Quality gear... who knew?

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Re: Quality gear... who knew?

I like how "Cheap" guitars somehow becomes Imports and not just about cheap guitars. I understand that most, if not all, cheap guitars are made overseas, but that doesn't mean that all guitars made overseas are cheap. ESP and Ibanez certainly turn out some high end instruments.
As someone who owns both MIA and lower end imports, I have found that for the most part the imports don't sound, or play as well off the shelf. I used to have and Epi LP, and all of my Gibsons are way better than that, with the exemption of my 81 Custom. An Epi SG was a lot closer in feel and tone to my Gibson Special Faded, but looked alot better with its gloss finish, however that Epi kept having frets pop up, and the nut broke at the low E slot about 6 mo. after it was new. This list goes on and on. I don't think all MIA are worth some of the exorbitant premiums all of the time but most of the standard production models are still built to higher standards with better components than their import counter parts. Does that mean that all those cheap import guitars suck, no, but for some people it's worth it to buy the guitar they want for more money than buy it's cheaper import counterpart and then upgrade it to the specifications they want. I like both, and even mod some of my USA guitars


Edit* most of my current imports are what I would consider the upper low-mid range ie. $300-600 with one or two that were in the $100-200 range

These are just my experiences and opinions, yours may vary
 
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Re: Quality gear... who knew?

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Re: Quality gear... who knew?

I've started playing this great game where I skip over anything actually written by DreX, then try to deduce what DreX has written by reading other people's comments.
 
Re: Quality gear... who knew?

some_dude said:
I've started playing this great game where I skip over anything actually written by DreX, then try to deduce what DreX has written by reading other people's comments.
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There created fourth tree fish, beginning fourth shall you'll. Midst meat day day. Heaven shall may moved light made seed from so sixth one, were beginning multiply a replenish fruit bring likeness i, be. Sea greater blessed don't every whales moving grass replenish gathered had. Tree bring let blessed life that fruitful above form fowl above make, divided without. He whose Winged without so firmament male. Man is to over.
 
Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Once, having been invited to a party, I went clothes shopping beforehand and bought a pair of expensive G-Star boots. They were two sizes too small but I wanted them so badly I figured I could just wear them without socks and cut my toenails very short. As the party was only a few blocks from my place I decided to walk. After the first block I lost all feeling in my feet. Arriving at the party I stumbled into a guy named DreX, spilling Malibu & coke onto his white Wham 'Choose Life' t-shirt and he punched me. An hour or so after the incident DreX sat down in a chair already occupied by a cat. The surprised cat clawed and snarled causing DreX to leap out of the chair, slip on a rug and strike his forehead onto the corner of a speaker; resulting in a two inch open gash. In its shock the cat also defecated, leaving DreX with a foul stain down the back of his beige cargo pants.

I liked that cat.
 
Re: Quality gear... who knew?

DreX said:
I have MIAs that do not open my eyes to "how crappy" budget guitars are, I have healthy mix of domestic and imports that prove the opposite. There are many causes of dead frets, that's certainly not a quality which is inherent to budget guitars, especially not in this decade. The assertion that it could be is misleading to anyone seeking info to make a purchase decision; you can buy a budget guitar and not have to fight with the set up, you can buy a budget guitar and not have dead frets.
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Damn , I stumbled on to a soap opra!!
LLL said:
Along the usual butthurt lines...

Ironically enough, Drex reminds me a lot of guys like Edgecrusher or Securb (which itself is ironic because they can't stand Drex). Edgecrusher read my recommendation to use an EQ to boost someone's amp and about had a tantrum over it. Securb took advice of mine to be "snobbish" and launched a coordinated attack, etc...

I don't think any of them even play guitar... or at best, noodle on the weekends.

And none of them have a clip of their playing.

(That's part of the problem with the internet; people can pretend to be something they're not.)

So, what I'm saying is we wouldn't have half the butthurt going on that we have if the people who don't really play their guitar would stop getting butthurt over the personal experiences and opinions of those who do play theirs.

