Subject Index 00:00 Intro 02:30 Guitar Company Reacts To My Review the video I was talking about th-cam.com/video/HyCZ8cUGawk/w-d-xo.html 17:18 Will Sweetwater ever do a in-house brand like Harley Benton? 23:20 Harley Benton is becoming a stand alone brand 29:30 CEO Of Gibson Is Gone 39:49 Is a volume pedal in the effects loop the same as a attenuator? 42:47 Why the neck matters so much to me 48:57 The worst 7 string guitar I ever owned 55:10 The rule I follow when cutting nuts for the gauge of strings and why factories follow it as well. 1:02:40 Why doest Gibson make more classic models in the Epiphone series? 1:13:00 Why I can not buy a post 2019 Gibson Les Paul 1:21:30 Some real talk about the Plek system for guitars 1:32:10 Is Guitar Quality Is Rigged? 1:44:30 Buy once cry once 1:51:00 Check out Plini www.youtube.com/@plinimusic/videos 1:54:10 Intonation issues 1:56:22 The most effective way to change sound of your pickups 2:02:00 Reverend Guitars is a premium brand that has bigger appeal to younger players 2:07:45 How many guitars do you have to order to have a guitar made overseas? 2:11:12 The EVH Iconic 5150 amp
If you want a fantastic LP style guitar, light and cheaper than a 10lb USA Standard, get an Eastman SB59/v. I sold my R8 because of the Eastman. Loved both equally, and Im good with just 1 LP guitar. My Eastman weighs 8.38 lb.
Sweetwater’s “55 Point Inspection” is STILL a joke. I just took delivery of the new Epiphone “Inspired By Gibson Custom” $1299 ‘58 Korina V, and the action was a full 1/4” high, there were cracks beside the string nut, and there was a crack in the poly basecoat UNDER the clearcoat. That’s 3 strikes alone. Long story short, I emailed my salesperson, arranged a return/exchange, and they promised to do a DOUBLE inspection on the replacement, which they did!….I received an absolutely PERFECT replacement V. Sad that I had to call them out on the first one.
I’ve purchased a few guitars from them now and I feel that inspection comes down to the price of the guitar……sadly. Aka, buy a Martin acoustic for 4 grand and it won’t have the same ‘inspection’ as an ‘X’ series Martin. Or at least not typically, you may get a few rare birds in there time to time.
Yeah, the inspection thing is a joke. My Gibson Les Paul came with a broken pickup ring. When I looked closely at the photos of it which I had downloaded I could see the broken ring.
25:44 Can confirm, since I'm personally a pretty big fan of Harley Benton. I've bought two of their guitars (a CST-24T for myself, and a resonator as a gift for my older brother after he did my son's eulogy at his funeral), and aside from some setup issues (string height mainly, which took me ten minutes to fix), they're both pretty great guitars. Are they perfect? No, and for the price, I don't expect them to be, but they sound great, they play great, and they look great. That's about all you can ask for.
Speaking of Guitars made overseas it reminds me of Gibson in the early mid 2000’s having the Epiphone Elitist line made in Japan being discontinued as the quality was better and they were about $1k less.
I paused it at the 'Liars and Cheats' remark. This is one of the reasons I watch. I've been self employed for 25 years and I don't even want to say the percentage of the companies who have lied and cheated. It also usually goes along with incompetence. I would be a rich man if not for liars and cheat which is why I put such a premium on people with integrity. Not just out of respect but as a constant reminder to not cut corners and stay true to core values.
This, to me, is the standout shining quality of Phillip Mcknight. I feel that I can really trust him to just be real. He doesn't really play the game in the way most other "influencers" do (actually, the way most other *people* do, honestly).
I get the neck thing. A guitar could be perfect in every other way, but if I don’t like the neck, I wouldn’t buy it Fortunately I like most necks, but I do like some more than others
Modding: You can get great guitar for 300-400 bucks that has great bones, but maybe a cheap switch, tuners or pickups, and for a couple bucks or a couple hundred, depending on the guitar, can be a really great instrument. Plus setup. Which, you can either learn to do yourself, of pay a small fee to have someone else do.
Epiphone Casinos are pretty cheap and after a boutique pickup swap, wiring harness installation, pickguard swap and set-up, it’s still 1/5th the price of the equivalent Gibson ES-330. The wood grain, binding and finish are not as good but not a dealbreaker for me.
Yep, also a few sheets of very high grit sand paper - 1000 grit and up - is all you need for breaking in a neck and giving a gentle roll-over on the frets. You can very quickly get that Fender Custom Shop feel.
Can confirm. My Harley Benton was $330 shipped. Adjusted the truss rod and saddles and it was good to go. Eventually, I did need to swap the volume pot after it failed, so I put in a much more robust CTS unit. Now, it's great.
The comment about Reverend is very true. A lot more up-and-coming sorta punk bands with Reverends over the last few years, particularly the bolt-on neck HP models, which fall around ~$1000, which isn't THAT much more than an Epi or Mexican Fender these days. They've done a good job working with/promoting to younger artists.
The plek info was spot on. If those machines aren't maintained, they will fail. Any "dull" tool will fail expected tolerances. It is only as good as who operates and services the machine itself.
Re: the Plek machine... Generally when you get a guitar Plek'd, what you've *really* paid for is the Plek service plus a tech setting it up afterwards - and the "tech setting it up afterwards" is the make-or-break part.
Always a great show! You pretty much started the show off with the big reason I started following you and I have said it on here before! You tell it like it is and don't pull any punches no matter what the circumstances and you don't stand for the cheaters and liers! I did see the video about the Amazon guitars! And the response from them. It so nice to see these days because most of the stuff is negative!! And about people getting ripped off!
McKnight, you are a man of integrity. I just found and started watching your videos a couple of weeks ago. I play acoustic guitar, almost exclusively. That means that I have no point of reference for a lot of the electric guitars and related gear that you talk about, refer to, or review. So...why do I watch your videos, then? I watch 'em because of who you are. It's a pleasure to hear someone with personal and professional integrity talk about his area of expertise. But even more: it's a pleasure to hear someone with integrity talk about integrity, and about craftsmanship, honesty and accountability in business.... What you're doing (with the investigation into Sweetwater's 55-point inspection, for example) is valuable investigative journalism. It happens to be in the realm of guitars, and businesses that make or sell guitars. But it 's more than that, too. When I was a little kid, an influential book at the time was "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." I remember my father recommending it to me. He didn't ride a motorcycle. But he said that it wasn't really about motorcycles. The motorcycle part was just a vehicle for talking about...things like integrity, he said. I never have read that book. But your videos remind me of that.
Hay Phill, I got the Epiphone 1959 that I had Plek'ed from Sweetwater, not happy. First I had issues on the Epiphone side, ground from tail-peace not soldered, and when I checked the toggle switch, one of the wires came lose when barley touched. The wires on the pots have thin insulation and there's noise. Second, the Plek, frets are perfectly level but the fret ends are rough. I expected the fret ends should be better than the average Epiphone, not. I think the Plek job made the fret ends worse. Should I contact Sweetwater?
⚓️ Thanks Phil 😎 cheap guitars RULE!!! 🎶 Yamaha FS-700S ⚓️ Epiphone EL-00 🤠 G&L ASAT Classic ♨️ Epiphone J-45 ⚓️ ‘07 Squier Strat ❤️ set up & maintained ok they sound great > The marketing around expensive guitars is insane… 🎶 I don’t buy it … literally 😎
Great show today Phil. Answered several questions I’ve contemplated for a bit. Thanks a lot, love what you do man. Also, that green Adrian Smith Jackson that’s my thumbnail pic is one I’m currently modding with your help. So again, thanks for what you do, I’ve learned a lot!
As always, thank you Phil. I have been a fan for years and I love ya'. Just LOVE ya'! You are honest, fair, consistent, funny and so very generous with your time, knowledge and expertise. Thank you!
