Thursday 27 October 2011

Ishibashi and their Mavis line: MST-200


Ishibashi, a popular instrument chain from Japan created their own line of starter packs for electric guitars and I have nothing but good things to say about this line. When I went to Japan with my friends last year, I've showed my friends one of these and he bought one just to start out learning the electric guitar. This is another wish it is in Singapore post.

Just specification wise makes this guitar worth every penny of it's price. It is a stratocaster style guitar with 22 frets. One fret more than standard made in china strats of other brand (Squier, SX). It features a maple or rosewood fretboard, once again giving the players a choice of maple instead of the standard rosewood. It also features a basswood body.

Quality control wise, I can only say the frets are well levelled compared to a Squier and I was able to achieve a 2mm action on the 12th fret. Once again, this isn't something that is common for a low end instrument made in china.

To top it off, the whole kit cost only 9800 yen which loosely converts to about SGD$150. For a guitar of this price, it's really hard to go wrong. The only thing that has changed from the original design was the fender-ish headstock, which I believe the fender lawsuit has finally caught up with them.

This will also make an excellent guitar not only for beginners but also intermediate players. The parts can be easily replaced with better quality pick-ups and bridge from Guitar Fetish. All and all, this is a value for money guitar and is sure to provide endless quality practice time to anyone who enjoys a fine instrument without breaking their bank. If only they have a branch here in Singapore.

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