Austin AU731 Reviews 5

Made in Indonesia. When I contacted St. Louis Music. Com ,I asked about the type of wood used. They told me it was "Chinese Elm" wood. Is this important? Sure, for tonal purposes. But it was a Xmas gift 2 years ago, so... It is a Sunburst Strat style, 3 singles, 1 vol. and 2 tones....yada. White single ply pickguard. Maple neck/rosewood fretboard. Good tuners(!), grover imitations. Standard bridge (Tremelo)with decent saddles. This guitar is ok overall, actually. Stays in tune pretty well. Go to your favorite search engine, and look up "Chinese Elm". The body is durable, and tonally is ok. It doesn't really resonate well like American/Canadian woods used for instruments. But it's not bad, either. I modded mine; I ordered from "MusicYo.Com" a pickup package. Quad Rail pups, 2 singles/1 hum complete. All one has to do is install, do some soldering, and voila!! So I ordered it, got it, installed it, and it works well for me. Like the tone I get now. So, I'll keep it.

I still have the original pups/pickguard. I'll use or sell it. Now, I like the set up I have. So, yes, it works well.

Having to explain to PPL about this guitar. Some think it's from Texas...

Not bad, really. S/B finish; decent gloss coat. Frets are fine; not jagged or uneven. Neck stays straight. No intonation problems. Plays/sounds fine for a guitar around $100-$150 or so. Headstock is fine. String Trees (2) keep 'em straight. Nothing to complain about.

Hmm..get one. They make copy guitars nowadays very well. I'd recommend this company or Johnson for strat copies to buy. Get one and try it out. I got mine unexpectedly as a Gift; messed with it and it turned out to be a keeper after all. Recommend it for a cheapie.

Jiver rated this unit 5 on 2003-11-16.

Write a user review

© Gear Review Network / MusicGearReview.com - 2000