Memphis Unknown

80's model; trying to imitate a Charvel. 1 neck and 1 middle single coil, one bridge humbucker. 5 way switch for them. One volume and two tone knobs. The neck that came with it said, "Regal" on it. Strat style neck; maple/maple, 22 frets. Cheap old school tuners; the neck looks like something from the 70's, and the previous owner slapped that onto this body. It doesn't quite fit-yet it does. Cheap plywood body. Lots of dings/bruises on it. Blueish finish. No strap buttons on it; will have to dig some out and put 'em on!
Junky Fender style bridge; rusted out at some spots. Some of the saddles are rusted. Thinnish Neck.

Currently, the sound is atrocious. Those stock, squealy pickups sound terrible. But I plan to use some of my spare parts lying around. I've got a Washburn 621 pickup I pulled out of a Nuno 2 model I owned years ago, so I'll put it in there. Can't be any worse!! It's actually a neck pickup, but wtf? It'll give it a "muddy" Tony Iommi sound. And I've got some Harmony singles that, overall, sound WAY better than the crappy Memphis pickups currently in this one. This'll be a "noise" guitar. Punkish, Metallish, Crappola!!!

Well, I bought it used from some Ebay guy way back on the east coast, so whatever HE did b/f me is squarely on him, blame wise. I adjusted the truss rod, lowered the saddles, and it's "playable", but that's not saying much! Good, crunchy power chord jamming is pretty much all I can do at this point. No Leads!!! Adjusted the height of the pickups, but that's about to change...the neck, ugh!!
The frets are kinda worn. Ah well...

HAHAHA!!! Either this one's been sitting in that guy's basement for years, or else someone's pawn shop!! TO all of the above: NO!! But that's alright.

WTF?

Either it'll get played, or smashed should I lose my cool, which is pretty soon now!!

this guitar is a piece of ****! idk wat model it is it looks like a regular fender but it has two crappy pickups and 3 knobs ,2 volumes and a tone, this guitar cant stay tuned for even 1 hour. ive had this guitar for 2 years and i finaly got a new dean wich compared to this guitar the dean is like heavan.

the sound on this guitar sux it makes this awful buzzing noise wich makes me want to rip my hair out and beat the guitar until it falls into pieces lol its pickups cant hold a ring worth crap ether i cant tap on it ether.

the output jack thing fell apart on me within the first couple months after i got it and the wires fell off and i had to re sader them sry for my spelling and it doesnt keep its tune

my overall rating would be that its a piece of **** i wouldnt buy one if i were u i took it all apart today and im going to try to buy better pickups for it and just restore it completely ya i know im only 16 so i dont know that much about guitars but all i know is that this one is a piese of ya u get the point

I received this Memphis guitar from a friend years ago. It was a mess when it got it and have been slowy restoring it piece by piece. It is a Les Paul mimic. It is black with a semi hollow archtop body and white inlay around the body. It has a maple bolt on neck with white square inlays. A 3 way toggle, 4 pod swtiches, I've rewired it correctly. It has the usual gibson Les Paul look. It looks and plays very old, but has monster tone and resonation that is unbelievable. I understand that it is possibly Yamaha made. But, by the look of the Memphis sticker, wiring and such, it seems to probably early mid 70's ish. But I'm no expert.

I play wave metal and blues. I've actually have used this guitar as a back up for live performances.lol The sound is chunky and raw. Which i think is great. It has the arch top body which can be play acousticly fairly loud, or pluged up. I've had issues with the neck since it is so old, the frets are wore out, so it has the buzz. When I received it, it only had one original memphis chrome humbucker in it. So, I substituted the bridge pickup for a dimarzio dual humbucker. It is a tone monster, this guitar has more tone than my american hot roded strat and custom ibenez put together. But, it does have the buzz of an old guitar that was taken advantage of by others for some time.

Its got alot of character if you know what I mean.