Hi Phillip, I agree if a guitar neck doesn't feel comfortable to play then I won't buy the guitar. No matter what it sounds or looks like. I have to be able to play it without having to struggle with it. The more guitars I've owned the more I've learned that every guitar has it's good and bad points when it comes to comfort. I've owned about 20 different guitars from 7 different companies. I've learned that the neck profile & radius, the weight and balance of the guitar all have an affect on the stress you have when playing. The look of the body and finish might look attractive and the pickups might sound great, but if it hurts your hands, arms, neck and back to play them you most likely either won't buy it or you won't keep it and play it much.
I was a small contractor for several years and my father owned a TV store for over 30 years and then went to work as salesman for his suppliers gather. So to say my father talked about this stuff a lot is true. Much of it was very inspiring and and a lot of it in opinion comes with a good customer focus approach. That I act with integrity and that's just the way you do it with every customer. I don't step on the toes of comfortable d and I surely don't bad mouth then even if they were not good or bad either. I just get I think I do the best you can get for those price print. Butt I sent a customer of mine over to Home Depot, because they were my supplier and I booked and said oh they try to steel job yet them no. Jokingly because this guy was really a cool guy he owned a company worth over 70 million. But I smiled as they went to the store. I knew there was a good chance they would try and snag the job. They tried and her laughed and didn't even come back wanting to renegotiate. Which they have been known to do. Which, is not a good way to do business in my opinion. Anyway, I like your show. And I just purchased an interesting guitar. It's an Eastman AR 372CE ARCHTOP 3 COLOR SUNBURST. IT LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE THE ES 175. It also has a laqure finish and plays great. I got it used for$600 and it's in perfect condition with a hard shell case. I really was looking at that Vietnamese made the three letter name LPN or something. I would have probably got the the Ibanez even the George Benson's are great. So are they 300 dollar ones.
I play an Aria Pro 2 a 4 string though laminate bass. It's beautiful but needs 2 plastic covers either cream or black I don't care. I finally used a small amounts of hot glue to holed the pickups in place while staying away from the coil windings! I repaired TVs
Plek $$$$ will come down. It's a machine. but be wary of AI. I still love a human set guitar, the guy who said "I did this" and the guitar is just perfect... all about the neck
I recently purchased a Sterling by Music Man Cutlass CT50. It’s a tad more than 1/2 the price of a Fender Player series Strat and yet it’s as good if not a better quality instrument than the Player series.
An Aria Pro II PE-R80 these guitars are gold...If I ever am lucky with money that guitar is high on my list..Just looking at it makes you feel it will be a good guitar
As an odd sidenote about the over seas imports, I see it kind of funny because for guitars it's USA or bust, but things like Violins or Flutes it's okay that they are made in Italy or something and it's an amazing instrument.
Phillip McKnight! I had my heart set on a "PRS - SE Angelus Custom" acoustic, & tried to order one from Guitar Center, but the order was cancelled by GC because that model had stopped being made, & GC didn't have any more in stock. Online, there were only 2 used guitars left on the market in the entire country, & Sweetwater had one. It's a gem! Kind regards❣
Speaking of Epiphone making versions Gi[sons, I really wish that Epiphone would make a P-90 LP Standard. I know that Epiphone makes a Les Paul Special with P-90s, but what I want is a gold top Standard with P-90s. There are some off-brand alternatives that'll look at, but if Epiphone made one, I'd have bought one already.
I'm in the same boat. I've been looking at the Harley Benton copy for a long time and it's the cheapest guitar I will have bought which scares me a little. I think this goes to what he said about companies wanting to keep the prestigious models behind a giant paywall. Also, the way the epi is going right now, their version of it would still end up being 1500 dollars like their other inspired by Gibson line. But I'd loooooove a 500 dollar Epiphone Theodore. I'd buy it immediately
@@TheAshleywiggins Exactly, they did. I'll end up getting one, but I only see one or two on Reverb at any given time. I'd rather buy a new one if I could
If you ever want a great American made guitar with a lil history(family owned) and are willing to pay for it ... f*ck Gibson, try a Rickenbacker. Got a 600 series that's beyond quality. So underrated as a company. ✌
totally agree! expensive, but NOT outrageous - totally ignored and underrated these days, considering the comparables... looking forward to Phil's review of the fireglo 360-12 hanging behind him!
What great, measured, lucid conversation and perspective. I wish everyone on TH-cam was like this, without exception. Great value added from every watch. Thank you so much.
First of all, I am a sweetwater customer so they’re analytics are spot on. Secondly, thank you for the boya & ziky info. I would definitely buy one after your comments. Once I have a need 👀 😅 whenever that will be 😉. As to weight: I’m 63 and I completely relate. My 2 cents: I’ve been buying the new squier 40th because they’re _super_ light. And well made imho. But I have discovered that if I strap my les Paul or H535 HIGH on my body, the weight is not _as much_ a factor. Again IMHO and great video!
The PRS DGT SE is a perfect example of the overseas factory not being handcuffed by the parent company. That guitar is FANTASTIC and it''s because David insisted it meet his high standards.
I wholeheartedly agree. I own guitars from 200 dollars to over 5 grand, and my DGT SE punches way above its class. I can't think of anything I'm disappointed with.
Buying a Gibson is like buying a Harley Davidson. They may not be the best, to each their own, They are uniquely American, stylized and pricey. Its a little bit of a fashion plate. Some people buy them and never use them or the owner lacks the ability to put it though its paces. Some people believe they are buying an investment.
10 years ago i purchased a Harley Benton Flying V for $89 plus shipping lol, i fixed the 2 high frets, gave it a set up, replaced the pups and it became one of my go to guitars. It was a pre lawsuit direct copy, i loved it so much that the following year i went out and purchased a Gibson V 120, the guitar the Benton was copying, my thinking was if the Benton is this good well the real thing should blow my mind! 10 years later i still have and love both but i also still play the Harley Benton more!
My favourite Sweetwater video was the one where they guy doing the review was wearing a Sweetwater t-shirt and a shirt over the top of it, and the entire video the ‘Swee’ and the ‘er’ were covered.
I have a less optimistic view of Cesar Gueikian than you. I fear the Kirk Hammett signature V and various Greenies may be indications of the way he envisages Gibson's future and I am less enthused about signature models than you. In the world of pianos, Yamaha focuses on making excellent instruments for reasonable prices, while Steinway focuses on signing up evey big name as a signature artists and charging literally twice the price for its pianos.Gibson is already in the latter territory and I fear it will veer further that way, but I would far prefer it to focus on just making excellent instruments.
Phillip, you could be a consultant to every guitar company and I would trust that you would keep the unique character of each one and reach the epitome of each guitar concept.
Regarding the necks.. i've found the more time I've spent playing the less different neck profiles seem important. At some point I adapt while playing and then forget. Totally different when i was a beginner.. changing to a different neck profile felt horrible.
The lesson is, learn to set up guitars yourself. It really isnt that hard at all, just take time to learn and get the necessary, and really not that expensive tools to do it. I have have bought cheaper guitars in the past and took the time to set them up properly and exchange pickups if needed, and it will really save you 1000 dollars to have a pro style guitar.
I have a number of guitars in various price ranges but I nearly always reach for my second hand £150 Ibanez RG first. Price is always secondary to a guitar that "just feels right". Just my opinion. Thanks for another great video Phil.
Bought a new brand name Indonesia made guitar in the $800 price range about a month ago. Local mom-n-pop shop where I have bought previously several new guitars. Shop had 4 of the same model. Only one of the 4 had the nut height cut down properly out of the box. I bought that one. Was there again yesterday and the other 3 are still on the wall. The one I took home only needed string height adjustment at bridge. Intonation was spot on. First guitar is some time I have not had to do a real setup on a new axe.
Followup: What I had purchased in the above referenced was a Yamaha Revstar RSS02T with P90s. There today and all the P90S were gone and I took home a Humbucker version because I like the P90S version so well. Just needed bridge lowered also.
I've purchased three guitars from Sweetwater. Paid for setups on each. Two came flawless, one was a bit of a mess. Interesting enough, the worst one was the most expensive.
