Memphis Strat Copy

Can't complain, I play an American Standard and this neck is much nicer on my hand, it feels right; 22 fret maple neck. Enlarged headstock which was to avoid copyright infringement actually gives it more sustain. Three single coils, the bridge pickup is angled like on most strats. When I recieved this guitar, there were way to many springs on the tremolo and it didn't function well, but that is easily fixable. The tuners work perfectly, even for it's age I would expect one to fail by now. The tobacco sunburst is still glossy as day one, and hasnt faded at all over 20+ years of being around. 2 tone and 1 volume with a 5 way selector. I do not know the year for sure, but it is most likely 1977-1984

I play blues, and this baby cranks perfectly on any amp. If you want metal, this is not your guitar, but any rock to blues, even R&B; this baby will do the trick. The action is amazing and I never tweaked it. The sound and feel of this guitar are dynomite, I love this guitar. I prefer it over all the others I own. It is noisy if you push on the volume pot too heavily, I think it's just because I broke the solder on it by punching it or dropping it. I haven't fixed that yet, but it's a 5 minute fix. The only sound this will not enjoy making for you is a overdriven distorted metal sound, like Pantera etc... because the pickups can't handle it. Swap the bridge single coil out for an emg single coil and u have the most versatile guitar in the world.

I don't know about from the factory, but I can say now, the action is perfect, the finish is spotless, accept for the places I have left my mark, by dropping etc... The pickups are perfectly placed, and the perfect height. The body and the neck look meant for eachother and there is no flaw in the detail of the guitar. The only problem in the 3rd fret fretwire, but that's due to it's age, and I think it was stored with the string pressed against the fret, and it vibrated a grove in the fret wire. So I need to re-fret the guitar. Don't let that taint the guitar though, it is magnificent. The finish oin the neck is starting to wear through on like the 12-15th frets and on the 7th fret near the 1-3rd strings I dont know why other than it's an old guitar.

It is th emost durabke guitar ever! in my opinion. It is made out of I'd say 7 peices of particle board laminated together, making it very very heavy. So it will defintly survive live playing, but will your shoulder survive is a better question. The finish has no belt buckle rash, and I wear so pretty abbrasive buckles, the strap buttons are nice, they will hold your strap on through any live playing, now I wouldnt spin the thing around your head without strap locks, but I dont know of a guitar that can. I have depended on it and played it without a backup before and it hasn't failed me once.

They don't exist anymore as far as I know, so if you want to repair your Memphis, you're on your own.

If this guitar was ever stolen or lost, I would search the Earth for another one, it is amazing. It is my primary guitar, I am always looking at Memphis guitars I see for sale because I know they are an exceptional guitar at a ridiculously low price!
I play this Memphis strat copy through a Fender half stack and it really cranks blues, I can feel the sound through the guitar. My only wish is that I had 2 of them. When I bought this I chose it over a MIM Fender strat and over an Epiphone hollowbody I dont know which one, it beat them both hands down in sound and playability.

I Started guitar at 8 and it was an acoustic after about a year my brother gave me a strat with the name memphishe told me he got it in '99 new on christmas it has 22 frets black finish with a black pickgard two volume, one tone, and a three way selecter, two single coils not sure what pick ups has a strat style bridge with whammy hole has a D style bride

My styles are metal to alter to thrash to punk to blues I use a marshall mg 100 half stck with a dime wah line 6 live pod dime wah and nady wireless its wonder ful on clean but on distorted when you stop playing cover youre ears because it will screams its not the amp cause I used it on a peavy bandit 112 and its the same I really like the blues tone but not the dis.

I'm not sure bout the action my brother had it for four year before me it seemed and still seems to have no flaws

this thing can withstand hell Ive dropped it down 14 stairs and only a little chip noting a black sharpie cant fix. It came with poppy strap buttons so I put in strap locks. I would only use this for a back up if it only involved a clean channel

Never used it

it runs good for having it been use for 9 years I only need a couple hundred bucks for EMG's

The body looks like ash, as it has a clear finish and no paint, but after removing the back plate, it could be plywood. I can't tell and frankly the tone of this thing continues to blow me away after almost 28 years of ownership. I bought it new in the summer of 1980, right before my band started playing at frat parties, social events, weddings, etc. I've kept it in good shape - a few dents and chips, but from 10 feet away you'd swear it was new. Last year I wanted a bit more out of it, so I installed some Texas Specials. Unbelieveable! Awesome tone, can conjure up SRV right now. Fast neck (U-shape) with the large 70's headstock. I was going to retire it, but after playing some MIM strats and a few USA strats, I think I'll keep it. After so many years I need to re-fret the neck - I've got a ton of flat spots, mostly at frets 5,7, and 12 and I've been quoted $250 for the job. Based on the feel and sound of the MIM's, I'm sticking with my Memphis.

