The Electra Forums

A friend wanted me to buy his Les Paul and being a friend I said, "Well, let me see how it plays." When I returned it with a, "Nice but, no thanks!", It was like, "Why not?" I smiled and said, "Because my Electra plays easier and will make any guitar sound you want." "I know it's electric, but what kind is it?", he replied. So, I took my Vulcan to work and after he played it for about 15 minutes he was at a loss for words Then he said," I've never heard of that brand, man no wonder you don't want my Les Paul this is nice! Do you want to sell it Needless to say I was having a hard time keeping a straight face. What a testament for a 29 year old ' I've never heard of that brand.' guitar I just thought some of you would appreciate that story as much as I did having it happen to me. Happy New Year to all and I am sure 08 will be wonderful. May love, joy and peace be in your future

_________________
I bought the X930 Vulcan guitar serial # 11404, C200 guitar case and 6 modules on October 3, 1978. In Houston for $785.00+$39.25 tax.

Great story! I've had similar things happen with my Electra Phoenix compared to strats and such. But then again, that's what these guitars were meant to do, designed to do. They weren't simply even competitors with the big names, not were they cheap imitations.

I remember because the same thing attracted me when I was buying a new guitar about the same time. There weren't a lot of Fenders and Gibsons around for sale, and they were expensive- remember that rising costs had nearly pushed the american makers underwater, and they hadn't embraced yet teh concept of multiple price lines. Nowadays if you want a Les Paul you've got quite a range of options from a humble Korean Epiphone to a whole range of Gibsons, and with Fender you have even more price range options.

In those days there were basically the 100$ guitars, which were unplayable, then there were the entry level guitars at $400, medium ones at $800 and premium ones around $1200. And that was it. Each brand was pretty much in one price range.

So when I bought my Electra, comparison showed me that this $400 Electra played as well as the $800 guitars. Add to that the very versatile wiring that none of the others had (mostly) and it was a one-two punch that closed the sale for me, just as I bet it did for you.

But it makes sense given that SLM was in Saint Louis, not New York or LA. On the glamorous coasts people were (back then) way more swayed by what Clapton or Hendrix played. Star association and image counted more than it did in the midwest, where all the stars seemed very far away and a players own ears and eyes counted more. In that market, Electra was a very fine deal indeed- and still is.

Hey, nothing would add to your story like a snapshot of the Vulcan in question- got one? PM me if you need help posting images.

Nice story What got me was the fact that they had a strat body and scale with les paul setup. I was a Paul player but a really like the body of the strat. The way it hugs your middle and the arm scarf and all that.

But I didn't like the strat sigle coils sound for it's main sound. I like having the ability to go HB or single now. But if I had to choose between one or the other I'd go for a LP cos it had HBs.

So when I saw the Phoenix sitting there I knew I just had to have it.

I gigged it for about 5 years as mt main ax. Now that I've re discovered it again I'm lovin it like it was brand new