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SKU BALA-ASTRA-STD-BLKBURST

Balaguer Astra Standard Guitars, Blackburst, Ebony Fretboard, Flame Maple Top

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$899.00
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Player's Perspective

Music Store Live is proud to welcome Balaguer Guitars to the family. We are now an authorized dealer of these awesome instruments that play well above their price point. Their goal is a simple one: to build high quality instruments while maintaining affordability in a world where you're having to spend more and more money to get a decently built guitar.

This Astra is one mean machine. It's a true rocker and the trunobucker pickups provide some hot output for high gain applications. But these pickups also sound really warm when cleaned up. We'd say this guitar was certainly designed for a rocker, but it can handle anything from jazz to heavy metal. The clarity and articulation in the pickups are really impressive and even when loaded with saturation you can distinctly hear each note played. The ebony fretboard also provides some great clarity and brightness in the tone.

The neck is very comfortable and it's great for shredding, but it's not going to be paper thin either. You've got a nice chunk of wood to hold onto while flying up and down the fretboard. The overall construction and fit and finish of this is hard to beat for this price point. The guitar arrived here already with very low action and playability is a breeze.

Affordability meets high quality - that's what Balaguer guitars are all about and here's another prime example of that.

Manufacturer's Description

Our goal at Balaguer Guitars is to build instruments that translate your creativity in the truest way. We want to offer you the instrument of your dreams, but at an affordable price. In order to achieve this we've partnered with some of the best production facilities worldwide. The Standard Series are built in China to our exact specifications at a factory that maintains ethical and fair labor practices. Our Select Series come with premium specs and are handcrafted in South Korea by a small shop of trained luthiers, only 7 people to be exact. These luthiers all have over 15-30 years of experience. This factory has been building guitars since 1985, and we chose to partner with them because their quality is top notch. Our Select Custom Series guitars are built by 3 people within a custom shop in South Korea. We are able to retain our high standards of quality and tone because we have partnered with shops/factories that share the same mindset. With that said, we also offer our limited Heritage Series instruments which are machined/built, painted, and assembled in the United States from start to finish. These builds are spec'd out and built one at a time by Joe Balaguer, and are then available for sale once the build is completed. They are signed with a unique serial number and are one of a kind.
 
Our approach to guitar design is quite simple: We love traditional designs, but feel they lack in certain areas. Areas that pertain to comfort, tone, and construction. So in our designs you'll see a deep treble horn inner carve, or a more sleek heel joint versus a block plate, and higher quality components that you normally wouldn't see on guitars in a similar price range. Come see where modern design meets vintage inspiration.
 
Truenobucker – The Truenobucker is our newest humbucker, best suited for down-tuned metal or even jazz, hence the name (trueno is Spanish for thunder). The higher output, paired with a thicker Alnico V magnet makes this set perfect for extended range instruments or down-tuned instruments requiring a wide frequency range/response. Rated at 16K for the bridge humbucker and 11.2k for the neck humbucker, they sound awesome split!

Specifications

  • Balaguer Guitars Thicket Standard
  • Satin Trans Blackburst
  • Flame Maple Top
  • Mahogany Body and Neck
  • C Neck Shape - .800" thickness @ 1st fret | .880" thickness @ 12th fret
  • Ebony Fretboard
  • White Pearloid Block Inlays
  • 16" Fretboard Radius
  • 25.5" Scale Length
  • White Body, Neck, and Headstock Binding
  • Graphtech Nut
  • 2 Volume, 2 Tone (push/pull for coil splitting), 3-Way Toggle
  • Balaguer "Truenobucker" Pickups
  • Nickel Hardware
  • Balaguer Locking Tuners
  • Tune-O-Matic Bridge
  • Balaguer Gig Bag Included
  • Instrument Weight: 7.6 lbs.

Overall Condition

Music Store Live is proud to be an authorized dealer for Balaguer. This Astra Standard is 100% brand new and is being sold with a full manufacturer's warranty.

note: The photos above may not be of the exact guitar you'll receive. The serial number may differ but specs will all be the same. Please feel free to get in touch with us for an in-hand description.

Our in-house guitar tech will inspect, test, set up, and clean all of our instruments on site prior to shipping. All of our instruments are guaranteed to be fully functional upon arrival.