Guitar Review Ninja

Tite-Fit round-wound nickel-plated electric guitar strings are designed to be a great all-around string. They are available in a wide range of gauges. Based upon a round core, the construction techniques for the Tite-Fit electrics are very old. However, the core wire and wrap wire in DR’s are the latest, most advanced and expensive metals available. For flexibility, for tone, for long life; for rock, blues, heavy metal, jazz. Tite-Fits are an incredible all-around string and their most popular electric guitar set.

Light gauge: 9, 11, 16, 24, 32, 42

DR Strings LT9 Tite-Fit Electric Guitar Strings Features…

Gauges 9-11-16-24-32-42

Roundwound nickel-plated strings

Round core

Buy DR Strings LT9 Tite-Fit Electric Guitar Strings

Whether you know it or not, chances are you’ve tried these strings and liked them time after time. That’s because they’re installed on all U.S. and Mexican non-tremolo guitars as original equipment. Super 250s are nickel-plated steel, capable of providing your guitar with a wide variety of tones. Keep your sound “Factory Fresh” with Super 250s!

Fender Super 250s Electric Guitar Strings Features…

Light: .009, .011, .016, .024w, .032w, .042w

Regular: .010, .013, .017, .026w, .036w, .046w

Buy Fender Super 250s Electric Guitar Strings

Easy Playability With GREAT Tone

These strings are the greatest I have ever played on. I used to use Ernie Ball Super Slinky but I only use the fender strings now. I would definitely recommend you buy these. They are not expensive and they feel really smooth and soft and the are the best sounding strings ever.

somedude from someplace (Aug 21, 2007)

"friggin awsome"

its fender you cant resist fender. its the company behind the legendary strat

i said it once ill say it again they are the best investment iv made in my guitar yet

i have thrashed on them and they are the best investment i have made in my guitar

i dont know. these strings are so good you dont need support

a customer from yahoo.com (10/9/2007)

Epiphone has built a real Les Paul with a stunning flame Maple top. The depth and complexity of flame Maple is unlike anything else.

Epiphone Les Paul Custom Flame Top Features…

Pickups: 2 Humbuckers

Hardware: Gold

Scale: 24.75 in.

Nut Width: 1.68 in.

Neck Joint: Set

Neck Material: Mahogany

Fingerboard: Rosewood/Block

Binding: Body/Neck/Headstock

Body Material: Mahogany/Alder

Top: Flame Maple

Finishes: Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Vintage Sunburst

Other: 2 Volume, 2 Tone, 3-Way Toggle Controls

Buy Epiphone Les Paul Custom Flame Top

Well, I stated before that I have become more of a blues player, and I still think I use way too many blues scales, but once I started playing this thing through my Blues Jr amp, I didn't care what kind of player I thought I was. This guitar is a brand new guitar now! The Fralin's are no joke either. They really opened up the tonal possibilities of this guitar. This guitar can probably do any style (I say probably b/c there's just too much experimentation left to do). When it comes down to it, a quality sound starts with the clean sound of the guitar and the quality of the amp. Both are incredible, and so add more stuff on top and it only gets better. I can't give it a 10 though just b/c I know that it's not the best sounding guitar ever made, but it's so much better than most of the other stuff I've heard.

This is a follow up review to my submission a couple of entries below. If you read that review, then you would find a pretty generic Epiphone Les Paul described. Since the time of the review, I have had everything in the guitar redone, and I mean everything. Here is a complete list of the changes:

* New Lindy Fralin zebra style humbuckers (w/ coil tapping)

* New Grover locking tuners

* New pickup selector switch and end jack

* guitar completely re-wired w/ Jimmy page style wiring scheme (more about that below)

* all frets leveled and set up perfectly

* gloss finish taken off of the back of the neck and replaced w/ a satin finish for faster playing

* 4 push/pull pots added for the wiring scheme

Whew! That was a lot of stuff! Well, the sounds I can get out of this guitar now are limitless! I have the two volume pots push/pull to take advantage of the coil-tapping, and while it doesn't sound exactly like a strat it still sounds great for a single coil pickup, and not much hum either. The two tone pots are push/pull to 1. take the pickups out of phase (or reverse phase) and 2. put the pickups in series (parallel) w/ each other. While I have no idea what this truly means, it gives me more tonal options and that is great! Combine all of the tonal features of a regular Les Paul and you can imagine the possibilities. This guitar is amazing now!

