Quality gear... who knew?

[firebirdguy72]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Wow... Drex you literally just proved what a waste this 12, going on 13 page debacle really is... What he said was how crappy HIS other gear is! And how his NGD made him realize this! Sure there are top notch imports... MIM fenders, MIJ fenders, even the classic vibes are kick ass for the price. But those are on the high end of the import market. When most people think of imports they think of your basic squier affinity, ibanez gios and your mid range epiphones. Not to say those guitars aren't worth anything and are crap. They just don't have the extra care given to them that MIA come with stock. Some people wanna tinker with an import and turn it into something special... some people also just wanna buy something where the initial quality is already there. There is no better way... only the way you prefer to go about it...

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

On the contrary, nearly everyone treats it as fact that MIA is better than imports, that's why this thread is at page 12, because nobody will accept the simple point that every distinction between an MIA and an import comes down to matters of preference. Maybe they don't want to believe they paid $500 more for a guitar just to get something that's "different" and not "better".

Your opinion

Your experiences and preferences are irrelevant

Oh, but yours are?

 

[GuitarGuy503]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Time to close this thread IMO. It will only continue to go downhill otherwise.

 

[DreX]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Your opinion

I'm not anti-opinion, I'm anti-"conflating preference with quality"

Oh, but yours are?

I'm not anti-experience, I'm anti-"my experience proves the rule".

OTOH, experience can disprove a rule, for example, if someone says "MIA are better, imports are worse", all it takes is one instance of that not being true to disprove the rule. But since your experiences were in terms of preference and had little to do with the issue of "quality", they were also irrelevant.

 

[DreX]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Some people think lots of things are better. I can find upteen articles/experiences on why organic food is better than processed and another upteen articles/experiences on why processed foods are just as good if not better. Like i said in my post that you ignored, "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. "

No, saying something "is better" is not the same as saying "I like this thing more".

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Resistance is futile. Your species will be assimilated.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

On the contrary, nearly everyone treats it as fact that MIA is better than imports, that's why this thread is at page 12, because nobody will accept the simple point that every distinction between an MIA and an import comes down to matters of preference. Maybe they don't want to believe they paid $500 more for a guitar just to get something that's "different" and not "better".

Let me rephrase my original post:

I've owned a bunch of electric guitars. Lots and lots and lots of them. For the most part, they've been what would be considered budget guitars.

I just bought an American Standard Stratocaster. Goodness, this sure is a nice guitar. The build quality is excellent, the materials used are very good, and, by golly, it just sounds and plays great.

So great, in fact, that it easily eclipses every other guitar I've ever owned. Because I haven't owned every budget guitar in the world, I certainly wouldn't dream of suggesting this particular MIA Fender is nicer than any of them. But, strictly in comparison to ONLY the guitars I have owned, it's much nicer. Any aspect you could imagine about a guitar is nicer: playing it, maintaining it, heck, I caught a great deal and got it for a near-budget guitar price, so even paying for it was pretty nice.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

I'm not anti-opinion, I'm anti-"conflating preference with quality"



I'm not anti-experience, I'm anti-"my experience proves the rule".

OTOH, experience can disprove a rule, for example, if someone says "MIA are better, imports are worse", all it takes is one instance of that not being true to disprove the rule. But since your experiences were in terms of preference and had little to do with the issue of "quality", they were also irrelevant.

Everything you've ever posted here is your opinion based on your experiences. And whenever someone else's experience/opinion is different from yours you have to troll them.

 

[DreX]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Yeah it's like so dumb, but you can't help but participate.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

JB_F_H. Please close this thread.

I'll take the infraction.

 

[DarkMatter]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Epic thread. I have archived every page so far with the intent on one day showing my grandchildren.

"See younglings, this is how the internet was in my day..."

 

[DreX]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Everything you've ever posted here is your opinion based on your experiences. And whenever someone else's experience/opinion is different from yours you have to troll them.

Yeah totally.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

I'm not anti-opinion, I'm anti-"conflating preference with quality"



I'm not anti-experience, I'm anti-"my experience proves the rule".

OTOH, experience can disprove a rule, for example, if someone says "MIA are better, imports are worse", all it takes is one instance of that not being true to disprove the rule. But since your experiences were in terms of preference and had little to do with the issue of "quality", they were also irrelevant.

No, saying something "is better" is not the same as saying "I like this thing more".

Most people say "x is better" when they like it more ALL the time! Just ask a Ford truck owner lol A lot of members here would argue from experience that the American Guitars play and sound better but not all would. Also a lot of guys here mod the fool out of cheaper guitars because they are cheaper thus being more economical.

