Equating $$ to sound and playability

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,586
Reaction score
17,805
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
You guys are spot-on about CNC machines.

I once had the chance to play a private reserve PRS priced at something like $20,000. I met the guy who ran the company that sold the CNC machines and he had the guitar. It was a stunningly beautiful instrument that was the most memorable guitar experiences ever for me because it was a completely lifeless and uninspiring guitar. The quality was there, and the fit and finish were great, but it absolutely had no soul.
 

rampside

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2012
Messages
3,118
Reaction score
410
Location
Minnesota's Iron Range
Guild Total
4
Bottom line: Your posts just got a bit more credibility, congratulations.


Je suis présentement en congé de maternité, de retour en mars 2018. adorshki me remplacera jusqu’à mon retour I’année prochaine.


There! Does that quantify me as sophisticated enough for this forum too?
 

Earwitness

Junior Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
63
Reaction score
0
Location
Austin, Texas
When guitars are made en masse by entrepreneurs, there is such a greater chance of a faux pas--truly a roulette spin, unless you play it yourself and find one of par excellence (which is such a coup); much less chance of a gaffe when given carte blanche to buy the creme de la creme guitars, and after all, great tone is the raison d'Etre of our guitar playing.
 

bluesypicky

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
7,763
Reaction score
394
Location
Jupiter, FL.
Does "I fart in your general direction"count for anything?
If said in French as it was here:
Je pète dans votre direction générale.
Although the translation to "direction générale" doesn't really work in this case (it means "upper management") I gave Al the credit, largely thanks to the Monty Python reference.
 

bluesypicky

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
7,763
Reaction score
394
Location
Jupiter, FL.
When guitars are made en masse by entrepreneurs, there is such a greater chance of a faux pas--truly a roulette spin, unless you play it yourself and find one of par excellence (which is such a coup); much less chance of a gaffe when given carte blanche to buy the creme de la creme guitars, and after all, great tone is the raison d'Etre of our guitar playing.

Beautiful! What a great demonstration of sophistication!!!! We have champ in credibility here folks!

10 French words or expressions in one sentence, plus the use of a semicolon!!! I am impressed.
 
Last edited:

bluesypicky

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
7,763
Reaction score
394
Location
Jupiter, FL.
Je suis présentement en congé de maternité, de retour en mars 2018. adorshki me remplacera jusqu’à mon retour I’année prochaine.

LMAO!!!! This one is hilarious.... hope you have a pain free labor my friend.
Now spill the beans..... who helped you with that grammatically perfect sentence? You have a son or daughter French teacher don't you? :cheerful:
 

rampside

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2012
Messages
3,118
Reaction score
410
Location
Minnesota's Iron Range
Guild Total
4
LMAO!!!! This one is hilarious.... hope you have a pain free labor my friend.
Now spill the beans..... who helped you with that grammatically perfect sentence? You have a son or daughter French teacher don't you? :cheerful:

Hehe..chuckle..chuckle.....:smug:

I deal with our French-Canadian customers most everyday. Their emails are generally written both in French and English. I just happened to get one this morning that I figured out the French part and tweaked it a little bit.
 

5thumbs

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
1,556
Reaction score
914
Location
Norridge, Illinois
Guild Total
2
If said in French as it was here:

Although the translation to "direction générale" doesn't really work in this case (it means "upper management") I gave Al the credit, largely thanks to the Monty Python reference.

Oops, missed that one. Sorry, Al. :culpability:
 

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,791
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
Nani anaweza kufahamu ninasema nini?

Does Swahili get me any credibility points? Or is that a downgrade?

Swahili rocks.

Sh~Tanzanian+rocks.jpg


And syntax is everything.

sin-tax-thumb.jpg
 
Last edited:

Quantum Strummer

Senior Member
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
2,382
Reaction score
118
Location
Michigan
I'll just say that I've been trying out a whole bunch of 1970s & early '80s Japanese Gibson/Fender copies, from the so-called "lawsuit era," over the past couple months and have been uniformly blown away by how good they are. Now these are 35–40 year old instruments, with plenty of time to settle in to being guitars (rather than, say, furniture) and often with plenty of playing time on 'em too, so I am benefiting from the natural sorting process. An oft-played but well treated guitar is likely to be a good 'un.

Anyway it's not just '70s era Gibson & Fender who were right to be concerned about these "interlopers" stealing business. The quality is such that, had they got started earlier, Ted McCarty and Leo Fender would've had to take 'em seriously too. Same with Alfred Dronge had they set their sights on Guild.

