The Electra Forums

I have a X150 I bought it from brother about 15 years ago for $100. Did not know anything about Electra. All I knew was that it sounded cool and played great. I knew nothing of the history and just figured it was some off the wall brand (until I found this site that is) It is in perfect condition, only a few scratches on the back metal plate. I have not changed a thing on it. Wonder if there is anyone that can give me any information Value, did anyone big play it? History, anything at all would be great… Thanks, again great site.

Welcome!

The X150 Electra Phoenix was the top of the line model of the new Phoenix line when they came out in ealry 81. The 'lawsuit era' was officially over, Electra had dropped almost all their copy-based models in favor of new, original body styles designed by Tom Presley, with wiring schemes that had custom features like coil tap, phase, etc that were normally only on custom-wired guitars (remember, Fender strats only moved from 3-way to 5-way switches in 83 or so).

The Phoenix was a new body style, double cutaway with angled body indentations like a strat but with different, pointy top bouts very well suited to the body. The regular Phoenix models, X130 and X140, had ash bodies with black plastic pickguards, but the X149 and X150 had a laminated body with altenating stripes of ash, maple, and walnut (in a pattern actually shared by a number of matsumoku guitars including some Aria Pro, Westone, Skylark, etc). The neck is canadian rock maple with a maple fingerboard.

The X150 was the first Electra to carry an onboard preamp for active EQ- the X149 was the same only without the preamp. (you can tell teh difference because on the X150 one of the back covers, the small one, is for a 9v battery. It also has a brass nut for extra sustain and tone.

These are superb guitars, comparable with any of the best guitars of the era. Today they are relatively undiscovered, so the Phoenixes are some of the best deals around- great for players but not so great for sellers. The cheapest of them can be had for $100-150, the nicer models like the natural wood X130 and X140 usually are 200-300$, and the better models like the X149 and X150 appear for 200$-$400. These are ebay prices I see, take them with a huge grain of salt, sometimes prices are erratically higher or lower, so consider those ballpark.

Electra had a few notable endorsers, but noe you'd be proud of today- I'm not aware of any endorsers or players who specifically played an X150.

I love my X150 too, it's one of the best Phoenixes I have. THe brass nut is really fantastic for a bright jazzy tone.

Got pictures of yours you'd be willing to share?


There was also a bass version with the same body stripes and preamp.

Thanks for the info. Your right it is great for Jass. I am a big blues guy and I have found that with the pre-amp on it sounds good on a great many blues tunes as well. I'll see what I can do about a picture. All my camera's are old or no longer working. Maybe I can get my wife to bring one home from work... Thanks again.

Here is a picture

[url]http:/www.msnusers.com/electrax150[/url]

Looks great! Super clean, too.

Thanks, like I said it is in pretty good shape. Have one (small) dent in the front. Have to look for it to find it and the brass plates on the back have belt scratches. Having a problem with the volume knob. Starting to make that scratchy sound when you turn it. I have tried pot cleaner, it helped a little, but still have some issues, any ideas, hate to replace it.

In reading another e-mail I have also giged with mine. Opened for Slash's Snake Pit when he played in San Antonio and used it on several of our songs. Oh course that was 10 years ago (or more)

I posted the back of my Guitar on the same site. Wonder if you can tell me when it was made. Also have Ginger my Calf. Strat (My baby) and the flyer for my most recent band (coffee house stuff)

THe serial number will tell you the build date- first digit is last digit of year, second and 3rd digits are month, remaining 3 or 4 are sequential for that month. so 306123 would mean 6/83.

I agree on not wanting to replace pots. cleaner will help but temporarily- when it gets bad, I'd go ahead and replace it- parts are available through the usual sources (stewmac and guitarelectronics are two of my faves)

Great to hear of these guitars in actual use. The MMK45 pickups they carry are truly superb.