Gibson and Epiphone both have had Alex Lifeson LP models with the ghost piezo floyd rose system that sold like crazy but they always discontinue it. I don't get it. They finally made a new ruby one that's a standard production model but it doesn't have the piezo system (and they made it more expensive somehow lol. Less features, more money). The previous one was the holy grail of combos; Les Paul Body, humbuckers with coil split options, and a ghost piezo floyd rose system and 2 output jacks. It's so versatile. Why do they hold back the other version if it was so popular. If it's too labor intensive then just raise the price to compensate. They clearly have no problem doing it even when there's no justification for it (like the ruby model). But no, they just make it unobtainable instead. It's stupid. Side question, does anyone know of an affordable luthier I could ship a McCarty 594 SE and a piezo-loaded floyd rose system to and have them install it? Basically make a PRS version of that model I mentioned above. I'm no expert, I don't trust myself to do the piezo upgrade with the wiring and I don't know anyone local. Any recommendations?
..Regardless of the departure of Curleigh, Gibson has been known for years, even before Curleigh, as the worst factory set-ups in the industry....Gretsch, the best.......... Fender gives their techs 1-1/2 minutes per guitar for a set-up. Because of Fender's design, they usually come out pretty close to begin with......In all fairness, Gibson guitars are more, "Hand Made", than most guitar makers products.......
I don't know if you would ever make a video about this: I have an acoustic guitar that my parents gave me in the 1970s. It's a Ventura V-12 guitar, "designed in USA, built in Japan." It's very difficult to find any info about this guitar online. I could swear that mine has a solid rosewood body. The turners on it are incredible. Smooth as butter. Have never felt tuners like that on any other guitar. Would love to find out any info at all about these Ventura guitars made in Japan in the 1970s. (There's a Ventura V-1600 for sale on Reverb right now. The posting says that it's Brazilian rosewood. But the price is just $1500. And there's a Ventura V-12 on Reverb, for something like $300. Again, I could swear that mine is solid rosewood. The sound is sublime.
I hope the new Gibson guy does something about the QC and pricing. I've been wanting to buy a new Les Paul 60s Standard or Ebony Custom for a few years. The prices are just too ridiculous. I also can't see why you can't get a black 60's Les Paul Standard, in Australia. It's ridiculous. I'd buy one tomorrow. Also, how about a purple burst Les Paul? Why TF can't Les Paul Standards come in some decent colours. All of the Standards are red, orange and yellow, with the occasional blue or green. It's a bit boring.
Sam Ash had their Brownsville New York line. They had one guitar called The Impala, that I really loved. I've played some interesting Michael Kellys too. I like the '59 Thinline that looks like a nice player for around $300. I had a few Jay Tursers for a short time. They looked pretty.
Phil - so how can the regular guy weigh a guitar??? I step on the scale, and off. Grab my LP, then step on the scale again...not exact... HELP!!! Do you have a good way to "accuratley" get the weight score exact. >btw, mine's a 1977 Norlin Gibson Les Paul Standard; wine red if colour is weighty.
...THANK YOU, VERY, VERY, MUCH, PHIL!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!! I LOVE YOUR SUPER, DOWN TO EARTH, JED CLAMPETT LIKE HONESTY, AND "AVERAGE JOE" VIEWPOINT, WITH A SAVVY AFTER-VIEW!!! MAY GOD BLESS ALL OF YOUR ENDEAVORS!!
This is the first I heard about the CEO change at Gibson! This is great news if you ask me. When JC Curleigh took over he immediately showed his tush by having a large excavator run over brand new guitars to destroy them!!! If that wasn’t a “Hey, look at me” move I don’t know what is. Can you say “Major Ego”? The guy is an arrogant ass. Then, he had Mark Agnesi make the “We’re coming after you” video. The worse part was, in the video he goes on to say that “you don’t have to cover the Gibson name when playing one on T.V.” Who ever wrote the verbiage for this video didn’t have a clue!!! Mark said “It’s not enough to get around the copyright!!! He had no idea that they do that because Gibson wasn’t paying the artist, or paying for advertising!! And then they destroyed many very good unfinished ES guitars that were that were in the Memphis factory! They spent a lot of money taking other manufacturers to court only to lose all, or nearly all of these lawsuits. If he would have just concentrated on making better guitars, and dropping many of the products under the Gibson Brands umbrella he would have made a much better impression on their customer base. Now, don’t get me wrong, Henry Juszkiewicz was horrible, at least in his later years with Gibson. I actually met, and spoke with him at the CES show in 2016. He noticed me playing a Les Paul with the robo tuners. He asked me what I thought, I said that in my opinion it was not something that a Les Paul buyer would prefer. He actually got very defensive and said “We have a marketing department that would disagree with you” at this point, he was not polite. So (not proud of my behavior) I went on to say that “If your buyers are players that want an ugly looking piece of crap plastic doing their tuning for them, I must question who your market is”. Obviously the conversation ended at this point. I am hoping for nothing but good things for Gibson’s future. I am one happy camper (ok, player) that is extremely glad to see JC out of there.
If people want to pay through the nose to be marketed to by rich USA guitar companies by paying full retail prices let them. A big chunk of money given back to Fender etc for zero return. I'll stick to guitars from Asia and other countries. The "legacy" you pay for merely makes Fender execs rich. That's all
If you don't care about your dishwater's design, you have never owned an IKEA dishwasher. I had one which came with my kitchen, and I HATED that thing with an absolute passion, it could just do nothing right. Everything I put into it couldn't find a good place to stand, so things were just wobbling all over, all the slots were the wrong size, my two sizes of bowls were all awkward everywhere, and the washing was very poor, it was just so awful. Finally one day I bit the bullet and paid 1500 for a good Miele dishwater, and I have never, ever regretted it. Everything I own finds a good spot in that machine, the washing is amazing. I am seeing as-new colours on some of the things I have cycled through it, which I haven't seen for years. Clearly the people who designed that thing were passionate about it, and they did an awesome job. I am thankful every time I open the door and put something in, that is how big a difference it made, and I have had it for 2-3 years already. So yeah, I care more about guitars than dishwashers, but don't knock those people. It is like any field, there is a big difference between good and bad.
I own 2 reverends. They are good guitars. They are the origial Reverend guitars made of Mahogany, overseas production in the $500-$600 price range.A 390 and the original Gil Paris model (not the strat copy) At that time they did direct sales and had a small dealers network. As soon as they went to selling through Guitar Center and other retailers the prices nearly doubled. Yes they market the Korina bodies and now the roasted maple necks but the price increase was done to allow the mark up the dealers need to make a profit. I don't see Reverend as anything special any longer, especially at the prices they charge these days. It's your money. I'd look for a clean used model. I'm not selling mine anytime soon but would not ever buy a new model. They are not worth $1K or more, no way.
??? Phillip ??? As for strings at 7? Do they make strings that are .007s to .42s? Really? I'm 65, I still play less with arthritis, but I play widths from Fender and now I'm making guitars. I have one almost done, but it looks wonderful! So I'm still dailing up intonation and making it's first adjustments and it's my first from scratch so I made a Ms. Teatar! And she's the darling of guitars! If you want to see hear, let me please know? I really like pictures for now and I'm camera shy. Sorry, but she has a different look other than what I've seen over the years and I don't have influence first with anyone and my wife controls over my income and hers and she is definitely happy to watch money and I invested myself to build guitars to sell them so I'm making 14 guitars and out of them 3 basses all 5-strings too! I'm close to finishing my first one. It's better that I hoped and it's going to play and looks better than my parts casters! More fun to release my art and music together. Cool!
I could care less who runs Gibson guitars. I bought a brand new 1961 SG re-issue for $2300.00 from an online dealer. The guitar had some real issues. It never should have left the factory in the condition I got it. I fixed the issues at a real cost of 150.00 in parts and time. I asked Gibson to be financially responsible for the errors and they never returned my E-Mails or calls. Finally, the on-line retailer did in fact give me a $150.00 credit. This is what's wrong with Gibson. There is 0 accountability these days. Fix that and lower the price of the guitars to meet the reality of the M.I. business and they will recapture market share.
