Beryl Studio T Guitar Review

This review was submitted by Guitar Jar contributor: Matt

I have had this guitar for a while now and have been so impressed with its performance that I thought it was worth shouting about! It sounds great and is made beautifully!

…perfect straight out the box!…

Features:

The Studio T is based on Fender’s telecaster so has 2 single coil pickups at the neck and bridge, a 3 way selector and single tone and volume controls.

At the head we have a simple set of tuning pegs and a nice nut (which never sticks) and the Beryl custom designed headstock.

The neck is a maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard and the body is American alder. The scratch plate is ply pearl effect and the colours is limited but done well!

Ease of use:

The Studio T has a slightly wider neck than normal. We are not talking inches but mm here, but it does make a difference!

It is also slightly thinner than a standard Fender neck for example so it feel different to play, and for me really suits my hand size. It allows a hand to play in a much lower profile and is great for legato runs and funk based rhythm stuff.

All the dial are exactly where my hands want them to be with no stretching to reach the volume pot or to dial out some tone, and the 3 way switch is nice and solid.

The Body is nicely rounded at the edges so sitting or standing with it is comfortable and the jack is again exactly where you expect it. With some telecasters that I have had the jack has been just half an inch from where i wanted it to be, so in a rush I miss the jack plate, but not with this!

Sound Quality:

I have always been taught that if an electric guitar sounds good when it isn’t plugged in then it should sound good when it is. The woods on the Studio T resonate really well and there is plenty of response through the vibrations.

The pickups are great and can handle everything from jazz right through to your favourite hard rock solo!

The neck pickup is great for mellow tones and a much warmer feel but can also pull off that Paisley vibe. It is a very smooth pickup and offers a lot of tonal variation.

The bridge pickup is great for rock stuff and country picking. It has a nice attack and good bite when you push it, and can be tamed with a drop in the tone.

Blending the 2 pickups sounds great. The pickups compliment with each other really well and by blending them allows the player get a good bite from the bridge but still maintain a nice warm tone.

There is a slight out of phase sound that comes with this and is great for funk popping lines and for recording lead guitar lines.

The only criticism is that they can be a little noisy. I have found myself using a noise gate with the guitar, especially live when I am using a chain of pedals or am on a crunch sound. This being said it isn’t a massive problem, and is a fairly standard affair with single coil pickups!

Reliability:

The guitar is very reliable. The nut has never slipped on my and doesn’t stick when string bending.

The tuners whilst being standard and not locking don’t slip and hold tuning well over long periods. I have never had a problem with any of the electronics or any part of the guitar.

I took it out the box, tuned it and played it and have not needed to anything to it since. The intonation was perfect straight out the box!

Overall Rating:

This is a great guitar, and is a serious contender for the bigger manufacturers. The guitar is very well made, with great parts, and sounds just as good as any of its rivals.

If you are after a studio or live guitar you cant really go wrong, and for the price if you wanted a totally noiseless instrument you could always buy some noiseless pickups and retro fit them – but then you would have to do that to an American Fender Telecaster anyway!

This review was submitted by Guitar Jar contributor: Matt