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Like many on this forum, I'm middle aged and have been playing since 1983 or so. And like many, I have no fond memories of the import guitars from the 1980s.
Today I had an hour to spare in a small shop and I spent it grabbing a dozen or so guitars off the wall for a quick unplugged test spin. Some used, most new, none more than around $1400 and most under $800.
Learned that I really prefer hollowbody and semis over solids. No big surprise, I have owned quite a few over the years. Great for punk and rock imo.
The real surprise is that I had to look for the "Made in ..." stickers to figure out which ones were USA (a Music Man), Mexico (a Fender), or Korea (couple Gretches, an Agile, a couple others). Some of the Korean guitars have that solid, "quality" feel that I usually only expect from American or better Japanese guitars. The hardware was a bit hinky on some of them, but boy the necks, bodies, and finishes felt nice. The worst I tried was a Vintage-brand Les Paul copy, the best were one of the 4 Gretches I picked up (double cut full hollow?), but if you pointed a gun at me and said "get on stage and play!" I could live with any of them and could truly enjoy about half of them.
Next step is plug some in. I suspect that may be the Achilles heel on the sub-$800 models? No plan to buy any new guitars, I just cruise this shop for used deals. Their used prices are erratic, which means sometimes below market value.
Last thought: man, a brand-new Chinese Bigsby is STIFF!
Today I had an hour to spare in a small shop and I spent it grabbing a dozen or so guitars off the wall for a quick unplugged test spin. Some used, most new, none more than around $1400 and most under $800.
Learned that I really prefer hollowbody and semis over solids. No big surprise, I have owned quite a few over the years. Great for punk and rock imo.
The real surprise is that I had to look for the "Made in ..." stickers to figure out which ones were USA (a Music Man), Mexico (a Fender), or Korea (couple Gretches, an Agile, a couple others). Some of the Korean guitars have that solid, "quality" feel that I usually only expect from American or better Japanese guitars. The hardware was a bit hinky on some of them, but boy the necks, bodies, and finishes felt nice. The worst I tried was a Vintage-brand Les Paul copy, the best were one of the 4 Gretches I picked up (double cut full hollow?), but if you pointed a gun at me and said "get on stage and play!" I could live with any of them and could truly enjoy about half of them.
Next step is plug some in. I suspect that may be the Achilles heel on the sub-$800 models? No plan to buy any new guitars, I just cruise this shop for used deals. Their used prices are erratic, which means sometimes below market value.
Last thought: man, a brand-new Chinese Bigsby is STIFF!
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