The building overseas vs USA is quite an interesting one. To me the best guitars I've owned have been made in Japan, I can find plenty of finishing issues on my PRS Silver Sky as an example. The S2 range doesn't make sense to me, sure you might not have a veneer but it's basically an SE put together in the US and you pay more... Maybe it's a status thing of not wanting SE on the headstock. The classic guitars like the strat and Les Paul are the most bizarre ones, any guitar maker on the planet can make them when compared to the USA standard model what are the differences? Cheaper hardware and cheaper wood choices. That's not build quality (yes I'm aware there's very cheaply made ones out there). These big companies have done pretty well with protecting their brands and creating the impression US made is the top. Else we'd see more growth than we are from brands like Cort and FGN. As in, brands from the factories - they don't have the right name on the headstock and they don't have your favourite TH-camrs or artists playing them. It does make me wonder what other influence these brands have. I'm not suggesting they put pressure on retailers, I don't know. I do remember Andertons promoting the EastCoast brand and in the launch video they had one that was clearly a PRS custom 22/24 copy. That never made it to the store... Did someone ask them not to sell them? I don't know but when you look at the current range of SE guitars and how the standards have been improved this year - nicer finishes etc it does seem like a reaction to the affordable guitars out there that look a lot like PRS.
I wonder how many people watching Nick on the Sweetwater videos that know one of his most well known songs is. SEE YOU IN HELL.....lol. Plus you know the Simms dude? I like his videos😃
I have an 80's strat, neck was twisted. Asked a shop if their Plek would correct it. They said "Easily!" Liars... (Also, early days of the Plek and likely a stoned person at the controls) I got my money back as it would have cost them more to repair the damage to the frets. I used that money to buy some decent tools and pulled the frets, sanded the board to 12" (was 9.5"), refretted it, sanded, crowned, polished etc... Cost me the same but I knew if I had the proper tools I could easily do the job and then have the tools for any other or a friends' guitar. Been doing 10-12 fret jobs a year plus set ups etc ever since on the side.
This is difficult for me to say because I grew up in Annapolis where PRS has this little tiny shop where my mom would take me to fix my strat however no kid “needs” a $2,000 guitar. I always remind them: most of your favorite rock albums were made with cheap guitars.
Quality control on guitars of many price ranges sucks these days! Guitar companies just don't give a crap anymore. How can you not be super OCD in final inspection and be extra careful to make sure there are no dead spots, strobe issues etc. The wrong people are hired to do those things. But again, guitar companies just don't give a crap. If you aren't famous and complain of quality control the company will not care of your criticisms.
Harley Benton is hands down the best bang for your buck. I bought a TE 30 for 89 bucks off their site, fits incredible right next to my Gibson, and Kramer.
Wow Phillip, you know, your videos are no secret to any company that dives in and gives/ continues to give guitar making a go...there are certain things that should be consistent across the board as to what any guitar, regardless of price point, should be expected to NOT have...guitars should not be put onto the market with high frets, guitars should play in tune/ proper intonation in tact, no sharp fret ends, nut done correctly so that open chords played at the nut is not used to weed out new players, hahahahaha!...yeah, I know most guitars are wood, but if I had a choice of a guitar having cosmetic flaws, but still played and sounded great, I would way rather deal with that versus some guitar that looks pretty, but is so distracting playing wise, that I just don't want to pick it up...and to me, maybe I'm wrong, but with all the computerized tech out there, a company could pump out a bunch of great guitars that are free from those key issues that cause a guitar player to be like "yeah....no....next..."...I wish someone would start a company, you know, like you go in to the shop in your closest city, tell them what you want, and in a couple of weeks, you go back in and you got your guitar, because they have all the CNC stuff needed to do it, have the wood all treated already for a build...or maybe it is ok to have a guitar "almost there", but the retailer takes care of the rest before the guitar is placed into the hands of a potential buyer...I'm surprised even places like Amazon doesn't have a "guitar tech" shop in house that, before a guitar goes out, all those points are addressed, as to minimize returns...just me venting, ha! Thanks for another video, and hope you and yours are doing great...Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!
I am a weird mix I am a scientist Epidemiologist and an accomplished lead guitarist. I have worked in part ownership of some guitar shops. I can tell you we used to have to smash new Gibsons and send photos to Gibson ie totally unplayable and defective. They just shipped replacements and at times we would have to sledgehammer them. One day 8 Les Paul Studios came in with the necks warped and had wrong nuts on the truss rod. So 8 got destroyed that day. I play 2 Les Pauls but really gravitate to teles and 70s strats are hot and you can EQ to play anything on anything. My Gibsons are vintage. But I avoid new ones.
Hey PHIL, have you ever had the chance to listen to Jessie Cook ? He is an accomplished flamenco guitarist . if not please do look to him. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Re the quality of USA vs Imported brands, here in the UK we can only buy what the dealers stock or swollow the now very high import charges to obtain one that there are no dealers for. As for the quality, there is no doubt that the USA made guitars are not anywhere near as good as the were. I have seen bad samples of Fender, Gibson and PRS USA made models that should never have left the factory. When it comes to the ones made in China as Phil has said they make what they are told to make but this does their reputation no good at all, i have excellent guitars made in China but not with a well known name on the headstock. Nothing wrong with that unless you decide to sell it, then the brand snobs just don't want it. Paying a high price for a well known brand does mean that you will buy a good guitar.
I bought the latest version of the squire vibe 50's tele from Sweetwater 1 year ago and last week the two top frets came out and i had to bring it it guitar center so they could fix it. No extreme heat, no major temp changes. Guitar center was like wow, that's crazy. Not sure if that's on Sweetwater or Fender
heavy les paul is where its at sonically. If you have back or shoulder issues get a custom lite. all my les pauls are 9-10 lbs. I can only dream of owning a 12 pound les paul custom.
The way I see it if a company sells shit guitars and gets called out for it, that's on them to own up to it. Blaming others for their garbage is bullshit. Hello Gibson?
Subject Index
00:00 Intro
02:30 Guitar Company Reacts To My Review
the video I was talking about
th-cam.com/video/HyCZ8cUGawk/w-d-xo.html
17:18 Will Sweetwater ever do a in-house brand like Harley Benton?
23:20 Harley Benton is becoming a stand alone brand
29:30 CEO Of Gibson Is Gone
39:49 Is a volume pedal in the effects loop the same as a attenuator?
42:47 Why the neck matters so much to me
48:57 The worst 7 string guitar I ever owned
55:10 The rule I follow when cutting nuts for the gauge of strings and why factories follow it as well.
1:02:40 Why doest Gibson make more classic models in the Epiphone series?
1:13:00 Why I can not buy a post 2019 Gibson Les Paul
1:21:30 Some real talk about the Plek system for guitars
1:32:10 Is Guitar Quality Is Rigged?
1:44:30 Buy once cry once
1:51:00 Check out Plini
www.youtube.com/@plinimusic/videos
1:54:10 Intonation issues
1:56:22 The most effective way to change sound of your pickups
2:02:00 Reverend Guitars is a premium brand that has bigger appeal to younger players
2:07:45 How many guitars do you have to order to have a guitar made overseas?
2:11:12 The EVH Iconic 5150 amp
If you want a fantastic LP style guitar, light and cheaper than a 10lb USA Standard, get an Eastman SB59/v. I sold my R8 because of the Eastman. Loved both equally, and Im good with just 1 LP guitar. My Eastman weighs 8.38 lb.
Cesar Gueikian: "SEH"-ZAR, not "SEE"-ZAR - ;) ;)
Sweetwater’s “55 Point Inspection” is STILL a joke. I just took delivery of the new Epiphone “Inspired By Gibson Custom” $1299 ‘58 Korina V, and the action was a full 1/4” high, there were cracks beside the string nut, and there was a crack in the poly basecoat UNDER the clearcoat. That’s 3 strikes alone. Long story short, I emailed my salesperson, arranged a return/exchange, and they promised to do a DOUBLE inspection on the replacement, which they did!….I received an absolutely PERFECT replacement V. Sad that I had to call them out on the first one.
