less on other guitars, I've experimented). I use a Leem amp, and while it's a kind of shitty amp (all I could afford) the sound isn't anything to rave about. It's kind of hard to get kool sounds out of, the whammy bar it comes w/ SUCKS! Kind of a bright sound. Not heavy enough for me.:(

Very cheaply made. Pickups and bridge suck, the bridge is mouned at a slight angle.

I've never played live, but the guitar is built like a rock. Once a strap button came off, but I was able to reaffix it with minimal effort.

n/a

I've been playing it for 2 years now, it's a pretty good beginner guitar, but I'd suggest renting and then after becoming a bit more experience, buying a more reputable guitar. Don't make the same mistake I did, which is just buying a guitar to have a guitar and taking whatever the salesman hands you. Also another downside is the fact that it's a Lotus. A fake Strat. Come on, Strats are only $50-$75 more and SO worth it. It's embarrassing to have a nonamie.

It has extremely well playability. Its neck is very thin and the frets are very low cut for solos. I like it a lot. It offers a volume and 2 tones nobs, just like yer regular Stat!

I play DMB all the way to In Flames, and have been playing for 12 years. This guitar sounds awesome!!!! It is definately one of the best sounding strat style guitars I have ever played. It has very rumbling lows, clear mids and when you need them, turn your tone up and get soaring highs! I think is sounds better than my stock PRS. I would definately use this on stage. No noise at all!

It was set up very well. Very low profile neck, stays in tune even in A tuning with stock strings! The pickups we very well adjusted, and these single coils really are top quality. The finish is sweet. If I were to scratch this beautifully finished guitar i think Id have to kill myself. The nut and bridge as I said were perfect. I haven't gone a day without thinking or playing about this beauty!

This guitar is my main guitar for my live stuff at smaller bars, I can depend on this like my own mother, by the way, my mother is very close to me. This guitar will last forever! What can I say, its my baby! I did have a problem witht he strap buttons though, they were screwed in too titely, almost tight enough like this guitar was supposed to last FOREVER! haha

These Guys are the nicest. Called them up to tell them what a beautiful guitar they've hooked me up with....and gave me a free strap!!!!! No Way!!!!

Ive been playing for 12 years. I own a PRS, and Les Paul Custom Flametop (No, not those Epiphone peices of shit)
I have a Mesa Boogie Tripple Rectifier with 2 4x12 Cabs loaded with vintage celestions. If my baby was stolen, I'd have to find that person that took my baby, and ask him/her politely if I could have my baby back, if they say no, well then we got a problem, how should we deal with this? I wish it has a Pu**y, so I could fu*k it.

This guitar has been described pretty well by other reviewers-- it's a very doctrinaire Strat copy. I bought it new in 1993. I've heard that these guitars were maide in India, supposedly at a factory that used to turn out Squier strats. The one thing I would like to call attention to is the tremolo bridge, which is an incredible piece of crap-- it's spring-loaded, but the springs are too weak to hold the bridge tight, so the only way I could get the thing in tune was to open up the back and disable the tremolo by driving wooden shims into the mechanism with a hammer.

This guitar has a flat, uninspired sound on every setting, as far as I can tell. It's as if you had miked the buzzing of the strings on an unplugged electric solid body. There's no low-end to speak of, and the pickups are noisier than hell. If you were into a really buzzy, insect-guitar sound, you might be able to get it out of this guitar. You might also be able to get it out of a plastic toy banjo.

When I bought it, the intonation,action, and pickups were set completely at random. Surprisingly, the neck is reasonably straight, with only a few fret buzzes which i was able to fix by messing around with the nut. Also, the pots and switches are reasonably quiet, which was also a surprise. The finish is cheap but fine.

As I said, the tremolo was born broken, and the nut broke on mine for no reason two weeks after I got it and had to be replaced. Other than that, it's remained as good as it ever was.

Who knows? I wouldn't know who to call, and anyway I don't speak Hindi.

I was stupid to buy a guitar like this new, but it was okay to learn on, and it really made me appreciate other guitars (for years, I thought the crappy sound was because I was a crappy guitar player). Ultimately, though, I can't recommend it unless you find one in good condition for $50 or under, which you could then give to your little brother or smash at the end of a show.