Your statement is illogical to what you quoted. Re-read what I posted–where did I mention "better" in comparison or contrast to "like it more"? You are trying to force an argument that is not there. It DOES all come down to economics–what do you personally want to spend your money.

And what is good quality? Is quality an absolute or is it subjective? I think it is subjective, good quality is used to describe varying levels of things and measurements...

 

[AlexR]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

What I can't understand DreX, is why you would want everyone who reads these thread to think of you as a complete tool.....because that is the only thing you ever accomplish

 

[DreX]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Any aspect you could imagine about a guitar is nicer: playing it, maintaining it, heck, I caught a great deal and got it for a near-budget guitar price, so even paying for it was pretty nice.

How is maintaining it easier? How does it play better?

Price is divorced from the equation since we're simply comparing the guitars and not their merits of value. If you actually list a quality of the MIA that is better, not "nicer", then we can talk about whether or not it's even worth the $500 extra to get at that particular "better quality", or whatever the difference happens to be.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

Time to close this thread IMO. It will only continue to go downhill otherwise.

That ship sailed 12 pages ago...

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

That's why this thread is at page 12, because nobody will accept the simple point that every distinction between an MIA and an import comes down to matters of preference.

No, the thread is at page 12 because YOU won't let it go until everyone else agrees with your opinion. You listen to nothing anyone else says, and every time someone gives his own opinion, you tell him how your opinion is the only valid one. I don't know what makes you think you're better than everyone else in this thread, and I don't know why you think it's some kind of victory that you're able to run some sort of argumentative marathon. Now that I think about it, I don't know why I'm typing this post.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

I have owned imported and domestic Fender Strats and Gibson Les Pauls. Hands down, the Americans had better quality in these ways:

-finish work was flawless (pointless IMO to try and fix this on any guitar really for the amount of time and work but that's just me)
-frets were level and required zero fretwork/leveling, also the frets not felt on the sides of the board (imports can be leveled/sanded/filed down, etc)
-tuners held in tune and had a better ratio (could be modded upgraded on imports)
-electronics were noisy (both my Epi LP and Fender MIM had crappy electronics in them that would fiz/crackle until I replaced them)
-pickups had the tone I was after (can be modded on imports–I personally never swapped pickups in my American gear, they came with high quality pickups that I would put in the imports)
-neck had the shape and radius I wanted (the MIM Strat had a thinner string spacing and a fatter neck, the Epi LP just felt cheap but I can't put any other word to why I didn't like it)

So I couldn't completely mod the Epi nor the MIM Strat to equal my American gear. I did put American Strat pickups and electronics in the MIM and it sounded night and day better to me personally, but it still didn't play the way I liked because the neck was fatter and had shorter string spacing. About a year and a half ago I started assembling my own–so I only use electrics that I build how I want them...and for necks I use the same specs as a Fender MIA.

Just for kicks, "Quality" as defined by Merriam Webster:

1
a : peculiar and essential character : nature <her ethereal quality — Gay Talese>
b : an inherent feature : property <had a quality of stridence, dissonance — Roald Dahl>
c : capacity, role <in the quality of reader and companion — Joseph Conrad>
2
a : degree of excellence : grade <the quality of competing air service — Current Biography>
b : superiority in kind <merchandise of quality>
3
a : social status : rank
b : aristocracy
4
a : a distinguishing attribute : characteristic <possesses many fine qualities>
b archaic : an acquired skill : accomplishment
5
: the character in a logical proposition of being affirmative or negative
6
: vividness of hue
7
a : timbre
b : the identifying character of a vowel sound determined chiefly by the resonance of the vocal chambers in uttering it
8
: the attribute of an elementary sensation that makes it fundamentally unlike any other sensation
See quality defined for English-language learners
See quality defined for kids

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Quality gear... who knew?

How is maintaining it easier? How does it play better?

Price is divorced from the equation since we're simply comparing the guitars and not their merits of value. If you actually list a quality of the MIA that is better, not "nicer", then we can talk about whether or not it's even worth the $500 extra to get at that particular "better quality", or whatever the difference happens to be.

When I was in second grade, a student teacher had us write I structions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for someone who had never made one. However detailed each of our instructions were, no one mentioned the need to open the jar. She used that to illustrate the importance of being thorough.

I always thought that was stupid, and something like "open the jar" really didn't need to be explained. I am rethinking my stance on this.