Grassroots Guitars

[UberMetalDood]

I thought I should let you know, if you're not already aware of these awesome values, that Grassroots (owned by ESP, Indonesian made) offers some incredible values in guitars and basses. While here in Japan, I tried several Grassroots guitars and compared them with ESP, Edwards, Ibanez, and Fender Japan.

I must say, the Grassroots models I tried were better than Indonesian Ibanezes, Epiphone and American market Schecters... and they beat up LTD's. They're are really good quality; so good in fact, that you really don't consider the fact that they're made in Indonesia.

They look awesome. The finishes are high quality. The frets and actions are really great and the intonation is great. I couldn't find a flaw in those guitars except that the electronics aren't as good as the Edwards stuff, but put in some Seymour Duncans and you got a contender.

If you're looking for a really high quality guitar that not only plays and sounds incredible, but don't have the money for an expensive guitar, you have to check out Grassroots. Think of them as higher quality ESP LTD's.

This particular model in the picture is one that I really liked:

 

[JeffB]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

Yup, they are basically ESP's "epiphone"

Navigator-Gibson Custom shop
ESP/Edwards- Gibson production*
Grassroots-Epiphone



*frankly Edwards/ESP much better on average build quality wise than Gibson production

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

Cool; I'll have to check em out.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

Cool; I'll have to check em out.

Overseas sales only- I saw one of the Les Pauls listed on ebay once that was in the USA, and I've played it (local dude). Nice guitar-worth it if it's over here, not so sure they are worth it by the time you factor in $150 bucks for shipping from Japan, and any possible customs fees.

Edwards on the other hand- definitely worth the jack, though I much prefer Tokai when it comes to Les Pauls.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

Edwards used to be a better deal. they were a couple hundred bucks less, so when you figure in the $150 shipping, you still are ahead. The V's and explorers are now $900, so you are running about gibby pricing with the shipping. Everything is going up, so no biggie I guess. Still great axes.

Jeffb,

Are you talking preferring new Tokais or older ones?

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

Overseas sales only- I saw one of the Les Pauls listed on ebay once that was in the USA, and I've played it (local dude). Nice guitar-worth it if it's over here, not so sure they are worth it by the time you factor in $150 bucks for shipping from Japan, and any possible customs fees.

Edwards on the other hand- definitely worth the jack, though I much prefer Tokai when it comes to Les Pauls.

I've seen them on Ebay for $600-700. If you sent an email to one of the sellers, I'll bet you can get them shipped to you for $750-800, which is a pretty great deal considering the quality is superior to (possibly) any Indonesian made instrument.

Edwards used to be a better deal. they were a couple hundred bucks less, so when you figure in the $150 shipping, you still are ahead. The V's and explorers are now $900, so you are running about gibby pricing with the shipping. Everything is going up, so no biggie I guess. Still great axes.

Jeffb,

Are you talking preferring new Tokais or older ones?

Edwards have gone up but what you're getting is in the class of Suhr, Charvel Custom shop, Tom Anderson, etc... You still save $800-1000 on average for comparable models.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

Jeffb,

Are you talking preferring new Tokais or older ones?

Both- assuming MIJ manufacture. The MIK ones (ALS series) are OK, but deifnitely not worth the shipping/customs.

The Tokais just get all the details done better than an Edwards, which is slightly undersized, has a different top carve, thicker finish (on the "lacquer taste" models which is lacquer OVER poly...), and inappropriately sized binding.

That said, I wouldn't pass up the right Edwards, mine was damn near flawless in construction & fret/nut work and played as well as any Historic I've handled. Here are some pics of my old one

And yeah, prices have definitely gone up. That said, I trust an Edwards 67 style V to be a better built instrument at the same price point as a current Gibson V, and also they use the old style raised fingeboard & long tenon which Gibson no longer does. It makes for a better neck angle, stability, and playability. Current Gibson V necks are very easy to bend out of tune if you are fretting hard or move around while still holding a chord. Very cool if you are doing the Schenker style neck/headstock bends, but it's too easy to do accidentally, as opposed to on purpose like Mikey does

You can see the original style raised board here

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

There's a good reason why you don't see these guitars stateside very much, and it's not copyright and trademark infringements. They don't want to look bad period.

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

Maaaan those are sweet lookin' guitars.

 

[marvelous_seven]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

Thats funny,because I live in Indonesia and haven't see any Grassroots in guitar stores yet. Maybe they are exported to Japan and we have to get it there,I don't know.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

Thats funny,because I live in Indonesia and haven't see any Grassroots in guitar stores yet. Maybe they are exported to Japan and we have to get it there,I don't know.

My mistake, they're made in Korea. You can find them on Ebay and there are several videos on youtube.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

Both- assuming MIJ manufacture. The MIK ones (ALS series) are OK, but deifnitely not worth the shipping/customs.

The Tokais just get all the details done better than an Edwards, which is slightly undersized, has a different top carve, thicker finish (on the "lacquer taste" models which is lacquer OVER poly...), and inappropriately sized binding.

That said, I wouldn't pass up the right Edwards, mine was damn near flawless in construction & fret/nut work and played as well as any Historic I've handled. Here are some pics of my old one

And yeah, prices have definitely gone up. That said, I trust an Edwards 67 style V to be a better built instrument at the same price point as a current Gibson V, and also they use the old style raised fingeboard & long tenon which Gibson no longer does. It makes for a better neck angle, stability, and playability. Current Gibson V necks are very easy to bend out of tune if you are fretting hard or move around while still holding a chord. Very cool if you are doing the Schenker style neck/headstock bends, but it's too easy to do accidentally, as opposed to on purpose like Mikey does

You can see the original style raised board here

the Vs are what Ive been looking at... :eyecrazy:

How can you tell what Tokais are Japanese made these days?? Is there a certain model designation?? Last ones I saw for sale were canadian and had maple necks..

 

[formula73]

Re: Grassroots Guitars

the Vs are what Ive been looking at... :eyecrazy:

How can you tell what Tokais are Japanese made these days?? Is there a certain model designation?? Last ones I saw for sale were canadian and had maple necks..

On the Gibson copies, they're usually identifiable by 2 hole trcs, as opposed to the 3 hole that you'd see on an Epi or Chinese/Korean Burny/Tokai/Greco. I have no idea why they do that, but it makes them easier to spot.