Just for general information I don't allow street language on my channel. If someone posts that it gets deleted... because there are younger viewers that don't need that sort of thing when they come and see the videos. Thanks.
One John Smith recently emailed me... of course he was on the 'side' of the Chinese stuff it seems. I could tell because he can't read the above comment and blasphemed his way probably to hell. Some people have no way of communicating except with language that should not be on my channel and being derogatory to the reasonable guys that come here. So he bit the dust and we won't hear from him any more.
Sadly there will be no high end market when they have done... make no mistake. I see it over and over where the west can't compete against the costs. Thanks.
I have refrained generally from most Chinese guitars as every single time they either send me junk, or worse so I just buy now what I know will be OK. Thanks for watching.
The thing that gets me, I am 79 I have owned a lot of guitars people put down Chinese guitars, and they are right, but the Chinese are getting better, I live in Asia and buy bodies and necks,I do buy from one manufacture but if you compare what fender put out in the 50s the Chinese are far ahead, they have nice CNC machines, the problem he has is that neck comes in different heel size and profile, you order the neck to fit the body
Chinese guitar parts are improving I agree. But from personal experience (check my channel for other examples) I have been supplied some real rubbish and the worst part for me was that the sellers did not care. Honestly. When I order parts from other premium makers (and some not so premium makers) I get what I order and it all generally works out wonderfully. It's not impossible to create a good guitar with the Chinese guitar parts but what I would say is 'caveat emptor' to anyone that is considering buying those. Thanks for the post John... appreciated and thanks also for watching!
I've had a couple of these bound necks, and they were great necks! Who cares about the historically correct dimensions? I wanted to build/asseble a nice guitar, and didn't want to pay for those completely overpriced american parts (Fender, Warmoth...). What I got was a great guitar that plays and sounds great, for a fraction of the cost for some american parts! Besides, I don't mind if the parts need some minor adjustment, like widening the neck pocket a ittle, if the neck heel is a little to wide. That's part of the fun of making partscaster guitars. So, unless you buy the cheapest of the cheap (there are necks out there for about 25€, those are probably asking for trouble), you'll be totally fine with Chinese parts!
+Patbwoy Wow that's a little subjective really. There are many guys who like those 'overpriced' necks for sure. This particular neck shown in the video was NOT a very good neck. In fact I gave these parts to my Bass guy and he later assembled some of the stuff and I completed the guitar with him for him. The body wood seems like basswood and is not actually alder or indeed ash. But that neck needed lots of work to get it even reasonably in to anything like a 'proper' neck. I think the problem is with the Chinese stuff that it is for the most part a gamble and in a big way often. The truss rod, the nut and even the angle in the body pocket/neck angle was not a pretty sight and not really a basis for a really good guitar. The problem is, that If I wanted a £99 ($150) guitar I can buy those ready to play for that money whereas building something that is not even as good as one of those guitars (let's call them beginners guitars) is not really worthwhile irrespective of whether someone likes the 'historically correct dimensions' or not. This neck was far from the 25 euros you mentioned but remained secondary for anyone's choice really. Thanks for watching.
Guitar building the way you started out here is a bit like trying to build a car by using parts from Ford, GM and Mazda... Sometimes it will fit but often they don't. Complaining "they don't fit" is to be expected if your only measure when buying the parts is 'that looks and feels nice and is at a awesome price'.... No matter the price or origin the small details can be important...
I don't quite see it that way. While you referred to cars as an example I will too. If I own a BMW (why not) and I go out and buy some parts that the seller says will fit my BMW car, when I get them home, I expect to fit them to my car, just as the genuine BMW ones would. But if I buy BMW parts that when I get them home they don't fit then something is a little wrong. Just like buying parts for a Fender guitar, when I get them home I expect (not unreasonably) to be able to use the parts just as I would with the Fender ones. Anything else is simply misleading. ANY details that purport that the Fender shaped parts will fit (the headstock alone will say it all) are basically incorrect because those parts don't fit, they are as stupid as a truck part I once saw from Chine (an oil filter for a Rolls Royce Truck Engine) that was sold as a 'Rills Rills' and again purportedly 'the same' as the real deal... especially if you can't spell. I remain as unconvinced about the Chinese parts as the day I made the video because they mislead people in to thinking they will work on a Fender just as the real parts do. They won't. Marcel, you had an interesting point, but my comment about 'they don't fit' is entirely correct. Thanks for watching.
Yes Tony... I didn't use the correct set of words in my comment.... If you had bought all the parts from one manufacturer then you're entitled to expect that they will all fit together nicely, but in the video that isn't my impression of what you initially did. That being the neck from a local seller and the body from a Internet site. That being said I've had cases where I've bought both body and neck from the same seller and while I could simply bolt them together and be done with it there were huge gaps that leave you thinking WTF?? ... I've also had cases where after market parts (including necks) have been leaps and bounds better than the original manufactures parts... On the whole it is often obvious that most China made parts are made at a cost premium though there are increasing number of instances where incredibly high quality and inexpensive items are being made there and nowhere else... But I suppose to find those few precious stones you need to dig through a lot of dirt...
Yes I understand... but I put it like this... if it's got a strats headstock (for example) I expect it to fit the brand that its stealing the intellectual property rights to. If they actually did that then there's no problem... at least until Fender drag them through the courts :) I really does remind me of the 'Rills Rills' I spoke about above :) and that was being done back in the 70's!
Cheap?? You can buy an entire MiM for $350 or so. You have already spent 100 for the body 70 for the neck and 60 for the tuners; that's 230 before a bridge, 5 way switch, pots and most importantly pick ups. I am all about modding my gear; new pots, better pick ups, bone nut etc but if you are going to start from stretch (a kit) you kinda need to spend less than a solid instrument like a MiM Strat.
Note that this video was made in February 2014 and at that time the prices I showed were cheap. China has stooped to new lows these days as this video here shows: th-cam.com/video/E0xwbea1ss8/w-d-xo.html and that's 'cheap' especially if you want to make a clock out of it. :) Thanks and your comments are pertinent of course, its just that as we move forward Chinese stuff gets cheaper (and nastier sometimes) overall. I still don't recommend the stuff though from personal experience. Thanks for watching.
I know this is a old video , but I would like to add , the best thing to do on a guitar body that CAN make a huge difference in weight before you add veneers. Send it through a planar and knockoff about a 1/4 inch off the back of it. The neck pocket should still be strong enough to keep it good. It will knock about a half a pound to a pound off your body. Once you add the veneer , the glue and several coats of poly. You end up gaining that back some.
hmmm...well, a lot of it depends on the luthier. I recently got a Chinese Martin D45 exact clone and it was worth every bit of the $875 I paid for it. Solid sitka top, solid rosewood sides and back, amazing abalone inlays all over the guitar and a nitro cellulose finish to boot - and it sounds and plays as good as any $4,000 acoustic. I had my local guitar repair shop set the action on it and they were STUNNED at how well made it is (they've been doing repair work for 45 yrs).
Ah I don't mean $800 or 900 dollar equipment. I generally refer to the low cost COPY equipment and parts out there that are clearly not as defined as they suggest, and/or are blatant rip offs of original designs. The video is specifically (as the title "Cheap Chinese and Quality USA Guitar Parts Compared" says) about components that are basically incorrect or made wrong or simply are so bad they would not be worth the effort to fix even by skilled luthiers. I don't doubt that a guitar manufactured most likely under western management would be fine as indeed your is. Obviously I can't tell you how it plays :) but there are some very good $4k guitars out there... and there are some not so good $4k guitars too. The Chinese Martin as a branded product of Martin will have been made to Martin specifications so it's likely on a winner from the off. Thanks for the post as it highlights IMO the difference between authorized Chinese guitars and parts or the horrible rip off Chinese guitars and parts that this video was aimed towards.... and stay safe Steve.
@@tonymckenzieofficial The Martin guitar company of Nazareth Pennsylvania has absolutely no connection whatsoever to the luthiers in China building these guitars. This is not in anyway shape or form similar to Fender outsourcing guitars to Japan in the 1980's. These luthiers are completely independent from Martin and as far as I know, they are not under western management either, so it is a roll of the dice if you buy one. The difference in quality from other Chinese builders is simply that these particular luthiers know they won't be in business long if they don't make an excellent product. I have heard rumors that some of these Chinese companies have paid good money to Japanese luthiers from the 70's and 80's lawsuit era, to help them. Also, with modern technology it wouldn't surprise me if they have some authentic high dollar Martin's they used as model templates as well. That said, it's a bit easier to cheat on electric guitars than it is on acoustic's. With an acoustic like this, you cannot short cut the tedious level of detail required abalone inlay on these instruments. Just sayin...
Ah I understand - you mean they are similar to Martin and I guess they have some other name on them. Well, companies like Yamaha (top end) also make some very good acoustic guitars and they too cost money. Yes I agree the electrics are easier to cheat with - in particular when you get to the bottom end of these parts and/or electric guitars. That is really what the video was about... not higher end quality guitars. I can tell you from personal experience that the bottom end Chinese makers don't give a flying fig for anything that starts with a Q... like quality and my guess is they never will. They simply copy. Thanks and stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficialAs I already said, in terms of other guitar manufacturers, I would have paid at least $4,000 for what I got for $875. So I am happy as can be. No, I wasn't happy about being lied to in regards to the headstock (i.e. I wanted the abalone inlay fretboard pattern continued onto the headstock). Yes, there is a difference between "Yamaha" blazoned across the headstock versus "Martin" on there, when it isn't a real Martin, but I'm not trying to fraudulently sell what I have as a real Martin either.
I've found that some Strat copies play just as well and as smooth as a genuine Fender, Stratocasters, are my favourite guitar designs, I myself have just a copy at the moment but I have played many Fender Strats before, my copy is by the Korean make Shine, it's is genuinely one of the best copies I have ever played, it has quality finishes to it as well, so if anyone is looking for a cheaper version of a Strat and wants it to playe well I reccomend that, this Video has helped me a lot in picking guitar parts, you do have to be careful when buying cheaper copies of parts though otherwise you could end up being taken for a mug, good video as are most of your videos :) you definitely know your stuff :)
Those are a world away from true Chinese guitars without proper management of manufacture. The Fender Squier benefits from Fenders overall control of quality and that is what makes the difference. Thanks for watching.
Unfortunately if you buy on the net you choose when it arrives... and that's one of the major issues with those parts I have found - you don't get to see your part until it hits the doorstep then its way too late. There are some better parts but in the main I do think they remain on the lower side of output from China right now - especially when they are cheap. Thanks for watching.
***** yes, this is true! I ordered online more times, and i had issues with arrived guitars 2 times. I opened disputes documented pics, videos about the failures , both aesthetic and functional, and d online system judged me the money back I wanted. And then i fixed the problems on here.
It's a pity really that they are so variable but you were lucky :) and well done. It's just a matter of getting someone in China that is a good maker - they are there, but there are many not so good ones too. Glad you got resolved... and thanks for watching.
Partly correct. I talked on one video about a Fender 'Genuine' part I bought in the Fender packet... it was made in China! I could not believe it, but tht is completely true...
The Chinese pats are probably good enough. The problem is that these videos don't tell you if you if you should order a 50's or 60's or a 70's neck. The shapes are not the same. In my experience, the Chinese web shops do not tell you anything about the shape of the neck, leading you to buy a neck that is possibly ok for most guys out there, but not for me. I like a good chunk of wood to grip, e.g. the 50's tele, which is the same thickness all the way (not to be confused with the width) .But,by all means, go ahead and buy one, you were probably going to craft the body by your self anyway, so you will find a way to fit the neck and make it playable. Good luck! - and remember: you should always buy the best tools you can't af ord :-)
That is true there are different designs... but it is frankly impossible to say they are all 'genuine' parts. From what I saw, it was a total 'mish mash' of guess the part, indeed as Jon said. Problem is, not a single person I met had a clue about what they were selling and indeed I would say that when you're buying (as I did) from a music show, that you have absolutely no reference of any kind to determine what it is that's for sale by year for example.
I am mot an expert but I would try glue and put the guitar on a table with wax paper underneath it, Then find the flatest pie of plywood or an old table top or something.. Maybe a couple layers of plywood, again as flat as you can find, put it on the top seperated by wax paper and put anything you can for weight on the top and leave it a few days.. I would dampen the guitar body wood first and heat up the veneer with a hair dryer or heat gun, put your wood glue on it quickly on both sides.. Quickly on the veneer will it's warm, I would probably dampen the glueing surface of that as well before heat. Use a credit card or something to spread the glue quick then mate it and put a bunch of weight on the top. The success will likely depend on how flat the top of the guitar is and whatever you put on it to weight it down, serving the same purpose as a clamp basically.. Like I say, I am not an expert but just my thoughts guys.. I am sure there are videos.. But if not, this method could possibly work depending on how well you execute it.. Don't get in a hurry and have everything ready before hand.. Moch it all up first with what you are going to use so you know it will work and you aren't scrambling.. Have a rag and water to wipe excess glue that you can get to.. Also maybe good to drill a decent hole in the cavities you have to cut out first in the veneer.. It would dry faster I believe too and no chance of air pushing up in that area..
@@tonymckenzieofficial Right on! I am usually the guy people ask to do the things that people don't have the patience for. But I might let a more qualified person do it if I had a choice... Take Care!
There's no doubt whatsoever that incredibly low quality spec parts come from China. The part that throws off most dumb people is that parts of equal quality levels to US made parts also come out of China, for less cost. These aren't magic talismans, they're machined parts. Spec is spec. The fallacy is that China = Junk, simply because Junk almost always = China. The problem is, critical thinking is hard but price and 'nation of origin' is simple, so idiots believe that Made in America + More Money = Better than Chinese Made. The irony is, we've been down this road before with Japan. It took about 20 years for people to suddenly realize that Made in Japan guitars were in may cases BETTER instruments than their MIA counterparts in spite of costing less. The consuming public are idiots, that's for sure. Suckers, through and through.
You are EXACTLY correct about those Chinese parts etc. There are some really good companies in China (I'm involved with some) and some really rubbish companies too. I think much is to do with the notion that western is better made (and was for a very long time). But the rubbish really is rubbish out of China. Japan is NOT China and Japanese gear has for a long time been thought of (at least by me) to be of high quality - but it costs more than China made gear all day... think Roland as a good example - and Ibanez top end guitars. Guys believe that the top country for guitars is the USA and I think for the most part that is correct - they do make the best guitars in the world, and often other things like amps. But the East will not stay as it is forever and they WILL catch up on quality. However, most of the great 'Eastern' made products are often USA design - and thats the real secret to it all I think. Western designs can be some of the best designs there is and sometimes eastern designs are really bad. Roland and Ibanez are exceptions rather than the rule. I guess, if you only have $100 then you have to buy $100 gear... thats the key.
***** The issue is from what I see in reality, is that many of the Chinese 'equivalent' components I buy are actually off specification (and sometimes with inferior quality) from third party companies that 'copy' Fender parts. Strangely enough, the 'genuine' Fender 'made in china' parts are usually correct. It's those other companies that just don't quite get things right that have always concerned me, because you never really know if the part is good or bad until you receive it.
Fender has used about a half dozen different headstocks on their Strats over the years each slightly off dimensionally. I would guess this one is a copy of one of the less common Strat necks. Also, If I order three replacement Strat necks from Fender tomorrow, you can bet at least one of them will be a little too big or too small to fit the neck pocket on the body. It takes all of ten minutes with a dremel tool or a shim to fix. I've found some of the Asian made necks and bodies to actually be better made than Fender's. I have a Korean made Tele neck built to my specs with a 1 3/4" nut width that I only paid $95 to have made. The Fender Custom Shop won't even make you a neck with a custom nut width--not for any price.
Strangely enough this neck I had was about as good as what you expect for about $100 (£70)... and I won't be buying any more ever of those. All the Fender necks I have used to make Stratocasters fitted pretty much spot on but I'm sure there must be a variance on some of them. Of course, 'better than Fenders' is a subjective opinion and my view is 'it depends which Fenders' ;-) I'm not personally a fanatic of Chinese necks from my own experience so I prefer not to particularly assume that they are 'good' because for the $100 I would prefer to contribute that towards a neck I know is good, which isn't some Chinese knock off. I buy my necks (for the real deals) from the stratosphere who always seem to come up with really great Jeff Beck necks.
***** I wouldn't lump an entire continent together when it comes to Asian materials. The Japanese, Koreans, Taiwanese, and Indonesians have been making great quality guitars for a very long time. Most of the guitars in the world have been made in Asia for the past 50 years. And the Koreans and Japanese in particular take great pride in their craftsmanship, unlike several American companies. There are many master luthiers throughout Asia, and if you give them an exact specification for a neck size from top to bottom, that's exactly what you'll get from them. You have to know who to buy from if you're buying generic though.
Charles Seper I didn't! I specified China.. Japan make some great necks I agree. But there is some real cr*p coming out of China (which of course has less experience than Japan or Korea IMO).. hence my comment. I would disagree that American guitar companies 'don't take pride in their craftsmanship' as that is nonsensical really. The issue of the cheap Chinese stuff all revolves around price. That is basically the only advantage of buying from China I feel. I agree there ARE specialists in China of course... but that's not the typical 'let's buy a Chinese neck' scenario, which is in reality more like 'I have $100 - lets take a gamble on what we get when we order a neck' mode of operation. Now $100 is not earth shattering money, but it IS to the Chinese especially the smaller companies out there. Best way to go? Well if you want to help those small guys and 'don't care about the product' just send them your $100 and I'm sure they will happily oblige LOL. I stopped buying them for many reasons but the one at the top of all my lists is quality and spec misrepresentation... I expected better. Obviously others will judge themselves, as indeed your note says. Thanks for that input BTW as it's really another view... which will help some guys.
I'm sorry for my English, I'm a belgian french speaker. I tried an experience with a cheap (maybe chineese ?) Telecaster body. As I had time to loose after having been sick I tried to french polish that body which was supposed to be an ash made one. I use to do this. After sanding ad wood filling I began to see it looked curious from place to place. To me It wasn't ash at all... or perhaps chineese ash ? Who knows ? The point is I couldn't see it wasn't completely dried and the shellac was impossible to spread out good. I never succeeded to expand more than four coats. I scraped the shellac three times and finally verified it wasn't ash too.
You do not have to apologise for your English :) it's good anyway. I know what you mean re dry wood. I have seen wood like that before. Did you seal the grain too? If you did not then the polish (shellac) will get in there and sink etc. so it looks bad. You should (if you like the body wood and it looks cool) try using a clear gloss or matt finish (believe it or not) that you can buy from a car repair supplier (over here like Halfords). I have had some very good results and when you polish and buff the body later it looks great. Its very like Nitro Cellulose finish like they used a long time ago and still do on high end guitars. So maybe strip back that shellac to the bare wood, fill the grain then try it... you have little to lose and it could come out wonderful. Use the spray very thinly and wait until completely dry between coats. Polish and buff and you have it. :) maybe even on a Chinese body :) Thanks for watching.
***** Hi Tony, yes I sealed the grain and I believe you. Some of my buddies use polyurethane varnish to finish their guitars and it looks good so I gave that body to one of them. Personally I bought a nice well dry lumber of swamp ash, a Telecaster template and routed a beautiful body I sprayed a nitrocellulose varnish on.
I swear on 0:09 i thought the video started but it was just Tony starring into my soul LOL! OMG i have never laughed this hard anticipating a video to start!
I played a few great guitars but one thing that really caught my attention recently was a no-name chinese strat with tribal art i got for cheap in a warehouse. Since then i haven't touched my other guitars because it sounds so great lol it literally never goes out of tune and plays smoothly.
