Quality gear... who knew?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Time to close this thread IMO. It will only continue to go downhill otherwise.

That ship sailed 12 pages ago...

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

That's why this thread is at page 12, because nobody will accept the simple point that every distinction between an MIA and an import comes down to matters of preference.

No, the thread is at page 12 because YOU won't let it go until everyone else agrees with your opinion. You listen to nothing anyone else says, and every time someone gives his own opinion, you tell him how your opinion is the only valid one. I don't know what makes you think you're better than everyone else in this thread, and I don't know why you think it's some kind of victory that you're able to run some sort of argumentative marathon. Now that I think about it, I don't know why I'm typing this post.

[treyhaislip]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

I have owned imported and domestic Fender Strats and Gibson Les Pauls. Hands down, the Americans had better quality in these ways:

-finish work was flawless (pointless IMO to try and fix this on any guitar really for the amount of time and work but that's just me)
-frets were level and required zero fretwork/leveling, also the frets not felt on the sides of the board (imports can be leveled/sanded/filed down, etc)
-tuners held in tune and had a better ratio (could be modded upgraded on imports)
-electronics were noisy (both my Epi LP and Fender MIM had crappy electronics in them that would fiz/crackle until I replaced them)
-pickups had the tone I was after (can be modded on imports–I personally never swapped pickups in my American gear, they came with high quality pickups that I would put in the imports)
-neck had the shape and radius I wanted (the MIM Strat had a thinner string spacing and a fatter neck, the Epi LP just felt cheap but I can't put any other word to why I didn't like it)

So I couldn't completely mod the Epi nor the MIM Strat to equal my American gear. I did put American Strat pickups and electronics in the MIM and it sounded night and day better to me personally, but it still didn't play the way I liked because the neck was fatter and had shorter string spacing. About a year and a half ago I started assembling my own–so I only use electrics that I build how I want them...and for necks I use the same specs as a Fender MIA.

Just for kicks, "Quality" as defined by Merriam Webster:

1
a : peculiar and essential character : nature <her ethereal quality — Gay Talese>
b : an inherent feature : property <had a quality of stridence, dissonance — Roald Dahl>
c : capacity, role <in the quality of reader and companion — Joseph Conrad>
2
a : degree of excellence : grade <the quality of competing air service — Current Biography>
b : superiority in kind <merchandise of quality>
3
a : social status : rank
b : aristocracy
4
a : a distinguishing attribute : characteristic <possesses many fine qualities>
b archaic : an acquired skill : accomplishment
5
: the character in a logical proposition of being affirmative or negative
6
: vividness of hue
7
a : timbre
b : the identifying character of a vowel sound determined chiefly by the resonance of the vocal chambers in uttering it
8
: the attribute of an elementary sensation that makes it fundamentally unlike any other sensation
See quality defined for English-language learners
See quality defined for kids

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

How is maintaining it easier? How does it play better?

Price is divorced from the equation since we're simply comparing the guitars and not their merits of value. If you actually list a quality of the MIA that is better, not "nicer", then we can talk about whether or not it's even worth the $500 extra to get at that particular "better quality", or whatever the difference happens to be.

When I was in second grade, a student teacher had us write I structions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for someone who had never made one. However detailed each of our instructions were, no one mentioned the need to open the jar. She used that to illustrate the importance of being thorough.

I always thought that was stupid, and something like "open the jar" really didn't need to be explained. I am rethinking my stance on this.