Wesley Trans-Clear LP

Very decent LP copy made of PMMA. Comes with .010 gauge strings. Dotted inlay. Medium Jumbo frets I assume, made of nickel/silver fret wire. 2 piece maple neck. Chrome PU covers and mounting rings.

I play mainly post-punk and indie. Bought this guitar as a cheap backup for my Yamaha SG2000. The standard PU's that are fitted in this guitar are useless for me, I think they sound horrible. The definition of cheap certainly applies to them. So I'm having them replaced with decent PU's. Played it though a London City DEA130 1970's Marshall Superbass clone with a matching cabinet fitted with 4 12" Celestion G12H30 55Hz speakers. Clean they sound undefined, when used with a little overdrive they reveal their true crappy identity. But like I said, I'm having them replaced and with regards to the price of the guitar I'll see these flaky PU's through the fingers.

Out of the box the action and intonation were surprisingly good for such a cheap instrument! Immediately replaced the strings with .011 gauge strings. Needs some intonation now. Also oiled the fretboard, it was pretty dried out. Luckily frets are not too soft so they'll withstand some serious bending. This guitar was cheap so far from perfect:
- the wiring is too thick to fit the routing. It is hence impossible to adjust the neck PU. I'll replace the wiring one of these days.
- the toggle switch is of such poor quality that I literally pulled it apart after using it for a few times. Also the toggle switch knob is not screwed on so it'll fall of one time or another. Replaced it with a Switchcraft toggle switch with a chrome knob. Also replaced the vol/tone knobs with chrome ones. Looks really great together with the chrome PU covers and mounting rings.

This guitar is pretty basic and properly set up it will probably withstand some on stage abuse. I hope the strap buttons won't pop out in the long term, I'm not familiar with PMMA bodies, seems rather soft material too me, like basswood. But haven't played it yet on stage.

Guitar was sent out very fast and was well packed. Communication with Wesley Guitars was good, they kept me wel informed on my order and replied promptly to my e-mails.

The main asset of this guitar is of course its transparent acrylic body. Together with the chrome hardware that's already on it and the stuff I replaced with chrome parts it looks simply stunning. This guitar definitely attracts one's attention. That's one of the main reasons I bought it. And the cool thing is, if it ever gets stolen, which is highly probably because of its admirable looks, I can simply get another one without losing too much on it.
For the record, I've been playing in bands for like more than 15 years. Other guitars I own are an old Gibson SG with P90's (1971), a Fender Telecaster (1977) and an early Yamaha SG2000 (1977). My main amp is a London City DEA130 Marshall Superbass clone. I also own an old London City Reverb Hundred combo which sounds awesome too. My primary guitar effects vary from the underestimated Ibanez MT-10 to a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet together with some delays (Akai Headrush E2) and loopers (Digitech Jamman).
Personally I think the Wesley acrylic LP-style guitar is a steal. Put some time, money and energy in it and it'll turn into a fabulous jawdropping eyecatcher that eventually sounds well too if you decide to replace the PU's.

Transarent acrylic Les Paul-style body. Made in Korea. Came with short guitar lead. 22 Fret. Volume and Tone control for each of the two passive humbucker pick-ups with a three way switch - bridge pick-up on only, both pick-ups on, neck pick-up on only. Pick-ups aren't labelled. Body is made of PMMA and the neck is made of maple.

I play in hardcore punk bands so generally either use just the gain from whatever head I'm using - usually Marshall valve amps - or use my Boss OS-2 pedal through smaller or cleaner amps.

The first thing that should be noted is is the fierce microphonic qualities of the pick-ups that cause incredibly annoying (and rather embarassing when in a live situation) squealing. I'm not talking about purposeful feedback here. When at high volumes, the guitar squeals when it's not being strummed and the only way to combat this so far is to use the duller neck pick-up with all the treble taken off via the tone control. I'm going to see what effect potting might have on the pick-ups bt otherwise, I would suggest, if you're thinking of using this guitar with anything louder than a small practice amp, that you should replace the pick-ups.

The sound other than that is OK. Not amazing by any standards. As you can imagine, it's not as rich, full and bright as more expensive guitars but then it did only cost about ??120.

There's fret buzz at the bottom end of the guitar and the intonation wasn't set up properly but other than that, I'm happy with it.

