Where to buy a Pinstripe V?

[Cryptic Night]

Can't see the picture lol

[dannyahansen]

I don't think I will spend my money with this company. There is no way you are getting real US components on those guitars for the price they claim. I love Chinese products. Ok not really.

[sik_kreations]

Can't see the picture lol

Fixed, but I know use seen it..

[Paul Wolfe]

I don't think I will spend my money with this company. There is no way you are getting real US components on those guitars for the price they claim. I love Chinese products. Ok not really.

True, Chinese guitars get a bad rap deservedly, but I've owned plenty of US made guitars that suck. The last Gibson I bought needed a lot of work. I'd only buy "Made in USA" if the quality was consistent, but it's not. In fact the best quality guitars I've bought recently were Korean made.

As mentioned, one of these Chinese guitars would make a great project guitar.

[rice_pudding]

I don't think I will spend my money with this company. There is no way you are getting real US components on those guitars for the price they claim. I love Chinese products. Ok not really.

True. You are getting a cheap guitar for a cheap price, the question is how cheap?

Chinese guitars were pretty much always bottom of the pile, but since a lot of manufacturers have moved over there recently they should now be improving. What's interesting to me is the idea that various official manufacturers as well as shady con artists use the same factories. I wonder how long this has been going on? It puts a whole different spin on things for sure.

But as far as National manufacturers go, I honestly see virtually no difference in quality these days. American/ Japanese/ Korean/ Mexican are all the same as far as I'm concerned, only smaller Asian countries and china produce product of notably lower quality.

I know 99% of people would jump down my throat and out my ass. But I'm basing my controversial opinion on experience and logic. What makes a good guitar? A mathematical equation would probably look like my little image below. As much as we might like to pretend American is just better, the truth is anyone can learn to work on a factory line and perform the same task all day long. Many Asian employees have been doing their job just as long as their American counterparts. So the difference really comes down to the quality of materials, time available for construction and target market.

To go of on a tangent briefly; I think it's ridiculous the number of guitars that are produced every year. My epiphone is number 9421 from just one factory in one month. I bought it more than a year after it was made, which suggests there could be a backlog. Given the lively second hand market I think many producers, especially American ones, could be accused of devaluing themselves by manufacturing such large quantities of instruments. Companies are always wanting to grow but I'd rather see the good ones produce less and try harder to differentiate themselves from everyone else pumping out hundreds of "copies".

Anyway just my thoughts on the state of manufacturing

Rob

[Stiltzkin]

it's wood and chances are that the wood isn't from the US anyway

[rice_pudding]

it's wood and chances are that the wood isn't from the US anyway

Even if it was wood from the US I doubt the Chinese selection process is very discerning;

Is this wood? Yes
Is it mahogany? What does mahogany look like...:/
Is the entire batch consistent? Probably, guess we'll find out later
Where does it come from? The woods



Total side question; Why is Northern American wood so prized? Especially alder and maple. I know sod all about the trees themselves, but do they grow at a different density in other regions or something like that?

Rob

[Paul Wolfe]

Total side question; Why is Northern American wood so prized? Especially alder and maple. I know sod all about the trees themselves, but do they grow at a different density in other regions or something like that?

Rob

I think the Americans simply like to claim that there stuff is the best... Made in USA used to mean something, but those days are gone.

[rice_pudding]

I think the Americans simply like to claim that there stuff is the best... Made in USA used to mean something, but those days are gone.

There probably is some truth to that, I mean for all we know the best tone wood in the world might actually be growing in someones back garden in Poland

But I know of at least a couple of brands that go to the expense of shipping North American Alder to their factories in Asia. That's a lot of expense to go to. Mahogany seems less particular, so I assume there is good mahogany growing in the region, or at least people with the knowledge to pick out the good cuts. Yamaha often use Nato as a substitute which sounds very good all things considered so maybe it is used out of local convenience. Maybe it's just a case of going where the wood chucks, chuck wood

Rob