I’ve purchased a few guitars from them now and I feel that inspection comes down to the price of the guitar……sadly. Aka, buy a Martin acoustic for 4 grand and it won’t have the same ‘inspection’ as an ‘X’ series Martin. Or at least not typically, you may get a few rare birds in there time to time.
Yeah, the inspection thing is a joke.
My Gibson Les Paul came with a broken pickup ring.
When I looked closely at the photos of it which I had downloaded I could see the broken ring.
Add a resistor if you want 8 to be 10
I'd like to give a shout out to Korean made guitars,,,, they are Fantastic!!!
You have to worry about offending someone for wanting your country to do well.. What a time to be alive.
Boya and Ziki discounting their guitars in stock at Amazon speaks to their intent to fix the issues. Well done on that review, Phil.
25:44 Can confirm, since I'm personally a pretty big fan of Harley Benton. I've bought two of their guitars (a CST-24T for myself, and a resonator as a gift for my older brother after he did my son's eulogy at his funeral), and aside from some setup issues (string height mainly, which took me ten minutes to fix), they're both pretty great guitars. Are they perfect? No, and for the price, I don't expect them to be, but they sound great, they play great, and they look great. That's about all you can ask for.
I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your son 😢.. Peace and love ❤️
Speaking of Guitars made overseas it reminds me of Gibson in the early mid 2000’s having the Epiphone Elitist line made in Japan being discontinued as the quality was better and they were about $1k less.
I paused it at the 'Liars and Cheats' remark.
This is one of the reasons I watch. I've been self employed for 25 years and I don't even want to say the percentage of the companies who have lied and cheated.
It also usually goes along with incompetence.
I would be a rich man if not for liars and cheat which is why I put such a premium on people with integrity. Not just out of respect but as a constant reminder to not cut corners and stay true to core values.
This, to me, is the standout shining quality of Phillip Mcknight. I feel that I can really trust him to just be real. He doesn't really play the game in the way most other "influencers" do (actually, the way most other *people* do, honestly).
Reverend guitars are an excellent value. The bass contour control should be on every guitar.
I get the neck thing.
A guitar could be perfect in every other way, but if I don’t like the neck, I wouldn’t buy it
Fortunately I like most necks, but I do like some more than others
Modding: You can get great guitar for 300-400 bucks that has great bones, but maybe a cheap switch, tuners or pickups, and for a couple bucks or a couple hundred, depending on the guitar, can be a really great instrument. Plus setup. Which, you can either learn to do yourself, of pay a small fee to have someone else do.
Epiphone Casinos are pretty cheap and after a boutique pickup swap, wiring harness installation, pickguard swap and set-up, it’s still 1/5th the price of the equivalent Gibson ES-330. The wood grain, binding and finish are not as good but not a dealbreaker for me.
Yep, also a few sheets of very high grit sand paper - 1000 grit and up - is all you need for breaking in a neck and giving a gentle roll-over on the frets. You can very quickly get that Fender Custom Shop feel.
Can confirm. My Harley Benton was $330 shipped. Adjusted the truss rod and saddles and it was good to go. Eventually, I did need to swap the volume pot after it failed, so I put in a much more robust CTS unit. Now, it's great.
@@Aeon135 do you know if Phil did a video where he adresses fret sprout on bound necks?
I Know he uses painter's tape
The comment about Reverend is very true. A lot more up-and-coming sorta punk bands with Reverends over the last few years, particularly the bolt-on neck HP models, which fall around ~$1000, which isn't THAT much more than an Epi or Mexican Fender these days. They've done a good job working with/promoting to younger artists.
The plek info was spot on. If those machines aren't maintained, they will fail. Any "dull" tool will fail expected tolerances. It is only as good as who operates and services the machine itself.
Re: the Plek machine...
Generally when you get a guitar Plek'd, what you've *really* paid for is the Plek service plus a tech setting it up afterwards - and the "tech setting it up afterwards" is the make-or-break part.
Always a great show! You pretty much started the show off with the big reason I started following you and I have said it on here before! You tell it like it is and don't pull any punches no matter what the circumstances and you don't stand for the cheaters and liers! I did see the video about the Amazon guitars! And the response from them. It so nice to see these days because most of the stuff is negative!! And about people getting ripped off!
McKnight, you are a man of integrity.
I just found and started watching your videos a couple of weeks ago.
I play acoustic guitar, almost exclusively.
That means that I have no point of reference for a lot of the electric guitars and related gear that you talk about, refer to, or review.
So...why do I watch your videos, then?
I watch 'em because of who you are.
It's a pleasure to hear someone with personal and professional integrity talk about his area of expertise.
But even more: it's a pleasure to hear someone with integrity talk about integrity, and about craftsmanship, honesty and accountability in business....
What you're doing (with the investigation into Sweetwater's 55-point inspection, for example) is valuable investigative journalism. It happens to be in the realm of guitars, and businesses that make or sell guitars.
But it 's more than that, too.
When I was a little kid, an influential book at the time was "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."
I remember my father recommending it to me.
He didn't ride a motorcycle.
But he said that it wasn't really about motorcycles.
The motorcycle part was just a vehicle for talking about...things like integrity, he said.
I never have read that book.
But your videos remind me of that.
Hay Phill, I got the Epiphone 1959 that I had Plek'ed from Sweetwater, not happy. First I had issues on the Epiphone side, ground from tail-peace not soldered, and when I checked the toggle switch, one of the wires came lose when barley touched. The wires on the pots have thin insulation and there's noise. Second, the Plek, frets are perfectly level but the fret ends are rough. I expected the fret ends should be better than the average Epiphone, not. I think the Plek job made the fret ends worse. Should I contact Sweetwater?
⚓️ Thanks Phil 😎 cheap guitars RULE!!! 🎶 Yamaha FS-700S ⚓️ Epiphone EL-00 🤠 G&L ASAT Classic ♨️ Epiphone J-45 ⚓️ ‘07 Squier Strat ❤️ set up & maintained ok they sound great > The marketing around expensive guitars is insane… 🎶 I don’t buy it … literally 😎
Great show today Phil. Answered several questions I’ve contemplated for a bit. Thanks a lot, love what you do man.
Also, that green Adrian Smith Jackson that’s my thumbnail pic is one I’m currently modding with your help. So again, thanks for what you do, I’ve learned a lot!
I LOVE PLEK machines... I've had five of my guitars PLEK'd and they ALL play and feel great.
As always, thank you Phil. I have been a fan for years and I love ya'. Just LOVE ya'! You are honest, fair, consistent, funny and so very generous with your time, knowledge and expertise. Thank you!
Hi Phillip, I agree if a guitar neck doesn't feel comfortable to play then I won't buy the guitar. No matter what it sounds or looks like. I have to be able to play it without having to struggle with it. The more guitars I've owned the more I've learned that every guitar has it's good and bad points when it comes to comfort. I've owned about 20 different guitars from 7 different companies. I've learned that the neck profile & radius, the weight and balance of the guitar all have an affect on the stress you have when playing. The look of the body and finish might look attractive and the pickups might sound great, but if it hurts your hands, arms, neck and back to play them you most likely either won't buy it or you won't keep it and play it much.
I was a small contractor for several years and my father owned a TV store for over 30 years and then went to work as salesman for his suppliers gather. So to say my father talked about this stuff a lot is true. Much of it was very inspiring and and a lot of it in opinion comes with a good customer focus approach. That I act with integrity and that's just the way you do it with every customer. I don't step on the toes of comfortable d and I surely don't bad mouth then even if they were not good or bad either. I just get I think I do the best you can get for those price print. Butt I sent a customer of mine over to Home Depot, because they were my supplier and I booked and said oh they try to steel job yet them no. Jokingly because this guy was really a cool guy he owned a company worth over 70 million. But I smiled as they went to the store. I knew there was a good chance they would try and snag the job. They tried and her laughed and didn't even come back wanting to renegotiate. Which they have been known to do. Which, is not a good way to do business in my opinion. Anyway, I like your show. And I just purchased an interesting guitar. It's an Eastman AR 372CE ARCHTOP 3 COLOR SUNBURST. IT LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE THE ES 175. It also has a laqure finish and plays great. I got it used for$600 and it's in perfect condition with a hard shell case. I really was looking at that Vietnamese made the three letter name LPN or something. I would have probably got the the Ibanez even the George Benson's are great. So are they 300 dollar ones.
