Worse guitar brand?

[Paul Wolfe]

They used Ibanez Destroyers back in the day...

[The_Scratch]

I have never played a Squire or Stadium, so I cannot comment on them.

I don't like GIBSON to play... but love the sound and look. Les Pauls action is all screwed up for me. SG's feel horrible in my hand, I feel like I am holding a anorexic's wrist.... and the Firebird is too clunky, just hate the way it feels.

FENDER is touch and go... some strats feel wrong, some feel right. The telecaster has the most comfortable neck and feel of any guitar I have ever played. It was like magic in my hands but I hate the way they look and the sound is not all there for me.

IBANEZ.... same as Fender, but the JS model is effortless to play. Such a comfortable guitar and looks great.

JAKSON - only played one jackson in my life and it felt good. it was the Chris Broderick signature model. Vry nice in every way.

My vote was for ESP... don't like the way they look, feel or sound.

[Paul Wolfe]

I just picked up a Squire Strat at a pawn shop and the first thing I noticed is how heavy it is. It's from the late 80's/early 90's based on what I can learn from the serial number on the headstock. It plays well, but I haven't played it much through an amp. It doesn't have the standard Strat jack on the front of the body, it has a hole routed for a side mounted jack (LP style), but someone removed the jack from that location and mounted it in the control cover on the back! It's very uncomfortable to play with the cord sticking out there

I'm thinking it may be a Squire neck on a different body? It's a SSH configuration with a Floyd Rose and I don't see those often from Squire.

[camdenlp]

Jackson makes great guitars in their high end models. But their lowest end guitars are among the worst I've ever played. Worse than squier, imho. But their high end stuff is hard to top!

[Paul Wolfe]

Jackson makes great guitars in their high end models. But their lowest end guitars are among the worst I've ever played.

I wholeheartedly agree!

[skezza]

You know, if I'm honest, none of the brands you have listed are particularly bad bad. There are some really awful brands nowadays. That said, some of them started out making decent honest guitars and now simply make cheap crap.

I've noticed lately a popular one around the UK is a brand called Gould. You can pick up a Gould Les Paul copy for about £99, and yes, it sounds, and plays, like utter bat shit.
Firstly, they're made with Plywood bodies, which instantly destroys the possibility of achieving any kind of resonance. Without resonance, it's almost impossible to make a guitar sound good. Okay, you can stick it through a POD and add shit loads of distortion and make it sound like death metal rhythm, but you'll never get that wonderful sustain of Gary Moore or Yngwie etc.
Secondly, they're usually very low powered poor quality pickups. When I heard a guy playing one in a shop, he had to turn the gain up very high to get any kind of crunch and that ultimately results in a very thin tone. Lots of hiss, lots of noise, tinny, very little bass and simply a very poor sound.
Thirdly, longevity. I know this sounds frivolous, but if you buy a good guitar now, you have a great chance of it lasting for a long time. There is no reason why a good Jap strat won't last 20 - 30 years usually without major repairs and most knowledgeable guitarists know that good guitars almost NEVER depreciate in value. They may sway up and down and what not, but there is never a time in which a good guitar is worthless. These guitars are like recyclable. You buy them, and 5 minutes after leaving the warehouse, they are worthless because nobody will buy them second hand. Cheap guitars made 30 years ago, like Antoria or Fenix, are actually worth something now, because they were often made with decent components and proper wood. These are made with poor quality components and synthetic woods like Plywood, MDF etc so the likelihood of any kind of resale value in years to come in zero to nil.

[rice_pudding]

You know, if I'm honest, none of the brands you have listed are particularly bad bad. There are some really awful brands nowadays. That said, some of them started out making decent honest guitars and now simply make cheap crap.

[...]

Thirdly, longevity. I know this sounds frivolous, but if you buy a good guitar now, you have a great chance of it lasting for a long time. There is no reason why a good Jap strat won't last 20 - 30 years usually without major repairs

Joe,

Strongly agree with both those points, I don't know anything about Stadium, but aside from Gibson being a little inconsistent, and failing to recapture past glories they all do a good job.

On the point of longevity, I think we are quite lucky these days, in that any guitar costing more than £200 should last 20+ years if looked after. I have heard people in the past say that epiphone's are poor build quality and they expect them to break after a couple of years. That always seemed like pointless justification of their own more expensive purchases to me. Then again, maybe those people like to go hendrix on stage

Maybe people will disagree, but I own three Korean guitars and have previously owned a squire, I see no reason why any of these instruments will not stand the test of time. I simply can't see what would go wrong?

Regarding old instruments, I came across a 70s Hagstrom in a pawn shop least week for £1100. I wanted that thing soooo bad The modern Hagstrom's are still sexy imo, but again it is a brand that has gone the route of cheaper manufacturing.

