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ganjavih wrote:

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Has anyone played this guitar? It's quite inexpensive... is it any good? Where is it made?

I haven't played the specific Bangles model, but it is really just the Retro-H with a different bridge on it, and I have played the Retro-H. I was visting a friend who is the lead guitarist of a punk band, and he mentioned to me that he bought one for his girlfriend. I laughed at him, and he told me that they are actually pretty decent and brought it out for me to try. It was really quite playable. The action was good, the intonation was good, and it stayed in tune. It has two mini-humbuckers, which give good tone. I have since seen many guys in indie and punk bands who play them, and when I ask why, they invariably say it's for the tone. It is considered sort of the poor man's Gibson SG. I don't know where it is made, but since computer aided design has become really common in guitar manfacturing, there are some great guitars coming from outside the US.

The one thing that guys may want to consider before buying one is what type of neck you like. These have a very thin neck. So, if you like a chunky neck, like a Les Paul. this probably is not for you. But, if you like a thinner neck, like a stratocaster, then you would probably like the Daisy Rock neck. I have not seen any of these in stores so you probably have to order one to get to even try it. However, as I said, these are really just the Retro-H with a different bridge. The Retro-H was discontinued a while back, and I have seen many of them in stores. You might want to see if you can find one in a store, and try it out, as it is the same as the Bangles model, just with a different bridge, and without the Bangles logos. There are probably still some of them in shops, but as they are really inexpensive, like maybe $130 or so, it might be tough to find one.

Dee Dee Datsun wrote:

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Ahh gotcha. I guess I was being a little cynical,I didn't think of looking at it that way. The girls would never have a hand in anything sneakily underhand like that,of course not. Yes,it's all about the cool logos,the extra cash is well worth it! Image is everything. lol. Must swell the pot for the recording budget for the next record,after all. ;)

Dave.

I may pick up one of the cheapo discontinued models sometime. It is a fun guitar to play, and has a decent tone. As for signatures, I am generally more interested in guitars that are set up to the specific artists specs, rather than just having the artists name and logo on them. I'm more interested in playability and being designed for a specific type of music. Most sigs seems to be geared more toward people who want to copy a particular artists style.

Years ago, I had the Bonnie Raitt stratocaster, but as it was designed for slide, the action was really high. I play some slide, but not enough to have justified keeping such an expensive guitar, and to have it adjusted seemed to be defeating the purpose it was designed for. Right now, I am realy interested in the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra - it's sort of the unofficial Nancy Wilson guitar. No stickers, no name written on the guitar, and not a previously existing model. It's completely set up to Nancy Wilson's preferred specs, and much lighter than other Les Pauls.

I am guessing that the Bangles signature guitars (including the Hoffs Rickenbacker and Taylor) are intended more to try to encourage fans who are non-players to start playing, as they are all previously existing editions with no changes in set-up. The Daisy Rocks in general are intended to try to get girls to play, and there's nothing wrong with designing something as sort of generic, as opposed to having a very specific set-up. It all depends on your intended audience. If fan are the intended audience, there's nothing wrong with that - anything that gets more people playing is a good thing.

courtney m wrote:

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Woah... Towanda did you say a light Les Paul?? Funny story... I'm 4'11 and 87 pounds and Les Pauls are my axe of choice, but after 5 minutes of playing I'm in pain cuz they're so freaking heavy and I'm so little...

well, I'm close to 5'8" and 130 pounds, and a Les Paul puts me in pain too. The weight puts a lot of tension on the neck and shoulders and every time I play one for more than a few minutes, I have neck and shoulder pain the next day. I like the weight of straotcasters, and the ultra is about the same weight as a strat - maybe about 6 pounds as opposed to 10+ for a Gibson Les Paul. You should really get to a guitar shop and play one. They are really nice.

Here's a link in case you want to see the specs, how they look, etc.

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-EPI-ENSU-LIST