I had all of the work done at West Mobile Music in Mobile, AL, and they did a fantastic job setting this thing up. It plays effortlessly. To me, the intonation of a guitar is very important, and for this guitar it is perfect. The neck really feels different b/c of the fret leveling and the satin back. My hand doesn't get stuck on the thick gloss anymore. There weren't any other cosmetic changes to the guitar. It's still the same cherry sunburst flame top minus pickguard, but the zebra style PUps do look nice.

The only nitpicky thing about the guitar is that there is one dead spot in the wiring scheme. With the series/parallel pot engaged and the bridge PUp selected, there is no sound that comes out. I think that the wiring scheme just didn't have enough connections for that position, or that having only the bridge PUp selected is contradicting the purpose of putting the PUps in parallel with each other. I'm not truly sure though. It works with just the neck PUp, but not the bridge. This is only a nitpick b/c you have to be wary of it during live performances. Otherwise, it is a fantastic setup.

Since I don't think the factory warranty applies anymore, I can't really say much about this.

Truearkael (02/25/2008)

I really liked the sound of of this guitar at first. I play classic rock and metal, and the sounds the guitar made were to my liking. That is until, I upraged to a better amp. One of my other guitars was a late 70's Pan LP made in Japan. The Pan squeeled horribly when plugged in so I replaced the pickups in that with Gibson 57's. I now realize how the stock pickups of the Epiphone just don't compare. They sound muddy are are not very clear in comparison. Personnel taste here, but I plan on replacing the Epi's p/up's with Dimarzio's.

Standard Les Paul features…Read other reviews, or go to Epiphone's Website. Mine is the heritage Cherry Sunburst. Flame top is really nice. Just shines. It's about a 1999 model, bought in Korea for $250 bucks new.

Guitar looks mavelous when new, and has held up nicely for the three years I have had it.

never tried

E.R.B. (04/20/2002)

The Dean Vendetta XM Electric Guitar has a marvelous looking lightweight string-through Paulownia body with incredible resonance. Dual naked humbuckers pump out huge chunk and searing sustain. Another highligts is the Rosewood fretboard on a maple neck with 24-fret access which finishes out this sweet and fleet guitar.

Dean Vendetta XM Electric Guitar Features…

Paulownia sculpted body

Bolt-on maple neck

Rosewood fretboard

Open-coil humbuckers

String-thru body

Tune-o-matic bridge

Dual humbucking pickups

Vintage Tremolo

Buy Dean Vendetta XM Electric Guitar

The sound is good with suprisingly strong no-name humbuckers, with an overall touch of darkness. I like the clean tone, and also mild overdrive. Sounds a little muddy to me with heavier distortion. The tone knob doesn't seem to do a lot with the sound – my sound variation comes from my FX pedals. No extraneous noise or hum. Also this guitar has surprisingly good sustain.

I'll give this an 9 for such surprising quality sound out of such a cheesey instrument, and I like playing it. I keep it at my office, so I end up picking it up a lot.

My setup at my office is dead simple and cheap – if anyone stole any of it, I wouldn't be heartbroken – a $40 15W Behringer Firebird practice combo or a Pocket Rockit headphone amp (the Rockit was more expensive, so I take this home with me), a $15 Danelectro FAB D-2 overdrive pedal, and a $15 Danelectro FAB chorus pedal. I'll also get a $20-$25 Behringer DD100 delay pedal for my office when they become available.

Recent Chinese made super lightweight strat-body guitar – very very cheaply made. The body is a mahogany stained, solid, unbelieveably lightwood paulowinia (whatever that is) wood – the lightness adds to the cheap cheesey feel of this guitar. BUT the lightweight is one of the very nice features of this guitar too – you could lift it up with your little finger. Passive electronics with two decent humbuckers, a poorly made 3-way switch, completely garbage tuners that must be replaced ASAP, a volume and tone knob. The input jack is housed in plastic that looks like it could easily crack. Comfortable neck with rosewood fretboard – the fretboard has a dusty look, but is fine. Easy to play. 25-1/2 scale with incredible access to upper frets – you can easily play all the way up to the 24th fret! String through body and cheap quality tune-o-matic bridge, decent stock strings. No pickguard. This is guitar screams cheap, but it does have its good points.

