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Are Fernandes guitars good?


Big Muff

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I've tried a Fenandes Elite series, can't remember the model though (it looked like an explorer). The guitar played and sounded good, the sustainer was a lot of fun.

 

I didn't think it was quite worth the $1000 they sell for new, but I've seen them as low as $450 used which I think is worth it. I was going to buy it when GC reduced it to $450 but someone else got to it first.

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Yea my reason for buying this guitar is for the sustainer. I was just hoping to get a decent guitar along with it. I would just install a sustainer in one of my other guitars but I hear it's a pretty big job so I thought why not just buy a guitar with it already installed.

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As with any brand,some are good and some are {censored}.

Naturally the prices of the better ones will reflect that to a degree...

Some low-end Ferns Ive played were simply horrible,while some higher-end models I tried were great.

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Does the sustainer take a little getting used to? I have never played one before and don't exactly know what I'm getting into. But ever since I saw the Steve Vai live in astoria dvd I have wanted a sustainer guitar badly.

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Yea my reason for buying this guitar is for the sustainer. I was just hoping to get a decent guitar along with it. I would just install a sustainer in one of my other guitars but I hear it's a pretty big job so I thought why not just buy a guitar with it already installed.

 

 

Good thinking - having just gone through a Sustainiac installation, I can tell you that it's a huge job. Before this I had a Fernandes Revolver Pro (Strat style guitar w/Floyd Rose). My main reason for having it was for the Sustainer, which was great. As a guitar it was fair - not fantastic, not terrible. The neck was pretty chunky, but I got used to it after a while. I don't know what kind of wood the body was, but it was pretty light and seemed to dent easier than my other guitars. I swapped out the stock bridge pickup and put in a Gibson humbucker which made a nice difference. Overall, it was a decent guitar,but the sustainer made it special.

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Does the sustainer take a little getting used to? I have never played one before and don't exactly know what I'm getting into. But ever since I saw the Steve Vai live in astoria dvd I have wanted a sustainer guitar badly.

 

 

 

Yes, it does take some getting used to. You have to mute any strings you aren't using because the sustainer will make them all ring when active.

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i love my fernandes strat and i've played some very nice ravelles (in the store where i work).

 

the ravelles had the lowest action I've ever played. seriously, scary low. no buzzing or choking, either.

 

haven't used a sustainer system.

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Got me a Ravelle Kushner new. Sustainer sounds great but the whole system is a novelty for me, since its not something I'd use. Neck and middle sound outstanding, and the thing is a beauty to look at (body style is how one would expect an LP would look after letting an artist do a rhapsody on the theme.) If you find a deal on a Ravelle, don't look askance.

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I have 4 Fernandes: A Retrorocket Elite, An older Revolver Pro, a Ravelle Deluxe and a Palisade acoustic and I play out with them all. Like Kentuckyklira said, the X series (all bolt neck guitars) are the bargain entry series and they are OK, but they are bargain guitars. I am a Fernandes dealer, so I've pretty much seen them all, and the best build quality is the Ravelle Deluxes and Elites, the Vortex Elites, the Lexingtons and Vertigo Elites. The Revolver Pros are right up there in build quality with the Ravelles which make them the biggest bargains in Sustainer equipped guitars IMO. The RetroRocket Elites, have pretty much the same neck quality of the Revolvers, but the RRElites have the most comprehensive Sustainer implementation, with a tone control active while the Sustainer is engaged, and a the mixed mode Sustainer capability. The best tone out of a RetroRocket, again in IMO, is the RetroRocket Pro Maple, which has more traditional pickups (not Hotrails).

 

I've yet to lay hands on a Revolver Elite (new for 2007 and not yet available) but it promises, at least to in writing, to be the best of the line...wish the had not done a barbed wire inlay though.

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I have 4 Fernandes: A Retrorocket Elite, An older Revolver Pro, a Ravelle Deluxe and a Palisade acoustic and I play out with them all. Like Kentuckyklira said, the X series (all bolt neck guitars) are the bargain entry series and they are OK, but they are bargain guitars. I am a Fernandes dealer, so I've pretty much seen them all, and the best build quality is the Ravelle Deluxes and Elites, the
Vortex
Elites, the Lexingtons and Vertigo Elites. The Revolver Pros are right up there in build quality with the Ravelles which make them the biggest bargains in Sustainer equipped guitars IMO. The RetroRocket Elites, have pretty much the same neck quality of the Revolvers, but the RRElites have the most comprehensive Sustainer implementation, with a tone control active while the Sustainer is engaged, and a the mixed mode Sustainer capability. The best tone out of a RetroRocket, again in IMO, is the RetroRocket Pro Maple, which has more traditional pickups (not Hotrails).


I've yet to lay hands on a Revolver Elite (new for 2007 and not yet available) but it promises, at least to in writing, to be the best of the line...wish the had not done a barbed wire inlay though.

 

 

So you think that the vortex is a good guitar? I don't have a guitar center around here so this will probably be bought online. Also I have seen on some sites that the vortex is only back for a limited time. Is this true? I would hate to see it discontinued once I have the money.

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  • 1 month later...
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well i am able to comment now i have the available JAPAN ONLY BURNY LES PAUL with a sustainer essentially its a Ravelle with a actual les paul shape. (They get pumped out of the same factory) PD $400 used with a dent in the back

the sustainer is unbelievable it is weird to play but once it gets going i hold my right hand muting the strings i didn't want to ring (say 6-3) you can adjust the timing of how long B4 the harmonic rings thru... also try using a wah to control the freq of the harmonic feedback man it sounded like a keyboard

another thing i started doing was to hit the sustainer when i wanted that feedback then turning hit off for the next passage This works really well like this especially since I can't generate the volume to achieve the feedback to control i just hit the switch when i would normally walk toward teh amp to attempt to generate feedback with this its sure fire and i dont even have to move!

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  • 13 years later...
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On 3/4/2007 at 6:47 PM, Brian Krashpad said:

My Fernandes Native X, a lower model, was OK but not great. Good value.

 

My Ravelle, which I bought used but minty, is fantastic. Sounds and plays as nice as my USA guitars from other makers. Of course I paid twice as much used for it than I did new for my Native X.

Just found this guitar online  for £115 is it worth getting.? Are the pickups muddy 

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