The Electra Forums

hey all,

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ELECTRA-Electric ... 638Q2em122

i've been looking for an electra (or profile) strat to join the collection for a while.
has anyone had much experience with the electra strat line?

the edges of the fretboard have me a little concerned and the headstock shape and logo are not familiar to me.
is it authentic? what date would this logo place the guitar at?

The thorn headstock definitely marks it as a PCM Electra. Not 100% sure but this vintage (80's) appears to be early Korean, and possibly rough. (do a search on PCM to read our recent discussion of them)

Never say never, I have at least one PCM instrument that's pretty good (a tele). I have a strat like this, body only. I'd personally be cautious, but you never know.

The logo is weird and interesting, Mcbrat found the same logo on a P-bass copy of the same period. (wait, that bass wound up at my place). I do know that instrument, definitely Kasuga- comparable other brands include Cort and Hondo.

So.. recommended? For the collector, absolutely! These are pretty rare and interesting. I would however be prepared, it could be a good playign instrument or not. The finish work looks pretty good, it looks nice in any case. Most likely (as rare as these are) you could probably sell it and break even if you didn't like it. (am i biased? sure- buy it and take pictures of it for us, let us know how it is

thanks for the feedback. think i'll stay away from this one. shipping to australia makes it a pricey gamble for something that might play like hell.
i wouldn't describe myself as a collector but there seems to be a few extra around these days. i own a couple of workingmen (ok, three) and some other mat's and some others and they all get played. nice to come across this site and find out more about these great guitars.

My advice would be to watch ebay for an Electra Phoenix (or Westone Spectrum, same thing) for under $200. Red X185s and X189s show up all the time, sometimes for absurdly low prices- $40 BIN is my lowest so far. And they have the premium H-S-H configuration. Then $80 for shipping to Oz won't be so bad. And you'd have IMHO the top of the heap as far as Matt guitars, certainly in a strat-like body shape.

Nice to see another Antipodean in here!! Yeah, just watch the 'bay and hope for the best, although NZ's Trade Me also sometimes comes to the party...

I can only echo X189's comment about the premium feel of the Phoenix/Spectrum range - even the bare bones ST is a lot of guitar and very comfortable on the strap!!

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

yeah they do seem to pop up a bit.
i'll get shot for saying this probably but the shape of the phoenix/spectrum doesn't really appeal to me even though they get great reviews for playability and sound. and i probably have enough humbucker-equipped guitars.
anyway, like the addict i've become i'm sure i'll buy one eventually, just to find out for myself (and then i'll come crawling back here with my rave reviews eh?)
cheers again for your replies.

this is exactly the sort of thing i've been looking for:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Vintage-ELECTRA- ... dZViewItem

a bit banged up but pretty nice.
how much of an issue does that fretboard pic look like to you guys?
cheers.

There you go! That's a good one! I wouldn't worry about the fretboard details at all. there's clearly some finish wear around a few frets, but it shouldnt affect playability at all and won't be noticeable much in person. That stuff always gets chalked up to 'relic charm' anyhow.

Gee, that's pretty, Jim - are you gonna have a lash? I would keep an eye on shipping, though as the Westone Spectrum GT I have coming from England cost less than the postage!!

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

yeah i did it. should turn up next week! a bit beaten up but i was feeling rich last week and it might be a candidate for me to try and refinish if it's really rough.

postage from the uk has been ridiculous in all my enquiries. good luck with yours - i hope it's a player!

there's a fair bit of variance in the us shipping prices as well. i know australia has some strict size limits but i also think people just tell you something crazy to save themselves the hassle of shipping o/s as well.