It's been around for about 30 years, so I'd say its pretty reliable. lol

I would like to know more about this guitar, such as the age, value, which probably is none. lol

Please contact me if you have any knowlege of this guitar. And no, I'm not selling it.

arstudiostl@yahoo.com

thanks
Adam

Paid $50 from a guy on the run obviously.

Made probably about early 80's.
Strat type all the way down to the sunburst finish with the white pick gruard. 3 single coils, 5 way switching with vol\tone\tone. Its passive electronics with a standard strat type 21 fret maple neck. 6 screw floating bridge, poly nut and standard tuners with trees.

In my time I have had strats, lp's, and tons of playing time on guitars that friends have had, and I can tell you this. I wouldn't trade this guitar for the world!!!!!!

The original pickups were junk. So I went and installed 57 noiseless strat pickups. Presently playing it through a Roland 120 Jazz Chorus.
With the new grounding system I put through it, it's as quiet as a mouse. A real nashville\tex-mex kinda sound

The original set up was terrible, but what hooked me into buying this guitar was the action on the neck. The guitar is light and fast. Very surprising for an aftermarket, almost (Sears and Roebuck) kinda axe.

I've had this thing for 20 years, and yes, I have played it on stage. It's actually my back up. Finish is acceptable, with that true 3 tone sunburst and white pick guard.

You can't kill this thing. I will admit, its not original now that I have changed the pickups and the pots, but I tell you what. Its one of the best playing guitars that I have every had! I would gig with it in a heart beat.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT!!!!!!!!! there is none......... I am my own custormer support. I love to tear guitars apart and frankenstien them. But I will tell you this, I only changed the pickups :)

My previous statements say it all.

The Memphis Distortion has Two knobs, Volume and Distrortion, and an on/off switch. The battery is accessed through the bottom plate which has 4 screws in it. The 1/4" input and output go in the top of the pedal and there is no AC power input.

The distortion is more like a fuzz and the pedal doesn't really drive your amp in any way. It's a good pedal for finding some new lo-fi indy sounds. A shoe gazing band's dream pedal. I haven't found the right song for it but I'm sure I will some day.

I have put les pauls, strats, teles and hollow bodies in front of it and Marshalls and Fenders behind it and it really just fuzzes out. If you like Big Muffs this might be a cool Distortion to try.

It's pretty solid and actually not too noisey. I wouldn't be surprised if it never died.

I remeber almost buying a Memphis P-Bass in 1983 and I recall Memphis Les Pauls being around at the same time but I haven't heard of Memphis since then. I doubt Memphis Customer Support has taken a call in a while.

The pedal is a classic and although I have failed to get any usable sounds out of it, I love it and will hold on to it if not only for nostalgia reasons. I found it at a junk shop on a road to Tahoe. I asked the guy how much and he asked me, 'how much you got' and said. 'I got five bucks'. He said, 'it's five bucks'. Love this pedal.

no clue where it was made

it has 21 frets

what?

1 tone 1 volume

transparent blue green

the body shape is cool a classic double cutaway with a headstock sorta like a jackson RR5 Rhoads

the bridge is horrible....i about to replace it( this is a 3rd hand guitar)

it has low lying frets, lets you fly along it good...but no easy task doing hammer ons and pull offs, does great trills

um, sorta...i play heavy metal, classic(such as gnr or ozzy), anmd blues, its a awesome sounding heavy metal guitar, and it sustains the soudn for a loooong time.

i use a Boss amp for it...but the amps very old and the guitars power chords make it rattle like a bad highway

very loud guitar, it annoys my parents by playing just w/ my fingers, but you take a pick to it...whoohoo....i dont even have the amp's volume on 2 and its loud, on 10 on volume and tone controls

very odd sound....almost like a distortion when you use only one string, but its chords are heavy,thick and powerful sounds like a Les Paul and a Jackson combined almost

not much variety, sounds like the notes have a powerful buzz to them

dislikes, that the bridge and nut are in bad condition, and the low selection of sound, likes, it plays, looks good, and is good for heavy metal