To my ears the best sounding "Les Paul" (among the best playing too) I've ever had my hands on is a '75 Greco EG-420 with amazing Maxon U-1000 pickups, chambered pancake body, ply top with flame veneer, maroon/honey burst and bolt-on neck. It was their first attempt at an LP…they fine-tuned the construction & cosmetic details later on, but sonically this one is already there. Got it in January, during a visit to Chicago, for $500. According to received wisdom it should be a meh guitar but instead it's killer. I've also got a '75 Ibanez 2386, set neck, that's nearly as good. Same fab Maxon pickups, sleek player. Both guitars were made by Fujigen Gakki, long-time maker of Ibanez and also earlier Fender Japan instruments. Then there's an '82 Burny Super Grade (looks like Luper Prade…ahem), precise model unknown, that plays terrific and sounds fab acoustically but is currently let down by its pickups. This will soon be rectified via a set of Maxon DRY-inspired HBs from a fellow in Ireland. The Burny has a handsome two-piece figured top, more complex than flame, and a faded nitro teaburst finish.

I won't go into detail on the '78 Fernandes FST-70 "Strat" I picked up during the same Chicago trip. But I can tell you the word killer would pop up again…

At this point I've stopped generalizing about any manufacturer or time & place of manufacture. The "facts," as they're presented to us and then repeated by us, are driven as much by image-making and marketeering as anything else. Dig beneath this stuff and you find things are not necessarily what they're claimed to be.

-Dave-
 

gjmalcyon

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Feb 6, 2011
Messages
4,181
Reaction score
2,419
Location
Gloucester County, NJ
Guild Total
13
As lousy as my skills and technique are, I can still discern differences between guitars with respect to playability, tone, etc., and I don't necessarily see a direct, infallible relationship between the cost of an instrument and how "good" it is (however you choose to define "good").

I can believe that the likelihood of finding a really good guitar at $1,000 price point may be somewhat higher than at a $500 price point, but I have seen enough variations in either direction (expensive guitars that sound like crap and cheap guitars that sound really good), to know that price is simply one factor in the complex process that results in a pulled trigger.

Above all, trust your ears.
 

merlin6666

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,173
Reaction score
305
Location
Canada .... brrr
I've also got a '75 Ibanez 2386, set neck, that's nearly as good. Same fab Maxon pickups, sleek player. Both guitars were made by Fujigen Gakki, long-time maker of Ibanez and also earlier Fender Japan instruments.
-Dave-

I'm not an electric player at all but I have an Ibanez 2532DX (Telecaster Deluxe) which is a shredder's dream and probably several notches above any Fender Tele from that era.
 

Antney

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2017
Messages
510
Reaction score
176
Quantum Strummer said:
At this point I've stopped generalizing about any manufacturer or time & place of manufacture. The "facts," as they're presented to us and then repeated by us, are driven as much by image-making and marketeering as anything else. Dig beneath this stuff and you find things are not necessarily what they're claimed to be.

-Dave-

Can I get an Amen brother?
 

Zelja

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
3,907
Reaction score
350
Location
Sydney, Australia
I know you spent time there, and couldn't resist the calling of the morning bakery smell, emanating from the street vents.... :)
Impossible to resist!
The biggest problem was buying a baguette for the crew and I'd start munching on it on the way back home, getting to the front door realising I had just about consumed it all & then having to go back again for another one...
 

bluesypicky

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
7,763
Reaction score
394
Location
Jupiter, FL.
Impossible to resist!
The biggest problem was buying a baguette for the crew and I'd start munching on it on the way back home, getting to the front door realising I had just about consumed it all & then having to go back again for another one...
Oh I know the feeling brother, grew up inhaling those fumes every morning walking to school. I was passing by two bakeries on the trip to school. It was particularly awesome in the winter, when I could feel the warmth of the ovens escaping through the street vents, bringing the bakery smell to your nose..... nothing compares!
 

5thumbs

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
1,556
Reaction score
914
Location
Norridge, Illinois
Guild Total
2
Oh I know the feeling brother, grew up inhaling those fumes every morning walking to school. I was passing by two bakeries on the trip to school. It was particularly awesome in the winter, when I could feel the warmth of the ovens escaping through the street vents, bringing the bakery smell to your nose..... nothing compares!

That really deserves a song; the image is magical!
 
Top