Torch Vintage Series Stratocaster Copy Reviews 2

I'm left handed. So beggar's can't be choosers, you take what you can get. I found this torch Strat copy in hock shop for a $100 Australian - it was black as are nearly all left handed electric guitars.

Okay so this is a real el cheapo with a plywood body, but it has many saving graces. A maple neck (not treated pine as some claim) 22 frets and good pickups, they're Fender so they should be. Pumping it through a Marshall amp this baby has a sweet tone and good grounding with little or no hum or feedback. Whack it into overdrive and it copes well with a great solid grunt. I have lined the pickup and electronic bays with copper tape, but it was fine anyway. Great tonal range - warm bottoms and crisp tops with good sustain.

The only thing I don't like is the Plywood body - it just would have been so much better with a solid wood. Only so i could have sanded it back to natural and oiled it.

The overall construction of the guitar is good. Not really any different from a real Fender Strat. The guitars sits well and is evenly balanced. The maple neck is fast and the frets are the good old hard ones, not the soft ones used on so many guitars today. I would recommend changing the tuning heads to something heavier - that'll improve the sustain as well.

Like any guitar, even the most expensive, they are all crap unless you set them up correctly for your style of playing. Take the time to set one up properly - even a cheapy like this and you've got a great guitar. It's very easy to get sucked in by a brand name, but a lot of the big names are turning out crap these days, especially fender. I have a friend with a $2,000 fender strat and even he can't tell the difference in sound between my Torch $100 copy and his real one. So go figure. It's not what you got, but how you use it.

JSC rated this unit 2 on 2004-07-06.

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