The Electra Forums

I bought this guy today on a whim, thinking if nothing else maybe it had some good parts on it, but after putting a set of strings on it and playing it for awhile I'm really impressed at the options it has. The rarely bragged about X190 in Silver Stone:



My camera did not pick up this color very well, and it looks more like a metallic Olive Green color to me. The Index section says that these have a three way switch, but it has a five way blade selector switch, maybe it varied over the years. The first tone pot controls both the Neck and Middle Single coil pickups treble roll off, the 2nd tone is strictly for the Bridge pickup. It has a push/pull coil cut for the Humbucker, and a 2nd push/pull reverses the middle pickup phase for a remarkable eight different tones at your fingertips:

Neck alone
Neck and Middle
Neck and Middle out of phase
Middle alone
Middle and Bridge
Middle and Bridge out of phase
Bridge alone
Bridge as Single Coil

A possible ninth tone would be Middle and Bridge in single coil, but to my ears there is barely any difference in sound when toggled that way. Any way you slice it, this is a real versatile setup. I have always overlooked this setup, possibly because Ibanez marketed the H/S/S setup to death, and partly because I'm not a vintage vibrato fan, but now that I've played it in person I am genuinely impressed at its tonal capabilities. I paid $80 for it from a CraigsList seller, and figured it would have all kinds of problems and could be a good EF giveaway, but after a very minor setup and putting on a strap hanger, it is good to go! If you haven't tried the lowly X190, give it a shot, you may be surprised. Anyone else have any 190 stories? Cheers, Mike.

_________________
Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

How did I miss that one on CL? Was it up for long until you picked it up? Only $80.00 is quite the steal Mike.

_________________
"This is the way that pop ends, Not with a BANG but with a box set whose fourth disc you never get around to playing” - Simon Reynolds

"My guitar wants to kill your Mama" - Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention

Congrats on a super score and a great guitar. I like that color.

_________________
Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

Sweet! I certainly like my Spectrum MX which is the same pup set up, though I'll wager the Phoenix has an MMK45 at the bridge rather than the faux UBC the Westone has!

That Silverstone is a cool shade, it really is!

80 bucks; there's still bargains out there, lads!

_________________
"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

I think it got listed last Wednesday (Downriver, on the Metro Detroit board), and as you know I'm actually trying to thin my collection, but when it was still listed on Saturday I contacted the guy and we met up on Sunday. The guys son is a Bass player and just bought this to noodle on, and it looked like it sat in a basement for a decade or so. It was missing a strap hanger, the tremolo cover and it has its share of dings and dents, but the frets look basically new. I was pleasantly surprised that all the pickups and switches work and hadn't been fooled with, even the pots are quiet.

The color takes some getting used to, but there are so many Red, White, Black and Blue Phoenix examples out there, it could be considered a plus. I would never have given it a second glance if not for the price, and I did not really expect much from the Electronic layout, but I've already put two or three hours on it, yeah, it sounds that good! Just goes to show that even after you've played a bunch of these Phoenix Models, one can turn up and really surprise you.

_________________
Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

Great color - and very nice -

Congratulations.

_________________
RCSBlues

Looks good Mike. Some of those models didnt come with trem covers. It has the late model Electra/Westone push/pull knobs on it, what year was the build?

_________________
SlmGuy

You know whom to call when you're done with it, right?

Strictly speaking, it wasn't really that lowly of a guitar, right? It cost what an X189 did, I think.