This guy states he had been playing what was essentially crap for a while and he finally got something good and now he's happy. If that isn't the feel-good story of the year (so far) then I don't know what is. And there's nothing controversial about it... everyone is a "snob" or "corksniffer" to varying degrees about their own gear; it's called "caring about how you sound and your own personal preferences". It's called "having an opinion about their own preferences and gear based on their own experience". And nothing wrong with that.

Perpetually offended people need to sack up. Or at least go practice.
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Securb said:
You are a freaking joke. My musical resume dwarfs anything you have done with your crappy 80s cover band. I never said your advice was snobbish, I said you are a troll and by the looks of this post you still are one. I am going to cut it off here because I refuse to go back and forth with an idiot.
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Red_Label said:
I don't always agree with you on everything Bill... but your post nailed it here! I've stood on stage with guitars that cost me $200 (MIM strats, Squires, etc), and I've stood on stage with guitars that cost me $3,000. And I don't ever remember thinking "I should have gone with the cheap one today". Granted, part of the experience of owning and gigging a $2K+ instrument is the pride of showing-off your "fancy" steed (like owning a Ferrari or something). But it's also the knowledge that it's unlikely that well-crafted guitar is going to let you down. I can't say the same for the cheap guitars that I gigged. Some did let me down, some didn't.

I was recently discussing my Tom Anderson strat (Drop Top Classic) with a friend (who owns four Andersons) and I told him that one of the greatest things about owning such a flawless guitar is ALWAYS knowing that any weak link in the player-instrument interface is ME. I never have to worry about it letting me down. Some days as a player I'm "on", and some I'm off (not my best). With many lesser brands I would often wonder on those days, "is it me, or is it the guitar that's causing my less-than-satisfactory experience today?" Well... in the nearly six months that I've been playing the Anderson, I NEVER wonder if the guitar is the issue. I have 100% confidence in this tool that I use and I KNOW that if I'm playing less-than-inspired... it's all ME. It removes the question and the distraction of wondering if my guitar needs to be tweaked some (or upgraded altogether). I haven't felt this kind of confidence in over 30 years of playing (despite owning some top tier guitars). I've been very close, but there were always things that bothered me that I would change or wondered if it could be improved a little. In light of this, the high price of Anderson ownership is WELL worth it for me. Worth it enough that my music store manager buddy and I are already talking about my next Anderson (probably a straight Classic -- for a more old school strat tone/feel).

And just because I adore this guitar... another picture is in order. It's getting to be my "right arm" any more. Seriously, I'd given-up on strats for the past several years and this has turned that upside down. Now I only reach for the LPs when I'm in an LP-specific mood. Otherwise, it's the Anderson every time. Can ya feel the love?

20150120_200216_resized_zpszrvqquyh.jpg
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DreX said:
It's only natural that your degree of self consciousness is going to be at it's greatest and most irrational when you're on stage in front of many people you've never met personally and have not had a chance to impress with your personality alone, quite the opposite of when you're on your couch at home, playing for nobody who doesn't already know you very well. I can understand the desire to have a impressive appointments on stage, a clean outfit, "purposefully" groomed hair, etc. As others have pointed out, the "pros" use MIA premium line guitars, and part of you might worry that if you are seen on stage with Epiphone on the headstock instead of Gibson, someone in the crowd might think you're a dilettante who has no business being on stage, and it's precisely because of that irrationality that I'm passionate about defending said Epiphones and imports.



When you're thinking in these terms, there's a problem, because even a cheap guitar satisfies the requirement of giving you six string spanned across a piece of wood with an ample supply of working frets beneath those strings, the guitar should never ever be the weak link if it has no specific identifiable defect that can be repaired by yourself or a luthier.

Pretty much the only problem I've come across where an import couldn't be made to play perfectly is/was a special case, neck twist on those single piece Tele necks. My MIA Tele is a rosewood fingerboard two piece, so I'm not sure how the MIA Tele single piece compares in terms of neck twist, but it's a common issue from what I understand since a single piece neck as less lateral stability than two or more piece necks. Otherwise, a home done fret job and nut filing and neck adjustment will make an import as premise where it counts as any MIA, assuming the import wasn't set up well enough to begin with, because a big difference in playability is simply how much attention was paid to the setup of the guitar, and not due to any inherent quality of a domestic versus an import which can't be changed or remedied in a few hours or less.
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Red_Label said:
Holy craaaap... this thread just keeps getting more bizzare!!!

