(NGD) So, I bit the bullet... Well, bought a bullet

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TenebrousTenebrous Frets: 1332
Since getting back into electric guitar 18 months back after spending a few years playing solely acoustic, I've probably been having the most fun I've ever had with the instrument. Rediscovering new gear, watching new releases like I did before, getting overly excited for stuff - it's all there, and better than ever, only this time with perhaps more adult sensibilities & less unsustainable spending... Well, that's a lie, I've had like 8 guitars in the past 18 months, but whatever.

Anyway, fastfoward to now, and I'm just a two-tele & an acoustic man. Loving life with my new amp, getting some great sounds, when suddenly I get the urge to play a strat. Well, I could get the vintera 50s strat to pair with the superb 50s tele, but I held back & just thought "y'know what, I've heard guys get some good tones out of this thing, so I'll give it a bash..."



Pretty damn happy with how it looks, although it does have a bit of grime of some sort on the fretboard. Shouldn't be too difficult to clean up, and honestly isn't too much of an inconvenience for a £100 guitar.


Set-up out of the box was pretty great. The fret work, while not flawless by any means, is more than good enough up & down the neck, with no nasty pointy bits, buzz, poorly seated or any of that nonsense. It holds tune pretty well, even through some mild trem arm shenanigans, and the neck, while it a bit dainty for my personal tastes, is well finished & comfortable. Nice & light, too.

The sound?

Well, it's just a strat, & that's the biggest compliment I could possibly give it. It doesn't sound like a cheap guitar trying to be a strat - it just sounds like a strat. That quacky punch, those funky tones, the warm neck, & not-so bright bridge? Yup, it's all there. After a minute of playing, I had to just stop & having a little laugh at it. It has absolutely no business being this good for just a hair over £100.

Consider my strat-itch scratched for now. Even if I were to replace this further down the line with something better (which I might not even do), I'd still likely keep this as a beater/experimental guitar, as everything about it (apart from the fretboard grime) is so damn good for the money that selling it would just feel pointless. I've only been playing for 17~ years or so, but the difference between a cheap guitar then & a cheap guitar now still seems insane... Or maybe it's just me that's a bit better & know what to expect nowadays - Probably a bit of both. Whatever the case, it's a cracking guitar for the money, and I'm chuffed.

Cheers.
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Comments

  • I agree there is something very satisfying about a good cheap guitar. 
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Hopefully, the “grime” is just a polishing compound residue and can be removed with a little physical effort.

    Unfortunately, the other possibility is Superglue - an altogether harder proposition for cleaning off.
    Be seeing you.
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  • TenebrousTenebrous Frets: 1332
    Hopefully, the “grime” is just a polishing compound residue and can be removed with a little physical effort.

    Unfortunately, the other possibility is Superglue - an altogether harder proposition for cleaning off.

    Managed to get most of it off very easily with a little bit of wet kitchen towel. I've already restrung two guitars today & don't quite fancy a third, but I'll give it a proper clean when I do.

    There are two little bits on the 19th fret that do look like glue, but that's not really going to be a bother, thankfully.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    Anything will sound good through that amp :).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • Looks pretty good that mate, although the real tastiness is that lovely blue tele lurking in the background! Phwoar. The Bullet range do seem to be interesting.

    Amp also looks rather familiar! The "cumbersome" amp I was referring to in our recent PMs is the same series of Peavey, but the Studio Pro one. Be interested to know what, if any, pedals etc you're using into it especially with the new Strat as I'm in need of some guidance myself...
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • TenebrousTenebrous Frets: 1332
    edited February 2020
    ICBM said:
    Anything will sound good through that amp .

    Honestly the best recommendation I've stumbled upon in years. The clean sound in the Katana is great for people after a more modern sound, but the vintage channel on the Bandit is exactly what my ears want from an amp. Every single one of my electrics sounds better through it as someone who plays clean most of the time, with a bit of crunch/too much fuzz sometimes.

    Edit: Fun fact, the bullet & bandit cost less than my squier/frontman 15r package cost my family in 2003~, and sound a HELL of a lot better. It's crazy how good guitars are nowadays, & how many bargains are out there for second hand gear.

