Synsonics Terminator

(Review is in order of the tewmpalte page)
First off, let me say i must have ogtten a
super-terminator. "Bad", "crap" or "ugly" are not words I'd readily use.

Guitar is an '89 Terminator, first year of production, made in Korea. I beleive it has 24 frets, haven't actually checked.
Solid top, of course. There is a tone control, and 2 volumes, 1 for each pickup. Features an awkward 2 single coil configuration.
Pickups are just brandless Synsonics. Electronics are passive through amp, but active when using speaker in guitar.
Body appears to be a 2-peice ash,but not very high grade. Finished in a laquered black. Applied nicely. Strat style body. Generic bigsby-looking trmeolo bridge. Kinda cool actually.
Generic one-peice 6-in-line tuners, actually very nice, and hold well. I'm sure it's 3/4 scale, frets are thin/medium. Not sure on woods, possible low grade maple. Ftertboard and neck paited black to match body. Mine is used (duh...) no accessories and missing whammy bar.

Haven't used it for gigs, but works nice liek an acosutic throught it's apeaker, and great rocker through amp. Just a bit saggy on tone. But, I'd say it's even.
It isn't "noisy" feedback is quite low, even at high volumes.
The trmolo bridge can help the sound, but I've heard it can knock tuning outl ike a light. I'd try it, maybe for an end-of-song divebomb.
I liek it, but a bit more distoriton wouldn't kill it on it's built-in-speaker.

Probably never was setup. Action is good, strings are about .4-.5 centimeters off neck. Pickups adjusted well, by me, of course.
No comment on flaws, it is used, so has it's dings, scrastches, ETC.

It could withsrand live playing, but I wouldn't advise it unless you've got mods to pickups, tuners, and probably srap-holders.
Finish has lasted for 19 years, fair ahare of scratche and nicks, but very strong, surprisingly...
mine has one strap button, if that's an indiation of how "solid" they are.

There never was nay, and, as I said, got it used.

I've played for avout 5 years, so yeah. also own Electra Phoenix X-140, Fender P-bass, and Fender Starcaster.
I'd be pretty angry/sad it it was stolen, I'd totally buy another.
I love hten ovelty of it, greartl ittle traveler.
Hate the fact that I can't afford mods for it.
It'd be nicer with locking tuners and Semours or EMGs.
If you find an early Terminator get it, fun little guy.

This little guitar is pretty cute. I bought it at a thrift store for basically nothing, so I expected it to not be the best. But I played it in the store and it seemed to sound OK. My built-in amp doesn't work, unfortunately, I guess the previous owner left it out in the rain or something. The finish is some sort of cheap plastic.
I'm not that savvy with guitar surgery, so I wouldn't dare mess around with the wiring and whatnot. But I wouldn't spend any money to fix it.
I think the main reason why I like it is that it wasn't expensive and it doesn't sound bad through a decent amp. Plus, I'm a pretty small girl, and that guitar is tiny, so it works :P

I play mostly acoustic/indie-type stuff, so the Terminator is a bit outside my usual genre. I do use it though. My other electric was a Dean, and that thing is heavyyy. I have a behringer amp, it's quite nice. I guess the terminator doesn't sound too bad, not as good as the Dean though. Minimal variety, but it's okay for maybe basic punk rock?

Hmm, almost every viewable bit of metal was dead rusty, and the speaker doesn't work, which I suppose is the previous owner's fault. I replaced one of the input jacks with a bright shiny one and it just doesn't seem to match. But yeah, if I replaced all the metal parts on here it would probably sound fantastic.

This guitar, despite the fact that the majority of it's functions don't work, refuses to die. In 2000 years, future paleontologists will be digging and find one of these.
I like it :)

I didn't even try. This thing isn't really worth it, in my opinion.

I've been playing the guitar for over 4 years. I mostly bought this on a whim, so I wish I'd done some research before making the purchase. I wish the accessories on it worked too because then I'd use it more and it would be just the coolest thing ever.
I guess that's it.

Before you begin to read this, keep in mind, I do not use this as an actual guitar, but for the circuitry inside of it! It really is a junky guitar... But I will not speak of it's "intended" function (Which is to be a very cheap practice guitar that is basically usless) It features three knobs (two pick up volumes and a tone knob) which can be used in tandem with the circuitry to produces different sounds. Again, I won't bother to comment on it's features as a guitar because this is not about that aspect of it...

Now, you may be asking yourself, WHY on earth I'd give a Synsonics Terminator a ten. Well, I am really into circuit bending... So one day, just out of curiosity, I unscrewed the back panel on one of these monsters and pressed my finger on the circuit board... The sound it produced was insane... tweaking the knobs seems to always make it produces new sounds... and with a low battery you can achieve a whole new level of noises! the sounds range from roaring static and fuzz, to high pitch squeals and squaks and gurggling... It is very similar to a theremin... I have even managed to pick up a radio station with the thing! It's really quite amazing in this aspect. Quite a lovely surprise hidden in what looks like a piece of junk "practice guitar" I hope to collect a few of these and completely scrap the bodies to rehouse them in metal boxes and just keep the original knobs and circuitry without lugginhg all the wood body around.

