No really, it's not as funny as all that. O.K. so it's not exactly sate of the art, and maybe you wouldn't see Eddie Van Halen clutching it to his bosom during his next world tour but for eighty quid what do you expect?

Even so if the moment your eyes struck the page you decided to abandon your new Charvel for one of these then you'll get a guitar that isn't totally unusable. I think it was designed with the busker in mind as I've seen it advertised as, surprise, surprise, the Busker and if you're not worried by the thought of complete strangers laughing at you in the street then it fulfils this task very well.

For the less observant of you out there there is a speaker built into the guitar so there is no need for an amp. Another feature is a jack socket for a microphone so you can sing through it too! When was the last time you saw a Les Paul that could do that eh?

But down to business. It is possibly the lightest guitar that I've ever played so there is no problem with the weight despite the added bits and pieces. The controls for this wondrous peice of technology are as straightforward as on any guitar. The volume control controls the volume and the tone controls the tone.

You then have another volume control for the microphone and a tremelo control. Yes it even has it's own built in tremelo so you can make it sound like a Bontempi organ. It has three jack sockets on the bottom one for a mike, one for a nine volt mains converter (not as dodgy as it sounds) and one for an amplifier.

If you do decide to plug it into an amp the speaker on the guitar cuts out and the result is a completely different, but ever-distorted, sound. When it goes through an amp it loses the fuzz and takes on an intense screaming sound which is lovely and tinny. The tremelo is very quiet and is more noticeable when used through an amp but it doesn't sound too good. My advice is don't bother. I mean you may think it sounds bad but that is nothing compared to the way it looks. For a start it's not even a convincing Les Paul copy but to make things worse they've contoured the body like a strat and finished it with fake EMG picks-ups and red binding a la Washburn! Bleurrghhh! Still there's no accounting for taste...

This guitar is really what you make it and there are a couple of things that it does brilliantly. The first is that with the volume half up it does a great Billy Bragg sound and with the volume and the tremelo right up you get instant Cramps, Stooges, Gun Club garage grunge. Horrible action, won't stay in tune, the bridge is a disgrace it's so cheap and the tuning pegs look as if they have been ripped off a classical guitar. Great! Go out and treat yourself to a few minutes playing one of the most fun guitars ever and annoy your local dealer into the bargain. And if you do decide to buy one don't blame me if your friends won't talk to you.

KAY BUSKER: £79