Onyx Strat Copy

1984 Onxy Black and Silver Stratocaster copy. Bought for my 14th birthday by my parents. I have taken it apart to look at examining the wiring and it indeed is a solid plywood body. Standard strat copy with volume and 2 tone pots. 3 simple pickups with a 5 way selector. Mine has been played very little over the years but today took it down to my local guitar shop to do a little comparison. Interestingly I wasn't laughed out of the shop as I feared I may have been. ... that said I still bought an '09 American Standard for my 40th birthday. That said,I'll never sell the Onyx as it was my first guitar.

The Onyx was played by one of the guitarists there and he was quite impressed with the voice of the guitar. It's not as bright in tone as the genuine strat and is slightly muted in mid range but the classic twang of the strat remains.

As the action has been carefully adjusted by me over the 25 years I've had the guitar it's near perfect. The neck is still straight, the action low and no string buzz. My only criticism is of the tuners. They are low grade and really require replacement if you want to keep the guitar in tune for any length of time while playing.

I've never attempted to play the guitar live. Aside from the tuners, the rest of the guitar is in very good condition. No paint chips on the body. The neck finish is still smooth and silky. There are rumours around that someone smashed one onstage recently in Australia... that's a shame really as the guitar is much better than most people think it should be.

I have read that Onyx was the distributors name in Australia where the guitars were distributed in the 80's.

I've been playing for 25+ years. I own a variety of guitars, and have just recently bought a new Fender American Standard Strat. If you see one of these Onyx Strat copies around, I'd urge you to pick it up and play it. You never know, you may have found yourself a bargain.

I have the basic strat, bought it 'unknown-hand' from a cash converter shop in Australia years ago (think 2000?) silver and black fade design and yeah... nothing too flashy about it on the outside besides the fact that its a guitar, oh and an 'Onyx' label on the headstock. Strangely enough its totally a plywood body but with a unique sound different from your ordinary strat... more darker (or body for some) and cheap parts - yet still the twang remains. Pretty awesome when it worked (which is only for a short while) but hey - thats what you get when you buy 'unknown-handed' stuff.

Stuns me still on the times i managed to get this to work... that bright twang with a nice full rich tone. Got an old marshall g15rcd amp that came along with it that made it sound a whole lot better than other guitars plugged into it (epi - lp studio and ultra) but hey, old practice amps can only do so much. Now equipped with a fender fm212r, it sounds great.

uhhhh lets just say that there are few knocks, rusty tuning heads and bridges, buzzing frets and yeah... as i said it was an 'unknown-hand' guitar.

Refer to above ('unknown-handed') - pots nearly worn out, only two of the three pickups are guarantee to work. But the body is darn durable - can knock out someone if swung.

Onyx... never heard of them, and i looked about as well... its like they make random mysterious clones that sound pretty good for cheap components (from what i've seen - but not too cheap). Its almost like a legend in itself.

All i can say is that if i had to choose between buying a new strat or working on this old wreck, i'll do this one. Its different from what you'd expect, and if anyone happens to find one of these laying around - give it a shot... you might like it. And well, its good for its price.

I have an Onyx Strat, Silver and black fade design - Made in mid 80's, strat copy, I replaced the electrics, bridge blcok (as whammy snapped off in it!) and added locking gotoh heads. This guitar feels and sounds amazing. It has always had a sweet sound, even with original pickups whcih are actually really good single coils. Since added

I have an Onyx Strat, Silver and black fade design - Made in mid 80's, strat copy, I replaced the electrics, bridge blcok (as whammy snapped off in it!) and added locking gotoh heads. This guitar feels and sounds amazing. It has always had a sweet sound, even with original pickups which are actually really good single coils. Have since added an eric claptop noiseless pickup, dimarzio PAF pro and new electrics, and done a full shielding job, again - this Onyx has an incredible feel and sound. Awesome heavy sound as well. The lows notes really reasonate - would never sell this one !

This is one crappy sort of guitar, in that it is a FULL plywood body, (but read on) and otherwise a Strat clone, just with cheap parts.
Japan, I suppose. Nothing other than "Onyx" on the body.
5 way selector, trem...all very standard. No idea of age (anyone tell me??)

Sound... I have 5 or so Strats, the most collectibe being a 61 and things like a 57 Reissue, a 71 and an 81, a Squier....
I wanted a twangy tone for an instrumental recording.
After listening to a thousand Strats, new and old, I bought this Onyx from a guitar shop for $130.
Why? Because it sounds better for my project than anything else. Bright, sustain-ey, twang-y and full toned.
Just like a strat only fuller.
Played through a Peavey Classic 50 with GOOD speakers, it sounds incredible, clean, tone-full and Hank Marvin.
Also sounds very rich with pedal(s) for full on scream.

Mine has a hand-painted red body...probably over black. The neck is clear lacquer, and very reasonable. The tuners were just too crappy to use for actually tuning a guitar, so they went. The vibrato block os also very crappy, but it works, and is a slightly different size than a drop-in replacement, so it stays. Maybe it helps the tone.
The cheap pick-ups are rather microphonic, and feed back quite readily. But since the guitar sounds great.... and also they have a different magnet spacing to replacements.
Plastic nut. I said it was crappy....although the neck is very good (and that is the key, folks!)

Will hold up. Just.

Onyx? Where? Who??

Well, I have too many things, Les Pauls, Strats, Hofner, etc, etc.. but this Onyx will be on my album. Listen out for it before it becomes The Next Big Thing. Legend in its own right.
By the way, I also have a plywood body "Stagg" Tele thinline copy. Maple board. Sounds great, just a shade less than my Les Pauls (it has humbuckers). Moral of the story is not new: listen with critical ears (and sometimes using your sense of touch) and you will find awfully good guitars for a fraction of the price of the Biggies. Sometimes they sound better....even a lot better.....
Has rock and roll been hijacked by hype and commercial intent?? That is just too easy to answer.