Under/Overrated Guitars

[PonyOne]

I think that probably all of us have had this happen...

A friend, bandmate, acquaintance, guitar store guy, or people on the net rave and rave and rave about this really killer guitar. The best guitar ever. Sounds great, looks great, does everything, has everything you need, and is just overall the coolest guitar you've caught wind of.

You go down to the nearest guitar center, mars, or mom and pop guitar shop, and find one or two on the shelves, go and plug it into a good amp and start playing.

Then you go home, take a shower, and plug into your personal fave just to remind your self that not all guitars suck that horridly.

Or the exact opposite; everyone talks about that piece of crap Korean knockoff that isn't even good for a mantle piece, but what the hell, you try it, and then run to the ATM to buy it before it's too late.

For the first scenario, it'd be anything PRS that I've tried. Everyone talks about the Dragon like it's some holy grail; I played one that was actaully HAND MADE back in the day, in 100% mint condition, and felt like calling up Paul himself and laughing at him. What a crappy guitar! I'd rather buy a Japanese Fender or a low-end Gibson. The new ones I like even less since they're little more than a mid-level Gibson at the best.

For the second, it'd be a $95 80's Hondo Explorer knockoff. Dented in a few places, stock pickups, etc etc, nothing special. But this is a HONDO, everyone knows that this is an absolute piece of crap, Hondos are the lowest of the low, right? Wrong. It sounded like it a real, $1500 Explorer, not some Korean copy (plus it had a really sweet tremolo). I'm buying it next week.

So what are your diamonds in the rough/feces among the roses?

[Raskolnikov]

I have yet to find a bass that plays better than my $250 used 1981 Korean made Fender Jazz Bass. The EMG's I put in it really helped it out too. Talk about TONE though.

Anyway, I just bought a new bass today. A $400 (new) Dean Rhapsody fretless bass. I'm just loving it. It's made in Korea too. Just goes to show.

[stratman42]

My friend has a fernandes revolver. Hell, are they good. Hell, are they popular. Yes and no respectively

[Lordathestrings]

I still play the Yamaha SBG 1000 that I bought new in '86. I added a DiMarzio Super Distortion at the bridge, and a DiMarzio Super Clean HumBucker (SCHB) at the neck. The stock volume controls had push-push switches for series/parallel selection; I modified the tone controls to have the same switches in them, for single-coil at the bridge, and phase-inversion at the neck. I re-machined the bridge supports to make them more ridgid. Other than that, its 100% original! :rolleyes:

I sold my jap-Strat '62 re-issue. It was a sweet axe, but I needed rent money, and my stubby little fingers had trouble with the long scale-length.

I eventually replaced it with a (mid-80s?) Washburn A-20. This thing looks like a mangled Firebird tied to a broken hockey stick, but it has the sweetest balance of warmth and clarity I've ever heard. We're talkin' heart-breakin' Blues, folks.

I've been looking for something with a relatively short scale-length and a wide fret board. Yesterday, I found a nameless V-type through-neck in a pawn shop for $250 CDN. The cover for the truss-rod adjuster is missing, along with the rear cover for the controls, but otherwise, its in really good condition, and it plays well. And it has TONE! :D

My recommendation? Choose your guitars with your eyes closed! The first consideration is the feel of it. If it fits you comfortably, you can play it for hours on end. Next, play it unplugged. If it sounds good on its own, it only gets better through an amp, and you will want to play it for hours on end. If it doesn't sound good on its own, an amp only makes it louder. And reputation doesn't have any effect on the sound at all!

[Edited by Lordathestrings on 06-17-2001 at 07:20 PM]