Stands up to comparison with my Aria Pro II (450€ retail) and Yamaha RGX721DG (750€ retail) from the 90's. Feels and sounds better than a Squire that I had. Intonation is set well throughout the neck, although I could probably get the action slightly lower. Holds tuning well. Sustain is good. It's light. It squeals easily when you want it to, and has good harmonics. It is well-shielded from electro magnetic interference. Pots don't scratch and feel good to turn.
Now the small criticisms, which are unwarranted considering the cost of this guitar. The volume knob cuts off quite abruptly near the zero mark. The tone is a little bit darker than I'm used to (but that's why we have EQ on our pedalboards). To get a completely clean tone I need to roll off the volume a little, but I tend to do that anyway. Otherwise there is a hint of saturation, and it's a bit fizzy (no I'm not clipping the signal). The trem is placed right above the volume pot - my other guitars have more separation.
Quality in the long term? Who knows how long the tremolo will last if you're heavy handed with it. I will be using it for subtle expression, not divebombs. If the wood warps within the next few years, it would still probably be worth it for the price anyway.
It would be perfect if Thomann could sell these trems as spare parts. I'd buy one right now for 80€ - 90€, as a future replacement.
Thanks as always to the purchase and delivery team, and to Correos, who are consistently awesome at delivering to small islands.