    Looks pretty good that mate, although the real tastiness is that lovely blue tele lurking in the background! Phwoar. The Bullet range do seem to be interesting.

    Amp also looks rather familiar! The "cumbersome" amp I was referring to in our recent PMs is the same series of Peavey, but the Studio Pro one. Be interested to know what, if any, pedals etc you're using into it especially with the new Strat as I'm in need of some guidance myself...

    Well I did get ahold of a GT-100, but after some simply unfixable USB issues I'm sending it back & have decided to go down the individual pedal route again. Right now though, the only stompbox I have is a TU-3, so I can't really give you any feedback there (yet) Will hopefully end up with something pretty small (thinking Muff, TS, DD-200 and a handful of modulation pedals... Maybe an EQ). Gonna do some bargain hunting online.
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  • Gerz6558Gerz6558 Frets: 761
    I got a bullet telecaster last year, as you say they punch well above their weight. Some decent custom colours for those strats at the moment too.
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  • TenebrousTenebrous Frets: 1332
    Sorry to bump my own thread, but I really wanted to give an update on my time with this guitar.

    After a few very minor alterations to the intonation (it was closer than on most Fenders I've owned new), a proper clean, & a restring, I'm just absolutely blown away. It plays like a charm without any buzz or rough fret edges, & that immediate day one hype has yet to fall away at all. It's even holding tune pretty damn well so long as I'm a little bit conservative with the tremolo, which is honestly the weakest part of the guitar anyway. If you told me it were a Mexican strat, I'd likely believe you if not for the trem.

    It's impressed me to the point that I'm no longer viewing it as a stop-gap measure until I can buy a real strat, but instead I'm pretty sure my next guitar is also going to be a Squier of some sort. I could upgrade it in the future, but as of now, I'm yet to see anything that's worth upgrading besides perhaps a set of strap locks. The tuners are good, and though I'm sure they'll die at some point, there's no real need to replace them now.

    Seriously, if you've got a £100 & wanna try something new, I'd at least consider a bottom of the line Squier based on my one experience B)
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  • Congrats, must be a nice feeling, particularly for the cost involved :)  It's great to hear, because the pickups must be pretty decent, which is very unexpected in such a cheap guitar.
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  • Now I’m feeling torn. I don’t need one but at the weekend my local shop had one reduced to £99 with a missing strap button which seemed a reasonable reduction for what looked like an easy fix.
    I'll get a round to buying a 'real' guitar one day.
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  • SNAKEBITESNAKEBITE Frets: 1075

    My ex wife bought me one years back, got rid of it when I got divorced.

    I really miss that guitar.

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  • As said a cheap good guitar is always satisfying my stepdaughter sold me her old bullet Strat and with a bit of fret polishing and a decent setup it’s hard to believe you can buy a kit guitar for so little money and as you say sounds like a Strat.

    enjoy the modern world of fantastic cheap guitars


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  • SNAKEBITE said:

    My ex wife bought me one years back, got rid of it when I got divorced.

    I really miss that guitar.

    Did she write your name on it? There are laws about giving somebody a bullet with their name on it
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • rossirossi Frets: 1699
    SNAKEBITE said:

    My ex wife bought me one years back, got rid of it when I got divorced.

    I really miss that guitar.

    Did she write your name on it? There are laws about giving somebody a bullet with their name on it

    No ,hers was a dum dum.
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  • I got a knackered old bullet for my wife......i thought it was a fair exchange
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  • TenebrousTenebrous Frets: 1332
    I got a knackered old bullet for my wife......i thought it was a fair exchange

    My partner wanted a bullet for valentines day, & was surprised when I came home with a full clip of ammo.
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  • SNAKEBITESNAKEBITE Frets: 1075
    rossi said:
    SNAKEBITE said:

    My ex wife bought me one years back, got rid of it when I got divorced.

    I really miss that guitar.

    Did she write your name on it? There are laws about giving somebody a bullet with their name on it

    No ,hers was a dum dum.


    Oi!

    I think.

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