Powercaster or Meteora experiences

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.
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Gonkboy
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Powercaster or Meteora experiences

Post by Gonkboy » Sun Jul 14, 2019 2:36 am

Has anybody tried either of these new Fenders?
I rock an SG right now, but I'm looking for a bolt on neck guitar that is in the same ballpark sound wise.

Let me know if you've tried either of them.
Thanks.
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marqueemoon
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Re: Powercaster or Meteora experiences

Post by marqueemoon » Sun Jul 14, 2019 5:38 am

Gonkboy wrote:
Sun Jul 14, 2019 2:36 am
Has anybody tried either of these new Fenders?
I rock an SG right now, but I'm looking for a bolt on neck guitar that is in the same ballpark sound wise.

Let me know if you've tried either of them.
Thanks.
I’ve plugged in both versions of the Meteora, but I’ve only strummed the Powercaster unplugged.

Both are well made. The HH Meteora isn’t super Fender-y due to the humbuckers and TOM, and I suspect the Powercaster would be the same.

The humbuckers in the Meteora seemed pretty middle of the road in terms of output.

The roasted maple neck on the Powercaster is a definite plus, but the placement of the output jack is a bit silly.

I think it mainly comes down to what scale length you like/want.

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Futuron
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Re: Powercaster or Meteora experiences

Post by Futuron » Sun Jul 14, 2019 5:22 pm

I bought a Powercaster, but I've never owned a Gibson scale, a P90 or humbucker guitar to compare it with, for your point of view.

But from a mostly-used-to-Fender point of view: I find it very comfortable to hold (like a Jag) and play. Sounds good to me, not harsh sounding but beefy. Plenty of power without much added gain required. I like the control positions, only guitar I've never bumped a switch accidentally. But yes, the output jack has a weird and inconvenient placement.

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jesterpunk68
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Re: Powercaster or Meteora experiences

Post by jesterpunk68 » Sun Jul 14, 2019 6:52 pm

Nick Reinhart gets some pretty good sounds out of one, he comes on around 13:00 in this video then really starts playing around 25 minutes.


https://youtu.be/NJylL0tcUmc


I have played one in a music store and the roasted maple neck feels really good on the power caster, it is just a little shorter then my favorite jazzmaster but it is comfortable to play.

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Sid Nitzerglobin
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Re: Powercaster or Meteora experiences

Post by Sid Nitzerglobin » Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:00 pm

I played a couple of the MIM Meteoras for about a half hour or so and while they seemed like solid offerings (if a bit pricier than I'd probably go for for what they seemed to be) I didn't have to have one.

TBH, some of it was likely the really light Pau Ferro boards on the ones I encountered. Seems like they'd be functionally equivalent to rosewood but were a fairly major eye sore for my proclivities.

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Re: Powercaster or Meteora experiences

Post by SignoftheDragon » Wed Jul 24, 2019 6:57 am

Played around with a couple Meteoras at the local shop- seemed decent enough, but not what I was 'there' for.

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Re: Powercaster or Meteora experiences

Post by Pacafeliz » Wed Jul 24, 2019 8:11 am

I found the Powercaster to be very heavy, when I tried one out...
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Re: Powercaster or Meteora experiences

Post by bmorepunk » Fri Jul 26, 2019 11:22 am

I'm primarily an SG player (for like 17 years). I tried the Powercaster and really like that roasted maple neck. I like medium vintage output pickups, and that Atomic Humbucker is a face-ripper so I don't know if I would be able to leave it in there.

It plays like an offset, and so your upper fret access isn't going to be what you want on an SG. If that fret access is critical, I'd suggest checking out a Yamaha Revstar RS820CR; the retail price is about $100 more than the Powercaster and it's a pretty amazing guitar that is SG-like in playability. Other option would be a Reverend Sensei or a LP Double Cut if you want to start kicking out more dollar bills.

When I played the Powercaster, I didn't think "this is worth $900 to me". If I can find one used for like $500 one day I might pick it up. But if I was going to buy a new guitar I wouldn't feel like it was a good value.

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