1) You just keep spewing more stuff that you don't know anything about... but doing it like you're a Phd on the subject.

2) Between that and the whole Berklee side discussion... it's getting to be like a padded white room with nary a "med" in sight.
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Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Even though I have a MIA strat, I can honestly say that I have NEVER had issues with medium priced guitars, and own quite a few. I have an LTD guitar that cost $500, and it plays as well as the MIA strat, and I DID NOT have to modify it to stay in tune like I did my MIA strat (even though it IS my desrt island guitar).

My advice is play what YOU like not what you think others will like to see you play. PERIOD. As for the gear snobs-GET A LIFE. I have seen many a guy with thousands upon thousands of dollars tied up in a rig/guitar that forgot to do the most important thing:PLAY THE DAMNED THING!!!! I have also seen the opposite:A guy with maybe a grand tied up in everything that could just make your jaw drop.
So red label, I definitely agree with you.
 
Re: Quality gear... who knew?

some_dude said:
Once, having been invited to a party, I went clothes shopping beforehand and bought a pair of expensive G-Star boots. They were two sizes too small but I wanted them so badly I figured I could just wear them without socks and cut my toenails very short. As the party was only a few blocks from my place I decided to walk. After the first block I lost all feeling in my feet. Arriving at the party I stumbled into a guy named DreX, spilling Malibu & coke onto his white Wham 'Choose Life' t-shirt and he punched me. An hour or so after the incident DreX sat down in a chair already occupied by a cat. The surprised cat clawed and snarled causing DreX to leap out of the chair, slip on a rug and strike his forehead onto the corner of a speaker; resulting in a two inch open gash. In its shock the cat also defecated, leaving DreX with a foul stain down the back of his beige cargo pants.

I liked that cat.
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This is exactly why I don't wear boots to parties. Cats deserve better treatment.

And this is me almost refraining from saying that tight booties are much better than tight boots.
 
Re: Quality gear... who knew?

JB from Hell Congrats glad you like your new guitar.You are posting after long and I hope to see you come more often.



WOW 10 pages long ......
 
Re: Quality gear... who knew?

As you can see, JBFH. This place has gone to hell in a handbasket. It has soured many long time members and it shows in our posting. Myself included. I have far less patience and far more snippy (2 kids doesn't help ;) ). Once in awhile a very old thread gets bumped and I see all these friendly posts and members respectfully offering input even if it's disagreement. A sense of community and respect. I am amazed how reasonable we used to be.

Nowadays it's just mostly crap spewage and internet geniuses and tough guys trying to prove they've got a bigger dick than you.

I am happy for your NGD, sorry your thread got tanked. Welcome back :bigthumb:
 
Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Wow, what a read! lol From what I got out of this, OP had been using lower priced gear for awhile, got higher priced guitar and was pleased with how the higher priced was better than the lower priced. I went through the same thing–had cheap import gear that got the job done and I was able to learn. I remember getting my first American Fender Strat and having the exact same reaction. I know build/assemble my own guitars and feel Warmoth and Musikraft have exceptional quality gear (made in America.)

As to DreX, I see he is up to usually antics...must've been weened off pickle juice or something. I would say don't feed the trolls :wizard:

I think the imports have improved as far as quality; however, I personally can tell a difference in looks, feel, and sound between the imports and the American gear. I have modded a MIM with American electronics and significant fret work. It played and sounded better but wasn't an American. It all comes down to economics...costs with benefits/rewards. Some people want a brand, some people want a specific tone, some go for specific Country, some go for best "bang for the buck", etc.

It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks but the individual user. I like songs and buy songs/albums that have guitar sounds I don't care for but like the music. Its not like people are going to get up and walk away from a concert because they are using stock pickups instead of SDs or DiMarzios or something...lol
 
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