Again, if I must comment on the actual guitar, I'll say as a practice guitar, it's satisfactory in this area... but that won't be imporant once you rip the thing apart... It certainly isn't going to be winning any awards though...

You'd think with all of the torture I've put this piece through, it would have been totally fried, but it's still seems to be working perfectly, except I've always had problems from time to time with the batteries in the compartment.

Never had to call. This guitar was a hand-me-down anyways. I don't know.

As a noise producing, mutant theremin, it's awesome, but as a guitar it's severley lacking. I recommend you buy one for bending though, or open up the one you have already.

this is a novelty item that was bought so my kids would leave my strat alone.I use it to play with instructional videos instead of hooking up my strat,amp,and pedals.

the sound is twangy/Kinda like listening to a guitar player at the far end of a tunnel.

the action has been adjusted down and playes good. The tuners are plastic and i need to replace them the washers have fallen out.

It is like a beater car.Something to beat arround on.

N/A

it works for the purposes mentioned above.

This is a solid body strat-style novelty guitar made in the 1990's more or less as a training guitar for kids and teens. It has two pickups, two volume controls and a single tone control. It has outputs for a standard amp and for headphones. It features a bigsby style tremelo bridge and tail piece that make stringing the guitar difficult. And of course a built-in battery powered amp with a little speaker right in the body.The neck has 22 frets and is a bit narrow.

The sound through the built in amp is a bit weak and twangy. When played through a real guitar amp, it is decent but nothing really special

The setup on ther guitar is excellent. The fretboard staining is a bit uneven in places. The action is a bit high.

The hardware is a bit cheap, I have doubts about the tuners, so I would not rely on it. The fret board finish is garanteed to wear out, and I would not consider it for any serious use. However it is kind of fun to be able to play an elect guitar anyhere. It is however, fairly durable. The simple design of the bridge and tailpeice provide little opportunity for things to go seriously wrong.

Synsonics started as a division of the toy maker Mattel, that made student instruments for kids. As far as I know they are not supported.

I've been playing (with) guitars for about 25 years, non-pro. This is my 4th guitar, The others are 1: Washburn House-of-Blues electric, 2: 1968 Telestar, and 3: Synsonics single pickup ( no model name).
The built in amp makes it a fun toy for the non serious player and it is fun to sit under a shade tree in the summer while twanging awy on one. If I can get one of the kids interested, they we could get a jam going between the two synsonics guitars. I do wish the neck was a bit wider, cause my fingers are a bit fat.

All covered below... I found mine at a yard sale and the guy swore it worked... I said "the hell it works, it has no strings and no bridge!" I bought it for $10 and built my own bridge with a little piece of rosewood and a single fret.
Once I powered it up, it worked fine, I imagine just about as well as it ever has. It's kind of a crappy novelty instrument, but it is pretty cool for what it is. I'm giving it an 8 because the speaker is very cool, and not a lot of cheap guitars have that.

It won't record any platinum records for you but this thing is fun to whip out when your buddies bring over their acoustic guitars... Low volume, but you can get a really cool distortion/feedback from it. This thing wails!
Intonation isn't perfect, but what do you expect? Mine didn't come with a trem bar and I wouldn't imagine that would help it anyway.

action is kinda high but not as bad as some have said. I'm sure on a cheap neck like this, low action would be an impossibility. I use light strings on it and it's playable. Finish is fugly black. put some stickers on it.

Hey, it worked after sitting in some redneck's garage for 20 years... I'd imagine that anything that can go wrong with it had already gone wrong by the time they shipped it out.

Non existent

I really like this guitar. Every serious rocker should have one instrument they can be totally non-serious about; throw it around, play it when they're completely wasted, with no worries, etc. This is the one and the price was right. And if you're looking for a cheap axe to impress the chicks, this thing actually works... No cords, no amps, no muss no fuss.

The Features are alright. Nothing to brag to your buddies about.

Got the guitar as a parts guitar the electronics were not working at the time.

neck edges are not flowwing or comfortable like my american strat. Finish is stripped in places

It's a better guitar now to say that I have wired two new fender standard single coils in it and all new volume and tone pots. and a fender jack(that was tricky)

I hav not messed with support to say this is just a beater guitar

Well i got this guitar because i wanted somthing i could throw around and not worry about it. I have gutted everything stock electrical from it and rewired with new stuff myself. This guitar is alright after you get rid of everything Synsonics about it except for the wood. Overall i have spent about fifty bucks on this thing using parts I already had. I would not advise buying this guitar to be your primary guitar.

Made in the 90s sometime - its got one pickup and one volume control. Of course, it has a built-in amp and speaker, which is why anyone in their right mind would consider buying it - as a novelty. It has frets..... thats all I can say about them. They stick out and cut you on the edges.