I play an Aria Pro 2 a 4 string though laminate bass. It's beautiful but needs 2 plastic covers either cream or black I don't care. I finally used a small amounts of hot glue to holed the pickups in place while staying away from the coil windings! I repaired TVs
Plek $$$$ will come down. It's a machine. but be wary of AI. I still love a human set guitar, the guy who said "I did this" and the guitar is just perfect... all about the neck
I recently purchased a Sterling by Music Man Cutlass CT50. It’s a tad more than 1/2 the price of a Fender Player series Strat and yet it’s as good if not a better quality instrument than the Player series.
An Aria Pro II PE-R80 these guitars are gold...If I ever am lucky with money that guitar is high on my list..Just looking at it makes you feel it will be a good guitar
Wait a minute ... American Idol isn't totally on the up and up??? They use backing tracks?!?
How can I go on? (Love, Nuno)
I am Kansas and have thought of doing this. LOL!!!! I do have a Firefly and I love it. Left handed options are slim. Great work Phillip.
As an odd sidenote about the over seas imports, I see it kind of funny because for guitars it's USA or bust, but things like Violins or Flutes it's okay that they are made in Italy or something and it's an amazing instrument.
It's me Phil, I'm laughing because my $2500 les pauls bridge was drilled wrong and won't intonate
I wish sweetwater would start a in-house brand.
Phillip McKnight! I had my heart set on a "PRS - SE Angelus Custom" acoustic, & tried to order one from Guitar Center, but the order was cancelled by GC because that model had stopped being made, & GC didn't have any more in stock. Online, there were only 2 used guitars left on the market in the entire country, & Sweetwater had one. It's a gem! Kind regards❣
Import tax in some countries is really high. Thailand used to have 200% tax.
Have you seen Gibson’s prices?? Greed is still hurting the guitar world over there.
Speaking of Epiphone making versions Gi[sons, I really wish that Epiphone would make a P-90 LP Standard. I know that Epiphone makes a Les Paul Special with P-90s, but what I want is a gold top Standard with P-90s. There are some off-brand alternatives that'll look at, but if Epiphone made one, I'd have bought one already.
I'm in the same boat. I've been looking at the Harley Benton copy for a long time and it's the cheapest guitar I will have bought which scares me a little.
I think this goes to what he said about companies wanting to keep the prestigious models behind a giant paywall.
Also, the way the epi is going right now, their version of it would still end up being 1500 dollars like their other inspired by Gibson line.
But I'd loooooove a 500 dollar Epiphone Theodore. I'd buy it immediately
They did.., called it "57 "les paul. Great lil guitar ,I had one.
@@TheAshleywiggins Exactly, they did. I'll end up getting one, but I only see one or two on Reverb at any given time. I'd rather buy a new one if I could
Love this guy. Just straight up honesty. Thanks Phillip!
If you ever want a great American made guitar with a lil history(family owned) and are willing to pay for it ... f*ck Gibson, try a Rickenbacker.
Got a 600 series that's beyond quality. So underrated as a company. ✌
totally agree! expensive, but NOT outrageous - totally ignored and underrated these days, considering the comparables... looking forward to Phil's review of the fireglo 360-12 hanging behind him!
Buying two GuitarFetish Slick guitars in the near future.
What great, measured, lucid conversation and perspective. I wish everyone on TH-cam was like this, without exception. Great value added from every watch. Thank you so much.
I want Gibson to make an American Firebird.(Wishful thinking)
First of all, I am a sweetwater customer so they’re analytics are spot on. Secondly, thank you for the boya & ziky info. I would definitely buy one after your comments. Once I have a need 👀 😅 whenever that will be 😉. As to weight: I’m 63 and I completely relate. My 2 cents: I’ve been buying the new squier 40th because they’re _super_ light. And well made imho. But I have discovered that if I strap my les Paul or H535 HIGH on my body, the weight is not _as much_ a factor. Again IMHO and great video!
The PRS DGT SE is a perfect example of the overseas factory not being handcuffed by the parent company. That guitar is FANTASTIC and it''s because David insisted it meet his high standards.
I wholeheartedly agree. I own guitars from 200 dollars to over 5 grand, and my DGT SE punches way above its class. I can't think of anything I'm disappointed with.
Lol all the Indonesian PRS guitars are fantastic, nothing to do with Dave Gresham
Buying a Gibson is like buying a Harley Davidson. They may not be the best, to each their own, They are uniquely American, stylized and pricey. Its a little bit of a fashion plate. Some people buy them and never use them or the owner lacks the ability to put it though its paces. Some people believe they are buying an investment.
A lot of old guys can’t ride their Harleys anymore because they are too heavy at stop lights. Some old guys can’t play Lesters because of bad backs.
Would love to try a Harley Benton but post covid shipping to Australia has gone thru the roof.
10 years ago i purchased a Harley Benton Flying V for $89 plus shipping lol, i fixed the 2 high frets, gave it a set up, replaced the pups and it became one of my go to guitars. It was a pre lawsuit direct copy, i loved it so much that the following year i went out and purchased a Gibson V 120, the guitar the Benton was copying, my thinking was if the Benton is this good well the real thing should blow my mind!
10 years later i still have and love both but i also still play the Harley Benton more!
My favourite Sweetwater video was the one where they guy doing the review was wearing a Sweetwater t-shirt and a shirt over the top of it, and the entire video the ‘Swee’ and the ‘er’ were covered.
😂
I have a less optimistic view of Cesar Gueikian than you. I fear the Kirk Hammett signature V and various Greenies may be indications of the way he envisages Gibson's future and I am less enthused about signature models than you.
In the world of pianos, Yamaha focuses on making excellent instruments for reasonable prices, while Steinway focuses on signing up evey big name as a signature artists and charging literally twice the price for its pianos.Gibson is already in the latter territory and I fear it will veer further that way, but I would far prefer it to focus on just making excellent instruments.
If you see someone with a dishwasher strapped around the neck, you know this person has a passion for dishwashers !
Dude im about to do the dishes😞
I had to have sweetwater send me three Epiphone inspired by Gibson J-45's until they finally gave me one that was acceptable
Phillip, you could be a consultant to every guitar company and I would trust that you would keep the unique character of each one and reach the epitome of each guitar concept.
Regarding the necks.. i've found the more time I've spent playing the less different neck profiles seem important. At some point I adapt while playing and then forget. Totally different when i was a beginner.. changing to a different neck profile felt horrible.
From Leo: Same here, I have vintage archtops with club necks all the way to Ibanez wizard necks. I can switch back and forth pretty well.
Being a new guitarist and liking knowing what I am paying for before I purchase is a huge help. Thank you.
You always make excellent shows. I love your commentary and insights. Thank you!
Switching string gauges you can also get 1/2 sizes. I use 8.5 gauge on my strat and it’s the sweet spot for me and didn’t affect setup at all.
If Badlands ever makes a guitar covered in fur, I'll know what 80's band inspired it. Especially if it spins on your belt buckle.
The lesson is, learn to set up guitars yourself. It really isnt that hard at all, just take time to learn and get the necessary, and really not that expensive tools to do it. I have have bought cheaper guitars in the past and took the time to set them up properly and exchange pickups if needed, and it will really save you 1000 dollars to have a pro style guitar.
I have a number of guitars in various price ranges but I nearly always reach for my second hand £150 Ibanez RG first. Price is always secondary to a guitar that "just feels right". Just my opinion. Thanks for another great video Phil.
Bought a new brand name Indonesia made guitar in the $800 price range about a month ago. Local mom-n-pop shop where I have bought previously several new guitars. Shop had 4 of the same model. Only one of the 4 had the nut height cut down properly out of the box. I bought that one. Was there again yesterday and the other 3 are still on the wall. The one I took home only needed string height adjustment at bridge. Intonation was spot on. First guitar is some time I have not had to do a real setup on a new axe.