@@tonymckenzieofficial You replied respectfully then suddenly 2 years later you lash out for literally no reason? How exactly was i "disrespectful," "rude" and "miscommunicating?" It's an *opinion* - neither wrong or right - nothing more. If you cannot handle differing opinions then you're in the wrong hobby sir.
My apologies for that... in fact it was a mistake and I clicked the wrong guy! I was answering so many posts and made a mistake... so you were right of course and I'll delete my incorrect posts.. it happens... sorry.... so please take it as it actually was - a mistake and no comment I made was against you.
I agree. Good video. But personally Buying cheap crap is what got me to buy tools and learn how to repair build my own though. I mean as far as body and necks and pick ups I took the time to even learn how to take crap pick ups apart and wrap and seal them back up. But I would say avoid the hardware. I wouldn’t go any cheaper than Wilkinson on the bridges and tuners for sure. Save the 30 bucks on the Floyd rose copy don’t fall for it.
That's a fair point on the learning stuff I agree. Ans some of that hardware... yuk. Even I have been down that route trying to make a review of it and it never turns out as it should... there really is some bad gear/accessory/parts around. Thanks for watching and stay safe.
😮oh how true is that. Because of these cheap stuff, ive learned as well on how to setup my own. I even learned how to use dowels to plug holes. Its worth the learning experience
Interesting concept with this video but unfortunately it was very anti-climatic! The fact that you didn't persevere and finish what you started really proves nothing other than those who watched this video will never see how this guitar would have turned out. With a little more work you might have produced a real masterpiece at a highly affordable price. But too bad none of us will ever know.
William you will know - all you have to do is ask me! :) I don't make things up. What happened with the body was that the veneer lifted (entirely our fault) so I gave the body to Alan.. my bass and vocal guy. We flashed it with a bit of clear and I do believe he still has that. But I would hardly call it a success. It does work... but it was one of my 'failures' sadly. At least I tried. A more recent guitar I created was this green one - here the body was being finished, but on better parts: th-cam.com/video/zFlXC2RJ2EQ/w-d-xo.html but in the text below the video you can find all the other parts. That one worked out, but overall if you watch the Warmoth builds I completed they are entirely on another level... but also another price too. Here's my most recent: th-cam.com/video/HLYYlAGvrTo/w-d-xo.html and I sincerely hope you like them. Thanks for watching - appreciated.
Nice guitar. I am rebuilding a Squire Affinity Strat but I love the candy apple red finish. I went through a phase where I really liked quilted maple finishes, in the 80s especially. Then I bought a Strat with the thick, car paint surf green finish, and I'm still liking it 25 years later. I am thinking about a bound neck like you show here. The all parts necks are nice, not too dear. The warmoth necks I am looking at are all between $250-300, beyond my budget.
I understand. On the Chinese ones you have to be careful because in my experience they are sometime different than what would fit. They look OK until you try and fit them. But there are many other companies around that make parts cheaper than Warmoth... or even looking on eBay or Reverb for used necks (I have done that too) which if genuine might be the best fit... Hope it helps at least a little... and thanks for watching. Stay safe!
Good video, and valid points. I can appreciate the Warmoth parts for being very precisely manufactured. I also like to work with budget challenges! What I have found is that with cheaper (wood) parts, you end up doing more work to make them feel "nice" and play well. Not everyone likes to do a bunch of extra sanding, though. The premium stuff tends to be better feeling "out of the box." As for cheap metal parts, it seems like a set of Hipshot tuners would have set you back about the same as the Taiwanese ones you got... when I think of "cheap" tuners, I'm imagining the Kmise machines and such. Hipshots are absolutely wonderful tuners for $60!
Thanks for watching and your info is useful of course. I wanted to highlight that some of the cheap parts are very different than how some might say they are... but once you have them on closer inspection there's this or that problem which some guys might not easily fix. Yes I don't apply 'cheap' to everything that's low cost - some of the parts are OK and Hipshot are not bad - they have also been around as long as I care to remember and that would not be the case if their products were not good. All useful info as I said and thanks again for watching.
I will NEVER buy Chinese crap over American made ANYTHING when there’s a option and I have the means to do such! I for one have one thing that many don’t have today, especially todays youth and even form the United States! It’s something called principles and I stand by them!
Tony, I'm doing this same project now. I have a $47.00 body and a $37.00 neck. I bought a mexi strat, put fat 50s pickups and a Toneshaper in it and using those guts, for my build. This is going to suck balls, but Little Tommy wants to build it.
Thanks Tony! That settles it. Paying a bit more up front will save me more in the end and better yet save me the 'assembling' headaches. I do really like the Warmouth bodies, have not heard much on the Warmoth necks and this is the first I heard of someone using one.
Well I would buy a Fender neck. The Warmoth is not a really bad neck, but I had to do fret work to actually play it. I queried this and they said that their necks fret ends are not finished... yuk. So I spent time fixing what they did not do and if you have no experience with that then you have to be really careful you don't get it wrong. The Fender necks on the other hand are basically very good. I often use the Jeff Beck Fender neck but it is so expensive. Currently working on a Telecaster with a Warmoth neck but again, the ends were rubbish, while the neck itself looks great - the only reason I entertain Warmoth necks is because of the really nice woods on some of them.
***** Tony thanks again for the tips. Do you purchase most of your Fender necks from Fender or elsewhere? Found one from Fender for $199, which does not seem that bad (I like the maple fretboards). Pricing out some Warmouth bodies now, but still even if I spend $800-1300 you can't beat that for a custom 'strat' made by your own hands lol. Thanks again.
Don Lazov I buy mine from the 'stratosphere' (an ebay seller that breaks down new gear) although some of it is expensive thats probably the best way to buy because he sells really pristine stuff. Overall you will always beat the top end Fender prices when you make a great guitar and as you say it's a guitar that is exactly to what you want.... anyway... best of luck with it and when you have it made don't forget to show me!
Will do on showing you my custom built guitar when I finish it. Besides Warmouth I found a place called Precision Guitar Kits: buy.precisionguitarkits.com/ and Carvin also has a 'build' your own kit as well: www.carvinguitars.com/catalog/kits/gk1p and I have not even explored ebay as of yet...lol.
Don Lazov Well both of those look cool... I never heard of precision guitar kits (Ive had a shaded life LOL) but they look cool. I know of Carvin but did not know they made kits. Thanks for that info maybe Ill even look at some of those myself... good info.
Great video! I see a lot of people buying the no-name necks on eBay and Amazon for $50, and I cringe a little. There's no way to know if the wood has been dried properly, the fretwork is most assuredly pretty terrible, and as you pointed out, they may not even fit properly. Sometimes the trussrods don't even work! I think the best bang-for-buck on inexpensive parts are probably MightyMite bodies and necks. The necks do often require a bit of fretwork, but usually nothing too major. There's not a huge choice of options, but they're pretty hard to beat for $99, and they come with a sanding sealer already applied (or fully finished for a bit more.) Plus, with MightyMite, at least you've got the backing of an authorized dealer in the off chance you get a bum neck and need to return/exchange it.
Cheap Chinese parts are for the beginner to tool around with and have some fun getting into custom guitar building. If you want to build something really special, obviously you will want to avoid a ~$40 neck (even if it is bound). I just ordered a $40 Les Paul (epi) style bolt on neck so I can take a look at it, should be fun to play with and I may end up making a cigar box guitar or some such with it :) These cheap parts can be fun to learn on and if you put enough time and effort into them, you can even end up with a very decent instrument but it is not a buy, assemble, finish and play route, you will need to modify, adjust, drill, tweak and rework a lot. For someone like me, that's half the fun but it isn't for everyone.
Very valid points. The only real thing I disliked was the fact that they were 'out of spec' substantially and that is not what the seller said. Sort of misleading, but when you're at a music show you have little to compare the exact part with. Thanks for watching.
...Body wood makes no difference if it's painted, other than the weight...and I've seen USA made necks that were shite too, right out of the Fender factory...they're all mass produced, which means no luthier chooses the wood, it's just picked up from a stack of necks and bolted on...the average factory worker does not have the knowledge to notice if a piece of wood is bad or good, their job is just to put them onto the bodies...so, when buying a neck you're always taking a chance unless you have a serious woodworker read the grain for you...
+wooddragon45 That seems to make sense. But I always have found the Chinese stuff far inferior in many ways and its not just limited to wood - that truss rod or frets for example could make a good neck a bad neck. I'm sure you are right that all makers can make a bad neck... but it's the ratio between good and bad right? For example, if two companies make necks and company A has a 98% success rate and the other company B has a 98% failure rate personally I would not really want to be buying a neck from company B as the chance of getting a bad one is about 95% higher. You have made a good point but somehow I do think that the quality of the wood purchased by the maker re what it costs them should come in to the equation. Cheaper wood usually equals woods maybe less useful for that neck we're talking about and may not be dried properly (as an example) or have other issues that could make it less suitable for a neck. I'm sure that in a company like Fender (for example) that they do check the wood carefully before and after purchase. And those woods can weigh substantially different too... which can make a guitar maybe neck heavy. I guess you could add to my thoughts too. Thanks for the input and for watching.
Get a life man.. you are comparing neck and body wich cost around 10% of the original American fender and you are nitpicking as if you expect them to be same quality and got cheated. I have a Chinese made strat and its sounds good and playbility is pretty good.
Who said you didn't? But if someone sells a 'neck' body or anything else purporting to be made to an industry standard... (as in my case they did) surely it would be reasonable to assume that what they say is what you get? Not so in many Chinese products and guitar parts from China. Check this: th-cam.com/video/2gDvEqH3VD8/w-d-xo.html or this: th-cam.com/video/E0xwbea1ss8/w-d-xo.html or even this: th-cam.com/video/6XZGh3DA6PY/w-d-xo.html While your guitar works for you, think of the many guys that either get ripped off, sold parts that are flawed - and often sold parts where the seller does not tell the truth or worse. I like some Chinese made guitars and the Epiphone are difficult to criticize and are made well, but there is simply no excuse for the other stuff is there? Thanks and stay safe.
Try comparing a 1979 Strat to a Chinese Strat neck or a modern USA one. I brought one brand new in 79, that was all you could get at the time, other than second hand, they were absolutely crap guitars. Squire hadn't appeared at the time and when they did, they put the frighteners on Fender. I brought a second-hand Marshall 50 watt JTM 45, the following year, and tried it with a Tokai Strat. The Tokai wiped the floor with my Strat, in no uncertain terms. So I brought a Tokai as a spare guitar, in 1984. I've still got it, I sold the Fender not long afterwards. The Tokai is the best Strat I've ever owned by a mile!
Tokai do make some really good guitars for sure... but Tokai today unless you buy the top end ones is not what it used to be. They make some very good Gibson style too. Thanks for watching.
I´ll admit cheap Chinese parts require a lot more work, but if you´re willing to spend some time and love on them, you will eventually end up with a perfectly fine instrument. For example, I bought a body and neck for a Tele for a total of 100€. As I´ve slowly learned more about how guitars work and what makes them play good over a period of two years, I´m finally getting there. I routed out a part of the neck pocket and now all that remains is leveling and crowning the frets.
Some of the ones that I have seen are physically too big or worse... too small. For me it was simply not worth the effort of fixing something that should really be supplied as described. In fact sold wrong stuff really can be annoying... the reason being that its hard earned money then thrown on often gear that can't be used.
Yeah, I totally understand what you mean, it´s real frustrating to start building only to notice all your parts are faulty... If I had the money I´d probably have bought higher quality parts, but hey, at least I learned loads of new things about guitars.
This illustrates why The Campbells are the foremost clan in Scotland, not the MaKenzies. I build and design guitars. Tony has no clue. Ach, ach, he nay has a clue....
I do have to smile at this... simply because having no clue is down to you this time. I'll illustrate... the McKenzie's do NOT come from Scotland as you wrongly point out. In fact the McKenzie's come from Ireland as anyone with the knowledge will tell you. Unfortunately on this occasion you made an ass out of yourself. I guess that's the same with your guitar knowledge too ;-) as they say these days... just sayin...
You get what you pay for the quality and moisture content of wood in a custom made USA neck far surpasses cheap Chinese made necks it’s better to spend the extra $$ on a good quality neck that will last a lifetime
The cheap Chinese stuff is just that.....cheap. I've built kits and also parts guitars. There is always a little massaging to be done but in the end if you have the skill and a few tools, you can make a stellar instrument. Picking parts can be tricky, especially if you're trying to mix Chinese with American. There are generally two sets of measurements in my experience.
Thanks for the info about your experience with this stuff. Yes some parts can be useful, but every time I tried (whether Strat, Les Paul etc. I was never successful, and some of it was downright not good. But I'm just one opinion and thanks for posting and for watching too.
The most important thing is to hit the wood with the knuckles of the hand to hear the sound, if it is acoustically good you can have a good guitar. You can order only the pieces of wood and buy excellent metal parts of all kinds, there is a tremendous market for this, Seymour Duncan pick ups and electronics and we have something of great quality :)
Well from my experience I would agree with the wood aspect. But also the fit of these parts can be more critical than you might imagine. If the neck in the pocket is flopping around all over the place, or if its not of the correct depth, or for that matter the neck heel is wrong then it makes things worse. I have seen Stratocaster (they say) necks that have a Telecaster heel which really is incorrect by a long way. Those are main aspects that for me made me stop buying stuff that was not to specification. The other parts as you say are easily obtainable and you can get very high quality bits... always the best way to go. Thanks for watching.
here's a thought...American made strat made in California with Mexican production workers OR Made in Mexico strat made by Mexicans with the same QA standards at the US plant..just a thought.
Yes I understand perfectly on that. But in the case of some of the far east stuff the parts are hardly even similar. At least there is a 'sort of' standard with Mexico and Fender. The neck in this video I actually bought at a regional show and held it in my hands before paying.. it all looked good until later... when you try and fit it... and everything was suddenly way off. This was one of the reasons for the video because it's not too obvious at buy time really... there was no 'reference point' to compare it to.
a lot of people get hung up on Made in America vs Made in Mexico without taking in the fact the two plants are not that far apart. And the MiM used guitars are a great buy and easily upgraded, people are now buying older Squires made in Japan as there price is going up with collectors
There's an old saying among motorcyclists: "chrome don't get ya home." That was certainly the case, where Tony's neck was concerned -- for a Strat. I wonder if it might have been adaptable to a Tele body? The fret finishing was indeed nice looking, much better than the Warmoth; but were the frets leveled? (Having that Fender decal on the head stock is an outright crime, IMHO.) Like many, I'm on an eternal quest to build a guitar that doesn't cost $1500-$5000, but is still a decent guitar. I'm real skeptical of anything on Ebay, and don't see much advantage to going there as opposed to GFS; still Asian parts, but (apparently!) with some degree of quality control. Still a toss-up, to be sure, but so far I'm having good luck with them. I recommend everyone read the short little book, "Poorly Made In China," and it applies across-the-board; guitars, tools, motor scooters, whatever. Avoid the cheap guitar kits like the plague, you'll be replacing EVERYTHING and would've done better to start with parts you selected yourself, in the first place. Again, that's a crap-shoot; my first kit was a Saga, and everything dropped nicely into place. (It wasn't until years later that I learned the truss rod was broken!) A second kit, from BYO, fought me every inch of the way; not a single hole was right, not one, and that includes the routing. Being a Genuine Poor Guy, I can't buy Warmoth ... but Carvin looks doable, for necks; there may be others out there. Do your homework (and LOTS of it) before buying. Have fun! (That's the important part.)
You sum up lots about that subject Seth and I'm not that far from where you are on the subject. But also allparts and Warmoth do make some low cost parts too... and both of those have good warranty with them. That for me is the main difference (along with quality most times). Thanks for watching.
Actually I did know the body was bad before I started, but I did want to try that out. The guys that do nothing else are really good at it, but alas, the glue type (iron on) was not good and lifted approximately every other week... a pity. I did try a number of things and have the video of me actually ironing on the veneer. Maybe at some stage I'll put it up there, but I don't fail that often and it remains a sort of warning to others to get the right tools (I did not) such as a press etc. to do the job. But refinished it would have LOOKED cool. Darn the bad routing...
I hate to say this Lars, but you are entirely wrong... go and watch the video again. The neck was bought in the UK with the dealer standing right in front of me. The point of the video from your comments is exactly borne out... you get rubbish which the video clearly shows. Thanks.
Id strip the chinese neck down its the wrong color, get a template for the correct size head stock and the heal belt sand it to shape and with minimal effort to have a perfect neck for cheap
But it's STILL a Chinese copy neck and you can't really tell what the truss rod is like... its a big gamble and that tends to be the problem... a gamble with ZERO warranty unless you're going to China sometime soon... thanks for the points and for watching too...
Hmmm I'm not entirely convinced... and here's why: th-cam.com/video/2gDvEqH3VD8/w-d-xo.html it's just about as bad as you can get... all for peanuts... and I guess they expected monkeys to play it. IMO the truth is, that the skills in making the thing even outweigh less than perfect pots etc. check it out... that's exactly as supplied. Thanks for watching JS.
bought a Mighty Mite neck from Stewart McDonald Guitar Supplies in the states... it went straight onto my Ibanez Blazer a treat! slight neck shim and bridge adjust and plays like a dream!
I built a Carvin bolt kit about 15 yrs ago, and I am quite pleased with the guitar. Yeah it's a bit higher priced, but man, that thing sounds and plays great. Fixed bridge, ap11 p.ups sound very nice, Warmoth is also a good company. DON'T BUY CHEAP SHIT. .....
It's like all those fake Yngwie Malmsteen scalloped Strat necks going for cheap on ebay = they have a square Telecaster style heel. Makes for a pain in the ass to get a good fit on a strat type body.
@@tonymckenzieofficial tony , there is a retail market of instruments sold domestically in China that are better made than the export models. Seems the export parts are all the cut out parts not suitable for domestic sales.
@@Bobby007D Well I guess seeing is believing for me. BTW did I show you the Gibson Chinese guitar I bought? here: th-cam.com/video/E0xwbea1ss8/w-d-xo.html and I for one could not understand 'how they did it' for that... at least until it arrived! And I also had a Far East Harley Benton - it looked 'wonderful' but I then did the review on that 'guitar' to show what is being sold these days... here: th-cam.com/video/2gDvEqH3VD8/w-d-xo.html and after all of that... how I was 'pushed' to improve it somewhat? Here: th-cam.com/video/gAiQJxiWyZM/w-d-xo.html well it happens to the best of us. But just to show that I have no ill feelings for the Harley Benton brand here's a review where it got (if I remember) a 9 out of 10 score! here: th-cam.com/video/sO7yC1e-2l4/w-d-xo.html Joking aside though, I have yet to find a single guitar or major part thereof that comes from the Far East (other than guitars like Epiphone) that actually even works... they all have their issues and I guess that's why they export them... the Chinese would probably not put up with such junk! I don't doubt that the Far East in the respect of the cheap stuff will one day 'catch up' and when that happens then expect guitar maker redundancies! unfortunately... Thanks Bobby D for the info.
Those bevels you put on the Warmoth look very wide...when you strung it up did you have an issue with the E strings sliding off the edge of the fretboard?
+Andrew Nicholls There are... people have different views and they are entitled to those. I may or may not agree with some of them. Thanks for watching.
Cheers Tony, I know nothing about guitars but after watching this video I think I have a much better idea of how quality guitars are made. Have an Excellent, Prosperous and Prosperous 2014. God Bless You ! Peace Always ! Chaz
Well I made my videos for guys that don't know how to do it... so if you learned something then it was worth the effort I think. Even I learned on this one... I'm no expert, but it was interesting particularly with the Veneer. Anyway, glad you liked it and good 2014 stuff to you too ;-)
Lee52052 The problem is, that the cost to make units in the USA is substantially higher than China (for example). How would you make it work that each guitar costs the manufacturer (say $800 loss) per unit and keep the company in business? I suspect that you could not and indeed 'Dun Dun' could not do that either. Its a ridiculous point of view to operate a company on a perpetual loss. Or are I missing something here?