no clue

bridge is out of route, but it is damaged( im guessing a dog) so i think it was fine before Rover got it...lol

yes the pickup has rust, it crackles when you adjust the tone and volume

i doubt it, not w/ out work it couldnt be on stage

yes the hardwayre seems good

the finish is moderate

yes the strap buttons are good

yeah in a way i can

hell no i wouldnt use it on a gig w/ out a backup

over i say this guitar is very durable though, its been out under a porch, chewed by a dog...outside in Louisiana and the pickup still works? yes very good

bought it off a kid at school

about to try to get it repaired

3 months

yes, i should of asked its condition

get something else...but the condition its in...it wont be getting stolen any time soon...lol

i love its powerful sound, hate its in bad condition i believe its a very good guitar, um....the headstock its cool

yes, i wish it had 22 frets . good bridge, two pick ups instead a a dual single coil thing , and better knobs

guys....unless you like a unique soung....dont get one of these

I'm not sure where it was built. A Memphis make of standard guitar size with 2 humbuckings and 5 way switch. It's a good looking double cutaway vaguely resembling a Strat, but somewhat original looking, kind of like a smaller 60's Mosrite body.This model is cherry red gloss finish on the body and neck, with tuning lock nuts, and a floating chrome bridge with whammy bar.Bar causes guitar to go out of tune, despite chrome tuning heads.Neck is slightly fat but easy to play and has no flaws..Guitar came with solid case.

Its got a great telecaster country solo sound, a pretty decent jazz tone and really good resonance and clarity when playing bar or open chords.I presently run it through a real small Peavey preactice amp and havn't tried it on anything bigger. I like the clean sound it gets, though need to try other amps and settings to get a full idea of its capabilities.I'm not into big distortion, but this Memphis has that too, metal or lighter blues tones.

I bought this setup with Peavey amp, case, and accessories for 150 bucks Canadian at a garage sale. The seller hadn't used it much, and it sat in house for years, so the setup was still good. I just put fender light rock strings on it and it impressed m,e immediately.The assembly of the guitar appears higher end, unlike what Memphis guitars are known for.

I believe it could be a performance guitar. It's definitley a pro model. Probably could use a set-up at the shop, which I havn'e done yet. It is solidly built, but there's a bit of static when switching pickups. Hedll, if I was gigging, I'd use it. Absolutely.

I've played for almost 40 years on and off. I have owned a Gibson ES335, yamaha 12 string, Hagstrom electric, Yamamha electric, and this particular make of Memphis is as good as any of them were. No idea what it's worth, but I've never seen this model before, and cannot find much information on it.

22 Frets
2 Humbuckers
1 Volume and 1 Tone
2 Way Switch With a Flat Input
Chrome Bridge With Tremlo Bar
And Really Cheap Tuning Knobs
The Body is Made of Layered Plywood
It has a Rosewood Neck
The Head Looks Like an Ibenez The Body Looks Like A Strat

It sounds great but goes out of tune really fast. Whenever I want to play it I have to tune it first. The only other problem is when you turn the volume knob when playing it makes a crackling sound. But the Humbuckers sound deep and rich. I'd eventually like to replace them with some Gibsons.

I got the guitar used from a pawn shop for a hundred bucks. It was covered with stickers and the head on the Low E tuning knob was missing. It was also missing the tremlo bar. All the chrome was rusted and the entire guitar was dirty. I took it home, dismantled it, sanded it down, repainted white, (It was black)finished it, and cleaned all the chrome and metal. I put it back together and it looks brand new. It no longer says "Memphis" on the head. I would like to get new pickups and new tuning knobs for it.

This is a really reliable guitar if it's just been tuned. The body is really heavy and sturdy. And the hardware works well even if it is cheap.

Before I got this guitar I'd never heard of "Memphis". If anyone knows anything about them let me know. I would like to find out how much this guitar was brand new and possibly find a picture of it. If you know anything about Memphis Guitars e-mail me at ketonic_dude@hotmail.com thanks.