This is my blues guitar - SRV, Robert Cray, John Mayer, Clapton - it can handle them all. Not that good at metal, but it's got classic rock covered. I think the neck makes the difference - it is wide but it gives my fat fingers room to bend. It has the maple neck and fretboard which creates a bit brighter sound than rosewood, but at certain settings on my Peavey Bandit 65, it absolutely screams. The frets are very smooth at the edges, making it easy to play.

Was set up perfectly 28 years ago. I've made a few adjustments and have had to replace a saddle and will have to replace at least one more. The intonation is OK, not great, especially higher up the neck. People have referred to this guitar as a "starter", but I think it is way beyond that. I bought it at Apple Music in Portland, OR for $220, back when an American strat sold for $400-$500. I think the fit and finish is comparable to the MIM's.

28 years and going strong. I've worn out the frets, so replacing them is my next project.

What customer support?

If you can find one that hasn't been customized too much, or beat to death, buy it. It will never make you any money from an investment standpoint, but the playability is simply unmatched. I'm taking this one to the grave....

IT's a Black memphis dead knock off of a Fender Stratocaster.Well, when i got the guitar it had wiring problems , after fixing them it would plug in fine. What ever my Uncle did with it , it looks like he tried to re build it. but for being in an attic for 14 years , it aint half bad.

It's great for rock and Blues , but if your a metelar you might want to do some work to this.

I had to ajust the action once cause of fret buzz, what a nightmare was that, other than that it's ok .

it's very reliable guitar. it wieghs like an easy 10 pounds. I wouldn't depend on it to much.

Company died out like 20 years ago.

I'm going to rebuild it and repaint it a wood finish .

I believe it was originally white. It's been painted over many times, and is currently red and black zebra-striped. It's a blatant Strat Copy, but a good one at that. The parts are pretty generic, regular strat-style tremolo. The most interesting feature is the fact that its pickups were configured S-H-S. A Humbucking Bar pickup is in the bridge position, but it's the size of a single-coil pickup. A nice fat humbucker in the middle and a standard strat-style single in the neck made for some good sounds, but i rewired it so its now H-S-S*, where S* is the humbucking single. Usual Strat controls, 5-way switch, volume, tone, tone. Maple fingerboard, feels really nice.

I play all kinds of music, but this is my blues guitar. The warm, punchy tone i get on the neck is perfect, combined with the tone from the maple neck and fretboard. The Bridge pickup is great for rock, and you can get an uncanny Stevie Ray Vaughan tone from the bridge-mid position.

I play this guitar through a ProCo RAT distortion from the 80s and a Marshall combo i haven't managed to identify from the 70s.

The guitar feels great, the action is perfect everywhere on the neck. The bridge seems kind of flimsy, but it's held. My biggest gripe is the intonation, which after the 12th fret starts to wander.

This guitar has held up to 20 years of gigging, no problem. I never, ever play without a backup, since a string-breaking accident. But its definitely reliable.

Can't say i've dealt w/ em.

Overall, its an amazing guitar, i use it on many recordings and shows, for almost any genre. Too bad the company went out over 20 years ago...

i'm writting this review simply to concur with everything my scottish friend below wrote,and add some info that i recently uncovered.
but i must start with the neck, simply the finest strat neck i've played,perfect medium frets are rounded off without a sharp edge on either side of the fretboard.perfect slim ''c'' shape is extremely comfortable to play. mine has the gold memphis weird ''m'' logo.
yes its true, it is plywood. laugh if you need to, but i'll put this guitar's tone up against your custom shop $4,000 axe anytime.
it is a little heavy,and i did some upgrading,but i'm letting go of some fenders now.

i installed 3 vintage lipstick pickups[5.5k] and usa electronics. also kluson tuners as they fit the small diameter holes.
tele like twang in the bridge, fat yet cutting blues or jazzy octaves in the neck.
in-between positions are pure r&b cluck.
i even like the middle position,all 3 distinct and balanced.
the original pickups werent bad mind you,and i'm keeping them with the orig harness. but they were 7.6k and i like the glassyness of low output pickups.

action is low and buzz free everywhere. intonation is spot on.
bullet truss rod works as it should. vintage 60's fender style tremolo bridge is perfect. dont think about swapping it for a fender,it wont fit.
the neck is a little wider than an average fender neck at the nut,but widens significantly the higher you go. in fact it wont fit in a fender neck pocket.very unique,and i love it.

i'm guessing late 70's/early eighties. still looks new.