Tony. Could you do a test for us. Could you take your CHEAPEST, SHITTIEST Chinese guitar, and put your a really nice Fender pickup in the bridge position and play a few licks, clean and distorted. Then put that same pickup in a lovely fender, and play the same licks with the same set, and we'll see if anything changes?
+Anthony Quigley No doubt Tony you have done this... show us your video... I have no inclination to spend on any guitar as you described your specifications of the Chinese guitar. I have absolutely no use for it. But thanks for asking :)
I have previously just out of curiosity, and Tony, as i said before, i LOVE your work and video's, hopefully you'e making a few bucks off your lovely videos and i'm a big fan. I'm not in ANY way trying to get at you or anything, i'm actually interested to hear your restults anbd get your take on things? Do you have 2 guitars that are very different. shape, wood etc that you'd do a video for us all to watch in your lovely calming style that demonstrates whether or not changing a pickup from one guitar to another and playing the exact same stuff on both to settle (in your opinion) on if we're being duped with placebo tone woods? I mean, if i'm right, evil corporations and humping the most expensive woods to us claming they give different tone etc.i Reckon if you do it and show us your results, you'll get ALOT of views, and could open a few people's eyes. Just out of interest, do you have 2 different guitars you could technically try this one? I'm a big fan mate! I lovew your calming voice also lol, i'd love to hear you reading me a book. (Not in a weird way or anything lol, you just have one of those calming voices)*****
+Anthony Quigley Hi TonyQ (I'll call you that so there is no confusion between us)... Actually I have never made ONE CENT from the video's I have developed or indeed the website I have written. There are very many out there that do it all to make money and you will probably know that I could do that all with about three clicks of the mouse... or worse, make it a subscribed content. And I am sure that some guys would pay. But I really don't need the money and am not actually motivated to use what I developed for that purpose. Now listen... don't you fall asleep during my videos LOL! I do get the point about the pickups for sure and I know that they are the main contributor of tone... but, as I have said before, If I buy an expensive guitar I do not buy it purely for its tone contrary to what some guys might use as the reason for the purchase. There is far more to it than that. On a subject like the cheap Chinese guitars, indeed, the actual physical build and other factors often stop the instrument being played as it should be played especially with a 70 year old design (the real ones for me play perfectly without resort to all those 'fixes' that the cheap counterfeit ones tend to have). I really don't actually need the 'extra' viewers particularly to my channel or website. A controversial video can generate 'high viewing' results of course. But even if I did do as you ask, then it still only conveys that singular aspect of an instrument - the pickup. It is impossible to demonstrate all the other aspects such as (a good example would be) the 'feel' of how a guitar plays so the video could only serve one point and not really convey the true position. As I have always said, (like the audiophiles) above quality X then no ordinary person can really hear the difference... but applying the audiophile logic I guarantee that some guys will hear a difference. It probably would not be me as my ears bit the dust in that respect many years ago. Trust me TonyQ I don't allow anyone 'to get at me' anymore - those days are long gone and I would not tolerate that sort of thing for about more than one post. I don't think you are doing that sort of thing at all. People that come to my channel and don't show respect and are downright rude or obnoxious get stopped in three or four clicks. Firstly, I suspect that's your real name right? and anyone who posts on the internet (anywhere) with their real name and is not a reasonable person will end up with a problem for life (just trust me on that) as you cannot delete much of it. But don't you have a video already done? it would save much time that I am always short of. Let me know...
Thanks for the replys mate! I actually love getting to chat to the people who's content i enjoy watching. It makes it more real or personable. Yup thats my real name. I have footage from a while ago on a DVD i burned somewhere, if i get it i'll send it onto you. I'd be really interested in getting to chat to you via email or something so we could run tests privately without starting a flame war over the subject of tone woods, i mean look what happened to poor Scott Grove? (A pure guitar enthusiast, loved guitars, owned around 300 of them, all shapes and sizes, his only problem? not letting himself be sucked in by the common opinion and what guitar companies would have you believe is the truth, he tested for himself many many times and came to the conclusion that the only things that change the sound of a guitar are the nut, the bridge, the strings, the plectrum and the pickup. No even the plastic or metal around the pickup made a difference, and for this scientifically and professionally carried out conclusion? he was boo'd off of the internet). Placebo and suggestion are incredible. The power they have over people's minds just boggles mine! As i said it's so funny how primitive our brains work and then on the opposite size of that coin we can also be geniuses. I mean, as stated before. Just by the guitar being made out of heavier wood, and having a rosewood or ebony fingerboard, we actually hear a fatter (heavier) darker and genuinely say it's warmer. Wheras if the guitars body is very light to pick up, and the fingerboard is made out of very light colored maple, we believe we're hearing a brighter or snappier tone lol. I think it's hilarious. Also, we only believe certain things make a difference to the sound of the guitar where it suits us. For instance. A 59 Les Paul Sounds fat, chunky and Warm. Because it's Fat.. Chunky and has a warm colored fingerboard lol. We believe we're hearing that fatness because the guitar is so heavy and the fretboard is dark colored. Yes anyone who's [played a les paul will tell you that sticking it on it's bridge pickup on a clean or overdriven channel can sound just as thin as a strat single coil. And a strat then on the flip side is light'ish, and has those skinny single coils so you can't get that weighty sound, you get that snappier twangy sound due to the lightness and the light colored fret boards. Yet Simon Neil uses ONLY Standard off the shelf Strats and if you weren't looking at him playing you'd think he was playing a Jackson or ESP guitar with Humbucker EMG81 in it. It's all in our heads for the most part. We say "I wanted the neck to be this wood, but i wanted a rosewood fingerboard to get that warmer tone you just can't get from the light maple boards". So the fret board has a "Big" effect in most people's ear's on the overall sound. But what if they scallop the last 4 frets? Or scallop all of the frets? Why doesn't that change the sound of the guitar? You're taking in some cases maybe 40% of the depth of that fret board down. Thats huge in comparison to the amount of actual wood being used. Some people even say the Lacquer process on the board changes the sound.. i mean come on lol. If thats the case, do the fret inlays change the sound? Does the material the cable you have plugged into the guitar change the sound? if you have strap locks, does that change the sound? Should i use plastic ones or Leather ones in that case? If all of this stuff makes a difference, Why arn't we making Pickup surrounds/Mounts (you know, the white plastic around the poles in any fender packup) out of rare woods found in the jungles of peru? Why arn't we using endangered trees to make a pick guards out of? I mean, you have this 50,000 guitar that has it's SOLE influence in the quality of it's craftmanship etc due to the parts use, yet it's got big hunks of crappy multi layered plastic directly under the strings holding the pickups in. Why arn't we using real gold saddles etc instead of those crappy slag metal ones mst companies use... if anything on a guitar might change the sound it's what the strings actually make contact with right? So why the cheap nut's, machine heads, bridges and saddles. All fairly cheap plastic and generic metals. Makes no sense to me lol. And one last thing. We're SO into thfact that every little thing on the guitar gives it it's sound. even the dirt on old guitars give it a "Richness". And the woods etc. Yet the pickups are enclosed in a pretty much sealed environment with that copper taping. Nullifying any of the wood getting through to the pickup lol. The fact that people believe, a fairly standard tightly wound piece of metal (the string) vibrates, and somehow the wood, that the string is vibrating a couple of cm's above is able to send it's vibration up into the string adding to it's own vibration, THROUGH the plastic pickguard, and make the string sound better through an electric circuit.. hehe. I was on a rant there. If you like you could pop me an email Tony, i'd love your thoughts on some of this stuff and maybe we could run a couple of tests. I've got a good vid for you to watch. My email is ntnquigley at gmail, pop a message and we'll chat more. Keep making these great video's brother! you've got some beauts in your collection, and i'm a big fan of warmouth!
+Anthony Quigley You know what I asked Scott a reasonable question once to do with tuning (from a video he posted) so it was entirely on subject. He was rude, arrogant and swore like a trooper for no reason whatsoever. His channel looked OK until I experienced that first hand then I simply never went back. And I felt that was a pity he did that. I was not aware of what happened... simply because I never went back. Oh well. You can contact me directly by visiting my website and filling out the contact form. I receive those directly and can then answer... I do think that there really is a lot promoted re musical equipment in a way that is not entirely truthful on occasion - and that's why I started to do this stuff I do. I believe that what I tend to find on a new piece of gear is what most 'ordinary' guys would find too good or bad. So I'm always tending to be truthful about what I find with gear and put my success typically down to that. The number of guys that tell me they are fed up with watching 'twiddlers' or untruthful videos is incredible. I for one am not entirely convinced about the 59 Les Paul (for example) and I also think if I had Jimi's white Stratocaster in my hands that it would sound just like the other 66-67 Stratocasters floating around out there. There is no doubt (for that guitar in particular) that the pickups were/are that sound near enough. I have used a number of sets of 69 CS pickups and the similarity is quite amazing. So in that respect for that tone you might well win :) but the tone is not everything... if it was like a cheese grater then clearly something will suffer. I think you are right in many respects and I don't hear those differences on some equipment for sure (your finish on the fretboard for example)... but guys do often talk about maple necks as opposed to rosewood for example... maple is more toppy than rosewood they say and that might well be their thoughts based on what others say. Of course it could be that different people have different ability in hearing - like those audiophiles I mentioned. BTW they do make pickup surrounds out of rare woods... check the Gibson All Wood I reviewed recently on my channel: th-cam.com/video/79XrrgDJ94A/w-d-xo.html which indeed has those. Now that is a guitar that IS made from 'all wood' (well near enough) and it does emanate a great tone. Maybe different than some other stuff that I have played. Yes you know how to contact me and Ill reply - easier that way... I NEVER post me email address online. There are frankly too many of the wrong type of guys out there and you should edit that post if I was you. Hey Tony, as you have probably noticed I don't always reply instantly as I have loads of different things to do, but I always do reply eventually. Thanks.
Just because it's genuine Fender, doesn't mean it has to be made in the US? I got a Fender cable that is made in China... DiMarzio cables are made in the US though.. Just like with Grover tuners, they're made in china too..
I have commented on that before many times... there's Fender... and then there's Fender... it is what it is. Personally when I buy a high end Fender and find the parts are cheaply made in Korea (or somewhere unexpected) I do feel a little cheated. As I have built guitars online I have often commented about all of that. I'm sure some guys don't care, but let's face it, REAL Fender guitars... like when Leo was there were made in the USA. I guess anything else is a little different somehow. You do raise a very interesting point really... just how much of the modern Fender strat (for example) is ACTUALLY USA made? maybe as a percentage. Now that's a really good question!
Hi Tom. I don't know, if you'll have time to answer, but if you do, please answer my question: let's say, I don't have a money to buy an expensive American Strat guitar, but I can afford a chinese\indonesian guitar. Which chinese guitar you'll recommend then? (Which are best, from your point of view and experience), thanks.
When you say Chinese/Indonesian that covers many brands. Of the bunch I would always get a branded guitar even if its Chinese/Indonesian. I do NOT mean a rip off (because they are typically cr*p) but maybe an Ibanez or something like that.
Hope this is'nt off subject . But the guy's at Atomic Guitars told me over the years they had taken all the Fender Strats customers had brought in for repair and traced the Pickguards . And found there were many different shapes and sizes. Though most to the naked eye looked the same.
The pick guards are all over the place... but I found them the worst on the 'generic' ones not from Fender. Of the Fender ones I have bought they seemed to be about right... but I did not buy too many. Also the Warmoth pick guards seem to always be the same when I buy one... they make them to order so I guess they have a 'correct' profile (if there is such a thing LOL). The no brand ones were always the worst for me. Good point thanks for posting.
***** Of course plastic is plastic I never said it was not? What I DID say was that the Fender pick guards fitted! So do the Warmoth ones. How many of the crap stuff do you want? I have at least 15 here... the only thing that stops me throwing them in the bin (or sending them to you for your dream guitar) is that they cost me money. The Chinese neck was wrong throughout your assumptions are about as wrong as the neck was. Please feel free to buy whatever you want that is a clear choice that we all have right? if you want to buy products that could be way off spec, that are generally substandard (on the cheaper stuff in particularly) and you might well end up making do... then buy them. This video is to show people what you get - people that are genuinely interested and not really guys that want to buy something on the basis that it 'might' be OK when you get it. I'm no 'eletist' either check my other videos of my guitar builds and you will clearly see tat I don't 'only' use Fender parts. Your assertions about me are, it seems based on one video? I have over 130. Thanks for watching. The higher quality guitars from around the world are quite reasonable and some are very good... but these cheap rubbish parts are far from the quality of the stuff like many of the decent brands.
***** Hah... doing work on Warmoth necks is NOT acceptable but there is no choice - they don't finish the fret ends and won't even if you ask. One reason why I have started to go back to Fender genuine necks. For the money they ask they really should be supplied properly done. I think you're right on the woods too. I am about to post a review on a guitar made in Korea - its not the cheapest of the genre (list about £549 ($800)) and the woods were perfect. The neck was finished well too. There were a few things that were a compromise, but overall it was not a bad guitar at all... watch for it soon.
***** I have just reviewed a Korean guitar and it is very good for the woodwork and fret work. Its coming online later today... but most of the far eastern stuff does have the odd issue, whether its electrics (which is surprising), pickups or other aspect.
***** Most of the Chinese stuff I've seen is not good, not built correctly, uses many pieces of wood in the body etc. does not build to a standard so there is massive variation for sure and as you say the electronics are much to be desired - and so are most of the pickups. I just reviewed a Korean Michael Kelly 55 guitar that in general (apart from needing a switch update) was very good. The woods and build were excellent and the tone very nice indeed. It costs more than a crappy Chinese knock off, but you do get a surprisingly good guitar. Check it here: th-cam.com/video/68cinI31xJk/w-d-xo.html I guess that says a lot really.
I'm currently building a "Tele" It'll be sold as a Playrz 'Chop Shop Special'. If you like, I can try to send you some pics of her. She has couple of mods on her, plus the color & finish. On MY chinese neck( which I bought UN-finished for $45 shipped) I pulled the frets & put in some medium/jumbo stainless steel wires. It took forever for the new snips to cut stainless to arrive. LOL!
Im looking to buy flamed Maple necks because i want to learn how to do fretwork dont care if the fretwork sucks because im gonna redo everything. Is the quality of the Wood any good?
+seasonedtoker Good point. It is likely that Fender have a very large input in to the quality of the product produced... indeed just as Apple do with their Chinese cell phone. Interesting stuff. Thanks for watching.
Tony, most of all the parts used in name brand guitars come from Chinese manufacturers, it's called outsourcing. Samick, a Korean company owns Squire who used to make guitar strings. You probably need to do more research on who makes what, and who owns who.
Of course I already know that. But it's all down to which 'Brand' guitars and what the price is whether budged 'brand' guitars or the real deals. JUST FYI I have worked with the Far East since 1985. Thanks for watching.
no guitar parts are really made here in the states.fender ,gibson etc.all have there parts made over sea,s .and every american guitar except for custom shop guitars are outsourced to china,korea or japan or in fenders case mexico,
alot of pickups are made here and the highend floyds are made here nothing from prs is made here.and some of the best stuff is asian made.people that fall the american made propaganda are the same people that believe in tone woods.
damiansback Well I guess its all subjective really. I know that if you took an audiophile guy (one who will spend $20,000 on an amp and speakers), play some music on my (or your) stereo and then play it on his gear, he will undoubtedly tell you he hears the difference. I don't hear the difference for sure. He will pay that money, and TBH I would never buy a $20,000 stereo. It becomes so subjective when one guy says I hear the 'difference' and another hears no 'difference'. On the parts issue, I have bought some really great parts from the USA and they are made there (Tone Shaper is one such part and the Super Vee tremolo is another both USA). I have also bought lower cost far eastern products some of which are good and some which are not. A good example would be a Wilkinson tremolo, the first one was fine (china) and the second one was complete rubbish (also China). And for me, therein lies the issue - there is no sustained quality, its variable between one purchase and the next. So I buy products where quality is NOT the issue and probably never will be. But the negative is that it costs me more money. I don't buy the USA bits because I hear a difference - that's little to do with it in reality, but the primary reason is how robust that USA made equipment really is. Think Mesa Boogie Amp or a low cost amp like the Orange Jim Root #4. If I was a gambling man, I would bet that the Mesa will outlast the Orange amp - the quality of the amp is woefully different, even though I'm sure that the Mesa has far eastern components in there just as the Orange Jim Root #4 does. I do think for the most part from my experience since 1968 or thereabouts that in fact you do often get what you pay for. That is not always true, but for the most part I think it is. You have raised a useful point that indeed I have commented on before in my videos (Fender genuine parts made in China for example) about that exact issue. The Fender equipment I bought that was actually made in the far east in fact was little different than the far east parts except for the packaging that proudly showed the country of origin to be China. But PRS wind their own pickups, as indeed do Fender. And I'm absolutely sure they do loads of other stuff in the USA too as do Gibson and many other makers. The overall point though should be interesting to other readers who might want to comment on either yours or my entries. Thanks for watching.
Thanks. I'm planning to make a cheapo project of a strat. By the way, (Off topic) where are you from? The North of England? I think your accent is so cool. Thx again (y)
Problem is Mike, that maybe a 15 year old lad might not have the skills that you do, and when he buys the neck that supposed to fit and it does not... there goes his 6 months of savings right to the trash. Part of the reason for making the video is to show that often the cheapo stuff is not really what it might look like. The quality of the parts speak for themselves in the video. Thanks for watching.
I saw. I know that Mighty Mite is licensed by Fender but clearly their stuff can't compete with Warmoth. I also wonder about the cheap Fender hardware from Taiwan.
The8TrackChap Well if its licensed it should be the same, but there again, I guess its price driven somehow. Yes I was quite surprised about the Taiwan made 60's tuners with the Fender badge... no one mentioned they were a Kluson rip off and made in Taiwan when I was buying them. They are OK, but it surprised me that no seller ever mentioned that. Buyer beware like I said.
as for cheap versus real fender quality you get what you pay for. dont buy a cheap guitar looking for custom shop quality. also as for headstock design an size , strats had 3 different size headstock designs the 50s late 60s then 70s and then depending on model it changes
I think you're right. Cheap guitars remain cheap. I've played loads of guitars and only really found ONE 'cheap' guitar that I can honestly say was incredible for the money and that one was a second user Ibanez RG550LTD here: th-cam.com/video/sa4YlbRG5PU/w-d-xo.html where I showed a close up of it. So you CAN get (maybe) a great guitar for low money... but remember that one was from Japan... and China is a whole different place. But the spares I showed in this video were absolutely not correct for ANY period Stratocaster... and that in a way was the original reason for the video to show that. Good points and thanks for watching.
tonymckenziecom For me that was my hondo les Paul €100 and my squier fretless jazz bass €360. The difference between cheap and expensive is Honestly just what your used to. Out of all the basses ive played (Fender ,vox Humana ect) iT has the best neck.... At least for me, other people dont like iT and I don't like the feeling of their basses as much as mine. So yeah, the sound of an handmade instrument is much better but the feeling can still feel like crap.
hey Tony i know this vid is quite old so pardon any my questions that have been asked before, but what was wrong with the body? you never said what was bad with it. was it the neck pocket, routing, the wood, etc? Why did you give up on it? Also, you CAN get quality import (i.e China) stuff just dont buy it from non dependable sellers. GuitarFetish for example sells a bunch (basically all their inventory) of import stuff and they're pretty good/great quality. If something is wrong with it then you can return it and get a refund. Most of the unfinished bodies floating around the net either sold as kits or individually all come from the same source basically, but if the seller can offer some sort of return policy/guarantee then the risk is less greater than say, going to ebay and buying from anonymous. Anyway i enjoy your videos Cheers
The first issue is that you typically DONT KNOW the 'non dependable suppliers'. Its all a mish-mash in general. MAYBE you can return it, but from my experience they don't want to know. When I went to the Music Messe two years ago there were very many 'mnufcturers' of kit and guitar parts generally from China and most of them were not that great. Clearly there must be some that can do it, but I'm still looking... actually strike that, I no longer waste my money looking anymore. The body was reasonable, but the neck was rubbish. Remember I bought that neck from a show and it looked fine at the time (no reference of a good neck) and many guys could easily suffer from buying basically the same poor quality and non standard neck only to find out later that the neck is far from what they thought it was. That's the real reason to make the video... it helps to stop proliferation of rubbish gear sold to people who many have already struggled to save up to buy those parts. Don't worry about the questions I have no problem with any of that and always try and reply to every entry if I can. Unlike some entries I think your comments are somewhere near the position... mix my caveats in there too and that's probably nearer the truth. Thanks for watching.
