Fazley Hot Rod FTD182SG-M Surf Green with Fixed Bridge

Fantastic value for money i cant fault it at all extremely well finished, service second to none and the best packaging i have ever had a guitar turn up in.
Thank you very much.

Fazley Hot Rod FTD182SG-M Surf Green with Fixed Bridge.
What a corker!
I really fancied this simple stripped down Strat with a nice chunky neck after seeing Phil X with his stripped down SG. Love it's simplicity and colour, also the price tag.
I wasn't expecting the earth for the low cost... but what a pleasant shock to find such good quality. For a start, I quite like a little thicker neck. I didn't need to shim it, and there were no sharp fret ends. Action was so good that it only needed a tweak. Strings were not,but I always replace them anyway. No real finish on the fretboard, but as long as I keep my strings clean it won't go grubby. I thought to probably swap out the humbucker for a decent one. No problem shelling out as the guitar was such low cost, but I didn't need to. I love the bright spanky sound, and if you back off the vol knob a little, the tone mellows nicely so the twin coil stays put. It has plenty of bite for solos without sounding thin. The Hot Rod will have its limitations with the absence of a neck pickup depending on the style you play, but I got around that easily.
It's a nice weight and very easy to play as I found out at band practice. It didn't let me down one bit. I normally take my Dean ml or my Jackson Dinky...but I was confident this little Fazley could hold its own, even in the face of that competition, and it did pretty damn well. No buzzing or feedback, just good and punchy. I am truly delighted with it, definitely gig-able and considering it's low cost its still a great sounding and eye catching little rocker. I honestly could find no fault. They also come a yellow and black tiger stripe design which look pretty cool too.
Cheers Fazely and Bax Music.

You can't really ever be disappointed with a cheap guitar...you can however be surprised and impressed...squire build for less than encore money, surprising amount of heft in the body and a pickup comparable to entry level Jackson's/ibanez's. Amazing squeaky action, nice sustain and despite the baseball bat neck actually relatively easy to get comfortable on however us long fingered big palmed fiends will adapt quicker, if your on the fence this could be the best 80-90ish quid you'll ever spend! Where were cheap good quality guitars like this when I was a kid!

Incredible value for money. Quite a light guitar despite having a very chunky maple neck. It balances well on the strap. Lacquer finish is perfectly applied to the body. The neck is a satin lacquer finish, but it felt a bit rough so I rubbed it down gently with VERY fine sandpaper and it now feels great. The frets were a little bit unfinished at the edges of the fretboard but were smooth on the crowns. Please note I have bought guitars for around £400 that were much the same. All nuts and screws were properly tightened. The truss rod was a bit tight leaving it with no relief and the action and intonation weren't properly adjusted, but these are things that should be expected of guitars under about £175. The neck thickness might not suit everybody. At the nut end it is about the thickness of a normal budget "Str*t" copy neck down at the body end (about 25mm or 1 inch), and it is the same thickness along its length rather than being tapered. All the electrics work as expected and the pickup is excellent for a guitar of this price. Tuners and bridge work as expected. I am loving the simplicity of this guitar and the thick neck suits my large hands perfectly.

For the price, this is great value. The neck is great if you like thick baseball bat necks (I do myself), the fretwork is very good, at least on par with what you find on a CV Squire (which is around 350 quid), the finish on the body is well done and nice and bright and the bridge is solid.

A word of warning though - I would NOT recommend this guitar unless you are reasonably comfortable with doing your own setups. I have had to: change the strings (the stock ones are absolute trash), re-file the nut slots (action at the nut was crazy high), set the neck relief, intonate the bridge and do a bit of sanding at the heel of the neck which was very rough looking.

The pickup is kinda muddy in the bass and otherwise unremarkable. BUT - the whole guitar was 68 quid, less than a single Lollar pickup, so overall it is excellent value for money.

Final verdict - excellent base for a project guitar if you are a budding modder or experienced player. Not good for a beginner or the less technically minded.

