20 cool electric guitars under £300
Friday, November 12, 2010 | By Anonymous
Added three new dirt-cheap workhorses with 24 frets to get you up to that super high E and beyond! See them all on the first three slides of this gallery or, if it's your first time here, keep on scrolling for a selection of guitars to suit every player - all under £300...
Round-up of 13 electric guitars under £200 was a devil-horned foray into the beginners’ world of aspiring Jack Whites on a budget. However, it’s surprising what an extra £100 will buy you. Granted, guitars under £300 still stand firmly in 'first guitar' territory, but the upgrades to materials, hardware, electronics and finish are noticeable, even to novice eyes and ears.MusicRadar’s expertly critical community have already chosen the best electric guitars under £300, and it’s an essential read for anyone in the market for a quality budget axe. But there are so, so many more - more brands, more styles, more options. Here then, hand-picked from the pages of Total Guitar, are 17 more cool-as electric guitars under £300, all well worthy of your consideration. First up: Kramer Striker 211 Custom...
Despite being re-branded for the new millennium, we suspect shred legend Kramer is still happiest knocking out ‘80s widdlesticks, and likely needed all its willpower not to scallop the Striker’s 24 frets.
Boringly, it’s built on a derivative doublecut shape, but with a mix ’n’ match pickup configuration and floating vibrato it’s well up for the fight.
Minor finish issues (untidy frets, wires visible in the pickup cavities, stiff micro-tuners) are swept aside by a strong physical performance, with a flat neck, low action, light strings and the test’s best access confirming that, yes, the Striker is aimed directly at technicians.
Indeed, you’ll play so fast that it will take a moment to realise that tonal character is a little thin on the ground. Five options are on the table, but the general impression is of competence, rather than brilliance, with the bridge humbucker crunching away without scaring the horses and the twin singlecoils bringing admirable bite but negligible body.
It’s better dirty, though.