Oscar Schmidt OE40 Review

Washburn Eliminator Jazz Series pickups deliver warm, vintage tone enhanced by the maple top, back, and sides. Appointments include pearl inlays on the rosewood fingerboard and snazzy gold hardware. This baby delivers looks and tone all out of scale with its diminutive price.

Features:	6
Sound:	6
Action:	5
Reliability:	5
Impression:	5.7
Overall rating:	5.5
Users rating:	6.2
Comments:	5

Featured review by: unregistered, on april 12, 2005

Price paid: $ 230

Purchased from: www.jafguitar.com

Features: Purchased new from www.jafguitar.com, imported from China and distributed through their plant in Mundelien Ill. The guitar does not have the full 22 frets, but does have sweet tone and a fat body. A thicker, full-bodied jazz styled guitar. Has a maple top & body, twin Washburn HH pickups, with twin volume and tone controls, grover tuners, pearl fingerboard inlay, adjustable rosewood bridge, rosewood fingerboard, fully adjustable neck, high gloss finish and limited lifetime warranty. // 6

Sound: My style is very eclectic, mostly '70s rock, bluegrass, jazz and country. I have an Ampeg V stack. I like to play it clean on the neck pickup with the tone an volume pots at about 7 for that fat warm sound. In the opposite config, I can also get that Stray Cat sound with a little overdrive and full tone and volume from the treble pickup. It is a little bit thin sounding, but that is the expected sound from this style of guitar. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: The OE40 came fully set up, low action and good intonation. I changed the strings, because the strings included were pretty cheap and turned my fingers black. Fret ends were smoothed, high gloss finish was flawless. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This is a solid guitar, it doesn't play like my ES, but it doesn't cost like it did either! // 6

Impression: I've been playing for over 20 years, in bands on the west coast, and in Germany. I chose this guitar to have that fat, Stray Cat, Nugent sound and so I didn't have to pay big bucks to enjoy it. // 6

overall: 7.8

Reviewed by: axe o power, on february 18, 2006

Price paid: $ 200

Purchased from: Musician's Friend

Features: // 10

Sound: This guitar is straight up jazz even with distortion Drive anything it sounds the same, this could be a positiv or negtive. Also there is a hum to the humbuckers you can fix it if you get a noisless humbuckers but I know me and most jazz guitarist like the hum also most hollow body do have a hum. People who know there history know this. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: When I got the guitar I set it up and it has great action. // 5

Reliability & Durability: This guitar is prety tough. Don't put heavy strings on it will "destroy the frets." It dosen scratch or dent easily and is esy to sholder throu gigs. Stays in tune good. As soon as you get the guitar check over it multiple times I had to send mine back 3 times and the one I ended up with had a crack pick guard but thats nothing compared to some of the other stuff that was wrong with the previous ones. // 7

Impression: My overall impression of this OE40 is that its good for the prise I would also consider looking into Ibanez hollow bodies. // 9

overall: 2

Reviewed by: Mini_Jimmy_Page, on april 13, 2005

Features: // 2

Sound: This is the worst guitar ever made sound wise it's choppy has a bad and weak sound horrable tone can't even play it with mass distortion it still sucks! I didn't care for it one bit. // 2

Action, Fit & Finish: The action hows this for you afeter a year of keeping it pearfect not one scratch or any thing the neck fell off. I was playing it and the neck felt lose, then next thing you know its hangin there by the strings. The action had to be reajusted countless times for every set of strings I got. The finish was the best thing it came in black didn't chip or any thing. // 2

Reliability & Durability: // 2

Impression: It is one of the worst guitars ever made I would play a Squire $99 guitar over this thing any day. I've moved on to a Schecter C-1 classic and I'm happy! // 2

Comments

[595Metallica595]

i bet that guitar is a PIECE OF SH*T

[jazz4on6]

I think the guitar sounds real good for the price. Maple wood is always great for that blues and jazz/fusion sound. for the price I would install new EMG's H1 A B/N for the neck pickup and the H4 "BALLS TO WALLS" at the bridge pickup. I sold a Jay Turser
Wes Montgomery remake with these EMG's for $800. I paid $250 at a pawn shop and sold it for $800. I have a Gibson 335 blonde all maple body that for the investment is original and will stay that way. The OE40 allows you to create your own sound at a low investment. Someone will end up on the cover of Guitar with the OE40.

[Daveybo]

I think this guitar is very good value and mine will play with guitars two or three times as costly and beat hell outta them usually! It looks like some get bad ones and some get good ones.Quality control would be to blame for that.I am just glad i got a great one and especially for the price!

[pokeymata]

Odd about the neck falling off, this thing is so heavy and solid, it's hard to imagine. Though it's unamped sound is not much to listen to because it's so heavy, nothing delicate about the top, it's all pickups. But the ones that came with mine sound really nice.
I got it cheap, secondhand under 150.00, and it's nice as a good everyday laying around guitar that can take punishment along with not worrying too much about taking it in and out of temperature. Again, not delicate on sound, but a solid piece of wood.

[metharian]

First guitar i owned and all i can say is that i hate it. Compared to my friends squire this is roadkill