Hardtail Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Are these things any good? They're selling very cheap on MF right now: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Oscar-Schmidt-OE30-SemiHollow-Electric-Guitar?sku=514013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucks Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 I dont know. Not seen one before But it looks pretty sweet. I wouldnt mind one myself. Go for it buy one!!! Ya can always stick it on eBay if its a pile of crappola (or post it to me). Soundclick Myspace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucks Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 It looks like it could make a nice looking affordable project guitar... Get some funky pickups, gadgets and toys and pimp the badboy out. Im seriously considering getting one for just that So thanks HardAss!! Now I have to explain to my fiance why the hell i need another guitar Soundclick Myspace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardtail Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 There's no way I'd be able to get the wife to let me get another one right now. If you have more guts than I do and get one, let me know how it sounds/plays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucks Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Hmmm this thing costs about £200 GBP (about $430) over here!! I could get it from musicians friend but im kinda concerned about import tax. I bought a $10USD compressor pedal off eBay and got charged £9.50 (pretty much twice what i paid) tax recently!! Soundclick Myspace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AeroG33k Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 I heard the quality of that thing is sub-par from reviews, but for a project guitar, that shouldn't matter much. -Andy "I know we all can't stay here forever so I want to write my words on the face of today...and they'll paint it" -Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesape Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Bruce (LP Custom)has one and likes it a lot - and he owns a lot of megabuck guitars. Never a DUH! moment! Well, almost never. OK, OK! Sometimes never! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardtail Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 Originally posted by Bluesape: Bruce (LP Custom)has one and likes it a lot - and he owns a lot of megabuck guitars. That's right, he does. I'm not getting a real 335 anytime soon so I'm wondering if this would be a sufficient substitute until then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Red 67 Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Originally posted by lee83: Hmmm this thing costs about £200 GBP (about $430) over here!! I could get it from musicians friend but im kinda concerned about import tax. I bought a $10USD compressor pedal off eBay and got charged £9.50 (pretty much twice what i paid) tax recently!! I have shipped cross the pond. A SS Orange. I think it ran 40 or 50 bucks. It would ship to me for free. Then I could ship to you. The drawback is that it can take 2 or 3 months to ship at that price. I kind of want this one. OE 40 Big Red's Ride Blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Ross Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 The prices have gone up since I bought mine. I think I paid $119 for it. I believe ellwood owns one, too. The quality isn't great, but after a good cleaning and setup it plays very well. The stock pickups are better than I expected, they are clear and big sounding. I can honestly say that I've never played a better sub-$200 guitar It's not simple to be simple. -H. Matisse Ross Precision Guitars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucks Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Originally posted by Big Red 67: Originally posted by lee83: Hmmm this thing costs about £200 GBP (about $430) over here!! I could get it from musicians friend but im kinda concerned about import tax. I bought a $10USD compressor pedal off eBay and got charged £9.50 (pretty much twice what i paid) tax recently!! I have shipped cross the pond. A SS Orange. I think it ran 40 or 50 bucks. It would ship to me for free. Then I could ship to you. The drawback is that it can take 2 or 3 months to ship at that price. I kind of want this one. OE 40 That sounds like it could be pretty cool! Do you know if it would bypass customs if coming from a person rather than a business? Ive got some friends who get brithday & xmas presents etc from the US and the customs people charge to receive them (they also rip all the wrapping paper off and shove it back in the box) Soundclick Myspace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caprae Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 You can buy these all over ebay for $150. Do a search on this forum. Someone bought and compared FIVE of this style of hollowbody. He was buying one for his nephew. He did a great review of everything from set-up out of the box to playability to tone of the pickups. He was impressed with the tone of this and I believe rated it second tone wise. Build wise it wasn't as nice. I believe his nephew took another model and he kept the Oscar. HE sent the other three back. I think MF put them on sale last year after Christmas for $120 to $130. Do a search for that post. It was quite good and thorough. Raise your children and spoil your grandchildren. Spoil your children and raise your grandchildren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardtail Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 Originally posted by Big Red 67: I kind of want this one. OE 40 That is nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesape Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 It was Bruce who did the 5 way comparison. Never a DUH! moment! Well, almost never. OK, OK! Sometimes never! