Optek The Artist

Tele-style, made in Korea by Samick. I bought it as it was being cleared out of the factory in 1996, I believe. They sent me a flyer, I knew I could use a Tele and to brush up on my theory, so I snipped up a great guitar at a great price.

The manufacturer went Chapter 11 and appears to be lauching again.
http://www.optekmusic.com/ They had some celebrity endorsers in their ads in the 80s, like Neil Schon, but evidently the gear market is not driven by learning and thirst for knowlege. It's driven by thirst for prestige and coolness.

Translucent blue finish, Seymour Duncan pikcups and especially thick maple neck with a rosewood LED-endowed fingerboard and clear, lexan nut.

It's got three LED-enabling switches: notes / chords / scales, the selection of notes and the selection of chords, scales or modes.

Typical three-way, switch, volume, tone, and a 7.5-volt input by the guitar out jack.

It's a heavy Tele. 10 on features, because of the Fretlight Learning System. How many guitars can literally teach you how to play better?

It's a super-sounding Tele. Yes, it's made in Korea. No, it's not a Fender. But it's true to the design and sound of what a Telecaster is.

I'm mostly a rhythm player, into alternative rock, with blues and jazz influence. I like Jobim-type chords, Andy Summers' rhythm work. This guitar is a challenge to play complex chords on because of the super-thick neck, but it sounds great. Especially the neck pickup and middle position.

Amp: Boogie S.O.B. 60-watt, Marshall 1960A cabinet. Effects: a Little Lanelei reverb I use often, in a custom effects loop, and a pedalboard of stuff I'm not using lately (Vox wah, Morley volume, Carl Martin compressor, eq, delay, Voodoo Labs Sparkledrive, Moogerfooger Phaser, Decimator noise reduction, Boss TU-2 tuner). I'd like to add a tremolo pedal to sit in the loop next to the reverb, and fuzz with some more filth, 'cause my amp doesn't have channel switching.

It's not noisy at all, given that it's a Tele.

I had it set up with ribbon-wound D'Addario chromes for a while, which mellowed and rounded off its tone nicely but made it tough to bend strings. It's currently in the shop for another set-up: I'm going back to Elixir mediums (11s).

The one thing I'd like to have on any Tele is a single-coil Strat pickup in the center position, like the Fender Nashville Tele. The standard Tele pickup configuration is not really versatile, but the basic tone of this guitar is awesome.

One of the few guitars I immediately gave a slight truss rod adjustment to. I was lean on cash at the time, and had it shipped in a box, without the tweed case. I've recently gotten an SKB case, and I believe that that will help this guitar retain its action and tuning stability a lot better than it has in the past, when I was carrying it around in a cheap Sam Ash pigskin gigbag.

I broke the lexan nut once, opening my dresser door to hard against the guitar inside the gig bag. Sam Ash Manhattan's repair shop fixed that up with the broken piece that fell off, with the price of a standard set up.

The fit and finish are quite nice. My Sam Ash repairman even complemented me on the guitar.

It's a solid guitar. The one weak link is being tethered to a power adapter. I bought a special cable that carried the guitar signal as well as the electricity to the guitar, but that got a short in it and kept shorting out my Radio Shack AC adapters.

The guitar has withstood live playing and many rehearsals very well. The gold hardware has oxidized, but nothing if falling off.

Again, it's a super-heavy guitar. Probably heavier than a heavy Les Paul.

I wonder if the some of the LEDs might burn out some day, but that's about it. They appear to be very long-lasting devices.

I've learned NEVER to gig with ANYTHING without a backup that will not kill your vibe. I HAVE, and all I can say is, live and learn.

This guitar would only break strings when I got in to messing with the tunings. But that's a dumb thing to do with this axe anyway, because the Fretlight system becomes moot.

I bought an instructional set of CDs from them within the last year or two. That's impresssive, considering that they're in limbo. The instructional CDs are very good, by the way. They shipped in a nice clear blue CD case.

I've been playing about 18 years. My other guitars are a 1987 Ibanez JEM, a 1989 Kramer Sustainer with a Performance hockey-stick neck (the factory nearby had a public sale before it closed, and I was enamored of the maple neck on the Steve Vai Flame Guitar), an Almirez classical, a 1994 Chandler Austin Special, a 2000 Fender Subsonic Strat, a 1999 Gibson EC-185 and a Carvin bass.

I'd say that this, the Subsonic Strat and the JEM are my favorite electrics. I guess I'm a closet Fender guy, despite the fact I only own one Fender. I'm a Leo Fender design and tone guy, anyway.

The "Artist" model was manufactured even more sparingly than other
Optek models this particular unit probably made in 1996. Has an in=
credible translucient blue finish highlighted by gold hardware. This
model featured Seymour Duncan pickups. The action, the sound are
identical to a Fender telecaster. The "Artist" telecaster is extrem-
el rare, I've been offerred as much as $3,500 by a Burbank studio
session player. Will not part with this guitar,even at $5,000!!!!

Brilliant telecaster type sound with great pickups by Seymour Duncan

Every bit as good as any Fender Telecaster right down to the action,
superb balance. The finish is superb!

Just an incredibly reliable instrument. Guitar was manufactured on the
very same production line as Epiphone/Gibson, Washburn, and Ibanez.

Non-existant! Company out of business!

I'd buy this guitar again. There's nothing that I don't like about it!
Match it against any brand of telecaster out there in the marketplace.
Great for just about any type of music.