Umm... sound is interesting. Its not terrible, but its a bit thin. It distorts very hard, and the bass is weak. Pickup is good as evidenced by its performance on an amp, but is acceptable on the onboard amp. No variety with one pickup and no tone control.

Set-up is poor - I bought 6 of these in new old stock boxes for resale, and every one of them had too low action. the fret buzz was insane, and the onboard speaker does feedback at top volume for some reason. I am keeping one and already realize that I have to loosen the truss rod, AND raise the bridge to avoid the buzz I am guessing, or just replace the nut, though that may affect the already off-kilter intonation. The frets stick out and cut you on the edges, and the fretboard was a little chipped at one point. The tuners are decent though, which is a surprise.

It'll probably withstand anything you dish out - and mine isnt paperish like many people reported. THe strap buttons are solid, and the finish seems industrial strength cheap glossy. If anything about this guitar is good, its this.

They are out of business. Deal With it!

I've been playing for a little while now ( about a year) and I have Behringer Strat copy, a Rogue acoustic, and a mandolin. This is my worst guitar but for a builtin amp and uinder 55 bucks new, what the hell did I expect. ITs cool and portable so I think itll be pretty decent once it gets adjusted. VAlue is good - 4 as a guitar - 8 for the price.

Pretty simple, volume, on/off switch, and headphone jack for crummiest built in amp known to mankind, as well as out put for external amp use. Basic open gear tuners. Came with whammy bar so you can knock your guitar out of tune AND sound cool. Bridge is chromed out metal and does a bad job of keeping it in tune. 22 frets with fake mother of pearl fret markers. Body is a strat style with no pick guard. Black finish. one single-coil pickup.

This was my first guitar. When I got it I had no other equipment just the little built in amp. 2 christmases later i got a squier strat and a fender frontman 25R. I usually play this guitar through the frontman and a danelectro black licorice distortion pedal, and sometimes an arion moc-1 octave pedal. Through the frontman amp it does sound good. Through external amps i give it an 8. through the built in amp it gets a 2. Most of the time through the built in amp, the E and D strings usually vibrate for no reason whatsoever. This produces a horrible honking noise resembling a goose in heat. I don't know why but when the pick up cover is removed it makes it sound "crisper", making it good for most metal style music(what i play, system of a down, mudvayne, Nu-Metal).

when I first got it out of it's cardboard coffin, the bridge's action was completely off. Each string had it's own height, with big difference between them. Didn't come with a volume knob and i finally found one that fit 3 years later. The pick up was fine until i took the cover off and found it wasn't completely set into the body (wobbles like crazy). everything else was pretty much set fine.

In actuality this guitar has been through ALOT. yet it still haunts me. I can't get rid of it, A) it has sentimental value B)it just won't die. It's pretty much my guitar for weird tunings, like drop C,B, and A. I wouldn't use it at a gig AT ALL.

Never delt with SEARS over this junk heap.

It's my first guitar, you can't REALLY bag on your first guitar. Everyone's first guitar sucks. Unless your rich and and you can buy a $500 guitar like it's nothing.

I've been gathering these up off of eBay recently, and found that there's a few different styles. For the most part, they're a bit on the cheesy side....but for the price they're ok. I've been making plans to upgrade and modify a couple of them (tuners, pickups, bridge/tailpiece, speaker) and see how "nasty" one can be built.

I've run across 3 styles - 2 "Strat-bodied" versions, and one "Explorer-bodied" version with a humbucker. Not sure yet which is the older, the Strat with 2 pickups and the cheesy stamped-steel bridge setup, or the single-pickup version with the combo bridge/tailpiece/tremolo setup. Bodies all appear to be the same stuff....industrial-strength "papier mache".

All of my aquisitions, with one exception, are "parts guitars". Only one out of the 5 so far bought is what I'd call "Presentable".

This guitar suits my style fine......my music style is "poorly".....but it's fun to bang around on. I use it by itself; no amp or pedals....yet. One sound.....that defies description. Just louder or softer, depending on the volume setting. Gimme time...and some parts.

Used guitars don't really have "fit & finish" anymore. These guitars may never have had any, even when new. But, they're fun to fool with.

They're durable, or they wouldn't have survived the years.......
Reliable? I wouldn't use it as a "performing guitar".

Doubtful they're around anymore.

Been playing guitar....poorly....for about 20 years, off and on. I also have an Epiphone SG guitar, an Epiphone SG bass, Crate G-60 amp "stack", Peavey Minx 110 bass amp, Digitech guitar and bass processors. The SGs both have Coffin Cases. Also a collector of KISS-related guitars.

I recall seeing the Terminator at Toys R Us eons ago. Would like to hear a new one.

I have 4 that will be re-born.....upgraded hardware, finishes, etc. The Explorer-style will remain true to the original design; might put in a new speaker "just cuz". Maybe build a 3/4-scale "Coffin" for it.......hehehe.......