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardtail Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 Here's the link for the 5 way comparison thread: http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/19/t/013163.html#000000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bejeeber Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Originally posted by lee83: ....It looks like it could make a nice looking affordable project guitar... Get some funky pickups, gadgets and toys and pimp the badboy out..... If you're going to pimp, then I hope you pimp with your eyes more widely open than mine were when I got meself a cheap 335 style guitar. The guitar I got (Washburn HB-30) is GREAT, but why oh why was I conveniently forgetting that these guitars are hell to do any mods on as far as pickups'n electronics'n stuff are concerned!!?? Since I've sworn off trying to do that stuff myself anymore, the cheapness of the guitar would be offset by the super beefed up $$$ that repair guys charge to hassle pickup replacements and wiring on these buggers. So a solidbody might make a better project guitar. Just a pinch between the geek and chum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Ellwood Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Originally posted by lee83: It looks like it could make a nice looking affordable project guitar... Get some funky pickups, gadgets and toys and pimp the badboy out. Im seriously considering getting one for just that So thanks HardAss!! Now I have to explain to my fiance why the hell i need another guitar Ahhh it's never too soon to realize that LEE's NEVER explain ANYTING when it comes to buying axes! SO>>> there will never be anything except buying and playing! http://www.thestringnetwork.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior 1 Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 I sent 2 back. The first was made nice, but would not stay in tune, even with new strings. The second one MS sent me was obviously a blem. The f holes were warped and the finish on the edge of the neck was peeling. They both had nice sound and if you have patience and can set up a guitar properly, I can't, it's worth getting. If looks are not an issue, you may want to look at the Douglas semi hollows at Rondo. They're are about the same price and have a set neck. I think you'll have to set them up also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPCustom Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 Yeah, I've got one of these. DC Ross got his before I got mine. I think mine was either $129 or $149 when I bought mine (can't remember). It's a "cheap" guitar but it plays well and it sounds great. As has been said, the pickups are quite good for such a cheap guitar. If you can get past the visual imperfections, the guitar is a nice to play. But the workmanship isn't very good. They even left the bass bout strap button off of mine. Muscians Friend did send me some, though. The guitar has a bolt on neck and it's fairly "flexible". But if you don't try to sling it around too bad it should stay in tune. You can also do the "neck flex whammy" that some people do on Gibson SGs pretty easily with it. I still drag mine out fairly regularly and play it. Born on the Bayou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bejeeber Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 Oh I didn't realize the OE-30 had a bolt on neck. Taking that into consideration, I'd say the $179 no tax free shipping I spent on my Washburn HB-30 from Music 123 was well worth any more $ it cost than the OE-30. I don't think that particular HB-30 deal is available anymore, but this guitar is very much like a real Gibson 335 in a way I doubt any bolt on could be. the only "flaw" I found was some prickly fret ends, but I know some say that can be a weather induced malady. Plus this was my fretless conversion guitar, so those frets were destined to be outa there anyway. Just a pinch between the geek and chum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merle Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 If I may throw in my two cents worth Ive had four deliveries of the OE30 to my front door (all in the cherry red), as well as three Epiphone guitars of the same genre. Plus I own an honest-to-goodness Gibson LP, and two other acoustics. And heres how I would like to answer the critics of the OE30: When I first contemplated ordering an OE30, it was after 3 LOUSY Epiphones had been waltzed through my front door, and all 3 were returned. One of the 3 sounded fairly good, but the other 2 had serious issues let me correct, that, they had a serious subscription. And those Epiphones ran about 3 times the price of the OE30. I kept hearing about how excellent the OE30s were, but I just couldnt believe that anything good could come out of a $150 price tag not in this lifetime. But I knew about a fellow named Damien at musican.com (who I always ask for when I call) and I trusted him enough to ask him about the OE30 and then agreed to have one delivered to my home. I did this knowing full well that if the guitar was a lame-oh piece of lumber, that hed take it back without any cost to me. So I had the first one delivered and let me tell you, the fit and finish was well above what I saw with the Epiphones. One of the first things I noticed was that they did the binding around the f-holes, which Epiphone does not. But the overall finish of the staining and the gloss was amazing. Again, so much better than the Epiphone. The neck was perfect, the chrome work was perfect I kept looking for flaws, but could not find them. Im near sighted, so I took off the glasses and got a really close look to make sure this guitar was as good as I thought it was. Result: I was in shock for about a week over just the fit and finish. But then there was the first ceremonial plugging into the amp I just knew this pretty guitar was going to sound like a wal-mart fiddle but I was wrong, it was saweeet. Yep, the Vinci strings that came on it were too wimpy, and had to be replaced by some Earnie Ball strings I had to lower the action a bit, and then I carefully set the bridge to get the intonation right on all the strings. But once all this was done and it was plugged back into the amp well, wow just doesnt do it justice. This guitar flat out sounds as nice as it looks. The uncovered Washburn humbuckers are fairly hot, and truthfully, not that far from what Ive found with the covered humbuckers on the Epiphone dot deluxe no kidding. I just had to keep pinching myself to make sure I wasnt hallucinating when I gloated over the fact that it was about a 1/3 of the Epiphones cost. It didnt not take me long to start thinking, now since I was willing to pay for the Epiphone, and it cost 3 times the price, then maybe I owe to myself to order two more of these axes hmmm, what other colors does it come in? Now about the critics comments 1- Yes, the OE30 has a set neck. But the sustain does not suffer as much as you might think. Plus, if the neck is ever busted, its very inexpensive to replace (unlike the Gibson or the Epiphone). 