Followup: What I had purchased in the above referenced was a Yamaha Revstar RSS02T with P90s. There today and all the P90S were gone and I took home a Humbucker version because I like the P90S version so well. Just needed bridge lowered also.
I've purchased three guitars from Sweetwater. Paid for setups on each. Two came flawless, one was a bit of a mess. Interesting enough, the worst one was the most expensive.
GD commercials keep interuptin class
Phil, this was an excellent show. Very informative with many topics that were addressed and given answers to the viewers! Great show!!
Not a fan of the plek system, you can just level it on your own. It isnt that hard.
Gibson and Epiphone both have had Alex Lifeson LP models with the ghost piezo floyd rose system that sold like crazy but they always discontinue it. I don't get it. They finally made a new ruby one that's a standard production model but it doesn't have the piezo system (and they made it more expensive somehow lol. Less features, more money). The previous one was the holy grail of combos; Les Paul Body, humbuckers with coil split options, and a ghost piezo floyd rose system and 2 output jacks. It's so versatile. Why do they hold back the other version if it was so popular. If it's too labor intensive then just raise the price to compensate. They clearly have no problem doing it even when there's no justification for it (like the ruby model). But no, they just make it unobtainable instead. It's stupid.
Side question, does anyone know of an affordable luthier I could ship a McCarty 594 SE and a piezo-loaded floyd rose system to and have them install it? Basically make a PRS version of that model I mentioned above. I'm no expert, I don't trust myself to do the piezo upgrade with the wiring and I don't know anyone local. Any recommendations?
I thought the Catalyst was quite good in the Boya & Ziki video. I thought it spoke for itself. Good on ya Sweetwater.
..Regardless of the departure of Curleigh, Gibson has been known for years, even before Curleigh, as the worst factory set-ups in the industry....Gretsch, the best.......... Fender gives their techs 1-1/2 minutes per guitar for a set-up. Because of Fender's design, they usually come out pretty close to begin with......In all fairness, Gibson guitars are more, "Hand Made", than most guitar makers products.......
IF
Bic lighters were made in America 5$ Mexico 4$ Canada 3$ Jamaica 2$ China 1$
China would sell some lighters.
All quality being equal.....
IMHO: ..I'VE ALWAYS HAD "EXTREME SATISFACTION", FROM ALMOST EVERYTHING, THAT I'VE EVER BOUGHT, THRU "SWEETWATER"!!! THEY'D GET MY "GOLD STAR"!!..
I don't know if you would ever make a video about this:
I have an acoustic guitar that my parents gave me in the 1970s.
It's a Ventura V-12 guitar, "designed in USA, built in Japan."
It's very difficult to find any info about this guitar online.
I could swear that mine has a solid rosewood body.
The turners on it are incredible. Smooth as butter.
Have never felt tuners like that on any other guitar.
Would love to find out any info at all about these Ventura guitars made in Japan in the 1970s.
(There's a Ventura V-1600 for sale on Reverb right now. The posting says that it's Brazilian rosewood.
But the price is just $1500.
And there's a Ventura V-12 on Reverb, for something like $300.
Again, I could swear that mine is solid rosewood.
The sound is sublime.
I hope the new Gibson guy does something about the QC and pricing. I've been wanting to buy a new Les Paul 60s Standard or Ebony Custom for a few years. The prices are just too ridiculous. I also can't see why you can't get a black 60's Les Paul Standard, in Australia. It's ridiculous. I'd buy one tomorrow. Also, how about a purple burst Les Paul? Why TF can't Les Paul Standards come in some decent colours. All of the Standards are red, orange and yellow, with the occasional blue or green. It's a bit boring.
Sam Ash had their Brownsville New York line. They had one guitar called The Impala, that I really loved. I've played some interesting Michael Kellys too. I like the '59 Thinline that looks like a nice player for around $300. I had a few Jay Tursers for a short time. They looked pretty.
Phil - so how can the regular guy weigh a guitar??? I step on the scale, and off. Grab my LP, then step on the scale again...not exact... HELP!!! Do you have a good way to "accuratley" get the weight score exact. >btw, mine's a 1977 Norlin Gibson Les Paul Standard; wine red if colour is weighty.
...THANK YOU, VERY, VERY, MUCH, PHIL!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!! I LOVE YOUR SUPER, DOWN TO EARTH, JED CLAMPETT LIKE HONESTY, AND "AVERAGE JOE" VIEWPOINT, WITH A SAVVY AFTER-VIEW!!! MAY GOD BLESS ALL OF YOUR ENDEAVORS!!
This is the first I heard about the CEO change at Gibson! This is great news if you ask me. When JC Curleigh took over he immediately showed his tush by having a large excavator run over brand new guitars to destroy them!!! If that wasn’t a “Hey, look at me” move I don’t know what is. Can you say “Major Ego”? The guy is an arrogant ass. Then, he had Mark Agnesi make the “We’re coming after you” video. The worse part was, in the video he goes on to say that “you don’t have to cover the Gibson name when playing one on T.V.” Who ever wrote the verbiage for this video didn’t have a clue!!! Mark said “It’s not enough to get around the copyright!!! He had no idea that they do that because Gibson wasn’t paying the artist, or paying for advertising!! And then they destroyed many very good unfinished ES guitars that were that were in the Memphis factory! They spent a lot of money taking other manufacturers to court only to lose all, or nearly all of these lawsuits. If he would have just concentrated on making better guitars, and dropping many of the products under the Gibson Brands umbrella he would have made a much better impression on their customer base.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Henry Juszkiewicz was horrible, at least in his later years with Gibson. I actually met, and spoke with him at the CES show in 2016. He noticed me playing a Les Paul with the robo tuners. He asked me what I thought, I said that in my opinion it was not something that a Les Paul buyer would prefer. He actually got very defensive and said “We have a marketing department that would disagree with you” at this point, he was not polite. So (not proud of my behavior) I went on to say that “If your buyers are players that want an ugly looking piece of crap plastic doing their tuning for them, I must question who your market is”. Obviously the conversation ended at this point. I am hoping for nothing but good things for Gibson’s future. I am one happy camper (ok, player) that is extremely glad to see JC out of there.
If people want to pay through the nose to be marketed to by rich USA guitar companies by paying full retail prices let them. A big chunk of money given back to Fender etc for zero return.
I'll stick to guitars from Asia and other countries. The "legacy" you pay for merely makes Fender execs rich. That's all
If you don't care about your dishwater's design, you have never owned an IKEA dishwasher. I had one which came with my kitchen, and I HATED that thing with an absolute passion, it could just do nothing right. Everything I put into it couldn't find a good place to stand, so things were just wobbling all over, all the slots were the wrong size, my two sizes of bowls were all awkward everywhere, and the washing was very poor, it was just so awful. Finally one day I bit the bullet and paid 1500 for a good Miele dishwater, and I have never, ever regretted it. Everything I own finds a good spot in that machine, the washing is amazing. I am seeing as-new colours on some of the things I have cycled through it, which I haven't seen for years. Clearly the people who designed that thing were passionate about it, and they did an awesome job. I am thankful every time I open the door and put something in, that is how big a difference it made, and I have had it for 2-3 years already. So yeah, I care more about guitars than dishwashers, but don't knock those people. It is like any field, there is a big difference between good and bad.
I own 2 reverends. They are good guitars. They are the origial Reverend guitars made of Mahogany, overseas production in the $500-$600 price range.A 390 and the original Gil Paris model (not the strat copy) At that time they did direct sales and had a small dealers network. As soon as they went to selling through Guitar Center and other retailers the prices nearly doubled. Yes they market the Korina bodies and now the roasted maple necks but the price increase was done to allow the mark up the dealers need to make a profit. I don't see Reverend as anything special any longer, especially at the prices they charge these days. It's your money. I'd look for a clean used model. I'm not selling mine anytime soon but would not ever buy a new model. They are not worth $1K or more, no way.
