The Electra Forums

In 1978 I started playing in a garage band with my friend Casey (on drums) and his older brother Charlie (on guitar). At first I played the keyboard but soon moved to the Bass ( an Ibanez copy of a fender jazz circa 1978). One day Charlie had a catalog from Electra with their MPC plug ins. We thought it was the greatest idea ever (and still do). Charlie saved his money and bought an x350. He kept it in mint condition and I probably only got to play it once when he wasn't looking.

In high school, my folks divorced and I moved away and never saw Charlie again. Casey and I have stayed good friends from a distance getting together ever 5 years or so.

Over the years I have had my own kids and told them lots of stories and taught them to play the guitar. My son is now 18 and remembers the story of the Electra MPC that Charlie had.

I was surprised to find out a few years ago that Charlie was sick and later died with Cancer at 38. He taught me lots of thing and I have lots of fond memories of those years.

Recently my son and I got to talking about it and I decided to look around on the internet and see if I could find an x350 like Charlie's. I thought what a great surprise it would be for his brother Casey. In fact, I might even get one and send it to him because surely he remembers it as well as I do. What a cool blast from the past.

(tune in for more next time)

Good luck with your quest!!

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

(continuing on as I see there is some interest in this story)

So I started searching the internet with little knowledge about the status of Electra MPC guitars in 2009. First stop eB#y, second stop John Thornburg's River City Amps and on to the Electra page.

On eBay I found a 1981 x350 MPC in fair shape for $400 with only one module, the overdrive. I was a bit concerned about buying a used guitar without being able to play it first and so I drug my feet past the deadline and then just figured it wasn't meant to be. Next day it was re-posted for $375. I began to ask questions of the buyer (by email) about how it plays and all I got was "like an Electra". Since I think I only played Charlie's Electra once in 1978 or so, it was hard to know what exactly that meant. I asked what he knew about it and where it came from. He said that he had only had it for a short while and hadn't asked any of those questions when he bought it.

I finally found the money and tried to make the purchase. Turns out my eb#y account hasn't been used in about 4 years and similarly for my payp#l. While trying to activate my old account I was also trying to update my new email and physical address. What a mess that turned out to be. The buyer got suspicious about why he was getting emails from two different addresses. "Something's fishy" he emailed back. He thought perhaps the guitar had been sold twice, to two different people. More likely in this day and age, this was a scam.

As if that wasn't enough to complicate matters, my lap top started acting up and I was trying to use eb#y on my blackberry. Eventually we got things worked out and I moved on to the electra information highway via http://www.RiverCityAmps.com

First stop, John Thornburg to "enhance" my MPC overdrive module and perhaps find me another module or part with one of his. I tracked him down with Google and a phone call and found him to be a great guy and very helpful. He agreed to upgrade my overdrive and sell me a phaser. For the record, he is not willing to part with anymore of his modules so don't harass him just because I was in the right place at the right time. While corresponding with Guru Thornburg he told me that he had an x330 and an x340. The x330 was his pride but he was thinking of selling the x340 to thin the herd in tough economic times.

Now my real dilemma. I had one Electra x350 on the way that I hadn't even seen or played yet but I had the opportunity to buy an x340 that had been completely gone through by a recognized Electra expert. Where would I find the money and what would I tell the wife?

(to be continued)

ooh; this is getting exciting...

.... bear in mind, lonestar, we've ALL been there!!

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Buy them both. In the long run you'll be glad you did

_________________
Free Your Mind and Your A$$ Will Follow......

Its good to see how many views we have on this story that we all have lived.

A common bond.

So to wrap this up. I emailed my old buddy Casey and told him that I had found Charlie's cool guitar from 1978 with the plug in modules. After all this build up, Casey's answer:

"I don't remember that. I don't remember Charlie ever having one of those guitars."

AAAaaarrrggghhhh. Can it be? I guess we are all getting old.

I kept trying to jog his memory, but nope; nothing. Finally I sent him the link to the online catalog that I can remember looking through time after time. Ah ha. Yes. Yes.

Casey at least remembered the catalog.

Well my son and I are enjoying the dive into the Electra world and yes....

I bought both.

The x340 can be seen here:
[url]
http://www.wowway.com/~jdthornburg/x340-1.jpg [/url][url]
http://www.wowway.com/~jdthornburg/x340-2.jpg [/url][url]
http://www.wowway.com/~jdthornburg/x340-3.jpg [/url]

And has:
- orig MMK Japan pickups (potted) - Great sounding! Bridge PU is hotter than
a PAF, neck PU is PAF-like - very well balanced
- Phaser and modified Overdrive modules ARE INCLUDED - everything works
- FX are all TRUE BYPASS, in fact the guitar works fine if the battery goes
dead (just turn the FX off)
- battery auto disconnects when the guitar is unplugged to keep from running
down (just like a lot of floor pedals)
- includes orig Hard Shell Case - the blue interior form fitting kind, not
the brown or black rectangular one
- this one has been totally gone through and is in excellent working
condition. No question here. The frets and fingerboard are in great shape,
it plays extremely well, has been intonated, and is in terrific cosmetic
condition.
- this one has all new gold hardware except for the neck pickup cover
(wikinson grover-style keys that fit the original holes, gotoh style bridge
and tailpiece).
- the nut is not brass like most I have seen. ? could it be original.

_________________
Free Your Mind and Your A$$ Will Follow......

Nice guitar! - from another X340 fan:

Here's mine:





RCSBlues

_________________
RCSBlues

Hmm, I am sure I would be an X340 lover if I had one

Agreed.
RSCBlues, I love the TP6 fine tuner on yours.
If I find one that fits my workingman I'll probably go for it.

_________________
Addicted to Matsumoku.

I have had that on there for several years;

Also installed one on my X330:

Both stay in tune.



RCSBlues

_________________
RCSBlues

Lonestar -

I was noticing some subtle differences in each of our X340's:

Yours must be an early model with a bone / plastic nut and no brass saddle / ingot that the bridge is bolted to?

Mine must be a later model (1977), as it has a brass nut and the bridge brass saddle / ingot as referenced in the Electra manual on the Outlaw model pages.

RCSBlues

_________________
RCSBlues

The X-340 has an absolutely beautiful top grain.

_________________
Addicted to Matsumoku.