Quality gear... who knew?

[DreX]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Was the "new" fly one you bought from a family member?

I think a point that a certain individual missed is that no one is advocating spending a lot of money on gear, but rather the benefits of higher quality. I paid less than the new cost of an MIM, and only slightly more than the average cost of a used one.

What of the benefits, though? The truth of the matter is that most of the concrete differences between budget and premium end guitars are matters of preference and aesthetics, such as nicer looking grains, nitro finish, steel metal parts, cloth hookup wire, niceties that don't directly effect the playability of the instrument, but that's at odds with a post like OPs that speak up the playability of a premium guitar when all the real actual benefits are largely symbolic or cosmetic. The tolerances in guitar manufacture have become so close over the years that you don't require a luthier made guitar to acquire precision in fret setting, neck straightness, evenness in curvature, nut notches, etc. The bottom line is that OP might not have liked his few cheap guitars, but they are not representative of all cheap guitars, and it wasn't necessary to seek out an MIA in order to have a guitar that overcomes those particular shortcomings.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Chris, I had the same revelation several years ago. My #1 for the last 6 years is a Parker Fly Mojo (see below). I had the Fly Deluxe on the left until about a year ago. The only comparison to those and the cheap guitars I've had is that they have six strings and pickups.

Contrary to to the declarations of the Forum Pet(s), I put NO thought into the cost when I'm playing. I AM continue happy reminded how great the guitar is and how effortless it makes playing. It stays in tune with no real maintenance. It sounds great. I don't have to fight with it to get great sounds from it. There are ZERO manufacturer defects.

I don't need to convince myself that it was worth the cost. That's self evident.

Then again, I'm no materialist. The guitar is a tool. This happens to be a very high quality tool that gets the job done with minimal effort.

Those flys are lovely guitars . . . love that they come with SS frets from the factory. They never seem to pop up used around here unfortunately.

 

[Securb]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

What of the benefits, though? The truth of the matter is that most of the concrete differences between budget and premium end guitars are matters of preference and aesthetics, such as nicer looking grains, nitro finish, steel metal parts, cloth hookup wire, niceties that don't directly effect the playability of the instrument, but that's at odds with a post like OPs that speak up the playability of a premium guitar when all the real actual benefits are largely symbolic or cosmetic. The tolerances in guitar manufacture have become so close over the years that you don't require a luthier made guitar to acquire precision in fret setting, neck straightness, evenness in curvature, nut notches, etc. The bottom line is that OP might not have liked his few cheap guitars, but they are not representative of all cheap guitars, and it wasn't necessary to seek out an MIA in order to have a guitar that overcomes those particular shortcomings.

Have you played any of the guitars I've been specifically referencing, or are you just making generalizations?

 

[Securb]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Those flys are lovely guitars . . . love that they come with SS frets from the factory. They never seem to pop up used around here unfortunately.

They never pop up used around here either. People tend to hold on to them especially the made in USA pre-Washburn models. Mind you the Parker NiteFlys were not inexpensive. They were less expensive than the Mojos but not a budget axe by any stretch. The Midiflys were going for about 4 grand when they came out.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

The Midiflys were going for about 4 grand when they came out.

Still are.

I've never played one but I've been told that the Flies are absolutely lovely instruments. The way they attach their frets to their guitars is particularly interesting to me. Also carbon fiber anything is cool.

 

[Securb]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Still are.

I've never played one but I've been told that the Flies are absolutely lovely instruments. The way they attach their frets to their guitars is particularly interesting to me. Also carbon fiber anything is cool.

They really are. They are ergonomically beautiful and the sound is amazing. You don't expect so much thunder from such a light axe.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

They really are. They are ergonomically beautiful and the sound is amazing. You don't expect so much thunder from such a light axe.

I've played carbon fiber double basses which sound amazing. I guess its a little different case because it's not electric but I imagine the lightness and the feel would be similar.

 

[DreX]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Have you played any of the guitars I've been specifically referencing, or are you just making generalizations?

I haven't made any claim to knowledge about your guitars, at all, so your question is invalid.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

I haven't made any claim to knowledge about your guitars, at all, so your question is invalid.

The original post specifically referenced my guitars.

 

[DreX]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

The original post specifically referenced my guitars.

All I know is what you've volunteered, they may have or had dead frets and don't play well, for whatever reason. To prove my point, all one would need to do is find an import that plays well and has no dead frets, and tbh, it would be a much harder task to find one that didn't play well, or which had dead frets.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

I haven't made any claim to knowledge about your guitars, at all, so your question is invalid.

So you are generalising then.

 

[DreX]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

So you are generalising then.

There's nothing wrong with generalizing if the generalization is true. In general, domestic guitars have more costly cosmetic and token appointments, for example, I would agree with that.

 

[LLL]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

I've certainly never claimed:

My musical resume dwarfs anything you have done with your crappy 80s cover band.

. . . because that's an extraordinary claim. And would required . . . y'know . . . proof of that claim. And if I didn't provide that proof . . . I'd come off looking like an idiot.

Agreed.

And extraordinary claims (bragging) require extraordinary proof... of which (ironically) comes in the form of a couple 1982 tunes from the "Where Are They Now?" files.

God forbid he should post something recent; might expose his true self.

Not a big fan of Metallica anymore, but that line, "where's your crown, King Nothing?" really applies to him.

 

[LLL]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Just for the record, I'm well aware of the whole Drex thing (not that it isn't obvious).

But, you gotta give the guy credit. I just realized:

First, unlike many, he has proven he plays (recent clips he posted).

...and second, he never loses his cool in an argument.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

All I know is what you've volunteered, they may have or had dead frets and don't play well, for whatever reason. To prove my point, all one would need to do is find an import that plays well and has no dead frets, and tbh, it would be a much harder task to find one that didn't play well, or which had dead frets.

The original post said the MIA Strat I bought is nicer than the other guitars I own. I said nothing of any other import guitars. I made no generalizations about anything.

 

[firebirdguy72]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

There's nothing wrong with generalizing if the generalization is true. In general, domestic guitars have more costly cosmetic and token appointments, for example, I would agree with that.

Wow....................... I can't even describe the amount of irony in this post...

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

...and second, he never loses his cool in an argument.

Yeah he does... just those threads have been nuked into that great black hole in the sky

 

[Red_Label]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Just for the record, I'm well aware of the whole Drex thing (not that it isn't obvious).

But, you gotta give the guy credit. I just realized:

First, unlike many, he has proven he plays (recent clips he posted).

...and second, he never loses his cool in an argument.

No, but he appears to be quite the contrarian... some/many times that comes across as quite troll-like. It's like trying to argue with a lawyer. They love it. Ends-up being a dog chasing its tail even trying.

 

[DreX]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

The original post said the MIA Strat I bought is nicer than the other guitars I own. I said nothing of any other import guitars. I made no generalizations about anything.

I'll annotate the generalizations:

First off, I apologize for repeated posts about my new Strat. I'm just REALLY fired up about it

In the past, setting up a guitar [not these particular guitars] always took me quite a few tries to get right. Maxed out truss rods, less than stellar fret work, etc... The stuff I ended up sticking with were the gems of the cheap bunch. They sound good and I could get them playing well enough.

Fast forward to a few days ago, and this MIA Strat[no specific model mentioned] has really opened my eyes to how crappy all my other stuff is. I cleaned and oiled the board, polished the frets, put on new strings, raised the action, intonated it, all in a single sitting (minus time for the uber thirsty rosewood to soak up the oil). I've never had a guitar that played so well.

Budget guitars[not these particular guitars], it was a fun ride, but it's pretty cool to be able to play every fret on the neck.