So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

Mr. B

Mr. B

New member
Been shopping at several guitar stores lately, and I am struck by how many cheap guitars are being manufactured that are really not even playable. Acoustics seem to be the worst offenders, but there are a LOT of terrible electrics out there too. I understand that young kids who are poor need a guitar too, but many of these guitars on the shelves really are WORSE than having nothing. They would be better off playing a broom until they can save a few dollars. A used squier would be the equivalent of a Private Stock PRS compared to these heaps.

I know that someone somewhere is making money by selling these worthless planks to unsuspecting victims, but man! What a waste of natural resources. These guitars will not be junk in a few years, THEY ARE JUNK NOW! Why clutter the earth with guitar shaped garbage just so you can stick a few dollars in your pocket?

It really bothers me to see the the amount of waste we needlessly produce here in the US annually. No tree should have been cut, nor metal ore mined to create these unplayable jokes. I would love to see the guitar stores stop carrying these pathetic guitars. It can't be good business for the stores either, since it will not take long for buyers to realize the store has pulled one over on them. Then, no repeat business.....
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

Mr. B said:
Been shopping at several guitar stores lately, and I am struck by how many cheap guitars are being manufactured that are really not even playable. Acoustics seem to be the worst offenders, but there are a LOT of terrible electrics out there too. I understand that young kids who are poor need a guitar too, but many of these guitars on the shelves really are WORSE than having nothing. They would be better off playing a broom until they can save a few dollars. A used squier would be the equivalent of a Private Stock PRS compared to these heaps.
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I agree and have been speaking out against this development for about 15 years now.

I know that someone somewhere is making money by selling these worthless planks to unsuspecting victims, but man! What a waste of natural resources. These guitars will not be junk in a few years, THEY ARE JUNK NOW! Why clutter the earth with guitar shaped garbage just so you can stick a few dollars in your pocket?
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Not sure if I´ve said it on SD before, but if not I´ll do it now.

Capitalism sucks. Period. With the exception of being greed driven it has no merit whatsoever IMO.

It really bothers me to see the the amount of waste we needlessly produce here in the US annually. No tree should have been cut, nor metal ore mined to create these unplayable jokes. I would love to see the guitar stores stop carrying these pathetic guitars. It can't be good business for the stores either, since it will not take long for buyers to realize the store has pulled one over on them. Then, no repeat business.....
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Well, the good news is that for most of these instruments we´re talking about an asian forest, but your point remains the same and very valid.

The problem: Capitalism feeds on people´s greed and desire for instant gratification. The production of quality goods unfortunately does not. If you add this onto teh effect that fast food living and the damage that ripoffs have done in the last 25-35 years, it quickly becomes clear why quality instruments keep becoming more and more expensive while the market ios still flooded with crap: The peons buy the crap, often multiple times. That is before becoming jaded and quitting altogether. And those that actually care generally save up for quality equip ;)
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

Not much more that can be added to that fantastic couple of posts, except that I totally agree and will gladly do my part in a scheme to pull the blanket out from under whichever of these greedy scumbags is standing on top of it...and if there is no scheme yet I think someone needs to make one :smokin:
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

Don't worry. Most of those aren't made from real wood anyway. :chairfall
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

problem is, not using wood to build a guitar is expensive...although i am all for more development in that area. ive owned graphite and carbon fiber guitars before, but they are expensive to make.
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

Zerberus said:
Well, the good news is that for most of these instruments we´re talking about an asian forest, but your point remains the same and very valid.
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Why would it be okay cause it's an asian forest?
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

let me comfort you then and tell you that most of the parts are recycled anyway.
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

benbenben said:
Why would it be okay cause it's an asian forest?
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I think he just meant that Asian forests aren't as endangered as the South American rainforests that were used for higher end guitars.

Too bad you can't use bamboo. That stuff grows like there's no tomorrow.
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

yeah, someone hinted at it, but thought I'd mention that these things are made of plywoood and composite woods that are most of the time made of scrap wood. So a lot of times they're not actually using good wood, but the stuff that would be thrown away/burned anyway and putting lots of pieces together to make these things. With that said, we're actually sort of saving trees by turning them into things that should be nothing more than a canvas for guitar inspired wall art (decorate them however you see fit) Not that I condone the mass production of steaming piles of crap, but hey, somethings gotta be done with that excess wood.
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

JacksonMIA said:
I think he just meant that Asian forests aren't as endangered as the South American rainforests that were used for higher end guitars.