Tony, one is a Squire Fender headstock and the other is a modern Fender American headstock. Both are Fender but one is Korean Squier model or early 60s style and the other is current modern Fender headstock. Warmoth is a company in the USA that has been contracted by Fender to make replacement parts. They are not Fender.
Thanks Ronald. Don't worry about the headstock too much, worry about the pocket fit. Warmoth make Fender authorised parts made to Fenders specifications. Thanks for watching.
The problem is, its not just the neck. The neck pocket in the body is a second area where I have seen them so you can when fitted move the neck from side to side... it should be a firm fit but there are two chances of poor fit not one. You only really know after you own the bits :( and that's a problem. Thanks for watching.
i bought one those cheap necks. it turned out to have badly crowned frets and an non working trussrod. when i strung it up it warped really nasty so it just had to go. the wood is actually quite nice looking but i don't think its maple
If you search the Mighty Mite USA website you will find nothing that says their $250 necks are Made in the USA. I them and ask, they are in fact AL now imported from Asia. So when you buy a Mighty Mite from Stew Mac, etc.. Guess what? It's from China or Indonesia.... Fortunately it's not rocket science to build a good neck. The Asian one's are not that bad.
I don't personally buy Mighty Mite. Interesting stuff though and it shows (from my experience of costings in the Far East) just how much they make on those Far East necks. I buy Warmoth myself which I can rely on... or indeed USA made Fender necks which are perfect. As you will see however, some Far East necks are really far from perfect as I found out to the detriment of my £90 ($140). So I remain not particularly a fan. Thanks for the info and for watching.
Thanks for that link to the factories in China... but because they sell them from that video I don't want to post the link... I don't really support Chinese factories because of the copyright infringements that many of them practise... (that one may or may not do that) but I did go and watch it - quite interesting in its own way for sure.
Don't quote me, because I am often wrong (just ask my wife), but the Mighty-Mite necks are Fender Mexico, whilst the AllParts necks are Fender Japan. Stew Mac sells the Fender Mexico necks as well, if I have it right. If you look at the finish, or lack thereof, you can ascertain where any Fender neck came from before looking at the decal. No finish on that Affinity neck? Made in Indonesia. Very glossy Classic Vibe maple neck? Made in China, and miles better than an Affinity. This is subject to change at the drop of a hat, and is only my guess and opinion based on limited experience.
I really don't have any answer for that and don't know if Fender sell their necks to others in that way. I know others make them as authorised but have never seen documentation supporting Fender selling their necks to others in that way. Interesting point and thanks for the info.
I agree the sound is everything, but if you're assembling or building a guitar, then having parts that are within the specs helps no end. I just found it very frustrating to buy parts that simply are wrong. On other builds I have had the exact same problem with non Chinese replacement parts too - so China is not completely to blame for this stuff. Pick guards (even from the USA) can be a nightmare.
Having a nice custom Warmoth Gecko bass5 I know how nice Warmoth products can be. You do pay for that quality. A bit odd that they didn't finish the fret ends though,. It must be a Friday neck. For some people the tinkering and fussing to make cheap parts work can be a challenge and the reward in one.I'm currently building a partscasster or two. I'll see how they come. Good video.
Thanks for watching. Actually it was NOT a Friday neck. Hidden down in the guts of Warmoth they confirm they DO NOT finish fret ends properly. Scary but completely true and Ive argued with them more than once. I just bought a Telecaster neck from them (for an up coming project) and there is no way I'll EVER buy another Warmoth neck. The Bodies are generally great, but I can buy genuine Fender top end necks for the same money - and they are perfect.
I'm a big fan of cheaper, but for sure there is a penalty. I did put together a copy Strat (using a guitarfetish closeout body and neck) but it was a massive investment in time and in the end it would have been cheaper to buy a used MIM or new Squier instead, all things considered. I did learn a lot, so from that respect it was the best guitar I ever messed with. If your goal is error correction, learning to paint or whatever, and have lots of time and some good tools then more power to you. The end result plays fine and there is a pride of ownership, but working with poor dimensions and recontouring to fit the jigsaw part together is not for the faint at heart. Yeah I like this guitar as its unique and 'mine', but I'll still need to sink in a bunch of money to really good pickups to make it really sing....
+Bethany Horner I had a very similar experience with the stuff on this video that cane from China. Eventually (off video) we did get it together and maybe one of these days Ill review it just for the sake of that. BTW Ill be reviewing a premade Les Paul from 'Harley Benton' that cost just £130 shipped or $170 if you are USA. I'll be improving it somewhat :) As a buy that guitar is pretty good for the money... but it could be improved so much... total maybe £350 and it should shine... we shall see. Thanks for watching.
hah! I am applying walnut veneer for the first time, but unlike you my guitar body is perfectly flat, so it should be easy. Just to use two flat plywood plates and 3 4x4 on each side for the clamps.
Great vid I've made a few trial and error strats but honestly one of my nicest sounding ones was put together using a Japanese neck very similar to the one in this vid except it wasn't bound , I bought a 1970s strat copy made by Astoria in Japan who I believe we're then ibanez and removed the neck because it was too worn and replaced it with the new one, fitted snug no probs, the pickups were nasty so I replaced the whole set up with new scratch plate and loaded it with custom shop 69s, only prob I had with it was that I had to leave the original bridge on it because the screw holes were way out when I tried fitting a fender bridge but honestly the bridge is great a bit smaller than a fender but it just needed cleaning up and re setting, it looks like a classic 70s strat natural wood effect and I'm made up with its tone and feels great in my hands.
Eu não compraria um instrumento musical asiático se soubesse que se trata de uma falsificação, mas entendo que as pessoas fazem isso porque sonham em ter uma guitarra Fender ou Gibson original e não podem pagar o preço que elas custam. Na minha opinião, eu acho que as próprias fábricas norte americanas estimularam esse tipo de mercado obscuro quando nos 80 e 90 instalaram suas fábricas fora dos EUA, para diminuírem seus custos de produção. Isso aconteceu justamente numa época em que o instrumento musical original norte americano ficou caro demais. Pagar USD 2.000 ou USD 3.000 em uma guitarra dentro dos USA não é tão caro, mas pagar esse preço fora dos USA é quase uma fortuna. Se eu não posso comprar um 'bass guitar' Fender original, eu prefiro comprar um Squire, que é uma excelente marca "B". A Epiphone possui fábrica na China e é uma excelente marca. Não podemos generalizar, pois o problema está nas marcas falsificadas. Abraços e parabéns pelo vídeo.
Hi Lucon, Sim, as marcas têm produtos de cheper 'made in China. Mas acredito que a qualidade é superior becuse essas fabricas estão sob EUA mnagement que controlar a qualidade do produto. O preço do material EUA é alto não há nenhuma dúvida e para a maioria dos caras é maior do que eles podem pagar estes dias. Você levantou alguns grandes pontos e obrigado por seus comentários que sejam úteis e apreciados ... Desculpe a Tradução de Google :) como não é sempre assim tão grande.
Eu não entendo como americanos se arriscam a comprar instrumentos falsificados, até mesmo Fender que não são muito caros. Aqui no Brasil a coisa é diferente, levando em consideração que os exportadores chineses enviam seus produtos como "presente" burlando nossas taxas de alfândega , é facil que uma cópia custe apenas 10% (OU MENOS!) do que uma original. Eu mesmo quando vejo umas "Chibsons" lindas por R$ 750 (e frete grátis) tenho vontade de comprar, mesmo que fique apenas como decoração kkkk É claro que quem está comprando deve saber dos enormes riscos e que dificilmente o instrumento vai enganar quem ja tem familiaridade com o original. Por outro lado também, eu acho que existe muito mito a respeito da qualidade dos produtos americanos. Quero dizer,se você vai pegar uma Fender ou Gibson dos anos 60 não vai ter tecnologia alguma que não possa ser reproduzida facilmente hoje em dia. Você pega as tarraxas, ou a ponte, que segredo ha naquilo? Os captadores mesmo, estamos falando em equipamentos simples que foram criados a mais de 50 anos. Ou seja,na minha opinião, se houver um falsificador "honesto" (contraditório hein?) que tivesse um mínimo de capricho seria possível mesmo fazer boas falsificações.
Oi, Bem, é um pouco pior do que isso ... essa guitarra é uma guitarra falsificada - ele foi projetado para enganar o comprador sem dinheiro por algo que ele achava que era uma guitarra genuína. Havia muitas guitarras 'cópia' em torno de 70, mas a qualidade foi melhor naqueles dias do que o material chinês frequentemente agora. Como você diz, não há muito a uma guitarra na realidade e com certeza eles poderiam ser feitas mais barato. No entanto, a China tende a fazer guitarras muitas vezes (mas nem sempre) de menor qualidade. Mas uma guitarra falsificada não é simplesmente o que você deve comprar, por muitas razões. Agora estou há moralidade levantar-se, mas honestamente eu não iria comprar uma guitarra que é falsificado a partir de qualquer máquina. Eu sei sobre como vai ser no Brasil, como eu tenho um amigo em um negócio e ele me conta sobre os impostos etc. lá. Uma cópia "barata", ainda pode ser de má qualidade, mas uma falsificação? Bem, isso vai completamente contra a corrente de onde eu venho. É em primeiro lugar desvaloriza a guitarra genuína que os outros têm comprado, em segundo lugar, na verdade, poderia causar a empresa dos EUA a falir, e, por último engana o comprador de muitas maneiras. Estas são razões pelas quais eu fiz o vídeo. Obrigado por assistir BTW.
If you are interested, check out my alternate channel. Jrlguitar. Play alot of music from the band FREE. I have a Jap Vintage squire (with Semour Duncan quarter punder pickup, Gibson LP Tobacco flame top, Guild accoustic, and a cheap acoustic with a broken neck and great action.
cazulu3 Yes I will check it out... I like FREE and Kossoff was an awesome player no doubt. Thanks for the info. Ha I had 1/4 pounders about 25 years ago LOL amazing those are still around and used by loads of guys and they do have some drive for sure.
I guess it all depends. I recently aquired a Samick Malibu (a Fender Fat Strat copy) and it plays and sounds great. I don't know for sure, but I believe it was made in Korea or possibly Indonesia. I got it at a pawn shop used in good condition for $90 (after some bargining) and it sounds almost as good as a genuine Stratocaster that cost over 8x as much.
There is no doubt that SOME of the cheaper guitars are OK and can be improved upon reasonably easily. My own experience with them was not really as good as you had, but I have reviewed a few low cost guitars that were OK. Here's the review of the worst guitar I have ever owned and just how incredibly bad it was from brand new, even though two companies 'claimed' to have checked and set it up correctly. It's guitars like that which tend to devalue the better stuff out there. Here's the video: th-cam.com/video/2gDvEqH3VD8/w-d-xo.html and here's a video of a really good one: th-cam.com/video/QV6t9bbZnSQ/w-d-xo.html and thanks for watching.
1:19 gibson necks are by far the worst, let me explain, the headstock angle is like what 14 degrees? the D and G strings are bent in such ways that it gets caught in the nut (sort of like a wedgie) and it goes out of tune easily, meanwhile a fender neck all strings are straight, they're not angled, simply straight to keep tuning, also the headstock of a gibson if it falls on the ground it cracks along the break angle line, if you dropp a fender strat neck the only thing you will break is a tuning machine or 2, but what completely baffles me is that gibson do not do BOLT ON necks!!!!!! which means you break the headstock for whatever reason you're out of luck pal, you break a fender strat neck it can be easily replaced oh the joys of fender :3 smart man Leo fender was
Well unfortunately at 1:19 that is NOT a Fender neck. The one here in the video was not a good neck... and partly why I made this video. Sure I DID set out to make a very low cost Stratocaster... but in reality watching the whole video will show what transpired... I gave up with the cheap parts (and hence the video title here). Strangely enough I have never had a single issue with the Gibson Les Pauls or SG's that I have had since 1972. Your points are probably valid but they never caused me any aggro. Which is more than I can say for some makers necks. I have seen the necks broken and repaired a few times and of course you are right that does happen - one reason they introduced the volute but that seems to have gone away these days. I get the idea for sure with bolt on necks and that's a great point too but then I guess a Les Paul would not be a Les Paul with a bolt on neck. It's a bit like asking Fender to glue their necks on (which in fact they have done on some models). Oh yeah, Leo was an engineer and an engineers mind he had which shows in the design over and over again. I love Stratocasters though not for any of the things we mention here, but rather for that Fender Strat sound - for me, the most incredible Fender tones come from those 69 pickups - hard to better really... I can hear Hendrix every time I hear those pickups in a Strat. I think Leo hit on a wonderful design in the Strat and honestly I don't think he ever bettered it and neither did the 'also ran' copies out there. Lucky for me I look after my guitars and NEVER knock or drop a guitar ever! Nearest I got was a friend did that for me - on a Les Paul but the headstock area was fine... it actually cracked the body area and I had to get that repaired... then I sold it - it was never the same afterwards. Thanks for watching.
Thank you for the content, i myself am a bass player more then a guitar player but i have played both gibson standard and fender strat american standard and i gotta say while gibson does amazing in the rock and metal department i feel a more rounded and thin sound brings that twangy characteristic in strats you hear so much in blues and country songs, and a strat can be modified to fit single coil stacked humbuckers with a flip of a switch you can split the coils having sound like a strat or a humbucker type having it sound like a gibson, and i love that versatility more then anything else
I have a Gibson les paul and have had little to no tuning issues. if you do have an issue you can always lubricate the nut. also if you break a Gibson neck it can be fixed very easily with glue and a clamp so long as you don't trow out the separated piece. I know a lot of Gibson players who have had necks break and they have no problem fixing it themselves or going to their local luthier. Gibson doesn't do a bolt on neck because set in necks transfer sustain better than most bolt-ons. it also prevents epiphone users from buying a Gibson neck to screw on and trick people into thinking they have real Gibson.
***** oh its not just me, apparently people over at the gibson forums have had problems with their G string... no not the clothing G string xD i know it can be lubricated but the way the headstock is angled makes me think if this was a good idea in the first place
Ernesto Lone Wolf if it were really such a big issue as you think people wouldn't keep buying gibsons. I also know a lot of players with no issues at all and many forums say as much.
Yes I think they are good. But often its down to what you play... for blues these pickups are good and they have that overwound sort of sound indeed like SRV...
***** the out of phase positions or the parrelel positions sound great with texas pick ups. I dont really use those positions but they sound great on these pick ups
Just for general information I don't allow street language on my channel. If someone posts that it gets deleted... because there are younger viewers that don't need that sort of thing when they come and see the videos. Thanks.
One John Smith recently emailed me... of course he was on the 'side' of the Chinese stuff it seems. I could tell because he can't read the above comment and blasphemed his way probably to hell. Some people have no way of communicating except with language that should not be on my channel and being derogatory to the reasonable guys that come here. So he bit the dust and we won't hear from him any more.
tonymckenziecom I can respect that.... Not too many cool people like that anymore
Hear hear
i dont care if its cheap or not, the most important thing is comfort playability :)
I understand that for sure... but recently I bought a 'cheap' one that could not even play! and that's a bit scary really.
@@tonymckenzieofficial that doesnt mean the entire country doesnt have quality parts.....chinese are going after the high end market soon..
Sadly there will be no high end market when they have done... make no mistake. I see it over and over where the west can't compete against the costs. Thanks.
Just to add....the technology has made Chinese DIT kits as good as any Squire and usually better.
I have refrained generally from most Chinese guitars as every single time they either send me junk, or worse so I just buy now what I know will be OK. Thanks for watching.
The thing that gets me, I am 79 I have owned a lot of guitars people put down Chinese guitars, and they are right, but the Chinese are getting better, I live in Asia and buy bodies and necks,I do buy from one manufacture but if you compare what fender put out in the 50s the Chinese are far ahead, they have nice CNC machines, the problem he has is that neck comes in different heel size and profile, you order the neck to fit the body
Chinese guitar parts are improving I agree. But from personal experience (check my channel for other examples) I have been supplied some real rubbish and the worst part for me was that the sellers did not care. Honestly. When I order parts from other premium makers (and some not so premium makers) I get what I order and it all generally works out wonderfully. It's not impossible to create a good guitar with the Chinese guitar parts but what I would say is 'caveat emptor' to anyone that is considering buying those. Thanks for the post John... appreciated and thanks also for watching!
I've had a couple of these bound necks, and they were great necks! Who cares about the historically correct dimensions? I wanted to build/asseble a nice guitar, and didn't want to pay for those completely overpriced american parts (Fender, Warmoth...). What I got was a great guitar that plays and sounds great, for a fraction of the cost for some american parts!
Besides, I don't mind if the parts need some minor adjustment, like widening the neck pocket a ittle, if the neck heel is a little to wide. That's part of the fun of making partscaster guitars.
So, unless you buy the cheapest of the cheap (there are necks out there for about 25€, those are probably asking for trouble), you'll be totally fine with Chinese parts!
+Patbwoy Wow that's a little subjective really. There are many guys who like those 'overpriced' necks for sure. This particular neck shown in the video was NOT a very good neck. In fact I gave these parts to my Bass guy and he later assembled some of the stuff and I completed the guitar with him for him. The body wood seems like basswood and is not actually alder or indeed ash. But that neck needed lots of work to get it even reasonably in to anything like a 'proper' neck. I think the problem is with the Chinese stuff that it is for the most part a gamble and in a big way often. The truss rod, the nut and even the angle in the body pocket/neck angle was not a pretty sight and not really a basis for a really good guitar. The problem is, that If I wanted a £99 ($150) guitar I can buy those ready to play for that money whereas building something that is not even as good as one of those guitars (let's call them beginners guitars) is not really worthwhile irrespective of whether someone likes the 'historically correct dimensions' or not. This neck was far from the 25 euros you mentioned but remained secondary for anyone's choice really. Thanks for watching.
Japan manufacturers made period correct parts in the 70s and 80s. I wonder why chinese guitar manufacturers don’t follow the same path.
I think they might get aggro from Fender today...
don't blame the parts tony, you made a balls up. lol
Great theory... ;-) - now go back to college LOL.
Guitar building the way you started out here is a bit like trying to build a car by using parts from Ford, GM and Mazda... Sometimes it will fit but often they don't. Complaining "they don't fit" is to be expected if your only measure when buying the parts is 'that looks and feels nice and is at a awesome price'.... No matter the price or origin the small details can be important...
