el_cacto

An entry-level but overall good quality and versatile electric guitar. Despite the fact that this was made for a more popular market, I dare to say its craftsmanship meets and even surpasses many modern instruments within today's equivalent price range. The small but sturdy body is laminated wood with a quite decent weight and the fretwork was done excellently (mine needs new frets, which makes sense because it was gifted to me used and has been played almost every day since 2007). About the electronics, wiring has been repaired a few times and I had to replace both potentiometers, but the pickups still retain a good amount of strength and tone. The only inconvenience for me is that the nut width is a bit slim for my hands (about 42 mm), I believe this would suit better for children and short people. Anyway, this is a good instrument worth the investment. I plan to restore mine soon, perhaps even save it for my baby daughter, in case she becomes interested in playing guitar when she grows up.

For my taste, pickups lack bass and I find the coil-splitting a bit weak, but it all is something you can adjust with a good equalizer. Anyway, you'll cut through the mix just fine. Overall this guitar has excellent build quality for its price, and it is a no-brainier if bought on sale.

This humble but powerful amp has two channels: 1.- Clean channel with two modes: Vintage (bright and thin), and Modern (mellow and rather dark tone). 2.- Lead channel with three modes: Vintage (soft, overdriven sound), Modern (metal-oriented distortion), and High Gain (same tone as Vintage mode but louder). Made in USA, its incorporated spring reverb is okay.

From slightly crunchy to nastily distorted, it has lots of volume while consuming very low energy. The indicator light is quite bright, and the RAT logo glows in the dark, which is a nice feature. A must-have pedal, in my humble opinion.

This plug feels sturdy and very well made. The cable repaired has a clothing that slightly increases its diameter, so a little adjustment was necessary for the plug casing to fit, nothing too serious. In my humble opinion, this is a great upgrade for most instrument cables.