Beginner's gone semi-pro! (Encore KC3)

Member Name: sparksteroid

Product:	Encore KC3
Date:	12/12/08 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sturdy, reliable guitar, Good sound.

Disadvantages: It's say Encore on it!

Encore are a guitar company that have pretty much managed to retain a certain bad reputation about themselves, unnecessarily. The first time I heard of them was when they used to produce extremely cheap children's and beginner's guitars for catalogue company, Argos. These guitars were extremely cheap and tacky and really intended more as a beginner's messabout guitar, cheap in both price and quality, to learn on. This is how Encore have managed to build their bad reputation in the world of guitars.

However, a few years ago they were taken over by a well renowned guitar company called John Hornby. This was when they decided to start producing decent quality guitars to a higher technical specification. Around about this time I was without a guitar at all, so my other half offered to buy me an affordable one. She bought me the new out Encore KC3. I was expecting it to be cheap, tacky and just intended on using it purely for practise.

When the guitar arrived I was pleasantly surprised. This is basically another copy of the Fender Stratocaster, exactly the same as any other strat copy, even the one's made by Squier (which is a division of Fender). The guitar is quite weighty, solid in design and for any guitarists out there even the action had been taken into consideration for the best performance. Like any other strat, it comes with three single coil pickups and a five way selector switch, aswell as a tremolo arm (also known as a whammy bar).

I was extremely impressed and absolutely delighted with the guitar, that also came with a BB Blaster 15watt practise amplifier. The guitar was beautiful to play, it has a great sound, plenty of sustain and is definitely solid enough for live gigs. However, any guitarist who takes an Encore on to the stage in front of anyone who knows about guitars, it is sure to become somewhat of a joke due to their previous reputation, which really is a shame.

The BB Blaster amplifier that comes with the KC3 is not exactly the best practise amp available and it would have been nice to have either a Crate, Fender or a Marshall amp though they really are top names and would never be supplied with an Encore anyway. I do feel that the sound of the BB Blaster, especially when the distortion button is pressed, lets down the sound of the actual guitar somewhat.

Going through the documentation supplied with the guitar, it's clear that a lot more work has gone into the design and specifications of the instrument and they have intended the guitar to be suitable for semi-professionals and state themselves that the guitar is best suited to live gigs in reasonable small venues. I have had the guitar for around eighteen months now and have had now problems whatsoever, in fact, it has performed just as well (if not better) than my previous Epiphone Les Paul Standard. At the time it cost £180 with the amp though is now available from certain manufacturers for around £40-£60.

Whilst the old Encore beginner's guitars are cheap and tacky and more or less just a 'toy' and Encore have built their bad reputation, the Encore KC3 is one well built and very sturdy guitar, great in performance, that is sure to impressive all guitarists, especially one's who have previously experience of Encore.

Summary: A surprisingly stable and sturdy electric guitar with a decent sound & quality