A great guitar, very well finished with lots of dynamics. The humbucker is incredible for that price. After a quick set-up and a new set of strings this guitar has quickly become very addictive. Definitely recommended.

This is incredible value for the price. The guitar feels solid and is better put together than some of the more common entry level brand names. It does have a fatter neck over the traditional C shape associated with S type guitars. I prefer this but it may not suit smaller hands. It has very smooth frets up and down the fretboard which in my experience is uncommon. Even the leading brands tend to pay less attention to the higher frets so the workmanship on this guitar was a pleasant surprise. The guitar was essentially ready to go out of the box, and a few inexpensive modifications could make this a very good guitar. Great for the beginner or experienced player alike.

My first guitar to learn on. Wanted basic instrument at low cost. Just had to plug in and tune up. YouTube video (guitar manifesto) is helpful for more details. Arrived on selected day as promised. Well packed in double padded package. No hassles at all. Guitar as described. Good communication throughout ie order confirmation, payment and dispatch.

This is an awesome guitar. I bought it because I wanted something to keep out, let the kids have a go on and generally not be too precious about (opposite to my R8).

The top loader bridge, set neck, 1 pickup (who honestly needs more) is a perfect no fuss guitar for maintenance. Also, sea foam green and maple - beautiful combination.

It’s not perfect, there are a few rough wood spots IF you look for them (1 or 2 on the head stock and truss rod hole), the volume pot almost does nothing until about 2 (actually it rolls off the high end), the machine head posts are rough and the pickup doesn’t align perfectly under the strings (but the strings are over the magnets and the cavity is centred as much as I can tell). I will upgrade all of these at some point, but most of these will cost more than the guitar itself.

It came not at all set up - Strings were almost saggy and in hindsight I wouldn’t even have brought them up to pitch, just change them, they are awful! The stock strings do not intonate, do not hold tune, and sound bad! Once I put a better quality string on, this guitar got sooo much better.

The things I was worried about when ordering a guitar this price was the stuff that cannot be changed. It arrived nicely put together, well finished frets and fretboard, neck plate square with the body, neck to body cavity is fine, the hardwear in the right places and straight. It doesn’t look cheap. The fret markers are dark grey (very cool) and it makes a good sound. The paint job is good. It’s a good weight, but too light but not at all heavy. It sustains well too. The nut is okay, a bit of nut sauce and a little pick here and there and it’s good (it will be replaced one day, it’s fine for now). The truss rod I assume wasn’t set up but as it is, it’s okay. On getting out of the box (standard packaging, 2 boxes, 2 Allen keys, spare lead. Bubble wrap and packing stuff) I did t think the neck was finished. Now I’ve played it, the raw feeling has gone away.

I hate hearing reviews where people say “it only cost...”, so these minor niggles are my honest take. If it was £200+ I would be taking it back. One day I will replace bits on it and have it set up professionally (my last set up cost about double what I paid for this guitar!) but this isn’t just “it’ll do” but it’s not a problem, it’s fine, but I recognise upgrades are out there.

Even just deciding to keep it (120 day free return policy - come on, how good is that? Free delivery in less than a week over £50) and now playing it in, it feels better.

It’s kind of punky, kind of surfy, no bells or whistles, striped down, simple, cool, resonant guitar. You’re not getting a Floyd Rose Ibanez, an American Strat or PRS, it’s simple and effective, if this is what you are looking for. I’ve even got over that shape of the head stock and the logo.

This is an attractive looking guitar. If it sounded as good as it looked, it would an awesome guitar for the money. My philosophy when learning the guitar was if it made me look cool, then learning would be accelerated. Learners and intermediate level players will love this guitar. It’s well built, neck is silky smooth and the colour is lush. The humbucker is ok, it makes a good noise, but could be upgraded to suit the advanced rocker. It’s well Banian Ed and light to hold. Nice one Fazley. TB