Encore KC3 Reviews 3

I have been playing guitar for just over a year now, and I would say that I was very good for the time I have played it for. I play every day for god knows how long and play every style from Jazz to blues to metal. I am in a band (we play Zepellin covers, mostly 70's rock etc.) and I like most music, but am in love with guitar.

I bought it over eBay for about £120 - it came with a BB Blaster Amp and some other stuff.

It was my first guitar, so I am naturally qutie attached to it. I learned to play on it, and due to its INSANE lack of quality, I became fairly good fairly fast, as it is a hard gutiar to play. Umm, can't think of anything else I like, but it does look nice :) blue finish and all. It is durable. If you use the middle-bridge setting and turn one tone pot all the way up the other all the way down, it sounds like is being played through a wah pedal, sorta, which s quite a cool sound.

Everything. The neck is terrible, tuning is terrible, body is too light and the pots do nothing. *deep breath* The strap buttons are terrible, body is cheap and it is horrible to play. The pickups hum like nothing else on earth, the sound quality is muddy and unspeakably bad, and it distorts poorly. Clean, it sounds cold and dead. It sustains notes for less than a second. Sweep picking, any advanced technique etc, is impossible to learn on this monstrosity.

Everything is lowest possible quality.

This is one of the worst guitars I have ever played, BUT I now have a schechter C-1 Elite and thanks to this "guitar", when I play the C-1 it feels like playing air - if you learn on the Encore KC3, any other guitar will seem very, very easy, and it builds up your technique quickly as it is hard as hell to play. Even so, it is very discouraging and not a fun guitar to play. Do not under any circumstances gig with this guitar. I have, and the result was not pretty.

Scottishguitarguyfromscotland rated this unit 1 on 2006-10-29.

I got this guitar off the internet at gear4music.com i think. I paid about £130. I bought it cos i'd been playing an acoustic for 9 months and simply wanted an electric. Advertised as the favourite begginers guitar I thought there must be something in that, but it appears it's the price people like. It came with an amp and purchasing something like a Pacifica and seperate amp was out of the question.

Its my first electric guitar, so i like it. Its sturdy too. Cheap. Actually somehting i do like is that if you put it on either the bridge or neck pick up and turn the gain all the way up you can create a wall of sound, which if you into heavy metal can sound pretty cool. This is due the the fact that the pick ups are crap and generate loads of noise. Above the twelve fret you get a nice ringing sound.

Head to Toe: The Tuners suck.One turn and you 6th string is in too high and 100 turns and the 1st and 2nd string are still like rubber bands. WHere the head stock meets the neck its a such an angle that it pulls the strings up away from the tuning pegs. Then nut is cheap plastic. The fret board is too hard. The frets are un-even and after one year i have worn grooves in to them. The pick ups are rubbish, simply. They screech and its not nice to play around the 9-12 fret. The trem is shocking. It takes the guitar straight out of tune. I took the arm out and threw it away. cos its floating dont put anything heavyer than 10's on it otherwise it will some out of the body. The tone pots make no difference unlees they are all the way up or all the way down. The amp it came with sounded like a grammerphone. If you dont use fender bullets the strings get stuck in the trem makeing changing strings a nightmare. the sustain is practically non existent and dont even get me started on fret buzz.

Its sturdy. You'd have trouble smashing it. quality? If it were a gas boiler you'd phone watchdog.

Over all, despite the above. Its playable but sounds better unplugged and whats the point in that. Its only suitable for parents to buy for a kid who's gonna give it up after a week and the price should reflect that, i would say about sixty quid. Seriously if your buying your first electric. Save about £200 and get a Yamaha, Aria, Cort or Vintage guitar, and a peavy or kustom amp. They take the biscuit in entry guitars. I cant wait to get my maverick x-1!

Prince Karpinski rated this unit 2 on 2004-12-21.

This was my first guitar. I bought it off the internet for £115, it came with a 10/15 watt practice amp and lots of other things eg strap, pics I got this guitar mainly because i was on a tight budget.

Nothing really stood out, it just didnt have anything wrong with it.

Alls well, nothing wrong with it. Maybe a little fret buzz and the jack socket comes loss after use but apart from that it is fine.

It is good made guitar. The only things what look cheapy is the jack socket, also some screws come loose after use.

All in all this guitar is alright, but as the make is encore you'd be better off saving up a bit more money and getting Squire or something, but it is a good first guitar.

Sam Bradley rated this unit 4 on 2003-12-17.

I bought this guitar outfit out of Index for £145. I wanted to learn how to play guitar, and two of my friends had guitars. I was going to learn bass but declined because it was too expensive, so I bought this while I waited.

It is very good value for a beginner's guitar outfit. The neck on mine was very smooth and the BB10 amp is nice, loud and clear. The gig bag, the strap and plectrum are good quality too, and it also comes with a pitch pipe and spare strings!!! It is like a cheaper version of the Fender Stratocaster! The tuition video helps quite a bit as well since I am only a beginner.

The thick E-String occasionally buzzes, but this can't be avoided on quality expensive guitars either, so it's no big deal.

It is very solidly constructed, and it has hit my wall several times, and although the wall was dented slightly, the guitar didn't receive a scratch! It also plays really well for a cheap guitar, and dishes out a subliminal performance.

This is very good for anybody who wants to learn how to play a guitar, and on a tight budget as well. The accessories it comes with are top notch, and the guitar is amazing quality! On the downside it feels a bit cheap compared to Fender or Ibanez, but Encore is always good for a beginner or intermediate. Not bad for £145!

MS rated this unit 4 on 2003-04-19.

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