The spoked ones are pro class wheels... which originated on the Mongoose pro class.
The black circles are holes to shed as much weight as possible... quite innovative for the time, and probably the skyway of the spoke world.
Z - rims are crazy....they totally flex on themselves and go back to their original shape. It's gotta be seen to be believed !!
You should get yourself an old school BMX Fran and restore it !!
WHITE OR BLUE, I LOVE YOU
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Fran
- The Curmudgeon
- Posts: 22219
- Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:53 am
- Location: Nottingham, Englandshire.
Sure, another money eating hobby is just what i need right now lol.othomas2 wrote:The spoked ones are pro class wheels... which originated on the Mongoose pro class.
The black circles are holes to shed as much weight as possible... quite innovative for the time, and probably the skyway of the spoke world.
Z - rims are crazy....they totally flex on themselves and go back to their original shape. It's gotta be seen to be believed !!
You should get yourself an old school BMX Fran and restore it !!
I may well do, i spent hours in the garden shed with spanners and allen keys as a kid. Great memories.
Well, the guy at Alden has a few and before trying to order one I wanted to do my search. He's got them in blue and red. With Bigsbys. $400 shipped. That is less than an original vintage (I want to say it's Hagstrom inspired) And probably better. They also tend to get decent reviews on Harmony ( I know I know , grain of salt) . My plan was to either build up a Telemaster or just buy one of these Alden Jazzkiller deals. So, y'all think she's worth $400 ?
Well I just broke down and pulled the trigger on a Quadrastar. After doing a shit load of research(frankly not a whole lot of info out there) I finally did it. After reasons quoutes about it like " sexin the shit out of it" and it sounding "unique" I thought I'd give it a shot. Once I get it I'll put out a pretty full and lengthy " no bullshit" review on it. Especially since there's not much out there on it.
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westtexasred
- Shortscale Cultural Minister
- Posts: 16977
- Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 6:10 pm
- Location: Minneapolis
But the white ones turn yellowbenecol wrote:As a fan of white guitars, I say: buy the white one. I wanted a white SG when I was buying my Tokai (as previously stated, I wanted to be Sister Rosetta Tharpe)
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...but didn't want to wait two months to get it, so bought a walnut one instead. Four years and several hundred quid later, part of me thinks that if I'd have just waited and bought the white one, I'd still have it now.
* adjusts wimple *
I came home yesterday to a big ass box on my patio . We all know what a guitar box looks like . Cracked it open to reveal my new Quadrastar . I guess this is where I can go do a pretty thorough review since basically there isn't one . Anywhere . Except for Harmony Central which you kinda have to hake with a grain of salt since you get those that like to glorify their new purchase and justify how great of a piece they bought although half of them don't really know jack.
Ok , so here goes my review :
Right out the box it was pretty pristine . No dents , dings nothing like that . Then I picked it up. Fucking thing's pretty heavy which I already assumed since it had 4 humbuckers and made of solid basswood. It's a six string that weighs a tad more than my Mustang bass to give you an idea .
Now to clear this up . Looks kinda "Jazzmasterish" , in a lot of pics right ? Not really . Here is a pic of it next to a Toronado so you can compare the shapes . I assure you the shapes are different . The only thing they'd have in common is that they're both offset shaped guitars . The Jazzies and Toros are more ergonomically friendly than the Quadrastar with more curves accommodating to the shape of your body. The Q-Star lacks those curves however is comfortable .
The Bigsby's pretty nice . I did the abuse test on it with the whammy and it held up and kept tune . Surprised . Looks like it's a Wilkinson style bridge but then again it could be an honest to goodness Wilkinson. Up close the chrome looks a little cheap but it's thick . Doesn't buzz , no issues . In fact I didn't even have to set it up . Came just right . String height and all . Not too shabby.
One thing that I thought was cool was the German style carves on the headstock which you don't see in any of the pictures . Done right , finish is thick . I am surely going to be hitting the back of this neck with some steel wool to smooth it out some .
Now for the fret board . It's okay . Ain't the best but far from the worst . No sharp frets . Inlays seem cheap when you get up real close but not that bad . I planned on actually ripping off this neck and replacing it for a Warmoth Jazz neck but won't . I tested the neck to find only 1 fret needed to be tapped . Not bad for a new guitar in my opinion. My Eastwood bass needed 4 done and the six string 2 or 3 . But for a guitar in this price range it's a good neck . I'd compare it to a Korean Gretsch .
The tuners ? Exact fucking copies to a Fender . I'm not shitting you .
This " QTX " thingamejiggie " . Pretty cool . Pretty much just controls how hot you want your pickups to be . 1 -5 . Actually a pretty nice feature . Makes the pickups either crystal clear to kind of hot to chorus like tone depending how many pickups you have on .
