I hate working on Asian crap

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Chris Pile

Chris Pile

Well-known member
I'll work on junk, and make it better - but I hate working on crap. There's just little one can do to improve it. Case in point: leaving my shop today (thank gawd), is this Asian Steve Vai JEM POS. I think every hole in the thing was drilled by a drunk with a drill motor. Nothing lines up, and therefore getting it all squared away is a 5 star *****. Take the way the neck is attached, for instance.
Fake Steve Vai 002.jpg

How about this? The attachment allen screws for the locking nut were ground off to about 1/16", and just stuck in the holes for looks. It was held on by one wood screw through the top of the nut. There were 2 wood screws, but the second one went into the void around the truss rod, and did nothing.
Fake Steve Vai 003.jpg

Finally, the inlays were godawful - floating in epoxy, and the frets were beveled WAY over. The client will have to be careful not to let the E strings go off the side of the neck while playing. The whammy routing was too tight (I put a real Floyd in it so it would work), and the humbuckers say DiMarzio on them - but they don't sound like it. I hope the client didn't pay full pop for a real JEM 777, because this thing is worth zip. Nada. Nothing.
Fake Steve Vai 005.jpg
 
Re: I hate working on Asian crap

Yikes, if they weren't drunk my money is that they were less than 12 years old when they built it.
 
Re: I hate working on Asian crap

You said you replaced the trem with a Floyd, as in an OFR?

What did the client pay for fixing that thing up and could it possibly be worth it?
 
Re: I hate working on Asian crap

I picked up a squier bullet for $109 new better built than that.
That's embarrassing. And sad.
 
Re: I hate working on Asian crap

You said you replaced the trem with a Floyd, as in an OFR?

What did the client pay for fixing that thing up and could it possibly be worth it?
Click to expand...

"Floyd Rose Special" it says on the box and the whammy. I had to redrill for the larger studs. The body is about as thick as a Fender Bullet, so the sustain block on the whammy sticks out of the back of the trem routing. Left the trem cover off for clearance. Hope it doesn't rub on his clothing....

I don't think a single hole drilled in that thing was perpendicular with the surface. None of the holes for the neck plate lined up right, it was a ***** getting that screwed on right. Of course, I had to remove it twice to get the neck shim right, because the Floyd was below the body level when I first got it together. Had to shim the locking nut, too - so that went on and off a couple times until I got it right.

It literally came to me in a square Fender case, with pieces and parts in bags and boxes (many of which are left over extras). So my charge for reassembling the axe, the minor mods, new strings and setup from scratch, intonation, etc., will be WELL over $100. At least the electronics were wired up and working.

If the DiMarzios are real, the whole mess might be worth $350? If it was mine, I'd part it out on Squeebay or Treeverb in order to put the darn thing out of its misery.
 
Re: I hate working on Asian crap

Some times it is better to return them to the client as "beyond economical repair"
 
Re: I hate working on Asian crap

Well, the guy picked it up while I was at lunch. I just got an email from him spooging about how great it is. I didn't get to tell him to never bring it back.
 
Re: I hate working on Asian crap

With a heel like that, I wonder what the neck pocket looked like!
 
Re: I hate working on Asian crap

Do you find yourself working on a lot of counterfeit instruments?
 
Re: I hate working on Asian crap

With a heel like that, I wonder what the neck pocket looked like!
Click to expand...

Here you go.... If you look closely on the near side, you can see where the drill bit went into the side of the pocket.

Fake Steve Vai 006.jpg
 
Re: I hate working on Asian crap

Looks like the innards in my Squier Affinity Strat.
The only difference is, those holes are aligned and most of the botched work came from me, not the factory. :D
 
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