The Electra Forums

Hi All,

I've never held or even seen (other than online) an x510, but I've always been really intrigued by this guitar. If you've had a chance to play one, I would really love to read any opinions you could share about it. For reference, my typical go-to's are my Taylor 514ce and x410. What are the odds I'd love an x510 in good condition?

Thanks!
Peter

It appears this one is available - (wow!) -

https://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-electra-guitar-/222702208431

Let us know if you get it -

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RCSBlues

Thanks! Yes, I've been looking at that one for a little while now. But that's a lot of cash to drop into a guitar that I don't really know very much about (particularly when I'm trying to downsize).

I'd really love to hear about personal experiences with the x510.

Hey x940,
The x510 is a fully hollow and thick guitar. It has an unusual control layout for the single pickup, one is volume and one is tone, the third is kind of a blender. I know that's weird because it only has one pickup, but if you turn the control one way it sounds more acoustic-y or clean and going the other way gives some grit to the tone. The neck is very Gretsch like, much like the Nashville type. The body is a very thick laminate that helps reduce the feedback but you can still get it with a fully hollow body. The bridge is fully floating so you have to make sure it's positioned correctly for the intonation to be in. Since the bridge is compensated, you only have to get the hi/lo E strings in and the rest are what they are with that bridge. It's a Jazz guitar (Howard Roberts) so it doesn't sustain forever but still rings and sings, you might need to use slightly heavier strings. I can't remember what I have on it now, maybe 12's and I can't remember if that set has a wound G-string with that set. It has a funky adjustable tailpiece that supposedly allows you to adjust the string tension. Gibson has a guide on how to adjust, but do it only off the guitar and not under string tension as you risk cracking the top. There's a real nice burgundy one for sale on one of the usual websites.
Have fun if you get one, I really like mine.