Product: Madeira EG-71BH
Price Paid: US $117 w/ hardcase used
Submitted
02/20/2000
at
12:12pm
by
j.edgar
Email: jbe4 at home<dot>net
Features
:
10
Japanese made by Guild in early 1980's. Standard classic-Tele features, but I'll run through the list anyway. Only deviations from the original design: headstock is more strat-like in shape, and of course there's the Madeira logo.
-Ash body, translucent blonde finish, maple neck/fretboard (one piece, strat-like headstock, bolt-on neck, bullet-style truss rod -2 single coil p/u's: lipstick cover at neck, slanted open-coil at bridge -master volume and tone, 3-way p/u selector -black pickguard, chrome plate under knobs, ashtray-style bridge w/ 6 adjustable saddles
I gave her a 10 just because it does what its made to do. To me the features of a guitar should allow you do dial in a few good tones. Theres no built-in flanger on this guitar, so maybe I was generous (ha).
Sound
:
10
The first thing I compared this guitar to was my 72' Fender telecaster. The Madeira actually has very nice action, frets, intonation, sustain. The wood materials are very nice, as high quality asn american fender stuff. The frets are a bit bigger than fender, but precisely set and rounded. Little ware at this point. The tone is up there with my american fenders, and the pickups could easily pass as fenders.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Very nice wood. Frets are perfect. Low action, fast neck, perfect maple fretboard. Beautiful blonde finish. Chrome shows no pitting on any of the hardware.
ONLY GRIPES: The tuners suck. The pots are scratchy. Cheap and worthless. Tuners feel like plastic, are loose, and have to be tweaked between songs. A MUST REPLACE item for sure. Sort of odd that they put such cheap tuners on an otherwise well made guitar.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
18 years old, and still plays great. Needs a nice set of tuners and some new pots, but solid as a rock other than that. The key points of reliability, the neck, frets, and pickups, are all perfect.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
N/A
Overall Rating
:
10
Great tele copy for the bucks. As nice as any Japanese Fender. These are fairly rare guitars, for Guild only made them for a year or so, so may not be such a realistic goal for someone looking for a good Fender knockoff, but if you come across one, snap it up.
