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.