The fit and finish ? Not one fucking crooked screw on this guitar . Maybe 1 if I look hard . Pickguard sits flush with the body . There is one part of the pickguard that comes off the body a hair below the top frets but only because the plastic would not curve to the body . You have to look though. In my opinion ? More like Japanese Fender quality . Better than Mexican. Way better . I have 2 Mexican Fenders and 1 Japanese . I can show you what I mean. Ready to pull the Jap v. Mexi punk card any time you're ready .
The paint is nice but super thick . They call it "Powder Blue" but looks damn close to Sonic Blue but I am sure if you put this guitar to to a Sonic Blue guitar the color tone would slightly be different . The neck seems to be that Fender Yellow tint but it's a tad darker as I compare it to my Tele.
As for playing the guitar ? Don't really want to comment on it since I've only had it a day . One thing I am sure of though is these pickups will not need to be replaced . They can be super quiet to super sharp and loud due to that QTX thingy . I was fucking around with the switches and the pickups sound good and way different in each setting on or off. I've been playing it with pickups 1 and 3 on which sounds really good for punk. All 4 on it does have that " Queens Of A Stone Age " tone that some have said . Both bassy and twangy . Weird. Maybe like a Reverend Warhawk with the Humbucker P90 setup to give you an idea .
Would I recommend this guitar ? I can honestly say ( Without ANY Harmony Centralism whatsoever ) yes. It's a very versatile guitar which in my opinion could be used for any genre but with it's quirky looks probably wouldn't be . Live at least . I like it . A lot .
If anyone has any questions on it feel free to PM.
Ok , so here goes my review :
Right out the box it was pretty pristine . No dents , dings nothing like that . Then I picked it up. Fucking thing's pretty heavy which I already assumed since it had 4 humbuckers and made of solid basswood. It's a six string that weighs a tad more than my Mustang bass to give you an idea .
Now to clear this up . Looks kinda "Jazzmasterish" , in a lot of pics right ? Not really . Here is a pic of it next to a Toronado so you can compare the shapes . I assure you the shapes are different . The only thing they'd have in common is that they're both offset shaped guitars . The Jazzies and Toros are more ergonomically friendly than the Quadrastar with more curves accommodating to the shape of your body. The Q-Star lacks those curves however is comfortable .
The Bigsby's pretty nice . I did the abuse test on it with the whammy and it held up and kept tune . Surprised . Looks like it's a Wilkinson style bridge but then again it could be an honest to goodness Wilkinson. Up close the chrome looks a little cheap but it's thick . Doesn't buzz , no issues . In fact I didn't even have to set it up . Came just right . String height and all . Not too shabby.
One thing that I thought was cool was the German style carves on the headstock which you don't see in any of the pictures . Done right , finish is thick . I am surely going to be hitting the back of this neck with some steel wool to smooth it out some .
Now for the fret board . It's okay . Ain't the best but far from the worst . No sharp frets . Inlays seem cheap when you get up real close but not that bad . I planned on actually ripping off this neck and replacing it for a Warmoth Jazz neck but won't . I tested the neck to find only 1 fret needed to be tapped . Not bad for a new guitar in my opinion. My Eastwood bass needed 4 done and the six string 2 or 3 . But for a guitar in this price range it's a good neck . I'd compare it to a Korean Gretsch .
The tuners ? Exact fucking copies to a Fender . I'm not shitting you .
This " QTX " thingamejiggie " . Pretty cool . Pretty much just controls how hot you want your pickups to be . 1 -5 . Actually a pretty nice feature . Makes the pickups either crystal clear to kind of hot to chorus like tone depending how many pickups you have on .
The fit and finish ? Not one fucking crooked screw on this guitar . Maybe 1 if I look hard . Pickguard sits flush with the body . There is one part of the pickguard that comes off the body a hair below the top frets but only because the plastic would not curve to the body . You have to look though. In my opinion ? More like Japanese Fender quality . Better than Mexican. Way better . I have 2 Mexican Fenders and 1 Japanese . I can show you what I mean. Ready to pull the Jap v. Mexi punk card any time you're ready .
The paint is nice but super thick . They call it "Powder Blue" but looks damn close to Sonic Blue but I am sure if you put this guitar to to a Sonic Blue guitar the color tone would slightly be different . The neck seems to be that Fender Yellow tint but it's a tad darker as I compare it to my Tele.
As for playing the guitar ? Don't really want to comment on it since I've only had it a day . One thing I am sure of though is these pickups will not need to be replaced . They can be super quiet to super sharp and loud due to that QTX thingy . I was fucking around with the switches and the pickups sound good and way different in each setting on or off. I've been playing it with pickups 1 and 3 on which sounds really good for punk. All 4 on it does have that " Queens Of A Stone Age " tone that some have said . Both bassy and twangy . Weird. Maybe like a Reverend Warhawk with the Humbucker P90 setup to give you an idea .
Would I recommend this guitar ? I can honestly say ( Without ANY Harmony Centralism whatsoever ) yes. It's a very versatile guitar which in my opinion could be used for any genre but with it's quirky looks probably wouldn't be . Live at least . I like it . A lot .
If anyone has any questions on it feel free to PM.