“Despite having guitars twice the price in our possession, we found ourselves reaching for the MS-1 more often”: Soloking MS-1 Custom review

You can’t move for references to ‘premium-spec electric guitars at a budget price’ when shopping for a new axe these days. When it comes to value for money, modern players have never been so spoiled, with more roasted maple necks, stainless steel frets, and third-party hardware than we can shake a derivative headstock at. Frankly, it’s a brilliant time to go guitar shopping.

The Soloking MS-1 Custom comes via YouTube kings Andertons, who have an exclusive distribution deal for the China-based budget brand in the UK and Europe. Aiming to go headstock to headstock with the big players of the guitar world, this hot-rod double-cut is packing some serious specs to tempt players from more established names.

It’s a seriously good-looking guitar, with its Bengal Burst finish offering an almost holographic ripple effect when viewed close up. There were a few tiny blemishes on the review model we received, but nothing that would be noticeable from a stand or on stage.

The roasted maple neck and fretboard combo is similarly attractive, and flawlessly presented with only a few small knots near the neck heel to betray the guitar’s actual price point.

The MS-1 isn’t just some Love Island looker, either; it’s packing serious shred playability. The roasted maple neck is billed as a modern ‘D’ profile and the feel is very much in Ibanez RG territory, albeit not quite that slinky. It still feels super-slick with legato runs, and bending on the jumbo stainless steel frets is a satisfying feeling that’ll keep you coming back for more.

It’s brilliant fun to play, and despite having guitars twice the price in our possession, we found ourselves reaching for the MS-1 more often.

Alan Entwistle is a well-seasoned bobbin-tweaker with decades of pedigree, having most notably been involved in Burns guitars (among many others). Boy, were we impressed with these Dark Star humbuckers.

Using a clean Fender amp tone it delivered articulate and dynamic sounds perfect for prog-metal arpeggiated interludes and silky-smooth lead work. At the other end of the spectrum, they were perfectly happy going all-out via an Orange tube combo amp, delivering a powerful roar for distortion-laden power chords and plenty of cut in the bridge position.

There’s a lot of competition at this price point, and having played our fair share of similarly priced guitars, we can say without a doubt that the Soloking MS-1 Custom is right up there with the big-name brands.

Considering we’re in a cost of living crisis, unless you really care about the name on your headstock, we see no reason why this brilliant guitar shouldn’t make your list if you are looking for a lot of features at a low price point.

Specs

• PRICE: £349
• BODY: Alder with flame maple veneer
• NECK: Roasted maple
• FINGERBOARD: Roasted maple, 25.5” scale, 9.5” radius
• FRETS: 22, jumbo stainless steel
• PICKUPS: 2x Alan Entwistle Dark Star coil-split neodymium humbucker
• CONTROLS: Master volume, master tone, coil-split switch, three-way selector
• HARDWARE: Wilkinson two-point tremolo, Wilkinson locking tuners
• FINISH: Bengal Burst (as reviewed), Fire Wakesurf, Turquoise Wakesurf
• CONTACT: Soloking