I think the Fender American Pro II series sounds fantastic! The combination of modern and classic features, like the V-Mod II pickups and the "Super Natural" neck finish, really appeals to me.
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Show posts MenuQuote from: Hinfrance on July 14, 2013, 05:02:53 PMDon't know about the Vintage, other than what I have read (I did consider one), but I do have a recently acquired Epiphone Prophecy Les Paul Custom GX in Black Cherry (following a visit from the birthday fairy and saving up for the best part of a year). Oddly it was 20% less expensive here than in the UK (less in Euros than in £s), otherwise I would have gone for the Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Pro.
The finish on the Prophecy is beautiful for the price. There are a couple of tiny, and I mean tiny, details that are not quite right, but I had to look really hard to find them. Obviously I spent some time setting it up to the way I wanted it, but it was fine out of the box even if the strings were not quite up to it. I have changed them for 010 Ernie Balls, but I will change them again to d'Addarios because my Harley Benton LP copy has those and I prefer them.
Which brings me to a Les Paul recommendation. My Prophecy is quite wonderful in my eyes, I'm a sucker for good looks and it plays beautifully and as the adverts say it has a fast neck. But, and it is a big but, I also really like my Harley Benton 450 despite the dodgy finish in places and the bit of resoldering I had to do when I first got it. It too has Wilkinson pickups, looks a million dollars (if you don't look too closely), plays well, has a big fat sound and the longest sustain of all of the guitars I have. It has a set neck, solid mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fingerboard. All in all it bats well above its price bracket. Until I got the Prophecy it was the guitar I played most often. It's so cheap that you'll have loads left over for a decent amplifier too!
Have you looked at a Chapman from Andertons? Possibly a bit metal?
The upshot is that lower priced guitars these days are generally extremely well made and even if the QC is a bit lacking from time to time the underlying products are better than ever. So I'm sure whichever one you go for you'll be more than chuffed with it.
Quote from: Hinfrance on November 02, 2014, 01:23:07 PMI admit it: I've got a thing about cheap guitars.
I sold my HB 2005 Bass, because I didn't get on with the C shape neck. I have bought a different Harley Benton 5 string bass, of which more later. Being a tight individual I didn't want to pay carriage on the bass, so I added a little bit extra to the pot and bought a second 2 octave neck cheapo to go with my Prophesy.
THIS ONE
Talk about serendipity - it's bl**dy excellent. It plays so easily and smoothly I was frankly amazed. I've posted an initial impressions review over on the Thomann site. I'll do a review for here later, when I've worn it in, so to speak. I have seen a rumour that this model is not made in China, but rather comes from Indonesia. There are no 'made in' markings on it or the packaging, so I don't know one way or the other.
The only thing I might ever do to it is upgrade the pickups, but for my purposes the slightly gruff sounding HB ones that are supplied will do nicely for now, thank you.