I've been playing, building, and repairing stringed instruments
since 1979.
My first electric guitar was rather short-lived. It was a cheap
used brandless solid body guitar with one pickup that I bought at a
flea market for US$8 in 1980. My only intent for this instrument
was to dismantle it and use the electronics for a solid-body
mountain dulcimer I wanted to build. I still own and play the
dulcimer that resulted from that project but the remains of the old
guitar are long gone.
Although I have built and owned several acoustic guitars, and
have repaired a few electric guitars and basses, I have never owned
another electric guitar, until now.
Call it a mid-life crisis, but recently I got a hankering to
play some blues-rock on something noisier than the 1800s-style
parlor guitar that I built from scratch.
Although, I have played dulcimer and guitar for money (and food)
in the past, I'm not a professional musician and at this stage in
my life, I don't expect to become one. I wasn't looking for a gig
guitar, just something I could use to jam with friends and noodle
on at home, when the spirit moved me.
The Purchase
Music123.com had a nice
selection of Fender guitars which were all out of my price range.
They also had a Stratocaster-type guitar they were billing as a
Baja "Classic"*. For the price they had listed, I didn't think
it could even be playable but I read the customer reviews on the
site, and they were glowing. They described Strat sound, perfect
action out of the box, and high quality fit and finish.
For about $15 more, I could get the guitar and a small practice
amp with some other odds and ends in a "
starter package".
I thought about it for a few days, considering that I might be
wasting $75 that could be the start of a Fender fund for the
future. I knew I couldn't build a three-single-pickup guitar for
anywhere near the price of this already-built one.
I ordered the Baja package, expecting at best to have a lot of
adjusting to do - and at worst to return it.
The Inspection
On the
Baja's arrival, I noted the "Made in China" sticker on the box. I
removed the guitar from the plastic wrapping and was greeted by my
own bearded visage looking back at me from the glasslike finish on
the body. I nearly dropped it!
The first order of business was to remove the protective film
from the pickups and pick guard. I had to pull the knobs off to get
it all.
On the head of the Baja were 6 close copies of Schaller machines
with more protective film on them. Although they didn't seem to
work quite as smoothly as real Schallers, I could detect no
backlash or other defects associated with cheap machines.
An
Allen socket in the hole in the head revealed a real truss rod in
the neck, not just a piece of hardened steel square stock. The
correct sized Allen wrench was included with the guitar.
The nut was hard plastic with very tight spacing for the
standard width of the neck. Since my fingers are large and somewhat
clumsy at full speed, I put this on the list of things to fix.
The strings were light (electric) gauge and evenly wound.
The polished frets were beveled nicely at the ends and
completely seated in a dead-on straight, evenly arched fret
board.
The tapered neck was straight grained and had a smooth matte
finish. Like the body, the lacquer had no hint of "orange
peel".
The
neck attached to the body in Fender manner, with four bolts and a
chromed steel backing plate.
The pickups, wiring, and fully adjustable bridge were very
Stratocaster-like. In the tremolo cavity, the bridge was tensioned
with just three heavy springs. There were attachment points for as
many as five. The tremolo worked smoothly with no binding.
When I first unpacked the guitar, there was a burnt wood smell
that led me to think that perhaps lasers were used to rout the
cavities, but all cavities were made somewhat crudely with a
mechanical router.
The cord jack was located on the side of the guitar, a few
inches to the rear of the lower tone control.
Inspection Results
When my thorough inspection was over, I still had one thing on
the list that was a real issue - the overly tight spacing at the
nut. For someone with slender fingers or a very young person, the
nut won't be a problem. In fact the string height at the nut was
perfect, but I couldn't keep the strings from buzzing on my
full-sized fingernails.
The
action was perfect for the plain strings, but I had to raise and
consequently lengthen the compensation a little to keep the last
two wound strings from rattling, which they did with all but the
most gentle picking.
