Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? When playing live I use mostly the 1 & 2 position on the triplebucker. I love the Jazz pickup though when I am playing blues. The 4 & 5 position are sweet, plug into my AC15 and you have to tear it out of my hands. Has all the noiseless Fender tones plus some darker tones from the Triplebucker. I was going to replace the triplebucker with a Gibson because I thought it would be cheesy but it really shined when I first played live and now I love it. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? The paint was perfect, thick and glossy. Pickguard was a suprise, looks beautiful on the black and is 4 ply. Rosewood neck almost looks like ebony, very dense grain and hard and snappy. Fret inlays perfect. My only gripe is the tremolo which is easily replaceable. The chrome is Ok but the metal on the saddles looked a wee bit unfinished and dare I say cheap. Also, as I read from another reviewer... one of the screws on the tremolo cover missed the wood. Aside of that i was quite surprised at the build quality. Action How was the action out of the box? This is where I spend a hour or two on a new guitar. I just bought a new Gibson Les Paul, and like all Gibsons I have bought new it was set up like a cello. Had to work on the truss rod and tailpiece and bridge. Now it's great. I am very picky about how I set up my guitars. I was completely prepared to spend some time to get this Chinese guitar right. I didn't have to do anything. In fact one of the first things I do is change the strings to D'Addario's 10's. To my suprise it was strung with D'Addario strings. Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? When I first saw the Marauder I thought it was such a cool looking Fender and the idea of having a variety of tones reeled me in. Then while reading the rave reviews I saw it was made in China... My bubble was burst. It was so cheap that I had to try one, long time Fender fan and owned dozens of them. I have to say, these are crafted like Apple products not like clay pots and wicker baskets. Reliability How has it stood up over time? My worries were the tuners and cheap parts, especially the electronics. Tuners have been great and I usually change the tuners first. The guitar has great feel, sustain, and the neck is amazing. Not like anything I have played from China. Even the pots I thought would be shite but worked great for volume swells, very predictable. I played live with it which I thought I would never do and it kicked a$$. It doesn't have a fragile feel like I thought it would have. Overall Your general opinion of this product. Forgetting the price entirely I still think it is a great guitar, can't put it down, has tones of different sounds, and it has great manners in a live situation. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? I have been playing live and in the studio for 30 years, played guitar for 42 years. I have owned guitars 5 times the cost and have built many Fender guitars... I love this thing. As I said, the neck is amazing. The finish on the neck and the neck pocket are perfect, the frets finished perfectly and they are not like railroad tracks. They are nice and smooth, very fast neck. The big headstock with the vintage Fender logo and vintage tint is a work of art. And I like that there is no name on the guitar. People look at it and they have a WTF look on their face.

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? Time will tell - it's no secret Chinese made electronics can be questionable. Reliability How has it stood up over time? It's brand new - we'll see. Overall Your general opinion of this product. I absolutely love this guitar. It is truly a jack-of-all-trades. Metal to Jazz to Country, you're covered. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? Feels great. Really fast. The neck is extremely narrow, I could see someone with large hands or really long fingers having problems with the higher part of the neck. Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Really amazing how much variety you can pull with the Marauder. I will say that the single coils in an American Tele or Strat sound noticeably better. Likewise, compared to active pickup style humbuckers, it's not a filthy. BUT - the guitar has a lot more tone and bite than any "cheap" guitar I've ever played. My Gretsch is an $800 guitar, and the sound quality from the Marauder is right there. Finish How did the stain or paint job look? For the most part, it looks great. It's a weird shape, but I love the Lake Placid Blue. The only complaint I have is both that the way the jazzmaster pup sits, it looks really cheap, especially next to the rail style triplebucker. Action How was the action out of the box? The action was terrific. This is one skinny neck. I mean really skinny. I have a Gretsch 5120 and Epi Les Paul and SG. Although the guitar is weighty, the neck feels really small. I absolutely love it. The action was super low, again, I love it and it feels great; a hallmark of all things Fender.

Quality Would you consider this product to be made well? How dependable? Reliability How has it stood up over time? Overall Your general opinion of this product. made in china, yes. a "qualtity" instrument, yes. not a lot of $, yes. Playability and Feel How does it feel, Heavy, Fast, Chunky? How was the neck? Are the controls easy to get to while playing? Tone Bright and snappy? Dark and smooth? Were the pickups hot, mellow, thick, thin? Finish How did the stain or paint job look? Action How was the action out of the box?