Guitar Snobs

[JonatanOTG]

Here's what Martin's doing on its lower-end guitars:

My Martin acoustic (a pretty cheap one) has a neck just like that. I was a bit worried at first but I prefer that guitar over most acoustics I've played actually. The neck is very stable and nice.

Sorry for off topic!  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[Johnny]

Why is the automatic assumption that a laminate fretboard (or neck) would not be every bit as good or even better than a solid one?  That's like saying a bolt on neck is not as good as a set neck  :toothy10:

Seriously, they may be awful for all I know, but I can't see jumping to that conclusion.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

If glue is a tone sucker, why are glued on fretboards better than one piece?  How do those famously tone changing maple tops get stuck to Les Pauls?

 

[NQbass7]

How do those famously tone changing maple tops get stuck to Les Pauls?

Mojo.

 

[mayfly]

How do those famously tone changing maple tops get stuck to Les Pauls?

Mojo.

I thought that it was because Gibson was sucking so bad.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

While we're on the subject, I was checking out one those Blues Hawk/Night Hawk things, I love those.  This particular one was Gold Top Gold, front and back, with cream binding.  I know it was mahogany because it had little to no grainfill; I could see the grain.  Some models intentionally have no grain fill for visual effect.  This was not one of those.

 

[Dan025]

I want to make a cabronita, but I want to use fender parts.

I am not sure I get why you hang out here then.  Warmoth does make Fender licensed stuff, and from everything I have messed with, Warmoth does a much nicer job on a per guitar basis.  If I was to make a Cabronita, I would use materials and options that Fender doesn't offer.  Otherwise I'd just buy a Cabronita.  Fender, and other large manufacturers, can do things that the smaller shops cannot, like paisley guitars, or hello kitty pick guards.  But beyond that, and a couple of the way cool signature model paint jobs, I'm looking at you red James Burton tele, The smaller guys produce stuff that far out classes the bigger guys for the money.  Take that for what you will, just my two cents.
Patrick

I like W bodies and necks, but I really like vintage fender hardware. I dislike G&L for their lack of original designs, And I don't care what anyone says, you can't get better than a vintage tele. If these copy brands make such superior instruments, they should come up with their own designs.

lol, fender got bought out long ago so the creators george fullerton and leo fender started G&L. they are using their own designs. and warmoth might not be able to speak on the issue but there is a good chance some custom shop fender instruments use warmoth parts. :icon_tongue:

there is a lot of junk hardware out there using zinc or potmetal cast parts but in it's day fender hardware was the epitome of low cost design, though it is surely quality they took a very economical approach. Fender were apparently masters of economical and still practical and sturdy design. it would be hard to match their cost with solid hardware that didn't look suspiciously like fender hardware. there just isn't too many logical ways to make stamped bridges with adjustable intonation. saying other companies can't use fender designs are almost like saying car companies other than ford can't use assembly lines. or that ford and chrystler can't use the same bolt circle for their wheels, or that apple can't make phones that look like the iPhone because samsung made square phones with rounded corners, touchscreens, and centered home buttons before the iPhone existed. (this is true, apple made the first 3 iPhones using samsung screens and/or processors and they happen to look similar to older lesser known samsung phones yet apple claims to own the iPhone identity and sues samsung because idiots could mistake galaxy s/s2 series phones for iphones rejecting evidence from being submitted in court that samsung used that design first!!! samsung never told apple they were copycats but apple tell the world samsung is... kinda jerks when you look at it.)

 

[alterbridgefan]

I hate brands that make copies of fenders. HATE.

As mentioned above, G&L and Musicman were primarily Leo's design work.

. . . so Leo was copying himself! That bastard!  :evil4: To be fair, though, he was trying to make improvements on his initial designs.

If that was his plan, why not stay with fender?

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Who knows.  Some guys have every intention of retiring, but can't.