Too bad you can't use bamboo. That stuff grows like there's no tomorrow.
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shut up.. dont let gibson exec know that they could use that
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

Zerberus said:
The problem: Capitalism feeds on people´s greed and desire for instant gratification. The production of quality goods unfortunately does not. If you add this onto teh effect that fast food living and the damage that ripoffs have done in the last 25-35 years, it quickly becomes clear why quality instruments keep becoming more and more expensive while the market ios still flooded with crap: The peons buy the crap, often multiple times. That is before becoming jaded and quitting altogether. And those that actually care generally save up for quality equip ;)
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AFAIK if you adjust for inflation, the cost of guitars to the consumer have actually come down over time. I have an SG junior that in 1963 cost $145.00. That's equal to $924.84 in 2005 per the consumer price index.

An SG special today costs $899.00 new from MF.

That's not even a fair comparison, since an SG Special has another pickup, etc. and has always been a slightly more expensive model than the Junior.

Also, comparitively, you can buy a perfectly serviceable Korean-made guitar today for around $350.00. The same amount of "purchasing power" in 1963 would only amount to about $53.87 - maybe (but probably not quite) enough to buy some 500-piece Teisco Del Crappo that will never hold tune, never sound good, and never be anything but marginally playable.

I'm not arguing that there is a lot of crap out there in the guitar world - only that decent instruments are relatively much less exensive now than they were back in the "good old days."
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

Not to mention dangerous!

I walked past a Johnson guitar in a shop once, and did the obligatory "reach out and touch the neck quickly" trick. The fret job was so horrible, that there was a sharp edge sticking off a fret that cut my finger pretty badly. I'm lucky to be alive.
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

sosomething said:
AFAIK if you adjust for inflation, the cost of guitars to the consumer have actually come down over time. I have an SG junior that in 1963 cost $145.00. That's equal to $924.84 in 2005 per the consumer price index.

An SG special today costs $899.00 new from MF.

That's not even a fair comparison, since an SG Special has another pickup, etc. and has always been a slightly more expensive model than the Junior.

Also, comparitively, you can buy a perfectly serviceable Korean-made guitar today for around $350.00. The same amount of "purchasing power" in 1963 would only amount to about $53.87 - maybe (but probably not quite) enough to buy some 500-piece Teisco Del Crappo that will never hold tune, never sound good, and never be anything but marginally playable.

I'm not arguing that there is a lot of crap out there in the guitar world - only that decent instruments are relatively much less exensive now than they were back in the "good old days."
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I agree that the "advantage" is that there is more good "middle of the road" equipment. By crap I mean the guitars that are sold by the boatload off ebay to people that just want an electric guitar "like *insert Hero*´s" without wanting to invest money nor research. Mostly those 50$ acoustics and 60$ electrics ;)
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

I buy all points except those regarding the environmental impacts. First, as stated, many of these guitars are being produced with scrap woods. Second, not that I've seen it first hand, but I'd bet that we're talking about tree farms and not virgin forests being sacrificed for these guitars. Additionally, we're probably talking about young tree growth (10 years) on many of these guitar bodies. The simple fact is that the smaller the pieces in the guitar the less scrap you have AND the smaller the tree has to be. Smaller trees eqautes to younger trees, and younger trees mean you can turn around land and harvest the trees faster, which in the end maximizes the potential profit for you acreage.
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

Side note: luthierie makes up for maybe 5% if that of the wood usage... I think it´s more like under 1% ;)
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

JacksonMIA said:
Too bad you can't use bamboo. That stuff grows like there's no tomorrow.
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I've seen a number of acoustic guitars made out of bamboo (laminate)

Yamaha had one that was reported to sound really good AFAIK
 
Re: So much worthless crap. Save the trees!!!!

Great thread guys,i totally agree!
The great irony of this is that steel parts made in the late 50`s early 60`s that we consither as great quality actually was "junk steel" that couldn`t be used for anything else than guitarparts:D
 
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