ok, heres the good news. not many folks are aware of this but these old memphis guitars were made at the ibanez factory in japan. they were a house brand guitar and were never meant to be affiliated with the ibanez name. but they were made by ibanez!
also FYI- the old memphis effects pedals [blue mxr sized boxes] were made by maxon,and are early examples of maxon effects.

you'd have better luck calling graceland in memphis for customer support!

i've played in variety of bands from rock/blues,country,funk to reggae.
my memphis strat/fender 6v6 amps[in stereo] and an classical electric cover all the bases.
effects-crybaby,memphis freq attack,ross orange phaser,
mxr dist +,mt-2,ibanez ad-9,dd5,rv5

The neck is something else - a superior kind of Maple with what looks like real Brazillion Rosewood on top - slim and smooth - and fast like me. If the body got itself run over I would have no hesitation in spending bucks in doing a re-build. I lined the pup pockets with copper and the whole of the back of the scratchplate. I'll do a fret polish the next time I change strings. The springs that hold the pups on were on the wrong way and when I got it - they flopped all over the place - sorted noo!. Swap photos with me of your Memphis - my name is Ken - email me: outcast@blueyonder.co.uk

It fell in the door, dirty and unkempt,after a bath and a clean up, I plugged it in - the result, I thought that I had made it to Heaven and God handed me this Memphis and told me ' That HE had kept this for me'. This is a Candy Apple Red Strat Copy and it blows my other 18 or so guitars away. I too have a neck on it that defies description - just magic! Inside, and all over, some teenybopper with a Mission with a screwdriver had done the crash course in taking it to bits - often.

The action was rubbish and I sorted it oot, toot suite. Intonation and action are as good as I can get it at this time, and I would like to get it to a Luthier that I know to get the relief looked at, as I feel that I can get the strings down paper thin spacing in time.
The finish is Eye Candy Red and looks like the real 50's gear. I took off the backplate to see what the wood was and my brain cell started to blow smoke - the body is plywood, and this is the best guitar that I have ever heard - how come?

This Memphis (aka The Memphis Sadie) named after my old neighbour who gave me the money for it (about ??39 Scots Money). I really believe that I stole this Git offof Ebay. It has turned me into a Git Detective (Scottish Branch). The pups are like no Single Coils that I have seen before. Straight up and down and not like the Fender and Clones that tend to be V shaped. There are Metal pup retainers which I am sure does something to the vast range of sounds. A Luthier pal said last week that it was the neck that gave it it's uniqueness. Tonight I noticed that the two Tone controls were 500K and ever other Strat I've had were 250's.

By and large do my own setups noo. I have the Memphis that doesn't have the curve under the M graphic. This is a quality git - even the screws are heavy chromed the way they should be, and used to be in days of old. Don't know how old it is - 21 Fretter and not a lot of abuse at all. Was looking at the fretboard in Rosewood tonight and I couldn't find a mark on it. I'm a Slurry Slob of a player and I can wreck a fretboard in no time. I usually hit it with a zillion notes then see how it is. No marks - fretwire lookin' guid.

Been playing a while - was playing in the same area as the Beatle's in Hamburgh in the fifties. When I brought my first electric Git through Customs in the 50's - the Customs Officers had never seen an Electric Git. Would never sell this, if you ever see one - sell your wife and weans and get it, steal it if you have to. Still find it hard to believe that the body is plywood - I keep getting the idea that this is 'hand made' - a prototype - an Exhibition Git. I have 4 Fenders and a Gibson and the Sadie has style.

I bought this guitar off ebay for 50 bucks about 2 months ago, Purely for nostalgic reasons. My first guitar was a horrible copy of a Gibson Dove with no brand name anywhere on it. I got it at age 9 at a horse race my dad was at. My dad paid some toothless guy 5 dollars for it and gave it to me. At age 12, dad took me to the pawnshop to get an electric for my birthday. All the name brand stuff was way too high dollar, but they had some guitars that were copies,all Memphis or Cortez brand. I wanted the black Memphis Tele copy or the Cortez Goldtop LP copy, but dad said nope,too much $$, if you want that, I can't afford an amp. So, I got a black Memphis strat copy and a Royce amp for the sum of 95 dollars including tax, cord, and strap. It had black painted plywood body and black faced head with gold MEMPHIS logo.it was like a strat but all the dimensions were slightly different. it weighed a ton, sounded horrid,could not be tuned and hurt to play,a total turd! After a year, I traded it and 25 bucks for a Hondo LP Custom copy that was not a lot better.I bought this one off ebay cuz it was the exact one I had,and I still had my Dove copy, so I thought cool,I'll have the shitbombs of my youth to keep. Yay!

