Wesley Sweatleaf

New, Far East construction, I suppose. Something of a copy of a PRS. Has a set neck with scarf joint headstock, rosewood fingerboard, thin laminate flame top on a 15mm maple carved top that's set onto a mahogany substitute body. Two humbuckers, vol tone and three way switch. Trem system vaguely like a PRS and a set of sealed gear tuners. Looks very pretty and has a marginally different outline to a PRS. Supplied new with tools and a cheap lead. Neck has a big, 50s profile. God knows why. I think maybe the seller intended to name this "Sweetleaf".

Awful. The basic body has a good resonance but, plugged in, the sound is loud, muddy and toneless with no definition across a chord, possibly due to the small body 250k pots and cheapo switch. I suspect that a pot upgrade would work wonders and that a pickup upgrade would make this sound really quite good.

Major problems. I wasn't expecting PRS quality for this price but I was expecting an instrument that could be played. Fret heights are uneven so expect buzzing and choking and some frets are cut too short leading to potential for strings slipping off the fret ends. Neck angle is very shallow so a low action is hard to achieve with the existing bridge. Trem arm won't screw into the block more than half a turn, nut slots are cut badly and tuners are sloppy so guitar WILL NOT stay in tune with even minor stringbending and use of the trem is out of the question. Wesley had done their best to get an action on a cheap guitar but it needs some serious work to be playable. A beginner faced with this would rapidly give up due to tuning problems. PAINT FINISH - Overall the guitar is pretty but the cheapness shows in the slightly sloppy finishing around the pseudo-binding. Doesn't compare to Squier quality.

Unplayable as supplied. With work it would probably make a useful tool but I can't comment on how the carcase would withstand stage pressures. I wouldn't dream of gigging it as it stands.

Wesley provide excellent service. I could return this for a refund but, at the price, I'm ashamed to do so. That said, even a cheap guitar isn't cheap if it's unuseable.

Been playing 30 years and have owned them all. Currently have about 20 guitars, ranging from Westones to Gibsons. I was seduced by the prettiness and low price of this instrument but, frankly, unless I sink another #100 into a fret dress, new nut, rewire, etc then I might as well throw it in the bin. The real nail in the coffin is the short frets. Overall, the basic guitar is okay for light strumming but there are just too many fundamental problems for me to even consider playing it as a serious instrument. Very disappointing.