I don't quite see it that way. While you referred to cars as an example I will too. If I own a BMW (why not) and I go out and buy some parts that the seller says will fit my BMW car, when I get them home, I expect to fit them to my car, just as the genuine BMW ones would. But if I buy BMW parts that when I get them home they don't fit then something is a little wrong. Just like buying parts for a Fender guitar, when I get them home I expect (not unreasonably) to be able to use the parts just as I would with the Fender ones. Anything else is simply misleading.
ANY details that purport that the Fender shaped parts will fit (the headstock alone will say it all) are basically incorrect because those parts don't fit, they are as stupid as a truck part I once saw from Chine (an oil filter for a Rolls Royce Truck Engine) that was sold as a 'Rills Rills' and again purportedly 'the same' as the real deal... especially if you can't spell.
I remain as unconvinced about the Chinese parts as the day I made the video because they mislead people in to thinking they will work on a Fender just as the real parts do. They won't.
Marcel, you had an interesting point, but my comment about 'they don't fit' is entirely correct. Thanks for watching.
Yes Tony... I didn't use the correct set of words in my comment.... If you had bought all the parts from one manufacturer then you're entitled to expect that they will all fit together nicely, but in the video that isn't my impression of what you initially did. That being the neck from a local seller and the body from a Internet site.
That being said I've had cases where I've bought both body and neck from the same seller and while I could simply bolt them together and be done with it there were huge gaps that leave you thinking WTF?? ... I've also had cases where after market parts (including necks) have been leaps and bounds better than the original manufactures parts...
On the whole it is often obvious that most China made parts are made at a cost premium though there are increasing number of instances where incredibly high quality and inexpensive items are being made there and nowhere else... But I suppose to find those few precious stones you need to dig through a lot of dirt...
Yes I understand... but I put it like this... if it's got a strats headstock (for example) I expect it to fit the brand that its stealing the intellectual property rights to. If they actually did that then there's no problem... at least until Fender drag them through the courts :) I really does remind me of the 'Rills Rills' I spoke about above :) and that was being done back in the 70's!
Cheap?? You can buy an entire MiM for $350 or so. You have already spent 100 for the body 70 for the neck and 60 for the tuners; that's 230 before a bridge, 5 way switch, pots and most importantly pick ups. I am all about modding my gear; new pots, better pick ups, bone nut etc but if you are going to start from stretch (a kit) you kinda need to spend less than a solid instrument like a MiM Strat.
Note that this video was made in February 2014 and at that time the prices I showed were cheap. China has stooped to new lows these days as this video here shows: th-cam.com/video/E0xwbea1ss8/w-d-xo.html and that's 'cheap' especially if you want to make a clock out of it. :) Thanks and your comments are pertinent of course, its just that as we move forward Chinese stuff gets cheaper (and nastier sometimes) overall. I still don't recommend the stuff though from personal experience. Thanks for watching.
I know this is a old video , but I would like to add , the best thing to do on a guitar body that CAN make a huge difference in weight before you add veneers. Send it through a planar and knockoff about a 1/4 inch off the back of it. The neck pocket should still be strong enough to keep it good. It will knock about a half a pound to a pound off your body. Once you add the veneer , the glue and several coats of poly. You end up gaining that back some.
But its a very good point! And thanks for watching.
hmmm...well, a lot of it depends on the luthier. I recently got a Chinese Martin D45 exact clone and it was worth every bit of the $875 I paid for it. Solid sitka top, solid rosewood sides and back, amazing abalone inlays all over the guitar and a nitro cellulose finish to boot - and it sounds and plays as good as any $4,000 acoustic. I had my local guitar repair shop set the action on it and they were STUNNED at how well made it is (they've been doing repair work for 45 yrs).
Ah I don't mean $800 or 900 dollar equipment. I generally refer to the low cost COPY equipment and parts out there that are clearly not as defined as they suggest, and/or are blatant rip offs of original designs. The video is specifically (as the title "Cheap Chinese and Quality USA Guitar Parts Compared" says) about components that are basically incorrect or made wrong or simply are so bad they would not be worth the effort to fix even by skilled luthiers. I don't doubt that a guitar manufactured most likely under western management would be fine as indeed your is. Obviously I can't tell you how it plays :) but there are some very good $4k guitars out there... and there are some not so good $4k guitars too. The Chinese Martin as a branded product of Martin will have been made to Martin specifications so it's likely on a winner from the off. Thanks for the post as it highlights IMO the difference between authorized Chinese guitars and parts or the horrible rip off Chinese guitars and parts that this video was aimed towards.... and stay safe Steve.
@@tonymckenzieofficial The Martin guitar company of Nazareth Pennsylvania has absolutely no connection whatsoever to the luthiers in China building these guitars. This is not in anyway shape or form similar to Fender outsourcing guitars to Japan in the 1980's. These luthiers are completely independent from Martin and as far as I know, they are not under western management either, so it is a roll of the dice if you buy one. The difference in quality from other Chinese builders is simply that these particular luthiers know they won't be in business long if they don't make an excellent product. I have heard rumors that some of these Chinese companies have paid good money to Japanese luthiers from the 70's and 80's lawsuit era, to help them. Also, with modern technology it wouldn't surprise me if they have some authentic high dollar Martin's they used as model templates as well. That said, it's a bit easier to cheat on electric guitars than it is on acoustic's. With an acoustic like this, you cannot short cut the tedious level of detail required abalone inlay on these instruments. Just sayin...
Ah I understand - you mean they are similar to Martin and I guess they have some other name on them. Well, companies like Yamaha (top end) also make some very good acoustic guitars and they too cost money. Yes I agree the electrics are easier to cheat with - in particular when you get to the bottom end of these parts and/or electric guitars. That is really what the video was about... not higher end quality guitars. I can tell you from personal experience that the bottom end Chinese makers don't give a flying fig for anything that starts with a Q... like quality and my guess is they never will. They simply copy. Thanks and stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficialAs I already said, in terms of other guitar manufacturers, I would have paid at least $4,000 for what I got for $875. So I am happy as can be. No, I wasn't happy about being lied to in regards to the headstock (i.e. I wanted the abalone inlay fretboard pattern continued onto the headstock). Yes, there is a difference between "Yamaha" blazoned across the headstock versus "Martin" on there, when it isn't a real Martin, but I'm not trying to fraudulently sell what I have as a real Martin either.
I understand that of course.
I've found that some Strat copies play just as well and as smooth as a genuine Fender, Stratocasters, are my favourite guitar designs, I myself have just a copy at the moment but I have played many Fender Strats before, my copy is by the Korean make Shine, it's is genuinely one of the best copies I have ever played, it has quality finishes to it as well, so if anyone is looking for a cheaper version of a Strat and wants it to playe well I reccomend that, this Video has helped me a lot in picking guitar parts, you do have to be careful when buying cheaper copies of parts though otherwise you could end up being taken for a mug, good video as are most of your videos :) you definitely know your stuff :)
Squier 60th anniversary r all made in China, they r fantastic guitars.
Those are a world away from true Chinese guitars without proper management of manufacture. The Fender Squier benefits from Fenders overall control of quality and that is what makes the difference. Thanks for watching.
yes, there are very good Chinese guitars. I use some pieces too. No problem with a well chosen one
Unfortunately if you buy on the net you choose when it arrives... and that's one of the major issues with those parts I have found - you don't get to see your part until it hits the doorstep then its way too late. There are some better parts but in the main I do think they remain on the lower side of output from China right now - especially when they are cheap. Thanks for watching.
***** yes, this is true! I ordered online more times, and i had issues with arrived guitars 2 times. I opened disputes documented pics, videos about the failures , both aesthetic and functional, and d online system judged me the money back I wanted. And then i fixed the problems on here.
It's a pity really that they are so variable but you were lucky :) and well done. It's just a matter of getting someone in China that is a good maker - they are there, but there are many not so good ones too. Glad you got resolved... and thanks for watching.
mexican fender use genuine fender parts
Partly correct. I talked on one video about a Fender 'Genuine' part I bought in the Fender packet... it was made in China! I could not believe it, but tht is completely true...
***** because its made in china dosent mean its not genuine.
@@dundun8640 surely they are made in the same place as the generic parts just with the fender logo
I have a left handed Mexican tele. The body is made of 8 pieces of wood glued together and capped front and back with a very thin maple veneer
The Chinese pats are probably good enough. The problem is that these videos don't tell you if you if you should order a 50's or 60's or a 70's neck. The shapes are not the same. In my experience, the Chinese web shops do not tell you anything about the shape of the neck, leading you to buy a neck that is possibly ok for most guys out there, but not for me. I like a good chunk of wood to grip, e.g. the 50's tele, which is the same thickness all the way (not to be confused with the width)
.But,by all means, go ahead and buy one, you were probably going to craft the body by your self anyway, so you will find a way to fit the neck and make it playable.
Good luck! - and remember: you should always buy the best tools you can't af
ord :-)
Jon glad you brought this up. Different time periods have different necks. Also different models. All can be genuine parts.
That is true there are different designs... but it is frankly impossible to say they are all 'genuine' parts. From what I saw, it was a total 'mish mash' of guess the part, indeed as Jon said. Problem is, not a single person I met had a clue about what they were selling and indeed I would say that when you're buying (as I did) from a music show, that you have absolutely no reference of any kind to determine what it is that's for sale by year for example.
Never buy from a music show because when the circus leaves town they leave their crap behind so to speak.
I am mot an expert but I would try glue and put the guitar on a table with wax paper underneath it, Then find the flatest pie of plywood or an old table top or something.. Maybe a couple layers of plywood, again as flat as you can find, put it on the top seperated by wax paper and put anything you can for weight on the top and leave it a few days.. I would dampen the guitar body wood first and heat up the veneer with a hair dryer or heat gun, put your wood glue on it quickly on both sides.. Quickly on the veneer will it's warm, I would probably dampen the glueing surface of that as well before heat. Use a credit card or something to spread the glue quick then mate it and put a bunch of weight on the top. The success will likely depend on how flat the top of the guitar is and whatever you put on it to weight it down, serving the same purpose as a clamp basically.. Like I say, I am not an expert but just my thoughts guys.. I am sure there are videos.. But if not, this method could possibly work depending on how well you execute it.. Don't get in a hurry and have everything ready before hand.. Moch it all up first with what you are going to use so you know it will work and you aren't scrambling.. Have a rag and water to wipe excess glue that you can get to.. Also maybe good to drill a decent hole in the cavities you have to cut out first in the veneer.. It would dry faster I believe too and no chance of air pushing up in that area..
Well any of that might work... but for me? I gave it to a friend... :) Thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Right on! I am usually the guy people ask to do the things that people don't have the patience for. But I might let a more qualified person do it if I had a choice... Take Care!
Yes same to you too...
There's no doubt whatsoever that incredibly low quality spec parts come from China. The part that throws off most dumb people is that parts of equal quality levels to US made parts also come out of China, for less cost. These aren't magic talismans, they're machined parts. Spec is spec. The fallacy is that China = Junk, simply because Junk almost always = China. The problem is, critical thinking is hard but price and 'nation of origin' is simple, so idiots believe that Made in America + More Money = Better than Chinese Made. The irony is, we've been down this road before with Japan. It took about 20 years for people to suddenly realize that Made in Japan guitars were in may cases BETTER instruments than their MIA counterparts in spite of costing less. The consuming public are idiots, that's for sure. Suckers, through and through.
You are EXACTLY correct about those Chinese parts etc. There are some really good companies in China (I'm involved with some) and some really rubbish companies too. I think much is to do with the notion that western is better made (and was for a very long time). But the rubbish really is rubbish out of China. Japan is NOT China and Japanese gear has for a long time been thought of (at least by me) to be of high quality - but it costs more than China made gear all day... think Roland as a good example - and Ibanez top end guitars. Guys believe that the top country for guitars is the USA and I think for the most part that is correct - they do make the best guitars in the world, and often other things like amps. But the East will not stay as it is forever and they WILL catch up on quality. However, most of the great 'Eastern' made products are often USA design - and thats the real secret to it all I think.
Western designs can be some of the best designs there is and sometimes eastern designs are really bad. Roland and Ibanez are exceptions rather than the rule.
I guess, if you only have $100 then you have to buy $100 gear... thats the key.
***** Correct
***** The issue is from what I see in reality, is that many of the Chinese 'equivalent' components I buy are actually off specification (and sometimes with inferior quality) from third party companies that 'copy' Fender parts. Strangely enough, the 'genuine' Fender 'made in china' parts are usually correct. It's those other companies that just don't quite get things right that have always concerned me, because you never really know if the part is good or bad until you receive it.
Fender has used about a half dozen different headstocks on their Strats over the years each slightly off dimensionally. I would guess this one is a copy of one of the less common Strat necks. Also, If I order three replacement Strat necks from Fender tomorrow, you can bet at least one of them will be a little too big or too small to fit the neck pocket on the body. It takes all of ten minutes with a dremel tool or a shim to fix. I've found some of the Asian made necks and bodies to actually be better made than Fender's. I have a Korean made Tele neck built to my specs with a 1 3/4" nut width that I only paid $95 to have made. The Fender Custom Shop won't even make you a neck with a custom nut width--not for any price.
Strangely enough this neck I had was about as good as what you expect for about $100 (£70)... and I won't be buying any more ever of those. All the Fender necks I have used to make Stratocasters fitted pretty much spot on but I'm sure there must be a variance on some of them. Of course, 'better than Fenders' is a subjective opinion and my view is 'it depends which Fenders' ;-)
I'm not personally a fanatic of Chinese necks from my own experience so I prefer not to particularly assume that they are 'good' because for the $100 I would prefer to contribute that towards a neck I know is good, which isn't some Chinese knock off.
I buy my necks (for the real deals) from the stratosphere who always seem to come up with really great Jeff Beck necks.
***** I wouldn't lump an entire continent together when it comes to Asian materials. The Japanese, Koreans, Taiwanese, and Indonesians have been making great quality guitars for a very long time. Most of the guitars in the world have been made in Asia for the past 50 years. And the Koreans and Japanese in particular take great pride in their craftsmanship, unlike several American companies. There are many master luthiers throughout Asia, and if you give them an exact specification for a neck size from top to bottom, that's exactly what you'll get from them. You have to know who to buy from if you're buying generic though.
Charles Seper I didn't! I specified China.. Japan make some great necks I agree. But there is some real cr*p coming out of China (which of course has less experience than Japan or Korea IMO).. hence my comment. I would disagree that American guitar companies 'don't take pride in their craftsmanship' as that is nonsensical really. The issue of the cheap Chinese stuff all revolves around price. That is basically the only advantage of buying from China I feel.
I agree there ARE specialists in China of course... but that's not the typical 'let's buy a Chinese neck' scenario, which is in reality more like 'I have $100 - lets take a gamble on what we get when we order a neck' mode of operation.
Now $100 is not earth shattering money, but it IS to the Chinese especially the smaller companies out there. Best way to go? Well if you want to help those small guys and 'don't care about the product' just send them your $100 and I'm sure they will happily oblige LOL.
I stopped buying them for many reasons but the one at the top of all my lists is quality and spec misrepresentation... I expected better. Obviously others will judge themselves, as indeed your note says. Thanks for that input BTW as it's really another view... which will help some guys.
***** Okay; nice talking to you.
Charles Seper Yes and thanks for the input... its all useful.
I'm sorry for my English, I'm a belgian french speaker. I tried an experience with a cheap (maybe chineese ?) Telecaster body. As I had time to loose after having been sick I tried to french polish that body which was supposed to be an ash made one. I use to do this. After sanding ad wood filling I began to see it looked curious from place to place. To me It wasn't ash at all... or perhaps chineese ash ? Who knows ? The point is I couldn't see it wasn't completely dried and the shellac was impossible to spread out good. I never succeeded to expand more than four coats. I scraped the shellac three times and finally verified it wasn't ash too.
You do not have to apologise for your English :) it's good anyway. I know what you mean re dry wood. I have seen wood like that before. Did you seal the grain too? If you did not then the polish (shellac) will get in there and sink etc. so it looks bad. You should (if you like the body wood and it looks cool) try using a clear gloss or matt finish (believe it or not) that you can buy from a car repair supplier (over here like Halfords). I have had some very good results and when you polish and buff the body later it looks great. Its very like Nitro Cellulose finish like they used a long time ago and still do on high end guitars. So maybe strip back that shellac to the bare wood, fill the grain then try it... you have little to lose and it could come out wonderful. Use the spray very thinly and wait until completely dry between coats. Polish and buff and you have it. :) maybe even on a Chinese body :) Thanks for watching.
***** Hi Tony, yes I sealed the grain and I believe you. Some of my buddies use polyurethane varnish to finish their guitars and it looks good so I gave that body to one of them. Personally I bought a nice well dry lumber of swamp ash, a Telecaster template and routed a beautiful body I sprayed a nitrocellulose varnish on.
Jean-Paul Bleus Yes that's the way to do it :)
I swear on 0:09 i thought the video started but it was just Tony starring into my soul LOL! OMG i have never laughed this hard anticipating a video to start!
I was a bit slow there :) and only after you highlighted that could I agree... :) now the whole world knows I'm a slow starter :) !!!!
The yellowish cheapo stain is one of the easiest ways to tell if you are dealing with a low grade copy.
Thanks for the info... it will surely help guys out there. And thanks for watching.
I played a few great guitars but one thing that really caught my attention recently was a no-name chinese strat with tribal art i got for cheap in a warehouse. Since then i haven't touched my other guitars because it sounds so great lol it literally never goes out of tune and plays smoothly.
:) I guess they made a mistake on the one you bought and it works :) Thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial You replied respectfully then suddenly 2 years later you lash out for literally no reason? How exactly was i "disrespectful," "rude" and "miscommunicating?"
It's an *opinion* - neither wrong or right - nothing more. If you cannot handle differing opinions then you're in the wrong hobby sir.
My apologies for that... in fact it was a mistake and I clicked the wrong guy! I was answering so many posts and made a mistake... so you were right of course and I'll delete my incorrect posts.. it happens... sorry.... so please take it as it actually was - a mistake and no comment I made was against you.
@@tonymckenzieofficial No problem, it's alright, stuff happens. Hope all is well.
I agree. Good video. But personally Buying cheap crap is what got me to buy tools and learn how to repair build my own though. I mean as far as body and necks and pick ups I took the time to even learn how to take crap pick ups apart and wrap and seal them back up. But I would say avoid the hardware. I wouldn’t go any cheaper than Wilkinson on the bridges and tuners for sure. Save the 30 bucks on the Floyd rose copy don’t fall for it.
That's a fair point on the learning stuff I agree. Ans some of that hardware... yuk. Even I have been down that route trying to make a review of it and it never turns out as it should... there really is some bad gear/accessory/parts around. Thanks for watching and stay safe.
😮oh how true is that.
Because of these cheap stuff, ive learned as well on how to setup my own.
I even learned how to use dowels to plug holes.
Its worth the learning experience
Man, you had me in stiches when I read this... thanks for brightening up the day and thanks for watching.
Interesting concept with this video but unfortunately it was very anti-climatic! The fact that you didn't persevere and finish what you started really proves nothing other than those who watched this video will never see how this guitar would have turned out. With a little more work you might have produced a real masterpiece at a highly affordable price. But too bad none of us will ever know.
William you will know - all you have to do is ask me! :) I don't make things up. What happened with the body was that the veneer lifted (entirely our fault) so I gave the body to Alan.. my bass and vocal guy. We flashed it with a bit of clear and I do believe he still has that. But I would hardly call it a success. It does work... but it was one of my 'failures' sadly. At least I tried. A more recent guitar I created was this green one - here the body was being finished, but on better parts: th-cam.com/video/zFlXC2RJ2EQ/w-d-xo.html but in the text below the video you can find all the other parts. That one worked out, but overall if you watch the Warmoth builds I completed they are entirely on another level... but also another price too. Here's my most recent: th-cam.com/video/HLYYlAGvrTo/w-d-xo.html and I sincerely hope you like them. Thanks for watching - appreciated.