Rob

[skezza]

You know, if I'm honest, none of the brands you have listed are particularly bad bad. There are some really awful brands nowadays. That said, some of them started out making decent honest guitars and now simply make cheap crap.

[...]

Thirdly, longevity. I know this sounds frivolous, but if you buy a good guitar now, you have a great chance of it lasting for a long time. There is no reason why a good Jap strat won't last 20 - 30 years usually without major repairs

Joe,

Strongly agree with both those points, I don't know anything about Stadium, but aside from Gibson being a little inconsistent, and failing to recapture past glories they all do a good job.

On the point of longevity, I think we are quite lucky these days, in that any guitar costing more than £200 should last 20+ years if looked after. I have heard people in the past say that epiphone's are poor build quality and they expect them to break after a couple of years. That always seemed like pointless justification of their own more expensive purchases to me. Then again, maybe those people like to go hendrix on stage

Maybe people will disagree, but I own three Korean guitars and have previously owned a squire, I see no reason why any of these instruments will not stand the test of time. I simply can't see what would go wrong?

Regarding old instruments, I came across a 70s Hagstrom in a pawn shop least week for £1100. I wanted that thing soooo bad The modern Hagstrom's are still sexy imo, but again it is a brand that has gone the route of cheaper manufacturing.

Rob

Interesting points Rob. I'm surprised at anyone who would pick Gibson in the list of 'worst' manufacturers. Even when they went through bad phases, like the famous neck lacquer peelers in the late 80s to early 90s, you wouldn't genuinely consider them bad guitars. Even if you consider them duds, they'll be made with the best quality woods as expected from a manufacturer like Gibson and good hardware.

Companies like Gould and Shine (Shite as we refer to them) are literally putting crap out into the musician populous. They aren't far off disposable guitars. I reckon you are right with your comment about a guitar over £200 probably lasting 20 years, but I genuinely believe you need to do your research to make sure they are well made. I've had some excellent Korean guitars, but I've also had some very poor Korean guitars. Japanese guitars are shit hot, and American don't need any introduction.

[Stiltzkin]

guitars are what you make'em out to be

[Paul Wolfe]

guitars are what you make'em out to be

I agree. I've often said that as long as the neck is straight and it stays in tune, it's good enough to get going with. I refer back to the frankenstrat which Ed pieced together from inexpensive parts and then toured the world with.

The Squire I just bought is a nice little guitar. I'm going to give it a fret job since it's old and buzzes in a couple places, but other than that it's pretty good and it was $100 at a pawn shop. I may never buy a brand new 'quality' guitar again if I can pick 'em up cheap and fix the little issues and really make the guitar 'mine'. I may even intentionally buy a 'shite' model just to see what it'd take to make it great.

[rice_pudding]

I reckon you are right with your comment about a guitar over £200 probably lasting 20 years, but I genuinely believe you need to do your research to make sure they are well made. I've had some excellent Korean guitars, but I've also had some very poor Korean guitars.

Well I pity the fool who doesn't research

It's in my nature not to jump until I know where I'll land, but I guess not everyone is as cautious investing their cash. It's a god point though. It's hardly noticed, but Korean/Asian manufacturers can change the exact spec of the instruments several times a year, particularly with wood. Trying to figure out the manufacturing date of what you're buying can be a pain but sometimes truly worthwhile.

I've seen Epiphone make an LP body/top with Mahogany/Maple, Mahogany/Mahogany, Mahogany/Alder and Alder/Maple...??? And of course the retailers don't/can't keep this up to date It's also worth keeping in mind if a company has just moved production to a new factory.

Personally I think the playing field between America/Japan/Korea is level these days, target market aside, but that's just me!

Still, trust ears when in doubt!

Rob

[Stiltzkin]

whats the ibanez model dave murray and adrian smith used when they played hammersmith 82?also the hamer looks just like it?i love the width of the neck on those!!!!!

Come again? Ibanezes in Iron Maiden? :O

[Paul Wolfe]

whats the ibanez model dave murray and adrian smith used when they played hammersmith 82?also the hamer looks just like it?i love the width of the neck on those!!!!!

Come again? Ibanezes in Iron Maiden? :O

Yup.



The Ibanez Destroyer, after the Gibson lawsuit they looked a bit different than the Gibson Explorer... the Def Leppard guys played these in the early days as well.

[Stiltzkin]

hmm, I knew they played Gibsons and Deans for a while in the 80's, but never knew about Ibanez.

[Tito]

DAMN THATS THE ONE PAUL!!!!!IVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND IT FOR THE LONGEST AND HAD NO CLUE IT WAS THE DESTROYER!!THANKS ALOT DUDE!!! @stiltzkin