I have had two of these guitars – I had to return the first one because it was so messed up – the headstock was broken, one of the pickups was loose, the neck was sanded very rough, and a knob fell off when I was unpacking the instruent.

The replacement was in much better shape – the only thing obviously wrong was the headstock had a bad chip, but it didn't hurt the intecgrity of the guitar. The neck was very smooth. A lot of chips around the plastic cover over the electronics on the back. The plastic cover is warped and not pretty. I had to raise the action, which was easy, but setting the intonation was a &^%$# – the intonation screws didn't work properly on the 1st string, and I'm able to get the intonation right to only 20-25 cents from where it should be on the 12th fret! So the sharpness is audible. The pickups were just fine. The tuners are ridiculous garbage – they have to be replaced right away, which means you're adding $25 to the price of this $99 guitar.

Never dealt with manufacturer, but Musiciansfriend.com was super about exchanging or refunding for the unacceptable instrument. They emailed me a pre-paid shipping label – no hassle or cost to me. It was all done within minustes of y phone call to them. Nice people.

LoMo (03/27/2006)

Great Guitar!!/Great Price

I love this guitar. the wood satin Finish looks beautiful, and its extremely easy to restring and make adjustments to the guitar itself. And on top of that its lightweight and plays beautifully. If you buy this guitr you WILL NOT be dissapointed.

MicJon92 from Richmond Hill, GA (Jan 26, 2009)

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Fender’s Frontman Amp Series just got a facelift, yet all the tone, reliability, and value of the line remain consistent. Their Blackface cosmetic treatment (skirted knobs, silver grille cloth) makes these amps look as good as they sound! Each amp includes a headphone jack and an auxiliary input allowing the user to play along with a CD, tape player, or drum machine. This 15-watt amp has an 8 in. Fender Special Design speaker, 2 selectable channels (Normal and Drive), 3-band EQ, and an external speaker jack.

Fender Frontman II 15G Guitar Combo Amplifier (15 Watts, 1×8 in.) Features…

Type: Solid-State

Output: 15 watts into 8 ohms

Ohms: 8 ohms

Speakers: 1-8 in. Fender Special Design Speaker, p/n 0025421000

Channels: Dual Selectable Channels (Normal and Drive)

Features: 3-Band EQ, Headphone Jack, Auxilliary Input for CD, Tape or Drum Machine, External Speaker Jack, Closed Back, Blackface Styling with Silver Grille Cloth

CONTROLS: Volume Normal Channel, Gain, Drive Select Switch, Volume Drive Channel, Treble, Mid, Bass

Covering: Black Textured Vinyl with Black Metal Grille

Weight: 15 lbs.

Dimensions (H x W x D): 12.5 x 13.25 x 7.25 in.

Shipping Weight: 16 lbs.

Cover: None

Accessories: None

Introduced: March 2002

Buy Fender Frontman II 15G Guitar Combo Amplifier (15 Watts, 1×8 in.)

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"A Worthwhile Investment"

An amp? Sexy? You perverts. Joking… It looks fine. It reminds me of the 60's and 70's for some odd reason.

For $80, an awesome deal.

The quality is great. Everything is fine, nothing broke and there is no visual damage.

Definately the best beginning amp. Worthwile, hell, even good a good pratice amp for a pro or someone who's more advanced but doesn't want to shell out $500…

a customer from yahoo.com (1/27/2005)

"The truth about the Frontman 15G"

It's an amp. It's better than nothing.

This amp should be priced much cheaper compared to other comparable products.

The knobs are nice and solid, but I broke the original switch (and the heavy duty replacement…so this is more a problem with me than the amp perhaps) but the repair was easy enough.

I've never been one to call for tech/customer support, but I hear that Fender has good customer service.

a customer from gmail.com (4/16/2006)

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Featuring 24 amp channel models — both the clean and distorted channels of 12 popular amps for the first time anywhere — plus 11 editable preamp “stomp box” effects and 11 editable post-amp “rack” effects with dual-parameter control. Players can use up to five effects simultaneously. When used with the optional Peavey Sanpera foot controller, the possibilities further expand from 12 in-amp presets to 400 programmable presets, with an on-board looper and more. The Vypyr also acts as its own computer audio interface, with a built-in studio-quality USB 2.0 output on most models that is recognized by computers as an audio device. The entire six-model Vypyr Series features the easy-to-use Peavey WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface.