Nice guitar. I am rebuilding a Squire Affinity Strat but I love the candy apple red finish. I went through a phase where I really liked quilted maple finishes, in the 80s especially. Then I bought a Strat with the thick, car paint surf green finish, and I'm still liking it 25 years later. I am thinking about a bound neck like you show here. The all parts necks are nice, not too dear. The warmoth necks I am looking at are all between $250-300, beyond my budget.
I understand. On the Chinese ones you have to be careful because in my experience they are sometime different than what would fit. They look OK until you try and fit them. But there are many other companies around that make parts cheaper than Warmoth... or even looking on eBay or Reverb for used necks (I have done that too) which if genuine might be the best fit... Hope it helps at least a little... and thanks for watching. Stay safe!
Good video, and valid points. I can appreciate the Warmoth parts for being very precisely manufactured. I also like to work with budget challenges! What I have found is that with cheaper (wood) parts, you end up doing more work to make them feel "nice" and play well. Not everyone likes to do a bunch of extra sanding, though. The premium stuff tends to be better feeling "out of the box."
As for cheap metal parts, it seems like a set of Hipshot tuners would have set you back about the same as the Taiwanese ones you got... when I think of "cheap" tuners, I'm imagining the Kmise machines and such. Hipshots are absolutely wonderful tuners for $60!
Thanks for watching and your info is useful of course. I wanted to highlight that some of the cheap parts are very different than how some might say they are... but once you have them on closer inspection there's this or that problem which some guys might not easily fix. Yes I don't apply 'cheap' to everything that's low cost - some of the parts are OK and Hipshot are not bad - they have also been around as long as I care to remember and that would not be the case if their products were not good.
All useful info as I said and thanks again for watching.
I will NEVER buy Chinese crap over American made ANYTHING when there’s a option and I have the means to do such! I for one have one thing that many don’t have today, especially todays youth and even form the United States! It’s something called principles and I stand by them!
There is SOME Far east stuff that is good... but you have to pay substantially for it...
Tony,
I'm doing this same project now. I have a $47.00 body and a $37.00 neck.
I bought a mexi strat, put fat 50s pickups and a Toneshaper in it and using those guts, for my build.
This is going to suck balls, but Little Tommy wants to build it.
LOL.... great to hear you Thomas ;-) best of luck with that one... who knows - it might work out!
Tony,
My shitty Strat job is HALF yours, which means Ill tomahawk it. If it goes to poop, I'll video it, getting shot at with a shotgun.
thomas golden I cannot wait!
Thanks Tony! That settles it. Paying a bit more up front will save me more in the end and better yet save me the 'assembling' headaches. I do really like the Warmouth bodies, have not heard much on the Warmoth necks and this is the first I heard of someone using one.
Well I would buy a Fender neck. The Warmoth is not a really bad neck, but I had to do fret work to actually play it. I queried this and they said that their necks fret ends are not finished... yuk. So I spent time fixing what they did not do and if you have no experience with that then you have to be really careful you don't get it wrong. The Fender necks on the other hand are basically very good. I often use the Jeff Beck Fender neck but it is so expensive. Currently working on a Telecaster with a Warmoth neck but again, the ends were rubbish, while the neck itself looks great - the only reason I entertain Warmoth necks is because of the really nice woods on some of them.
***** Tony thanks again for the tips. Do you purchase most of your Fender necks from Fender or elsewhere? Found one from Fender for $199, which does not seem that bad (I like the maple fretboards). Pricing out some Warmouth bodies now, but still even if I spend $800-1300 you can't beat that for a custom 'strat' made by your own hands lol. Thanks again.
Don Lazov I buy mine from the 'stratosphere' (an ebay seller that breaks down new gear) although some of it is expensive thats probably the best way to buy because he sells really pristine stuff. Overall you will always beat the top end Fender prices when you make a great guitar and as you say it's a guitar that is exactly to what you want.... anyway... best of luck with it and when you have it made don't forget to show me!
Will do on showing you my custom built guitar when I finish it. Besides Warmouth I found a place called Precision Guitar Kits: buy.precisionguitarkits.com/ and Carvin also has a 'build' your own kit as well: www.carvinguitars.com/catalog/kits/gk1p and I have not even explored ebay as of yet...lol.
Don Lazov Well both of those look cool... I never heard of precision guitar kits (Ive had a shaded life LOL) but they look cool. I know of Carvin but did not know they made kits. Thanks for that info maybe Ill even look at some of those myself... good info.
Great video! I see a lot of people buying the no-name necks on eBay and Amazon for $50, and I cringe a little. There's no way to know if the wood has been dried properly, the fretwork is most assuredly pretty terrible, and as you pointed out, they may not even fit properly. Sometimes the trussrods don't even work!
I think the best bang-for-buck on inexpensive parts are probably MightyMite bodies and necks. The necks do often require a bit of fretwork, but usually nothing too major. There's not a huge choice of options, but they're pretty hard to beat for $99, and they come with a sanding sealer already applied (or fully finished for a bit more.) Plus, with MightyMite, at least you've got the backing of an authorized dealer in the off chance you get a bum neck and need to return/exchange it.
Is that really nasty? I dont thinks so
Strangely, you were not there... I was... and yes, it WAS really nasty. In any case both views are subjective. Thanks.
Cheap Chinese parts are for the beginner to tool around with and have some fun getting into custom guitar building. If you want to build something really special, obviously you will want to avoid a ~$40 neck (even if it is bound). I just ordered a $40 Les Paul (epi) style bolt on neck so I can take a look at it, should be fun to play with and I may end up making a cigar box guitar or some such with it :) These cheap parts can be fun to learn on and if you put enough time and effort into them, you can even end up with a very decent instrument but it is not a buy, assemble, finish and play route, you will need to modify, adjust, drill, tweak and rework a lot. For someone like me, that's half the fun but it isn't for everyone.
Very valid points. The only real thing I disliked was the fact that they were 'out of spec' substantially and that is not what the seller said. Sort of misleading, but when you're at a music show you have little to compare the exact part with. Thanks for watching.
...Body wood makes no difference if it's painted, other than the weight...and I've seen USA made necks that were shite too, right out of the Fender factory...they're all mass produced, which means no luthier chooses the wood, it's just picked up from a stack of necks and bolted on...the average factory worker does not have the knowledge to notice if a piece of wood is bad or good, their job is just to put them onto the bodies...so, when buying a neck you're always taking a chance unless you have a serious woodworker read the grain for you...
+wooddragon45 That seems to make sense. But I always have found the Chinese stuff far inferior in many ways and its not just limited to wood - that truss rod or frets for example could make a good neck a bad neck. I'm sure you are right that all makers can make a bad neck... but it's the ratio between good and bad right? For example, if two companies make necks and company A has a 98% success rate and the other company B has a 98% failure rate personally I would not really want to be buying a neck from company B as the chance of getting a bad one is about 95% higher. You have made a good point but somehow I do think that the quality of the wood purchased by the maker re what it costs them should come in to the equation. Cheaper wood usually equals woods maybe less useful for that neck we're talking about and may not be dried properly (as an example) or have other issues that could make it less suitable for a neck. I'm sure that in a company like Fender (for example) that they do check the wood carefully before and after purchase. And those woods can weigh substantially different too... which can make a guitar maybe neck heavy. I guess you could add to my thoughts too. Thanks for the input and for watching.
...Agreed...especially when you don't have chance to actually see it in the flesh before ordering...
Get a life man.. you are comparing neck and body wich cost around 10% of the original American fender and you are nitpicking as if you expect them to be same quality and got cheated. I have a Chinese made strat and its sounds good and playbility is pretty good.
Who said you didn't? But if someone sells a 'neck' body or anything else purporting to be made to an industry standard... (as in my case they did) surely it would be reasonable to assume that what they say is what you get? Not so in many Chinese products and guitar parts from China. Check this: th-cam.com/video/2gDvEqH3VD8/w-d-xo.html or this: th-cam.com/video/E0xwbea1ss8/w-d-xo.html or even this: th-cam.com/video/6XZGh3DA6PY/w-d-xo.html While your guitar works for you, think of the many guys that either get ripped off, sold parts that are flawed - and often sold parts where the seller does not tell the truth or worse. I like some Chinese made guitars and the Epiphone are difficult to criticize and are made well, but there is simply no excuse for the other stuff is there? Thanks and stay safe.
Try comparing a 1979 Strat to a Chinese Strat neck or a modern USA one.
I brought one brand new in 79, that was all you could get at the time, other than second hand, they were absolutely crap guitars.
Squire hadn't appeared at the time and when they did, they put the frighteners on Fender.
I brought a second-hand Marshall 50 watt JTM 45, the following year, and tried it with a Tokai Strat. The Tokai wiped the floor with my Strat, in no uncertain terms.
So I brought a Tokai as a spare guitar, in 1984. I've still got it, I sold the Fender not long afterwards.
The Tokai is the best Strat I've ever owned by a mile!
Tokai do make some really good guitars for sure... but Tokai today unless you buy the top end ones is not what it used to be. They make some very good Gibson style too. Thanks for watching.
I´ll admit cheap Chinese parts require a lot more work, but if you´re willing to spend some time and love on them, you will eventually end up with a perfectly fine instrument. For example, I bought a body and neck for a Tele for a total of 100€. As I´ve slowly learned more about how guitars work and what makes them play good over a period of two years, I´m finally getting there. I routed out a part of the neck pocket and now all that remains is leveling and crowning the frets.
Some of the ones that I have seen are physically too big or worse... too small. For me it was simply not worth the effort of fixing something that should really be supplied as described. In fact sold wrong stuff really can be annoying... the reason being that its hard earned money then thrown on often gear that can't be used.
Yeah, I totally understand what you mean, it´s real frustrating to start building only to notice all your parts are faulty... If I had the money I´d probably have bought higher quality parts, but hey, at least I learned loads of new things about guitars.
This illustrates why The Campbells are the foremost clan in Scotland, not the MaKenzies. I build and design guitars. Tony has no clue. Ach, ach, he nay has a clue....
I do have to smile at this... simply because having no clue is down to you this time. I'll illustrate... the McKenzie's do NOT come from Scotland as you wrongly point out. In fact the McKenzie's come from Ireland as anyone with the knowledge will tell you. Unfortunately on this occasion you made an ass out of yourself. I guess that's the same with your guitar knowledge too ;-) as they say these days... just sayin...
@@tonymckenzieofficial I mean, that's just not true is it.
@@sterex9805 It is absolutely true you made an ass of yourself yes.
You get what you pay for the quality and moisture content of wood in a custom made USA neck far surpasses cheap Chinese made necks it’s better to spend the extra $$ on a good quality neck that will last a lifetime
Patrick I could not have put it better myself. :) Thanks for watching and stay safe.
The cheap Chinese stuff is just that.....cheap. I've built kits and also parts guitars. There is always a little massaging to be done but in the end if you have the skill and a few tools, you can make a stellar instrument. Picking parts can be tricky, especially if you're trying to mix Chinese with American. There are generally two sets of measurements in my experience.
Thanks for the info about your experience with this stuff. Yes some parts can be useful, but every time I tried (whether Strat, Les Paul etc. I was never successful, and some of it was downright not good. But I'm just one opinion and thanks for posting and for watching too.
The most important thing is to hit the wood with the knuckles of the hand to hear the sound, if it is acoustically good you can have a good guitar.
You can order only the pieces of wood and buy excellent metal parts of all kinds, there is a tremendous market for this, Seymour Duncan pick ups and electronics and we have something of great quality :)
Well from my experience I would agree with the wood aspect. But also the fit of these parts can be more critical than you might imagine. If the neck in the pocket is flopping around all over the place, or if its not of the correct depth, or for that matter the neck heel is wrong then it makes things worse. I have seen Stratocaster (they say) necks that have a Telecaster heel which really is incorrect by a long way. Those are main aspects that for me made me stop buying stuff that was not to specification. The other parts as you say are easily obtainable and you can get very high quality bits... always the best way to go. Thanks for watching.
You are right, what you mention is extremely important, otherwise we will have big problems, thanks for the video, very good observations! :)
here's a thought...American made strat made in California with Mexican production workers OR Made in Mexico strat made by Mexicans with the same QA standards at the US plant..just a thought.
Yes I understand perfectly on that. But in the case of some of the far east stuff the parts are hardly even similar. At least there is a 'sort of' standard with Mexico and Fender. The neck in this video I actually bought at a regional show and held it in my hands before paying.. it all looked good until later... when you try and fit it... and everything was suddenly way off. This was one of the reasons for the video because it's not too obvious at buy time really... there was no 'reference point' to compare it to.
a lot of people get hung up on Made in America vs Made in Mexico without taking in the fact the two plants are not that far apart.
And the MiM used guitars are a great buy and easily upgraded, people are now buying older Squires made in Japan as there price is going up with collectors
enjoy watching your videos and Best of luck in the new year
gscgold Yes Happy new year to you too...
nice to see you back Tony,
Thanks :-)
There's an old saying among motorcyclists: "chrome don't get ya home." That was certainly the case, where Tony's neck was concerned -- for a Strat. I wonder if it might have been adaptable to a Tele body? The fret finishing was indeed nice looking, much better than the Warmoth; but were the frets leveled? (Having that Fender decal on the head stock is an outright crime, IMHO.) Like many, I'm on an eternal quest to build a guitar that doesn't cost $1500-$5000, but is still a decent guitar. I'm real skeptical of anything on Ebay, and don't see much advantage to going there as opposed to GFS; still Asian parts, but (apparently!) with some degree of quality control. Still a toss-up, to be sure, but so far I'm having good luck with them. I recommend everyone read the short little book, "Poorly Made In China," and it applies across-the-board; guitars, tools, motor scooters, whatever. Avoid the cheap guitar kits like the plague, you'll be replacing EVERYTHING and would've done better to start with parts you selected yourself, in the first place. Again, that's a crap-shoot; my first kit was a Saga, and everything dropped nicely into place. (It wasn't until years later that I learned the truss rod was broken!) A second kit, from BYO, fought me every inch of the way; not a single hole was right, not one, and that includes the routing. Being a Genuine Poor Guy, I can't buy Warmoth ... but Carvin looks doable, for necks; there may be others out there. Do your homework (and LOTS of it) before buying. Have fun! (That's the important part.)
You sum up lots about that subject Seth and I'm not that far from where you are on the subject. But also allparts and Warmoth do make some low cost parts too... and both of those have good warranty with them. That for me is the main difference (along with quality most times). Thanks for watching.
Always a pleasure, Tony.
That is not a walnut burl, it is Carpathian Elm burl.
OK let's agree its a burl... thanks for watching.
I thought that the veneer looked INCREDIBLE! Might have to try that out sometime :)
Actually I did know the body was bad before I started, but I did want to try that out. The guys that do nothing else are really good at it, but alas, the glue type (iron on) was not good and lifted approximately every other week... a pity. I did try a number of things and have the video of me actually ironing on the veneer. Maybe at some stage I'll put it up there, but I don't fail that often and it remains a sort of warning to others to get the right tools (I did not) such as a press etc. to do the job. But refinished it would have LOOKED cool. Darn the bad routing...
What exactly did you thing you were going to get when you knowingly bought a counterfeit guitar neck for "peanuts" from China?
I hate to say this Lars, but you are entirely wrong... go and watch the video again. The neck was bought in the UK with the dealer standing right in front of me. The point of the video from your comments is exactly borne out... you get rubbish which the video clearly shows. Thanks.
you cant go wrong with Warmoth or USA customs. Better then Fender IMHO
;-)
Tony, your vidoes are always entertaining and factual yet loaded with fun words and expressions, Thanks for videos!
+Caleub Veiem Thanks for those kind words.
Did the same thing. Ended up replacing everything down to the screws.
I guess we always get what we pay for Bill... thanks for watching.
Id strip the chinese neck down its the wrong color, get a template for the correct size head stock and the heal belt sand it to shape and with minimal effort to have a perfect neck for cheap
But it's STILL a Chinese copy neck and you can't really tell what the truss rod is like... its a big gamble and that tends to be the problem... a gamble with ZERO warranty unless you're going to China sometime soon... thanks for the points and for watching too...
Cheap pots, tuners, hardware and pickups make a huge difference. Woods, woodworking and finish is way over-hyped.
Hmmm I'm not entirely convinced... and here's why: th-cam.com/video/2gDvEqH3VD8/w-d-xo.html it's just about as bad as you can get... all for peanuts... and I guess they expected monkeys to play it. IMO the truth is, that the skills in making the thing even outweigh less than perfect pots etc. check it out... that's exactly as supplied. Thanks for watching JS.
the folks that self build, be ware the need to use good parts instead of cutting corners for sure. Thanks toney
I like your videos, you seem like the kind of guy i would like to sit and talk to with a few beers after work.
Bryan Fabian Thanks.
bought a Mighty Mite neck from Stewart McDonald Guitar Supplies in the states... it went straight onto my Ibanez Blazer a treat! slight neck shim and bridge adjust and plays like a dream!
Pretty interesting stuff there ! I think its cool how you video tape your talents .. Thanks for sharing !
Thanks and Glad you liked it. Check my channel as there is honestly substantially better stuff than this video too. Thanks for watching.
I just want to say everbody.
What ever work's for you!!
I love Warmoth parts!!
Very well put! I like warmoth too... but also some Fender bits like the Jeff Beck necks. Thanks for watching.
I built a Carvin bolt kit about 15 yrs ago, and I am quite pleased with the guitar. Yeah it's a bit higher priced, but man, that thing sounds and plays great. Fixed bridge, ap11 p.ups sound very nice, Warmoth is also a good company. DON'T BUY CHEAP SHIT. .....
Correct there is no comparison between cheap stuff and quality parts.
It's like all those fake Yngwie Malmsteen scalloped Strat necks going for cheap on ebay = they have a square Telecaster style heel. Makes for a pain in the ass to get a good fit on a strat type body.
Thanks for that info Steve... and yes it would be a pain for sure. Good point and thanks for watching.
This was fun to watch , great ending. What about the NOT-FOR-EXPORT Chinese guitars?
+bob E D I have not seen one of the 'not-for-export' ones? tell me more about that please :) and thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial tony , there is a retail market of instruments sold domestically in China that are better made than the export models. Seems the export parts are all the cut out parts not suitable for domestic sales.
@@Bobby007D Well I guess seeing is believing for me. BTW did I show you the Gibson Chinese guitar I bought? here: th-cam.com/video/E0xwbea1ss8/w-d-xo.html and I for one could not understand 'how they did it' for that... at least until it arrived! And I also had a Far East Harley Benton - it looked 'wonderful' but I then did the review on that 'guitar' to show what is being sold these days... here: th-cam.com/video/2gDvEqH3VD8/w-d-xo.html and after all of that... how I was 'pushed' to improve it somewhat? Here: th-cam.com/video/gAiQJxiWyZM/w-d-xo.html well it happens to the best of us.
But just to show that I have no ill feelings for the Harley Benton brand here's a review where it got (if I remember) a 9 out of 10 score! here: th-cam.com/video/sO7yC1e-2l4/w-d-xo.html
Joking aside though, I have yet to find a single guitar or major part thereof that comes from the Far East (other than guitars like Epiphone) that actually even works... they all have their issues and I guess that's why they export them... the Chinese would probably not put up with such junk! I don't doubt that the Far East in the respect of the cheap stuff will one day 'catch up' and when that happens then expect guitar maker redundancies! unfortunately... Thanks Bobby D for the info.
Those bevels you put on the Warmoth look very wide...when you strung it up did you have an issue with the E strings sliding off the edge of the fretboard?
