|
|
Stellar Mercury 003 Reviews  5 / 5 based on 5 reviewsAfter alot of research and web searching, including Musicgearreview.com I purchased this guitar as I'm just starting to learn how to play. I bought the guitar from E-bay from a seller named imastellarseller, as they stated that if not satisfied could return within thirty days, so I decided to go for it and have had no regrets. The main reason was the price and the return policy. Price paid was $234.00 with a hardshell case and shipping.
The guitar has a beautiful finish on it, mine is the cherry sunburst, the pickups seem to be ok, and the strings are allright. I definitely liked the set neck compared to a bolt on. So far all I have done is tune it and raise the front pickup a little bit and it sounds great. The hardshell case is also a bonus. It arrived in a timely manner and in great condition.
So far I can't really say anything to awfully bad about the guitar as I've only had it about two and a half months and stated before I'm just learning how to play. Really what do you expect for $200.00 plus shipping
The guitar seems to be pretty well made for the money as it has a maple body and a rosewood neck. The inlays look real nice on the neck also. The knobs, pickups, and the bridge seem to be well made. Not real sure about the floating wood block on the bridge, it seems ok though. The finish looks really great on the front and the back. I would have to say for the quality this guitar could cost alot more than I paid for it.
Not a bad guitar for the price and it seems to make a good starter guitar for any beginning guitarist, I would have to reccomend this to anyone. I would also like to thank musicgearreview,com for being there with help in finding info on the various guitars I researched in my quest to purchase a starter guitar Doug L. rated this unit on 2005-05-15. I got this one on Ebay for $199 plus shipping. It includes a hardshell case which fits a bit too tight, as well as a few other insignificant items.
Ok, I'm going to be completely objective here. They took great care with the finish, it's spectacular. Most folks don't like hollowbodies because they tend to feedback. Just buy 3 pairs of black cotton socks and stuff them equally in each F-hole. That oughta do it. The pickups are hotter than the Gibson 490 pickups. Personally I think they sound just a tad like Pearly Gates. Maybe it's because of the small hollow body. Overall It sounds very woody, a guitar that's best for slide in my opinion.
The neck is very straight, but the headpiece is glued on kinda like some of the Epiphones. Don't drop it! Intonation is better than I expected. The frets are smaller than on my SG which suits me well.
The tuners are ok.
Weight balance is a small issue, but my wide soft leather strap seems to relieve that problem. It's good thing they made the sides so thick, or balance would be a much bigger issue. So far the switch is ok.
They need to fire whoever installed the inlays. They look cheap and some are not level.
The input needs to be replaced. I'll never know why these knockoffs can never get this right, but the remedy is easy.
Overall, I'd give this a 4.5
For a knockoff, I give it a 5, for the money, priceless.
Backwoodsjohnny rated this unit on 2005-01-20. I found this guitar on ebay for only $250 with a hard shell case. I was reluctant to purchase the guitar until I talked with the seller. (user id: imastellarseller) He told me to buy the guitar and if I don't love the guitar to send it back and he would send me a refund. So I took him up on that offer and all I have to say is WOW!................. if you didn't figure it out already, I never sent it back :)
The finish, the tone, the sustain, the set neck, the F holes, the overall look, the playability, the hard shell case, the thin body, the weight, the action, the adjustable bridge and I know there is more I just cant think of it now.
The strings are not my style. Too bright sounding.
This guitar easily matches up with Gibsons sound and playability once it is set up right. The set neck is thin and fast. The tuners hold tune really well. The finish is like a mirror (I bought it in black). This guitar is going to make Stellar famous! I would pay $700 for this guitar in a second.
BUY THIS GUITAR! You will be so happy you did. There is one problem that is caused from buying this guitar. It makes you want to buy more Stellar's. Trust me, it happened to me. I just bought a Mercury 002 in white. You can check it out at www.StellarGuitars.com Julian rated this unit on 2004-09-14. I picked up this beauty at a local music store here in Texas for $260. I felt like I stole it for that price. I bought it because I have always wanted to own a nice thin hollowbody to add to my collection of guitars, 8 so far :)
Wow, where do I start....
Price:
Like I said above I only got it for $260.
Overall Sound:
Nice deep warm sound. No guitar in this price range even touches the sound quality of this bad boy.
Overall Design:
Nice glossy clearcoat finish. I got mine in a burnt orange fade finish. The tailpiece accents the guitar quite nicely
Action:
Just as low and smooth as any $1000+ Gibson, PRS,.....
Hmm..... Honestly can't think of anything.
It is a solid maple arch top. It has a set neck which I also believe is maple. The tuners keep tune very well. Nice wood grain finish on the back of the body and neck. Suprising good quality pickups (I heard that Stellar makes their own pickups.)
I'm sold with Stellar. There is no doubt in my mind that this will be the last Stellar I own (I got my eye on their jazz box.) This is a great quality guitar that is sold at a great price. I have a feeling we will be hearing a lot from Stellar in a few years. William rated this unit on 2004-07-26. I purchased this guitar off of ebay from imastellarseller, who, as far as I can tell, is the only person in the world selling these guitars. I bought it because I love the way it looks, it was inexpensive, and I'd heard plenty of good things about stellar guitars. I wanted a fun second guitar to my gibson sg. I paid $160 for the guitar, $30 for shipping, and $5 for new strings (which were necessary).
It looks incredible. when people see this guitar, they just assume Im an amazing guitarist, and I like that... not so much the disappointment that follows when I fail to bust out something impressive sounding, but thats my fault entirely. It sounds really good. I dont have anything to compare it to, but in my opinion it sounds really good. not as clean as my gibson sg, but I paid a lot more for that. the neck is a lot easier to slide my hand up and down than my gibson sg as well, which is great. the strings the guitar came with sounded like crap, and one was broken, but I had planned on buying new strings anyhow, so it was no big deal.
the bridge sits on a wooden piece, which looked black in the photo, but is in reality very much brown and wooden colored. it seems rather cheap. this peice, and Im not sure if its supposed to be this way or not, but this peice isnt attached to the guitar at all, just the strings hold it in place. this means when you change strings its rather easy to move it around accidentally. I suppose Ill memorize where it goes though. The inlays are cheap looking, but only close up, otherwise its hard to tell. Id replace them if I could though. the knobs seem kind of cheap too, but thats of no consequence. the biggest issue I have with this guitar, and maybe its something Im doing, but it doesnt stay in tune. Ive had to retune it every time I sat down with it, and if I cared about perfect tuning, Id probably have to retune in the middle of playing it. otherwise it's super. also, for a few days after I first got the guitar, there was this annoying smell to it, but it has since faded.
aside from the non attached bridge, it seems really well put together and solid. I would say the construction was excellent. The quality of sound you get out of it is great as well. this is the fifth guitar Ive owned, and I would say it sounds just about as good as my gibson sg. of course, the gibson is a solid body, and the mercury 003 is a semi-hollow body, so theres a difference in how they should sound. this is the first semi-hollow body Ive owned, so its hard to compare it really, but I think it sounds good enough to record with.
I dont regret buying this guitar at all. Its my secondary guitar, but if it were my primary, I dont think Id regret it then either. It looks brilliant. It sounds as good or better than any other guitar Ive played. Its got a few little flaws, but for less than $200, they're really not that noticable or important. Garrett rated this unit on 2004-04-15.
|