This guitar has done a few gigs and gets played regularly since I got it about 9 months ago. It still works fine and it looks solidly built. I suspect the wiring may become a problem in the future given the low price tag. I am thinking the best thing to do in this situation is pre-empt any problems and have a guitar tech give it a once over to ensure all joints are well soldered.

I haven't used the support yet. The guitar has a one year warranty.

So the cheap build apart, here's the main attraction.

It's clear.

If you want that whole Greg Ginn look for a fraction of the cash you'd pay for a Dan Armstrong, here's your ticket.

This guitar has garnered attention from people who like Black Flag, Bl'ast, and Annihilation Time. Maybe I can't shred, but I feel all the better playing Nervous Breakdown or Depression.

In short, past it's failing, I do love this guitar. It needs work but I'm happy to do that as it didn't cost me an arm and a leg.

I've been playing on and off for ages now. I'm not a great guitar and usually just play power chords. I own an old HH combo and it's satisfactory for playing with this guitar.

The guitar does weigh quite a bit though so be prepared for shoulder ache after long periods of playing it.

I do wish that wesley Guitars had combined this guitar with the cheap and yet effective pcik-ups of Kent Armstrong. One can only dream.

This is a korean made 22 fret PMMA acrylic, maple neck rosewood fingerboard les paul style guitar. Traditional les paul layout and design (2 humbuckers, 2 volume and tone controls, single cutaway) electronics are passive and i think they're just generic humbuckers,

Its a quite versatile guitar, gives you a nice clear tone, suitable for most rock styles, the strings were a bit buzzy but after a quick set up it'll play just as well as any les pauls I've played (everything upto gibson les paul studios) sustains like no guitar i've played before.

apart from the buzzy strings, the string height was a tiny bit too low for me but i change my strings on new guitars anyway so after a string change, a tweak of the set up, the only gripe i had was the fretboard was a lil dry but a after applying some lemon oil to it, it was sorted :), plays incredibly well for the price. theres a couple of flaws in the acrylic but unless your looking very closely for them they're unnoticable

with a new set of tuners this guitar would stand up to any abuse playing live that you could throw at it, i'd happily play this live but with a back up or two because it is VERY heavy.

john wesley is probably the nicest and friendliest guy i have ever spoken to for customer support, very helpful and replies to emails incredibly quickly (about 5 minutes in my case) other big name guitar companies could learn from wesley guitars (yes ibanez im looking at you!)

i've been playing a lil over 7 years, i've owned various guitar amps and effects (i'd list them all but i'd be here for a week) i bought this off of ebay on impulse because i wanted a new les paul and i've loved acrylic guitars for years and its a decision i dont regret :), i love just about everything about the guitar apart those tuners (im going to swap them for some locking sperzels at some point)

my favourite feature? rather randomly the pickup selector most les pauls you can accidently switch the pickups playing while sitting down but this ones a bit stiffer than normal so it wont flick up if you accidently clip it, AND the curved neck joint, it makes it soooo much easier getting to the higher frets than the normal square les paul joint :),

If someone stole it i'd be pissed but i'd get another one after beating him with the one he stole, because it was quite cheap :)

This guitar was made in Korea in 2005. It has 22 frets, it is made of PMMA acrylic and its transparent. It has a regular Les Paul layout with passive electronics. It has a single cutaway, a fixed tune-o-matic bridge and non locking tuners. It came with a free cable.

The guitar is full of punch and has a lovely tone, although I play it through a bass amp. There is quite alot of fret buzz which is annoying, but I did ask for a low action. This guitar has a high output and beautiful pickups.

The intonaion was good, and the action was too, except for the terrible fret buzz. I'm sure this can be altered with a higher action though and its not worth putting you off the guitar. The guitar is obviously not made of expensive materials, but it plays suprisingly well.

This guitar appears to be reliable, the only flaw is the tuners which are okay, but dont stay in tune as long as they should. I would play this guitar live, but with a backup. Everything else is built well.

John Wesley Rackham is a great guy and he has responded to all my e-mails instantly. I really trust him and he is very helpful. The guitar has a one year warranty as well.

I'm 14 and I've been playing for 4 years. I play a squier precision bass and a admira almeria classical guitar. I wanted this guitar so badly, because it is just so heart breakingly cool. I've been lucky with this guitar because it plays so well. I would reccomend it to anyone who fancies it, it is a bit of a gamble, but it should pay off. It is not a proffesional guitar, but for a bit of a laugh and a workman's guitar, it does the job great.