This second Memphis was way off intonation wis, but I set it up and it plays REALLY good. Shocked me! although it weighs a ton, it has a nice tone,and the pickups sound very good. It's not noisy, and sounds good thru any of my amps or effects. The shocker is that I still have the Rancid Royce amp, and even though the Memphis of my youth was terrible sounding, this one sounds really good thru it! It has the ability to get all the good strat sounds, and honestly with my eyes closed, it feels and sounds exactly like a 79 anniversary Strat I own. Weird!

Set up sucked,pickups adjusted too high,etc., just like the one I got in my childhood./ I tweaked it all up with a scredriver in 15 minutes, and VOILA! Sounded and played good! go figure! It's hard to believe that two crap guitars that share the same poor quailities could play and sound so different!

Hell, I gigged on the Old Memphis at parties and at school in Junior High,and it was as awful a guitar as I was a player! Make no mistake this 2nd one is cheap and crummy too. But it sounds good. The thick finish is pretty durable. That said, this is not a guitar I'd take to a gig at all.It just isn't good enough. I have tons of cool gear that I would use instead. But if in my younger days, my old Memphis had been this good, I'd not have ever swapped for the Hondo (another shitbomb from days of yore!)

The pawnshop guy would not trade for it-I traded the thing for the Hondo in a record store.What customer service? This thing was probably made by Taiwanese children in a sweat shop.This one I just got is at least 25 years old and I bet the company was gone 20 years ago.

I've been playing 30 years now. I only got this for nostalgia reasons, and that was an impulse, not because I searched for it. I doubt it will be stolen, because it and the Dove copy are hanging 20 feet in the air at my office as decorations.I love that it reminds me of being young and excited about guitar, ANY GUITAR! I have a bonus room above my garage and have a studio in it, I own every guitar (either original or reissue) I ever wanted. Thats 37 guitars and 9 amps.I was really poor growing up, so I guess that is a way I compensate now that I have had some success in life. This Memphis was worth every dime I paid, because every time I look at it it warms my heart and puts me in a frame of mind to remember how wonderful music and guitars made my youth!

Not sure of age - guessing about 1980 from Japan. All standard Strat features. Single coil PU's - great sound! Mine has the skunk stripe down the back of the neck and it plays and sounds better than MIM Fender. Neck is straight, slim 60's style and FAST! Faster than Standard Fender Strat. Mine has the plain Memphis script on headstock without the funny "M". Maple neck with rosewood fret board. NOt sure the type of wood in body but sustain is great so it works.

Tuners aren't the best but look good and hold it in tune. 21 Regular size frets.

Very good tone combinations. Has Fender "Bell" sound, and better tone range than most strats. Little hum at high amp settings but nearly all single coil strats do. I may put some Fender Noiseless PU's in as long as I don't loose this fantastic sound.

Amazing fit and finish.

Solid..period.

Long gone out of business, but everything is regular strat stuff and easy to find if ever needed.

If you buy one of these Memphis Strats, you'll find your MIM Fender Strat sitting in the closet or For Sale on Ebay!

I'd like to submit a full review, but first wanted to point out that I think two different makes of guitars are being reviewed under this heading. This would account for some reviewers praising their Memphis and giving 10s to the same features that others are giving low numbers to, and trying to outdo each other in finding adjectives to express their disgust with their Memphis.

The "Strings and Things" guitar shop in Memphis (still extant but under a new name) made a line of guitars in the 80s and 90s. I believe they are called their "Memphis line," but have other names (I just twigged to this and am trying to learn more.) Then there is the guitar with the Memphis name on it - a distinctive font with a capital "M" that swirls under the "emp" part of "Memphis."

Making things more confusing is that both brands make great guitars. The latter, plain ol' Memphis, also makes some real bad guitars ("bad" as in BAD BAD not bad-good). BUT more confusing still, plain ol' Memphis has come out with some guitars that can stand up to any Les Paul made. Search through the reviews here for the term "beautiful wood" and you'll see a review that seems to describe my Memphis guitar to a tee--except mine is a double-cutaway, not a strat copy. I can't find any others like mine. My guitar teacher (35 years playing, including with Peter Green and Clapton in the late 60s) is BLOWN AWAY by my Memphis guitar. He can't believe how great it sounds, and calls the attack perfect. It's natural mahogany, maple, and rosewood make it beautiful to look at too. I wonder if it is a prototype, or custom? I've heard speculation that Ibanez made Memphis, but haven't been able to confirm. I'd love to know more.
Vivia.B@comcast.net

will submit later when issue I raise above is cleared up - not sure my guitar fits here. The "Strings and Things" Memphis line did include a double-cutaway Les Paul style in natural wood which they rave about on their website. But only 6 were made in the ten years they made them.

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more later ...