??? Phillip ??? As for strings at 7? Do they make strings that are .007s to .42s? Really? I'm 65, I still play less with arthritis, but I play widths from Fender and now I'm making guitars. I have one almost done, but it looks wonderful! So I'm still dailing up intonation and making it's first adjustments and it's my first from scratch so I made a Ms. Teatar! And she's the darling of guitars! If you want to see hear, let me please know?
I really like pictures for now and I'm camera shy. Sorry, but she has a different look other than what I've seen over the years and I don't have influence first with anyone and my wife controls over my income and hers and she is definitely happy to watch money and I invested myself to build guitars to sell them so I'm making 14 guitars and out of them 3 basses all 5-strings too! I'm close to finishing my first one. It's better that I hoped and it's going to play and looks better than my parts casters! More fun to release my art and music together. Cool!
I could care less who runs Gibson guitars. I bought a brand new 1961 SG re-issue for $2300.00 from an online dealer. The guitar had some real issues. It never should have left the factory in the condition I got it. I fixed the issues at a real cost of 150.00 in parts and time. I asked Gibson to be financially responsible for the errors and they never returned my E-Mails or calls. Finally, the on-line retailer did in fact give me a $150.00 credit. This is what's wrong with Gibson. There is 0 accountability these days. Fix that and lower the price of the guitars to meet the reality of the M.I. business and they will recapture market share.
The building overseas vs USA is quite an interesting one. To me the best guitars I've owned have been made in Japan, I can find plenty of finishing issues on my PRS Silver Sky as an example. The S2 range doesn't make sense to me, sure you might not have a veneer but it's basically an SE put together in the US and you pay more... Maybe it's a status thing of not wanting SE on the headstock.
The classic guitars like the strat and Les Paul are the most bizarre ones, any guitar maker on the planet can make them when compared to the USA standard model what are the differences? Cheaper hardware and cheaper wood choices. That's not build quality (yes I'm aware there's very cheaply made ones out there). These big companies have done pretty well with protecting their brands and creating the impression US made is the top. Else we'd see more growth than we are from brands like Cort and FGN. As in, brands from the factories - they don't have the right name on the headstock and they don't have your favourite TH-camrs or artists playing them.
It does make me wonder what other influence these brands have. I'm not suggesting they put pressure on retailers, I don't know. I do remember Andertons promoting the EastCoast brand and in the launch video they had one that was clearly a PRS custom 22/24 copy. That never made it to the store... Did someone ask them not to sell them? I don't know but when you look at the current range of SE guitars and how the standards have been improved this year - nicer finishes etc it does seem like a reaction to the affordable guitars out there that look a lot like PRS.
FGN is a damn good example. People pay thousands of dollars for their old JVs. Im a firm believer they need to rebrand the name.
I wonder how many people watching Nick on the Sweetwater videos that know one of his most well known songs is. SEE YOU IN HELL.....lol. Plus you know the Simms dude? I like his videos😃
I have an 80's strat, neck was twisted. Asked a shop if their Plek would correct it. They said "Easily!" Liars... (Also, early days of the Plek and likely a stoned person at the controls) I got my money back as it would have cost them more to repair the damage to the frets. I used that money to buy some decent tools and pulled the frets, sanded the board to 12" (was 9.5"), refretted it, sanded, crowned, polished etc... Cost me the same but I knew if I had the proper tools I could easily do the job and then have the tools for any other or a friends' guitar. Been doing 10-12 fret jobs a year plus set ups etc ever since on the side.
This is difficult for me to say because I grew up in Annapolis where PRS has this little tiny shop where my mom would take me to fix my strat however no kid “needs” a $2,000 guitar. I always remind them: most of your favorite rock albums were made with cheap guitars.
Quality control on guitars of many price ranges sucks these days! Guitar companies just don't give a crap anymore. How can you not be super OCD in final inspection and be extra careful to make sure there are no dead spots, strobe issues etc. The wrong people are hired to do those things. But again, guitar companies just don't give a crap. If you aren't famous and complain of quality control the company will not care of your criticisms.
Harley Benton is hands down the best bang for your buck. I bought a TE 30 for 89 bucks off their site, fits incredible right next to my Gibson, and Kramer.
Wow Phillip, you know, your videos are no secret to any company that dives in and gives/ continues to give guitar making a go...there are certain things that should be consistent across the board as to what any guitar, regardless of price point, should be expected to NOT have...guitars should not be put onto the market with high frets, guitars should play in tune/ proper intonation in tact, no sharp fret ends, nut done correctly so that open chords played at the nut is not used to weed out new players, hahahahaha!...yeah, I know most guitars are wood, but if I had a choice of a guitar having cosmetic flaws, but still played and sounded great, I would way rather deal with that versus some guitar that looks pretty, but is so distracting playing wise, that I just don't want to pick it up...and to me, maybe I'm wrong, but with all the computerized tech out there, a company could pump out a bunch of great guitars that are free from those key issues that cause a guitar player to be like "yeah....no....next..."...I wish someone would start a company, you know, like you go in to the shop in your closest city, tell them what you want, and in a couple of weeks, you go back in and you got your guitar, because they have all the CNC stuff needed to do it, have the wood all treated already for a build...or maybe it is ok to have a guitar "almost there", but the retailer takes care of the rest before the guitar is placed into the hands of a potential buyer...I'm surprised even places like Amazon doesn't have a "guitar tech" shop in house that, before a guitar goes out, all those points are addressed, as to minimize returns...just me venting, ha! Thanks for another video, and hope you and yours are doing great...Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!
I've never played a gibson that plays good... like an ibanez... Gibbons lack playability for sure
I’m getting a commercial every 60 seconds. Something changed and now this show is totally unwatchable. No thanks. ✌️
I am a weird mix I am a scientist Epidemiologist and an accomplished lead guitarist. I have worked in part ownership of some guitar shops. I can tell you we used to have to smash new Gibsons and send photos to Gibson ie totally unplayable and defective. They just shipped replacements and at times we would have to sledgehammer them. One day 8 Les Paul Studios came in with the necks warped and had wrong nuts on the truss rod. So 8 got destroyed that day. I play 2 Les Pauls but really gravitate to teles and 70s strats are hot and you can EQ to play anything on anything. My Gibsons are vintage. But I avoid new ones.
I just emailed because I’m a big Michael Kelly fan. They say Sam Ash doesn’t own Michael Kelly. Did I miss something?
Hey PHIL, have you ever had the chance to listen to Jessie Cook ? He is an accomplished flamenco guitarist . if not please do look to him. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Re the quality of USA vs Imported brands, here in the UK we can only buy what the dealers stock or swollow
the now very high import charges to obtain one that there are no dealers for.
As for the quality, there is no doubt that the USA made guitars are not anywhere near as good as the were.
I have seen bad samples of Fender, Gibson and PRS USA made models that should never have left the factory.
When it comes to the ones made in China as Phil has said they make what they are told to make but this does
their reputation no good at all, i have excellent guitars made in China but not with a well known name on the headstock.
Nothing wrong with that unless you decide to sell it, then the brand snobs just don't want it.
Paying a high price for a well known brand does mean that you will buy a good guitar.
Spent $700 on Harley Benton fusion tele,with tweed case and shipping,taxes in Philippines ,still worth it,killer good guitar!
I bought the latest version of the squire vibe 50's tele from Sweetwater 1 year ago and last week the two top frets came out and i had to bring it it guitar center so they could fix it. No extreme heat, no major temp changes. Guitar center was like wow, that's crazy. Not sure if that's on Sweetwater or Fender
I'm a veteran who served overseas 4 years during the '60's. Don't apologized! Veterans seem to be a dying (no pun intended) breed.
heavy les paul is where its at sonically. If you have back or shoulder issues get a custom lite. all my les pauls are 9-10 lbs. I can only dream of owning a 12 pound les paul custom.
🤣🤣🤣🤣😂 MIM Fenders stand out because they look too good! Telling it like it is is why we love you Phil.
The way I see it if a company sells shit guitars and gets called out for it, that's on them to own up to it. Blaming others for their garbage is bullshit. Hello Gibson?
Gibson makes grossly overpriced crap that you can buy from Epiphone for 1/4 of the price.