2- Yes, the OE30 is not a Gibson 335, but neither is the Epiphone. And the Gibson costs about 15 times the price of the OE30. And Ive read where some fellows who owned the OE30 and the Gibson said that the OE30 was surprisingly close. And maybe Im a wimp, but the thought of keeping dings and scratches off the Gibson would just terrify me. Ive already dinged the OE30 a couple of times, and just reminded myself, its only 150 bucks. 3- Yes, the OE30 comes with lousy strings, even had one delivered with rusty strings. But strings cost about $5, and Damien had some strings sent out to replace the rusty ones within a few microseconds of my complaint. Now thats service. 4- Yes, the OE30 needed to have the strings lowered and the intonation set. But every high dollar guitar that Ive ever purchased needed the same to some degree. 5- Yes, some OE30s arent as good as others and in fact, some probably need to be split up into kindling. But again, thats been proven true to me for about every brand Ive ever picked on. And since musician.com will gleefully exchange it for another (as well as some other internet companies), thats not stopped be from buying the for my friends. 6- Yes, the strings would not stay in tune but that was because they were NEW strings. Come on guys, new strings take about a week of solid playing to get the idea of what theyre supposed to do. The tuners on this guitar was just fine and dandy. 7- Yes, if you use the guitar to hammer railroad spikes into the ground, or if you have your pet cow sit on the body of the guitar, or if you use the neck to bat softballs out to your nephew then its going to break. Ive noticed that some guys just shred guitars, and no matter what brand they have, they tear em up. The OE30 is an instrument as such, I requires, it deserves, some respect in the care and feeding department. And by the way, Im not Damiens mom Im just a guy who has too many guitars and is tickled to death that I found a fellow and his company who still believe that the customer -not profits- comes first. And as others have already said, for the money, you would be hard pressed to find a better guitar. Heck, for 2 to 3 times the price, you may still be hard pressed to find a better guitar. I sure hope this helps the OE30 shoppers out there make the right decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Ellwood Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 No I don't have one. http://www.thestringnetwork.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg B. Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 The last time that I was at the Musicians Friend clearance center, they had probably 20-30 or more of these in various states of problems. Broken necks, bodies, warped necks, etc. A friend of my brothers wanted a cheap hollow body and we found one that had a non functioning pickup. We called him, he said to get it. Got it home, and found a grounded out wire on one of the pots. Cut and resoldered the offending wire, and it played perfectly. And as stated above, it has pretty decent sound pickups and actually played pretty good. The friend was about as happy as his wife was unhappy! He loves the guitar, especially for the $80-85 that it cost. Avoid playing the amplifier at a volume setting high enough to produce a distorted sound through the speaker-Fender Guitar Course-1966 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Soldier Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 I own one and mine is nearly flawless. It took a lot of setup but it sounds great. I had to flip a couple of the saddles to get it to intonate. The pickups are premo, the neck and bridge being different models of Washburn pickup. I'm not complaining for the $130 I dropped on it. Heck, I liked it so much I even got strap locks and bought the gigbag. I think I'll play it today when I get home from work ..... after my new Epiphone Valve Junior head arrives. A.K.A. TRGuitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Geoff Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Lee (UK), I picked up a 1984(ish) Aria Pro II TA-50 with some issues. It needed a fret, a nut & a new jack socket plus some general TLC. I payed £73.00 for it. The replacement items cost me about £8.00 in all. I did all the work & I have a *great* guitar for the money. Neck's great and the pups (Samsung!!?!) are quite surprisingly good - almost PAF, but certainly Good Enough. As has been previously mentioned - working on these is really awkward & difficult - everything has to be pulled out via the pickup holes & getting it back is a b**t*rd unless you have attached twine to everything and even then it's still difficult. The easiest guitars to customise are those built like LPs. Mine's an Ibanez Studio ST-105 which now has just received its 7th different pup. It now has 2 x DiMarzio PAFs in & sounds great. The Japanese (Mitsimoku Factory) built (197? - 1986) are very good. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ARIA-PRO-11-SEMI-ACOUSTIC-MODEL-TA-30_W0QQitemZ7423352895QQcategoryZ112668QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-Pro-II-TA40-semi-acoustic-335-style-cherry-red_W0QQitemZ7423476094QQcategoryZ112668QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Geoff "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the World will know Peace": Jimi Hendrix http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=738517&content=music The Geoff - blame Caevan!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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