When I made and installed a new bone nut with wider spacing, the
guitar became a joy to play. It made me sound like I knew what I
was doing. The five-position pickup switch worked flawlessly,
altering the tone in stages like it's supposed to. For each
setting, the individual strings had similar volume and tone
characteristics to each other. The pots adjusted smoothly through
their entire throw. Light use of the tremolo bar didn't adversely
affect the tuning.
The Accessories
You
will probably buy the package version, just to get the amp. The
other things in the package really aren't worth considering.
Please use the strap to tie up your trash and buy or make a good
one. It's not long enough for a full-sized adult person. If it fits
you and you use it, the strap pins will pull through the huge slits
in the soft vinylized foam strap ends and you will break your new
guitar.
The pitch pipe works, in spite of my efforts to bend the notes
like a harmonica.
The picks are . . . well, picks.
The DVD won't teach you to play the guitar but it's worth
looking at if you're a beginner. Don't use steel wool anywhere on
your guitar.
The lined gig bag will provide minimal protection and is useful
as a dust cover.
The practice amp is minimal and cute. It worked fine for me but
the case is made of unshielded particle board and the transformer
will transmit hum to your pickups which aren't shielded either.
You're not going to rattle the porch lights with a 10 (possibly 6)
watt solid-state amp, but there's enough volume to irritate your
neighbors, if your windows are open and they live close. If you get
a better amp in the future, get a better cord too.
A Few Final Comments
Make no mistake. This Chinese guitar is not the same
quality as a Fender or other better-known, higher-priced guitar.
It's also impossible to know the conditions it was manufactured
under.
You
may notice small defects caused by hasty final assembly, such as
screws put in at an angle, small chips in the finish at the neck
joint, and lack of quality or refinement in parts and areas that
are not in plain sight. There are other things like the spacing on
the string nut and an upper strap pin that should (but doesn't)
angle toward the neck slightly to prevent the strap from slipping
off.
However, for the very low price, you get a geometrically
correct, very player-friendly guitar with a very nice finish that
rivals a Strat, at least in sound quality.
How will it hold up with age? That remains to be seen, but for
the price, if something important fails five years down the road,
you've still gotten your money's worth. If you're still playing by
then, you'll be ready for a new guitar anyway.
*At the time this article was published, Music123
was closing out the stand-alone versions (Baja & Fullerton) of
this guitar.
The author is a luthier/musician who has
published with the Guild of American Luthiers. He is not affiliated
with Aria, Baja, or Fullerton musical instruments or Music123.com.
He was not compensated by any of these companies for writing this
review.
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My first electric guitar was rather short-lived. It was a cheap
used brandless solid body guitar with one pickup that I bought at a
flea market for US$8 in 1980. My only intent for this instrument
was to dismantle it and use the electronics for a solid-body
mountain dulcimer I wanted to build. I still own and play the
dulcimer that resulted from that project but the remains of the old
guitar are long gone.
On the
Baja's arrival, I noted the "Made in China" sticker on the box. I
removed the guitar from the plastic wrapping and was greeted by my
own bearded visage looking back at me from the glasslike finish on
the body. I nearly dropped it!
An
Allen socket in the hole in the head revealed a real truss rod in
the neck, not just a piece of hardened steel square stock. The
correct sized Allen wrench was included with the guitar.
The
neck attached to the body in Fender manner, with four bolts and a
chromed steel backing plate.
The
action was perfect for the plain strings, but I had to raise and
consequently lengthen the compensation a little to keep the last
two wound strings from rattling, which they did with all but the
most gentle picking.
You
will probably buy the package version, just to get the amp. The
other things in the package really aren't worth considering.
You
may notice small defects caused by hasty final assembly, such as
screws put in at an angle, small chips in the finish at the neck
joint, and lack of quality or refinement in parts and areas that
are not in plain sight. There are other things like the spacing on
the string nut and an upper strap pin that should (but doesn't)
angle toward the neck slightly to prevent the strap from slipping
off.