Vypyr Series

Peavey proudly introduces its new Vypyr Series modeling guitar amplifiers, the most technologically advanced and affordable guitar modeling amplifiers available.

With double the processing power, models and effects of competitive modeling amplifiers, the Vypyr Series dramatically redefines the power and scope of modern guitar amplification. Vypyr amplifiers are based on a combination of powerful 32-bit, floating-point SHARC processors and patented TransTube analog circuitry.

Featuring 24 amp channel models–both the clean and distorted channels of 12 popular amps for the first time anywhere–plus 11 editable preamp “stomp box” effects and 11 editable post-amp “rack” effects with dual-parameter control. Players can use up to five effects simultaneously. When used with the optional Peavey Sanpera(TM) II foot controller, the possibilities further expand from 12 in-amp presets to 400 programmable presets, with an on-board looper and more.

The Vypyr also acts as its own computer audio interface, with a built-in studio-quality USB 2.0 output on most models that is recognized by computers as an audio device. The entire six-model Vypyr Series features the easy-to-use Peavey WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface.

Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 Guitar Combo Amplifier (60 Watts, 1×12 in.) Features…

60 watts (rms)

One 12 in. custom voiced modeling speakers

One 12AX7 and four 6L6GC tubes

Four channels

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) technology

True analog distortion

24 Amp channel models

11 Editable pre-amplifier “Stompbox” effects

11 Editable “Rack” effects

12 On-board programmable presets

Up to 400 presets with optional Sanpera(TM) II footswitch

Dual parameter FX control

Up to five FX simultaneously

32 bit floating point Sharc processor

On-board Looper with optional Sanpera(TM) footswitch

Chromatic tuner

MIDI In/Out

Studio quality USB interface

MP3/CD/Aux input

Buy Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 Guitar Combo Amplifier (60 Watts, 1×12 in.)

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Has a sweepable midrange and a wide variety of tones (bass mid treble and presence). Might even be able to use this with a guitar for jazzy sounds. Sounded good at the music store when the I got the guy from the bass dept to slap a little on it. He came up to me when I was testing it and said "you're a guitar player aren't you"? Nuff said. Note that the ratings I give here are based on it's size/wattage.

I see this amp useful for rehearsals and gigs in small rooms. It's a loud clean 60 watts into a 15" spkr. Though I'm a guitar player, not a bass player, I bought the amp used (cheap) for my home rehearsal room.

Haven't had it long, but I'd say the amp is at least 10 years old. I think the reason they were selling it cheap is it looked a little sloppy. They had tape on the corners holding the grille down. From experience with peavey's I know they have a special velcro type thing to hold the four corners. I cleaned off the gew from the tape, and popped the corners in with my fist, then tool the butt end of a block of wood (protected chrome with some cloth) and gave it a good rap, this will hold the velcro down. The bass player in my old band had a later version with an 18" spkr and more watts (and weight). He never had any problems and the think was bounced around for years in a commercial van with tight suspension. The speaker grill came loose on that one too and that's how I figured out the velcro thing after he also duct taped it (ugh).

Steve Horvath (08/14/1998)

For guitar… no. For bass… maybe. For vocals… definitely. It only has one channel with knobs for Post/Punch, Mid, High, Low, and Presence. It's got a nice 15 inch speaker (I think that's the size) and suits the job it's playing right now just fine.

At first, I had my guitar running through this thing and it sounded horrible. But later on I got a halfstack and let my bass player borrow it. But weeks later, he got a Crate bass halfstack and now we're using it for our vocalist with a Peavey Studio 148 hooked up to it. It hardly gets any feedback and I personally think it's better as a "budget PA system". So I see this as a really nice 60 watt "vocal amp".

It's a trusty amp, but that sucker is just too damn heavy! My halfstack is lighter than it and it's nearly 4x the size. If it just came with some good quality casters (instead of going out and buying a cheap pair that fall off a week later) it would rule.

I doubt I would buy it again. The only reason I got it is because of the price which was practically a steal. So I said what the hey and got it. But since everyone in the band is poorer that sink scum, it's doing a perfect job for vocals.

Jay Graf (09/16/1997)