+Explorer766 No they seemed to work ok. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for your video! Judging by the comments, there are mixed opinions on this but I agree with you.
+Andrew Nicholls There are... people have different views and they are entitled to those. I may or may not agree with some of them. Thanks for watching.
Cheers Tony, I know nothing about guitars but after watching this video I think I
have a much better idea of how quality guitars are made.
Have an Excellent, Prosperous and Prosperous 2014.
God Bless You !
Peace Always ! Chaz
Well I made my videos for guys that don't know how to do it... so if you learned something then it was worth the effort I think. Even I learned on this one... I'm no expert, but it was interesting particularly with the Veneer. Anyway, glad you liked it and good 2014 stuff to you too ;-)
I agree with Dun Dun.....give all guitars low price that come from the states....then everything is settle....everybody can have original guitars.....
Lee52052 The problem is, that the cost to make units in the USA is substantially higher than China (for example). How would you make it work that each guitar costs the manufacturer (say $800 loss) per unit and keep the company in business? I suspect that you could not and indeed 'Dun Dun' could not do that either. Its a ridiculous point of view to operate a company on a perpetual loss. Or are I missing something here?
Tony. Could you do a test for us. Could you take your CHEAPEST, SHITTIEST Chinese guitar, and put your a really nice Fender pickup in the bridge position and play a few licks, clean and distorted. Then put that same pickup in a lovely fender, and play the same licks with the same set, and we'll see if anything changes?
+Anthony Quigley No doubt Tony you have done this... show us your video... I have no inclination to spend on any guitar as you described your specifications of the Chinese guitar. I have absolutely no use for it. But thanks for asking :)
I have previously just out of curiosity, and Tony, as i said before, i LOVE your work and video's, hopefully you'e making a few bucks off your lovely videos and i'm a big fan. I'm not in ANY way trying to get at you or anything, i'm actually interested to hear your restults anbd get your take on things? Do you have 2 guitars that are very different. shape, wood etc that you'd do a video for us all to watch in your lovely calming style that demonstrates whether or not changing a pickup from one guitar to another and playing the exact same stuff on both to settle (in your opinion) on if we're being duped with placebo tone woods?
I mean, if i'm right, evil corporations and humping the most expensive woods to us claming they give different tone etc.i Reckon if you do it and show us your results, you'll get ALOT of views, and could open a few people's eyes. Just out of interest, do you have 2 different guitars you could technically try this one? I'm a big fan mate! I lovew your calming voice also lol, i'd love to hear you reading me a book. (Not in a weird way or anything lol, you just have one of those calming voices)*****
+Anthony Quigley Hi TonyQ (I'll call you that so there is no confusion between us)... Actually I have never made ONE CENT from the video's I have developed or indeed the website I have written. There are very many out there that do it all to make money and you will probably know that I could do that all with about three clicks of the mouse... or worse, make it a subscribed content. And I am sure that some guys would pay. But I really don't need the money and am not actually motivated to use what I developed for that purpose. Now listen... don't you fall asleep during my videos LOL!
I do get the point about the pickups for sure and I know that they are the main contributor of tone... but, as I have said before, If I buy an expensive guitar I do not buy it purely for its tone contrary to what some guys might use as the reason for the purchase. There is far more to it than that. On a subject like the cheap Chinese guitars, indeed, the actual physical build and other factors often stop the instrument being played as it should be played especially with a 70 year old design (the real ones for me play perfectly without resort to all those 'fixes' that the cheap counterfeit ones tend to have).
I really don't actually need the 'extra' viewers particularly to my channel or website. A controversial video can generate 'high viewing' results of course. But even if I did do as you ask, then it still only conveys that singular aspect of an instrument - the pickup. It is impossible to demonstrate all the other aspects such as (a good example would be) the 'feel' of how a guitar plays so the video could only serve one point and not really convey the true position. As I have always said, (like the audiophiles) above quality X then no ordinary person can really hear the difference... but applying the audiophile logic I guarantee that some guys will hear a difference. It probably would not be me as my ears bit the dust in that respect many years ago.
Trust me TonyQ I don't allow anyone 'to get at me' anymore - those days are long gone and I would not tolerate that sort of thing for about more than one post. I don't think you are doing that sort of thing at all. People that come to my channel and don't show respect and are downright rude or obnoxious get stopped in three or four clicks. Firstly, I suspect that's your real name right? and anyone who posts on the internet (anywhere) with their real name and is not a reasonable person will end up with a problem for life (just trust me on that) as you cannot delete much of it.
But don't you have a video already done? it would save much time that I am always short of. Let me know...
Thanks for the replys mate! I actually love getting to chat to the people who's content i enjoy watching. It makes it more real or personable. Yup thats my real name.
I have footage from a while ago on a DVD i burned somewhere, if i get it i'll send it onto you. I'd be really interested in getting to chat to you via email or something so we could run tests privately without starting a flame war over the subject of tone woods, i mean look what happened to poor Scott Grove? (A pure guitar enthusiast, loved guitars, owned around 300 of them, all shapes and sizes, his only problem? not letting himself be sucked in by the common opinion and what guitar companies would have you believe is the truth, he tested for himself many many times and came to the conclusion that the only things that change the sound of a guitar are the nut, the bridge, the strings, the plectrum and the pickup. No even the plastic or metal around the pickup made a difference, and for this scientifically and professionally carried out conclusion? he was boo'd off of the internet).
Placebo and suggestion are incredible. The power they have over people's minds just boggles mine!
As i said it's so funny how primitive our brains work and then on the opposite size of that coin we can also be geniuses. I mean, as stated before. Just by the guitar being made out of heavier wood, and having a rosewood or ebony fingerboard, we actually hear a fatter (heavier) darker and genuinely say it's warmer. Wheras if the guitars body is very light to pick up, and the fingerboard is made out of very light colored maple, we believe we're hearing a brighter or snappier tone lol. I think it's hilarious.
Also, we only believe certain things make a difference to the sound of the guitar where it suits us. For instance. A 59 Les Paul Sounds fat, chunky and Warm. Because it's Fat.. Chunky and has a warm colored fingerboard lol. We believe we're hearing that fatness because the guitar is so heavy and the fretboard is dark colored. Yes anyone who's [played a les paul will tell you that sticking it on it's bridge pickup on a clean or overdriven channel can sound just as thin as a strat single coil. And a strat then on the flip side is light'ish, and has those skinny single coils so you can't get that weighty sound, you get that snappier twangy sound due to the lightness and the light colored fret boards.
Yet Simon Neil uses ONLY Standard off the shelf Strats and if you weren't looking at him playing you'd think he was playing a Jackson or ESP guitar with Humbucker EMG81 in it.
It's all in our heads for the most part.
We say "I wanted the neck to be this wood, but i wanted a rosewood fingerboard to get that warmer tone you just can't get from the light maple boards". So the fret board has a "Big" effect in most people's ear's on the overall sound. But what if they scallop the last 4 frets? Or scallop all of the frets? Why doesn't that change the sound of the guitar? You're taking in some cases maybe 40% of the depth of that fret board down. Thats huge in comparison to the amount of actual wood being used.
Some people even say the Lacquer process on the board changes the sound.. i mean come on lol.
If thats the case, do the fret inlays change the sound? Does the material the cable you have plugged into the guitar change the sound? if you have strap locks, does that change the sound? Should i use plastic ones or Leather ones in that case?
If all of this stuff makes a difference, Why arn't we making Pickup surrounds/Mounts (you know, the white plastic around the poles in any fender packup) out of rare woods found in the jungles of peru? Why arn't we using endangered trees to make a pick guards out of? I mean, you have this 50,000 guitar that has it's SOLE influence in the quality of it's craftmanship etc due to the parts use, yet it's got big hunks of crappy multi layered plastic directly under the strings holding the pickups in. Why arn't we using real gold saddles etc instead of those crappy slag metal ones mst companies use... if anything on a guitar might change the sound it's what the strings actually make contact with right? So why the cheap nut's, machine heads, bridges and saddles. All fairly cheap plastic and generic metals.
Makes no sense to me lol.
And one last thing. We're SO into thfact that every little thing on the guitar gives it it's sound. even the dirt on old guitars give it a "Richness". And the woods etc. Yet the pickups are enclosed in a pretty much sealed environment with that copper taping. Nullifying any of the wood getting through to the pickup lol. The fact that people believe, a fairly standard tightly wound piece of metal (the string) vibrates, and somehow the wood, that the string is vibrating a couple of cm's above is able to send it's vibration up into the string adding to it's own vibration, THROUGH the plastic pickguard, and make the string sound better through an electric circuit.. hehe. I was on a rant there. If you like you could pop me an email Tony, i'd love your thoughts on some of this stuff and maybe we could run a couple of tests. I've got a good vid for you to watch. My email is ntnquigley at gmail, pop a message and we'll chat more.
Keep making these great video's brother! you've got some beauts in your collection, and i'm a big fan of warmouth!
+Anthony Quigley You know what I asked Scott a reasonable question once to do with tuning (from a video he posted) so it was entirely on subject. He was rude, arrogant and swore like a trooper for no reason whatsoever. His channel looked OK until I experienced that first hand then I simply never went back. And I felt that was a pity he did that. I was not aware of what happened... simply because I never went back. Oh well.
You can contact me directly by visiting my website and filling out the contact form. I receive those directly and can then answer...
I do think that there really is a lot promoted re musical equipment in a way that is not entirely truthful on occasion - and that's why I started to do this stuff I do. I believe that what I tend to find on a new piece of gear is what most 'ordinary' guys would find too good or bad. So I'm always tending to be truthful about what I find with gear and put my success typically down to that. The number of guys that tell me they are fed up with watching 'twiddlers' or untruthful videos is incredible.
I for one am not entirely convinced about the 59 Les Paul (for example) and I also think if I had Jimi's white Stratocaster in my hands that it would sound just like the other 66-67 Stratocasters floating around out there. There is no doubt (for that guitar in particular) that the pickups were/are that sound near enough. I have used a number of sets of 69 CS pickups and the similarity is quite amazing. So in that respect for that tone you might well win :) but the tone is not everything... if it was like a cheese grater then clearly something will suffer.
I think you are right in many respects and I don't hear those differences on some equipment for sure (your finish on the fretboard for example)... but guys do often talk about maple necks as opposed to rosewood for example... maple is more toppy than rosewood they say and that might well be their thoughts based on what others say. Of course it could be that different people have different ability in hearing - like those audiophiles I mentioned.
BTW they do make pickup surrounds out of rare woods... check the Gibson All Wood I reviewed recently on my channel: th-cam.com/video/79XrrgDJ94A/w-d-xo.html which indeed has those. Now that is a guitar that IS made from 'all wood' (well near enough) and it does emanate a great tone. Maybe different than some other stuff that I have played.
Yes you know how to contact me and Ill reply - easier that way... I NEVER post me email address online. There are frankly too many of the wrong type of guys out there and you should edit that post if I was you.
Hey Tony, as you have probably noticed I don't always reply instantly as I have loads of different things to do, but I always do reply eventually.
Thanks.
Just because it's genuine Fender, doesn't mean it has to be made in the US? I got a Fender cable that is made in China... DiMarzio cables are made in the US though.. Just like with Grover tuners, they're made in china too..
I have commented on that before many times... there's Fender... and then there's Fender... it is what it is. Personally when I buy a high end Fender and find the parts are cheaply made in Korea (or somewhere unexpected) I do feel a little cheated. As I have built guitars online I have often commented about all of that. I'm sure some guys don't care, but let's face it, REAL Fender guitars... like when Leo was there were made in the USA. I guess anything else is a little different somehow. You do raise a very interesting point really... just how much of the modern Fender strat (for example) is ACTUALLY USA made? maybe as a percentage. Now that's a really good question!
Amazing video, well done dude, big thumb up!
Thanks...
Very informative I sometimes get tempted to by cheaper parts but I can see you get what you pay for thanks!
+pm1music Be VERY careful on the cheap bits... been there done that... and regretted it forever. Thanks for watching.
Your very welcome
First thing I would have done is sanding out the fake fender logos on any guitar that isn’t made by or for Fender.
First thing you should have done (Ha like me) is not to buy it! It was not good gear. Thanks.
Hi Tom. I don't know, if you'll have time to answer, but if you do, please answer my question: let's say, I don't have a money to buy an expensive American Strat guitar, but I can afford a chinese\indonesian guitar. Which chinese guitar you'll recommend then? (Which are best, from your point of view and experience), thanks.
When you say Chinese/Indonesian that covers many brands. Of the bunch I would always get a branded guitar even if its Chinese/Indonesian. I do NOT mean a rip off (because they are typically cr*p) but maybe an Ibanez or something like that.
Hope this is'nt off subject . But the guy's at Atomic Guitars told me over the years they had taken all the Fender Strats customers had brought in for repair and traced the Pickguards . And found there were many different shapes and sizes. Though most to the naked eye looked the same.
The pick guards are all over the place... but I found them the worst on the 'generic' ones not from Fender. Of the Fender ones I have bought they seemed to be about right... but I did not buy too many. Also the Warmoth pick guards seem to always be the same when I buy one... they make them to order so I guess they have a 'correct' profile (if there is such a thing LOL).
The no brand ones were always the worst for me. Good point thanks for posting.
***** Of course plastic is plastic I never said it was not? What I DID say was that the Fender pick guards fitted! So do the Warmoth ones. How many of the crap stuff do you want? I have at least 15 here... the only thing that stops me throwing them in the bin (or sending them to you for your dream guitar) is that they cost me money.
The Chinese neck was wrong throughout your assumptions are about as wrong as the neck was. Please feel free to buy whatever you want that is a clear choice that we all have right? if you want to buy products that could be way off spec, that are generally substandard (on the cheaper stuff in particularly) and you might well end up making do... then buy them. This video is to show people what you get - people that are genuinely interested and not really guys that want to buy something on the basis that it 'might' be OK when you get it.
I'm no 'eletist' either check my other videos of my guitar builds and you will clearly see tat I don't 'only' use Fender parts. Your assertions about me are, it seems based on one video? I have over 130. Thanks for watching.
The higher quality guitars from around the world are quite reasonable and some are very good... but these cheap rubbish parts are far from the quality of the stuff like many of the decent brands.
***** Hah... doing work on Warmoth necks is NOT acceptable but there is no choice - they don't finish the fret ends and won't even if you ask. One reason why I have started to go back to Fender genuine necks. For the money they ask they really should be supplied properly done.
I think you're right on the woods too. I am about to post a review on a guitar made in Korea - its not the cheapest of the genre (list about £549 ($800)) and the woods were perfect. The neck was finished well too. There were a few things that were a compromise, but overall it was not a bad guitar at all... watch for it soon.
***** I have just reviewed a Korean guitar and it is very good for the woodwork and fret work. Its coming online later today... but most of the far eastern stuff does have the odd issue, whether its electrics (which is surprising), pickups or other aspect.
***** Most of the Chinese stuff I've seen is not good, not built correctly, uses many pieces of wood in the body etc. does not build to a standard so there is massive variation for sure and as you say the electronics are much to be desired - and so are most of the pickups. I just reviewed a Korean Michael Kelly 55 guitar that in general (apart from needing a switch update) was very good. The woods and build were excellent and the tone very nice indeed. It costs more than a crappy Chinese knock off, but you do get a surprisingly good guitar. Check it here: th-cam.com/video/68cinI31xJk/w-d-xo.html I guess that says a lot really.
Yes i know, it doesnt work does it, you have to buy twice.
:) Thanks and stay safe.
Also I like to buy UN-finished necks for the reasons you pointed out here. B-|
Your link did not work?
Finally got the link to work B-|
I'm currently building a "Tele" It'll be sold as a Playrz 'Chop Shop Special'. If you like, I can try to send you some pics of her. She has couple of mods on her, plus the color & finish.
On MY chinese neck( which I bought UN-finished for $45 shipped) I pulled the frets & put in some medium/jumbo stainless steel wires. It took forever for the new snips to cut stainless to arrive. LOL!
Trapper Crumet Nope...
Trapper Crumet Yes do send me the pics... I always like to see other gear and what guys have achieved.
Im looking to buy flamed Maple necks because i want to learn how to do fretwork dont care if the fretwork sucks because im gonna redo everything. Is the quality of the Wood any good?
Therein lies the problem... you will know when you get it! Thanks.
after schaller and sperzel, fender started outsourcing their tuners to taiwan, company named Ping. the product is still very good quality
+seasonedtoker Good point. It is likely that Fender have a very large input in to the quality of the product produced... indeed just as Apple do with their Chinese cell phone. Interesting stuff. Thanks for watching.
Tony, most of all the parts used in name brand guitars come from Chinese manufacturers, it's called outsourcing. Samick, a Korean company owns Squire who used to make guitar strings. You probably need to do more research on who makes what, and who owns who.
Of course I already know that. But it's all down to which 'Brand' guitars and what the price is whether budged 'brand' guitars or the real deals. JUST FYI I have worked with the Far East since 1985. Thanks for watching.
The one neck is a vintage Jaguar Jazzmaster type nd the other more modern. Hence, the profile, binding, and the adjust screw in the socket.
Thanks for the info. Scarily it was sold as a Strat neck!
Loving your videos mate!
Thanks... appreciated.
Fender has long outsourced their turners to a company named Ping from Taiwan. Don't worry they are genuine.
Makes you wonder what 'Fender' means today.
no guitar parts are really made here in the states.fender ,gibson etc.all have there parts made over sea,s .and every american guitar except for custom shop guitars are outsourced to china,korea or japan or in fenders case mexico,
Seymour Make some, PRS make some... but I get your point. But not ALL parts are foreign to the USA for manufacture.
alot of pickups are made here and the highend floyds are made here nothing from prs is made here.and some of the best stuff is asian made.people that fall the american made propaganda are the same people that believe in tone woods.
damiansback Well I guess its all subjective really. I know that if you took an audiophile guy (one who will spend $20,000 on an amp and speakers), play some music on my (or your) stereo and then play it on his gear, he will undoubtedly tell you he hears the difference. I don't hear the difference for sure. He will pay that money, and TBH I would never buy a $20,000 stereo. It becomes so subjective when one guy says I hear the 'difference' and another hears no 'difference'. On the parts issue, I have bought some really great parts from the USA and they are made there (Tone Shaper is one such part and the Super Vee tremolo is another both USA). I have also bought lower cost far eastern products some of which are good and some which are not. A good example would be a Wilkinson tremolo, the first one was fine (china) and the second one was complete rubbish (also China). And for me, therein lies the issue - there is no sustained quality, its variable between one purchase and the next. So I buy products where quality is NOT the issue and probably never will be. But the negative is that it costs me more money. I don't buy the USA bits because I hear a difference - that's little to do with it in reality, but the primary reason is how robust that USA made equipment really is. Think Mesa Boogie Amp or a low cost amp like the Orange Jim Root #4. If I was a gambling man, I would bet that the Mesa will outlast the Orange amp - the quality of the amp is woefully different, even though I'm sure that the Mesa has far eastern components in there just as the Orange Jim Root #4 does.
I do think for the most part from my experience since 1968 or thereabouts that in fact you do often get what you pay for. That is not always true, but for the most part I think it is. You have raised a useful point that indeed I have commented on before in my videos (Fender genuine parts made in China for example) about that exact issue. The Fender equipment I bought that was actually made in the far east in fact was little different than the far east parts except for the packaging that proudly showed the country of origin to be China.
But PRS wind their own pickups, as indeed do Fender. And I'm absolutely sure they do loads of other stuff in the USA too as do Gibson and many other makers. The overall point though should be interesting to other readers who might want to comment on either yours or my entries. Thanks for watching.
tonymckenziecom sitar
Nearly :)
Thanks. I'm planning to make a cheapo project of a strat.