My overall rating of this guitar would be about an 7 or 8 it's a good guitar great for practicing but I wouldnt recoment it as a preformance guitar.

I'm guessing that this was made in the 1980's. It is a neck-thru guitar with no body to speak of at all, in a dark stain finish. It seems to be 2 pcs of mahogony with a pc of maple running down the center. When I got it the pick-ups had been taken out so I replaced them with "Golden Age" humbuckers I bought from Stewart-MacDonald (great folks). It has a string-thru body, tele-style bridge, and horrible tuners (thanks again to Stew/Mac that will be rectified). I got this from a friend who had it sitting in a corner of his room. He got it from the areas #1 luthier who gave it to him because he asked what it was and did not laugh at it. As far as accesories go, It did come with a strap that actually hooked to the back of the body and again on the back of the peg head. That got taken off by me after about 2 minutes of ownership. I suppose it was a neat idea, but the guitar would not balance at all and was impossible to play. I put strap-loks on it in traditional positions and cleared that mess up.
It has the typical 2 volume and 1 tone that piles of other guitars have. Not typical is that rather than a 3-way switch this has a 2 position switch that gives either more neck or more bridge sound. Both pickups are always on. That may be because of how my buddy put the pickups in for me more so than just "how it is".

This guitar has sustain for days. Think Nigel Tufnel. An open E chord will ring for 40 days and 40 nights. Just straight into the amp (NO compression) and it does this. This guitar also has the loudest acoustic sound of any electric I've played. The pickups I have had put in it are a very mid-grade alnico product and do fairly well. It is a fairly bright sounding guitar, very articulate. The guitar on its own doesn't have a huge variation in tone, again that could be more the mods than how it was initially. I am using this guitar for recording primarily, and its role is droning, sustained power chord carpets, which it does admirably.

The only thing in this category that applies is the finish. Just a dark wood stain that has held up quite well for what I'd guess is around 20 years. The tuning pegs as I said before are terrible. They're an easy fix though.

Once I get the new tuners on I am going to let my rhythm guitarist use this to back up me on my Melody Maker. The stock bridge is solid, the fretwork is good, and since it's a neck-thru (actually the whole guitar is a neck-think Steinberger with a headtock like a Gibson V)I don't have too many worries about problems. Alsi as I previously said I switched the strap configuraton they had for strap-loks so I'm sure it's solid. I'd always want a back up in case a string breaks.

If Memphis is still around I'm sure they operate out of an office in a strip mall and buy their stuff from Samick.

Comparing this to other guitars is akin to comparing a timpani to a roto-tom. They might both be capable, in theory, of the same things, but not really. This guitar is great for anything needing limitless sustain, but the body shape (or lack thereof) makes it uncomfortable for any real amount of playing.
I think some companies called these beasts Austin Axes. Does anyone have any info???? e-mail me

Year? No Idea were it came from.
22 frets, the body is a laminateof some kind.
two tone one volume five-way blade, just like a strat 3 singles.
NO name on anything on this guitar except the headstock.
Passive electronics. Neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. It was pink but the guy who owned it last painted it red. The tuners hold pretty well unless someone hits it. If i'm careful it will stay tuned for days.

i like the bite I get from the bridge pickup,(wich is pretty much all I use on it) though right now all I have to play it on is my brother's vintage airstream amp from sears and a dano overdrive. The pickups hum and pop too much though.

I got it used at a pawn shop because I liked the way "stairway to Heaven" sounded on it. The action stunk and it buzzed also the high e gets stuck under the frets. I did a lot of tweaking and even took the thing apart at one point. So now it sounds and plays a lot better.

I would play it live, though I want to replace the hardware as soon as I can. I'd like to think I can depend on it, though I don't really have much of a choice. It being my only guitar.

non-existant

I wish I knew more about guitars before I bought it but It is a good first ax and will make a killer hot-rod. All in all it's my guitar that alone makes it special. I love the way it resonates but I wish it had better sustain.