Sterling by Music Man Cutlass CT50HSS Electric Guitar Silver

this guitar is amazing, it was my first electric and i would get it again and again the neck is so smooth and your hand slides up and down it fluidly. i'm 14 and i've been playing guitar since i was 8 and this was the best beginner guitar i could have asked for.

First, I guess I got super lucky with this one. I was not intending to buy anything until I saw this CT50 TB for near $200 off. Watched a few videos, and was sold on upgrading my 15 year old intro Ibanez. This is an excellent guitar, and it has brought me back to electric after almost exclusively playing acoustic for years! It made me want to take care of it unlike my old guitars. Now I know what an actual set up guitar feels like to play, and I realize what has been holding me back all of these years! I do agree with others that the single pickups can be a little shrill on the top end, but it isn't that bad, and a swap for some Seymour Duncan's down the line would bring this guitar to the next level. I need to warn beginners here that might not know what they're getting into. A tremolo (whammy bar) can be an incredible pain to set up properly. I did not know this when I bought the guitar, but it took me about 2 weeks of trying to finally get my trem floated and my strings staying in tune. I learned a lot and I definitely recommend trying it, but just do some research on 2 point tremolo bridges if you don't know what that is. It's super worth it to properly float the trem bridge so you can bend your pitch way down, as well as a half or whole step up. Tuning is a hassle when you change strings, but once everything stretches out the strings should hardly go out of tune, even if you slam on that whammy. You can always just bring it to a Luthier for a full setup if you don't mind spending the money.

Yes I am that stereotype 65 year old guy that was shopping for his first guitar. I had been to a couple of GC stores trying a few Epiphones, Squiers, Ibanez guitars to get a feel for them. Plus watched many YouTube videos. Was going to get an Ibanez HSS, while the sales guy was showing an Epiphone LP at a really good price, which I almost bought. However, I then browsed some more and found this Sterling on sale. HSS pickups, locking tuners, cool color (yes that still matters) and it felt really good. It's been two weeks now and I am faithfully practicing everyday. I am so glad I bought this for comfort first as a beginner, the LP styles that I tried just felt too heavy and bulky and I need to concentrate on learning and this model just blends in with me as I sit an try scales and chords. Another plus is it really stays in tune with usually just one string off a single flat/sharp. The sounds I am getting are thrilling, learning the difference between the pickups and amp settings. Completely satisfied with this guitar.

I found this Toluca Blue locally and I can verify it's a true CT50 HSS. I was shocked to find the Toluca Blue in HSS with a Tortoise Shell pickguard. Bought it on sale and it's gorgeous! If you can find one, get it! The same store just got the Silver in this week, so it's possible these are just being sent to certain stores as extra stock of tested colorways. It doesn't quite make sense, but I've seen it before. As for guitar, it plays great and sounds solid. The trem steals the show for this price range, especially if you can get one on sale. The pickups are much bolder than the Fender Players series, which is both good and bad. They sound like a stock higher output attempt at vintage. The Humbucker is very smooth. It rolls off that trebly bite of of the single coils.