The Electra Forums

Arrived yesterday.








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Honest review...

Fit and Finish:
Overall impression is a great build. Design is faithful to the originals. No flaws in the finish. There's nice flame going on which is fantastic and an interesting grain pattern. Burst is well done, though the color is a brighter yellow than online photos depicted (I'd rather have it amber than yellowish). This is my only complaint about its appearance, I really loved the amber color online, so as you can imagine the yellow is disappointing. Electra's Gene is great, he sent me photos to pick from before shipping. They all looked yellow in the pics, but I thought it was just the lighting playing tricks (but it wasn't). Anyhow, the fret ends feel just fine, no sharp edges. The set up was done well, slightly out of intonation but very close. Pickups height was well set. Action is low. Now is it built as well as the old MIJ's? No, because there was just a level of quality that the old MIJ's had which I can't put my finger on it but you know what I mean. However for a modern guitar, it's very, very nice. This Korean plant does an outstanding job.

Feel:
This is subjective, I know. Neck is very comfy, not thick and not thin. A modern C shape as far as I can tell. And it's not too narrow, it feels wider than my '80 Phoenix neck. Frets are jumbo, making it very easy to play and bend those notes. This is very nice! Upper frets are easy to reach. Layout is easy. Hardware feels good and heavy, although the trem bar is loose in the hole.

Sound:
Now this came as a surprise. I was expecting a more typical Strat sound, which didn't happen. The pups are strong, clear, and a little compressed. So on a clean channel, this can come across as a little more nasal than a typical stratty single coil. It doesn't sound bad by any means, just different than I expected. Where these pups really shine is on an overdriven channel. Throw on some dirt and you're off to the races, these pups like a dirty channel. They're clear and cut right through, sounding thick even though they're single coils. I bought this for use in my blues rock band, but I can easily use this in my hard rock band as well. I've never heard true single coils that sound this good on a dirty channel. Overall I do like it, but I don't absolutely love the sound. I think it would benefit with more blues friendly pickups.

The Tone Blend knob is GREAT. Excellent idea. From the Electra site... "Available on the new Phoenix S Series, the Electra Analog Tone Blend Control (lower middle knob) lets players mix in either the neck or bridge pickup without affecting the traditional 5-way pickup selector switch. Combined with MagnaFlux SC pick-ups, this gives players the ability to dial in additional unique tones using the neck and bridge, or all three pickups, all from a standard 3 single coil pickup setup." Yes sir, this works very well.

The backwards slanting bridge pickup is great. It doesn't ice pick your ear! Great job, Electra! I was curious about how this would sound, it works a treat.

Misc.
It came packaged well, see my video below. The gig bag is fantastic. It's a backpack with lots of padding and cool compartments. It came with literature, I'll include those photos. Also came with allen wrenches.

New vs. Old:


New Brochure:













Check out my unboxing video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr6bd_ycxMI&feature=youtu.be

And finally, check out all the photos: http://s1199.photobucket.com/user/Chadastator/library/Electra%20Phoenix%20S%20Tri-Burst

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"GREAT Googiley moogilie Jack...jumpin jehosephat, hot dang and all".
- jdwhealton

Looks awsome Chad. Thanks for the pics and the review. Enjoy it!

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"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

A very fine instrument and as always a superb packing and shipping job from Electra. This one looks great and will be awaiting to hear this one. My egas is now in full burn mode....... what a challenge...... but at least I can attempt to grab one of each new models and color as they come available and not have to spend so much time searching lol. Thanks for the view and Congrats on a good one.

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