By the way, (Off topic) where are you from? The North of England? I think your accent is so cool.
Thx again (y)
+xxxxneoxxxx Smoke on Stench LOL.
I didn't hear a word you said, I was too busy checking out that t-shirt. I'll get you twenty more subs if I can have that shirt.
I don't care... you can't have it :) Thanks for watching.
***** I had to try, brother.
No problem.. I had to laugh :)
Problem is, you don't say anything about the quality, you just say it doesn't fit. I could easily shape that neck to fit.
Problem is Mike, that maybe a 15 year old lad might not have the skills that you do, and when he buys the neck that supposed to fit and it does not... there goes his 6 months of savings right to the trash. Part of the reason for making the video is to show that often the cheapo stuff is not really what it might look like. The quality of the parts speak for themselves in the video. Thanks for watching.
Thanx Tony! very informative, I like your comparisons of parts, you have the magic touch.
Thanks ;-)
My project strat has some cheap parts. My neck is a Mighty Mite and I thought the nut was too high.
If that's the only problem that's a good thing - check the neck on this video and see what you could have ended up with!
I saw. I know that Mighty Mite is licensed by Fender but clearly their stuff can't compete with Warmoth. I also wonder about the cheap Fender hardware from Taiwan.
The8TrackChap Well if its licensed it should be the same, but there again, I guess its price driven somehow. Yes I was quite surprised about the Taiwan made 60's tuners with the Fender badge... no one mentioned they were a Kluson rip off and made in Taiwan when I was buying them. They are OK, but it surprised me that no seller ever mentioned that. Buyer beware like I said.
Gee...who woulda thought cheap parts from a swap meet would be shit?
+MR noname Nice one...
as for cheap versus real fender quality you get what you pay for. dont buy a cheap guitar looking for custom shop quality. also as for headstock design an size , strats had 3 different size headstock designs the 50s late 60s then 70s and then depending on model it changes
I think you're right. Cheap guitars remain cheap. I've played loads of guitars and only really found ONE 'cheap' guitar that I can honestly say was incredible for the money and that one was a second user Ibanez RG550LTD here: th-cam.com/video/sa4YlbRG5PU/w-d-xo.html where I showed a close up of it. So you CAN get (maybe) a great guitar for low money... but remember that one was from Japan... and China is a whole different place. But the spares I showed in this video were absolutely not correct for ANY period Stratocaster... and that in a way was the original reason for the video to show that. Good points and thanks for watching.
tonymckenziecom For me that was my hondo les Paul €100 and my squier fretless jazz bass €360. The difference between cheap and expensive is Honestly just what your used to. Out of all the basses ive played (Fender ,vox Humana ect) iT has the best neck.... At least for me, other people dont like iT and I don't like the feeling of their basses as much as mine. So yeah, the sound of an handmade instrument is much better but the feeling can still feel like crap.
hey Tony
i know this vid is quite old so pardon any my questions that have been asked before, but what was wrong with the body? you never said what was bad with it. was it the neck pocket, routing, the wood, etc? Why did you give up on it?
Also, you CAN get quality import (i.e China) stuff just dont buy it from non dependable sellers. GuitarFetish for example sells a bunch (basically all their inventory) of import stuff and they're pretty good/great quality. If something is wrong with it then you can return it and get a refund.
Most of the unfinished bodies floating around the net either sold as kits or individually all come from the same source basically, but if the seller can offer some sort of return policy/guarantee then the risk is less greater than say, going to ebay and buying from anonymous.
Anyway i enjoy your videos
Cheers
The first issue is that you typically DONT KNOW the 'non dependable suppliers'. Its all a mish-mash in general. MAYBE you can return it, but from my experience they don't want to know. When I went to the Music Messe two years ago there were very many 'mnufcturers' of kit and guitar parts generally from China and most of them were not that great. Clearly there must be some that can do it, but I'm still looking... actually strike that, I no longer waste my money looking anymore.
The body was reasonable, but the neck was rubbish. Remember I bought that neck from a show and it looked fine at the time (no reference of a good neck) and many guys could easily suffer from buying basically the same poor quality and non standard neck only to find out later that the neck is far from what they thought it was. That's the real reason to make the video... it helps to stop proliferation of rubbish gear sold to people who many have already struggled to save up to buy those parts.
Don't worry about the questions I have no problem with any of that and always try and reply to every entry if I can. Unlike some entries I think your comments are somewhere near the position... mix my caveats in there too and that's probably nearer the truth. Thanks for watching.
Tony, one is a Squire Fender headstock and the other is a modern Fender American headstock. Both are Fender but one is Korean Squier model or early 60s style and the other is current modern Fender headstock. Warmoth is a company in the USA that has been contracted by Fender to make replacement parts. They are not Fender.
Thanks Ronald. Don't worry about the headstock too much, worry about the pocket fit. Warmoth make Fender authorised parts made to Fenders specifications. Thanks for watching.
So as long as heel specs of the Chinese one is what they claim it to be. Everything else is fine by me so as long as the truss rod works.
The problem is, its not just the neck. The neck pocket in the body is a second area where I have seen them so you can when fitted move the neck from side to side... it should be a firm fit but there are two chances of poor fit not one. You only really know after you own the bits :( and that's a problem. Thanks for watching.
i bought one those cheap necks. it turned out to have badly crowned frets and an non working trussrod. when i strung it up it warped really nasty so it just had to go. the wood is actually quite nice looking but i don't think its maple
Yes the problem is these days it all looks fine until you try and use it LOL. Thanks for watching.
If you search the Mighty Mite USA website you will find nothing that says their $250 necks are Made in the USA. I them and ask, they are in fact AL now imported from Asia. So when you buy a Mighty Mite from Stew Mac, etc.. Guess what? It's from China or Indonesia.... Fortunately it's not rocket science to build a good neck. The Asian one's are not that bad.
I don't personally buy Mighty Mite. Interesting stuff though and it shows (from my experience of costings in the Far East) just how much they make on those Far East necks. I buy Warmoth myself which I can rely on... or indeed USA made Fender necks which are perfect. As you will see however, some Far East necks are really far from perfect as I found out to the detriment of my £90 ($140). So I remain not particularly a fan. Thanks for the info and for watching.
Thanks for that link to the factories in China... but because they sell them from that video I don't want to post the link... I don't really support Chinese factories because of the copyright infringements that many of them practise... (that one may or may not do that) but I did go and watch it - quite interesting in its own way for sure.
Don't quote me, because I am often wrong (just ask my wife), but the Mighty-Mite necks are Fender Mexico, whilst the AllParts necks are Fender Japan. Stew Mac sells the Fender Mexico necks as well, if I have it right. If you look at the finish, or lack thereof, you can ascertain where any Fender neck came from before looking at the decal. No finish on that Affinity neck? Made in Indonesia. Very glossy Classic Vibe maple neck? Made in China, and miles better than an Affinity.
This is subject to change at the drop of a hat, and is only my guess and opinion based on limited experience.
I really don't have any answer for that and don't know if Fender sell their necks to others in that way. I know others make them as authorised but have never seen documentation supporting Fender selling their necks to others in that way. Interesting point and thanks for the info.
the diference is all in sound, after see this video, my idea about guitars parts is diferent,
regards mate.
I agree the sound is everything, but if you're assembling or building a guitar, then having parts that are within the specs helps no end. I just found it very frustrating to buy parts that simply are wrong. On other builds I have had the exact same problem with non Chinese replacement parts too - so China is not completely to blame for this stuff. Pick guards (even from the USA) can be a nightmare.
Having a nice custom Warmoth Gecko bass5 I know how nice Warmoth products can be. You do pay for that quality. A bit odd that they didn't finish the fret ends though,. It must be a Friday neck. For some people the tinkering and fussing to make cheap parts work can be a challenge and the reward in one.I'm currently building a partscasster or two. I'll see how they come. Good video.
Thanks for watching. Actually it was NOT a Friday neck. Hidden down in the guts of Warmoth they confirm they DO NOT finish fret ends properly. Scary but completely true and Ive argued with them more than once. I just bought a Telecaster neck from them (for an up coming project) and there is no way I'll EVER buy another Warmoth neck. The Bodies are generally great, but I can buy genuine Fender top end necks for the same money - and they are perfect.
I'm a big fan of cheaper, but for sure there is a penalty. I did put together a copy Strat (using a guitarfetish closeout body and neck) but it was a massive investment in time and in the end it would have been cheaper to buy a used MIM or new Squier instead, all things considered. I did learn a lot, so from that respect it was the best guitar I ever messed with. If your goal is error correction, learning to paint or whatever, and have lots of time and some good tools then more power to you. The end result plays fine and there is a pride of ownership, but working with poor dimensions and recontouring to fit the jigsaw part together is not for the faint at heart. Yeah I like this guitar as its unique and 'mine', but I'll still need to sink in a bunch of money to really good pickups to make it really sing....
+Bethany Horner I had a very similar experience with the stuff on this video that cane from China. Eventually (off video) we did get it together and maybe one of these days Ill review it just for the sake of that. BTW Ill be reviewing a premade Les Paul from 'Harley Benton' that cost just £130 shipped or $170 if you are USA. I'll be improving it somewhat :) As a buy that guitar is pretty good for the money... but it could be improved so much... total maybe £350 and it should shine... we shall see. Thanks for watching.
hah! I am applying walnut veneer for the first time, but unlike you my guitar body is perfectly flat, so it should be easy. Just to use two flat plywood plates and 3 4x4 on each side for the clamps.
That should be much easier :) Thanks for watching.
Great vid I've made a few trial and error strats but honestly one of my nicest sounding ones was put together using a Japanese neck very similar to the one in this vid except it wasn't bound , I bought a 1970s strat copy made by Astoria in Japan who I believe we're then ibanez and removed the neck because it was too worn and replaced it with the new one, fitted snug no probs, the pickups were nasty so I replaced the whole set up with new scratch plate and loaded it with custom shop 69s, only prob I had with it was that I had to leave the original bridge on it because the screw holes were way out when I tried fitting a fender bridge but honestly the bridge is great a bit smaller than a fender but it just needed cleaning up and re setting, it looks like a classic 70s strat natural wood effect and I'm made up with its tone and feels great in my hands.
Eu não compraria um instrumento musical asiático se soubesse que se trata de uma falsificação, mas entendo que as pessoas fazem isso porque sonham em ter uma guitarra Fender ou Gibson original e não podem pagar o preço que elas custam. Na minha opinião, eu acho que as próprias fábricas norte americanas estimularam esse tipo de mercado obscuro quando nos 80 e 90 instalaram suas fábricas fora dos EUA, para diminuírem seus custos de produção. Isso aconteceu justamente numa época em que o instrumento musical original norte americano ficou caro demais. Pagar USD 2.000 ou USD 3.000 em uma guitarra dentro dos USA não é tão caro, mas pagar esse preço fora dos USA é quase uma fortuna. Se eu não posso comprar um 'bass guitar' Fender original, eu prefiro comprar um Squire, que é uma excelente marca "B". A Epiphone possui fábrica na China e é uma excelente marca. Não podemos generalizar, pois o problema está nas marcas falsificadas. Abraços e parabéns pelo vídeo.
Hi Lucon, Sim, as marcas têm produtos de cheper 'made in China. Mas acredito que a qualidade é superior becuse essas fabricas estão sob EUA mnagement que controlar a qualidade do produto. O preço do material EUA é alto não há nenhuma dúvida e para a maioria dos caras é maior do que eles podem pagar estes dias. Você levantou alguns grandes pontos e obrigado por seus comentários que sejam úteis e apreciados ... Desculpe a Tradução de Google :) como não é sempre assim tão grande.
***** Hi Tony, thanks for your answer! A big hug from Brazil.
Eu não entendo como americanos se arriscam a comprar instrumentos falsificados, até mesmo Fender que não são muito caros.
Aqui no Brasil a coisa é diferente, levando em consideração que os exportadores chineses enviam seus produtos como "presente" burlando nossas taxas de alfândega , é facil que uma cópia custe apenas 10% (OU MENOS!) do que uma original. Eu mesmo quando vejo umas "Chibsons" lindas por R$ 750 (e frete grátis) tenho vontade de comprar, mesmo que fique apenas como decoração kkkk
É claro que quem está comprando deve saber dos enormes riscos e que dificilmente o instrumento vai enganar quem ja tem familiaridade com o original.
Por outro lado também, eu acho que existe muito mito a respeito da qualidade dos produtos americanos. Quero dizer,se você vai pegar uma Fender ou Gibson dos anos 60 não vai ter tecnologia alguma que não possa ser reproduzida facilmente hoje em dia. Você pega as tarraxas, ou a ponte, que segredo ha naquilo? Os captadores mesmo, estamos falando em equipamentos simples que foram criados a mais de 50 anos. Ou seja,na minha opinião, se houver um falsificador "honesto" (contraditório hein?) que tivesse um mínimo de capricho seria possível mesmo fazer boas falsificações.
Oi, Bem, é um pouco pior do que isso ... essa guitarra é uma guitarra falsificada - ele foi projetado para enganar o comprador sem dinheiro por algo que ele achava que era uma guitarra genuína. Havia muitas guitarras 'cópia' em torno de 70, mas a qualidade foi melhor naqueles dias do que o material chinês frequentemente agora.
Como você diz, não há muito a uma guitarra na realidade e com certeza eles poderiam ser feitas mais barato. No entanto, a China tende a fazer guitarras muitas vezes (mas nem sempre) de menor qualidade. Mas uma guitarra falsificada não é simplesmente o que você deve comprar, por muitas razões.
Agora estou há moralidade levantar-se, mas honestamente eu não iria comprar uma guitarra que é falsificado a partir de qualquer máquina.
Eu sei sobre como vai ser no Brasil, como eu tenho um amigo em um negócio e ele me conta sobre os impostos etc. lá.
Uma cópia "barata", ainda pode ser de má qualidade, mas uma falsificação? Bem, isso vai completamente contra a corrente de onde eu venho. É em primeiro lugar desvaloriza a guitarra genuína que os outros têm comprado, em segundo lugar, na verdade, poderia causar a empresa dos EUA a falir, e, por último engana o comprador de muitas maneiras.
Estas são razões pelas quais eu fiz o vídeo.
Obrigado por assistir BTW.
Ha. I like the "tooners" and "tuners" comparison. What's that i see out there in the water? is that a buoy or a booey?
+cazulu3 :) ... but it could be a girl... :)
If you are interested, check out my alternate channel. Jrlguitar. Play alot of music from the band FREE. I have a Jap Vintage squire (with Semour Duncan quarter punder pickup, Gibson LP Tobacco flame top, Guild accoustic, and a cheap acoustic with a broken neck and great action.
cazulu3 Yes I will check it out... I like FREE and Kossoff was an awesome player no doubt. Thanks for the info. Ha I had 1/4 pounders about 25 years ago LOL amazing those are still around and used by loads of guys and they do have some drive for sure.
Some nice "toons" on my channel, but no "dooling" banjos unfortunately. :)
I guess it all depends. I recently aquired a Samick Malibu (a Fender Fat Strat copy) and it plays and sounds great. I don't know for sure, but I believe it was made in Korea or possibly Indonesia. I got it at a pawn shop used in good condition for $90 (after some bargining) and it sounds almost as good as a genuine Stratocaster that cost over 8x as much.
There is no doubt that SOME of the cheaper guitars are OK and can be improved upon reasonably easily. My own experience with them was not really as good as you had, but I have reviewed a few low cost guitars that were OK. Here's the review of the worst guitar I have ever owned and just how incredibly bad it was from brand new, even though two companies 'claimed' to have checked and set it up correctly. It's guitars like that which tend to devalue the better stuff out there. Here's the video: th-cam.com/video/2gDvEqH3VD8/w-d-xo.html and here's a video of a really good one: th-cam.com/video/QV6t9bbZnSQ/w-d-xo.html and thanks for watching.
1:19 gibson necks are by far the worst, let me explain, the headstock angle is like what 14 degrees? the D and G strings are bent in such ways that it gets caught in the nut (sort of like a wedgie) and it goes out of tune easily, meanwhile a fender neck all strings are straight, they're not angled, simply straight to keep tuning, also the headstock of a gibson if it falls on the ground it cracks along the break angle line, if you dropp a fender strat neck the only thing you will break is a tuning machine or 2, but what completely baffles me is that gibson do not do BOLT ON necks!!!!!! which means you break the headstock for whatever reason you're out of luck pal, you break a fender strat neck it can be easily replaced oh the joys of fender :3 smart man Leo fender was
Well unfortunately at 1:19 that is NOT a Fender neck. The one here in the video was not a good neck... and partly why I made this video. Sure I DID set out to make a very low cost Stratocaster... but in reality watching the whole video will show what transpired... I gave up with the cheap parts (and hence the video title here). Strangely enough I have never had a single issue with the Gibson Les Pauls or SG's that I have had since 1972. Your points are probably valid but they never caused me any aggro. Which is more than I can say for some makers necks. I have seen the necks broken and repaired a few times and of course you are right that does happen - one reason they introduced the volute but that seems to have gone away these days.
I get the idea for sure with bolt on necks and that's a great point too but then I guess a Les Paul would not be a Les Paul with a bolt on neck. It's a bit like asking Fender to glue their necks on (which in fact they have done on some models). Oh yeah, Leo was an engineer and an engineers mind he had which shows in the design over and over again. I love Stratocasters though not for any of the things we mention here, but rather for that Fender Strat sound - for me, the most incredible Fender tones come from those 69 pickups - hard to better really... I can hear Hendrix every time I hear those pickups in a Strat. I think Leo hit on a wonderful design in the Strat and honestly I don't think he ever bettered it and neither did the 'also ran' copies out there.
Lucky for me I look after my guitars and NEVER knock or drop a guitar ever! Nearest I got was a friend did that for me - on a Les Paul but the headstock area was fine... it actually cracked the body area and I had to get that repaired... then I sold it - it was never the same afterwards.
Thanks for watching.
Thank you for the content, i myself am a bass player more then a guitar player but i have played both gibson standard and fender strat american standard and i gotta say while gibson does amazing in the rock and metal department i feel a more rounded and thin sound brings that twangy characteristic in strats you hear so much in blues and country songs, and a strat can be modified to fit single coil stacked humbuckers with a flip of a switch you can split the coils having sound like a strat or a humbucker type having it sound like a gibson, and i love that versatility more then anything else
I have a Gibson les paul and have had little to no tuning issues. if you do have an issue you can always lubricate the nut. also if you break a Gibson neck it can be fixed very easily with glue and a clamp so long as you don't trow out the separated piece. I know a lot of Gibson players who have had necks break and they have no problem fixing it themselves or going to their local luthier. Gibson doesn't do a bolt on neck because set in necks transfer sustain better than most bolt-ons. it also prevents epiphone users from buying a Gibson neck to screw on and trick people into thinking they have real Gibson.
***** oh its not just me, apparently people over at the gibson forums have had problems with their G string... no not the clothing G string xD i know it can be lubricated but the way the headstock is angled makes me think if this was a good idea in the first place
Ernesto Lone Wolf if it were really such a big issue as you think people wouldn't keep buying gibsons. I also know a lot of players with no issues at all and many forums say as much.
that longer part on the heel is to make the neck stronger at the heel (because of the cheap trussrod)
I can believe that for sure... thanks for the info.
im building a s.r.v copy only with a maple neck I got fender texas special pick ups, what do you think of these pick ups tony??
Yes I think they are good. But often its down to what you play... for blues these pickups are good and they have that overwound sort of sound indeed like SRV...
***** the out of phase positions or the parrelel positions sound great with texas pick ups. I dont really use those positions but they sound great on these pick ups
graham white I'll remember that one Graham... and maybe include it on one of my guitar mods or builds.