 

[m4rk0]

I really sound crap on a regular guitar.. so I need a custom guitar for me to sound good... at least that is what I keep on telling myself.... :tard: :sad1:

 

[alterbridgefan]

My point is that the guitar should not be cosmetically the same. An Ibanez art does not a les paul make. I have no problem with Music Man, There is nothing I have against making a similar sound. But all the fender copies, yamaha pacifica, etc.... I strongly dislike.

 

[bagman67]

Well, you can be as creative as you want when it comes to propagating new designs, whether for functional or aesthetic reasons - but if there's no market, you're pissing in the wind.  There are as many copies of fender-style guitars as there are because the market expects and wants a large amount of similarity to such designs.  It would be economically irrational for any large-scale manufacturer (or even the one-off bespoke builders) to ignore that reality.

 

[bagman67]

I agree.  Hence ESP's more (and often, less) subtle variations on the Gibson and Fender designs - and Schecter's, and EB/MM's, and so on.  But there is a much bigger market for Strat-like guitars than for, say, Steinberger variants.  So that's where the greater proportion of the money for design and tooling and marketing goes.  Not saying whether it's good or bad, it's just how markets work. 


On principle, I wish there were more consumers willing to take risks with other designs and in their playing, but the fact of the matter is that our modern industrial society with fairly high concentration of media control has resulted in comparative homogeneity of tastes - also a function of marketing and markets.  *sigh*

 

[Cagey]

Who knows.  Some guys have every intention of retiring, but can't.

According to the Wikipedia:

In the 1950s, Leo Fender contracted a strep infection that impaired his health to the point where he decided to wind up his business affairs, selling the Fender company to CBS in 1965. As part of this deal, Leo Fender signed a non-compete clause and remained a consultant with Fender for a while. Shortly after selling the company, he changed doctors and was cured of his illness.[citation needed] In 1971 he returned to business and formed the Tri-Sonic company. In 1974, as the expiry date of the clause approached, the company's name changed to Music Man. In 1975, Leo Fender became its president.[3]

The StingRay bass was an innovative early instrument. Though the body design borrowed heavily from the Precision Bass, the StingRay is largely considered the first production bass with active electronics. The StingRay's two-band active equalizer, high output humbucking pickup, and smooth satin finished neck became a favorite of many influential bassists, including Louis Johnson, John Deacon, and Flea. Later, a three-band active equalizer was introduced on the StingRay.[citation needed] Music Man was active making amplifiers as well, but the HD-130 Reverb, designed to compete with the Twin Reverb, came at a time when the clean sounds of the Twin were going out of fashion.[3]

In 1979, Leo Fender and old friends George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt started a new company called G&L (George & Leo)[4] Musical Products. G&L guitar designs tended to lean heavily upon the looks of Fender's original guitars such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster, but incorporated innovations such as enhanced tremolo systems and electronics.

In 1979, Fender's wife Esther died of cancer. He remarried in 1980; Phyllis Fender is an Honorary Chairman of G&L. Despite suffering several minor strokes, Fender continued to produce guitars and basses. On March 21, 1991, he died, having long suffered from Parkinson's disease. He was buried at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, California. His accomplishments for "contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field" were acknowledged with a Technical Grammy Award in 2009.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Many guitar companies create their own designs, while many others do not.
Personally, I just happen to like the classic/vintage styling better. My favorite electric guitars as far as styling goes, are the Strat, Tele, and Les Paul. I welcome improvements (if they are truly improvements and not just gimmicks), but like the traditional styling of those guitars.

Warmoth knows that there are many players who have the same type of styling tastes as myself, which is why all of their offerings are based upon traditional guitars.

Of course it's all a matter of preference, and there's something out there for everyone.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

My point is that the guitar should not be cosmetically the same. An Ibanez art does not a les paul make. I have no problem with Music Man, There is nothing I have against making a similar sound. But all the fender copies, yamaha pacifica, etc.... I strongly dislike.

I see you have a bass in your signature.  Fender, EBMM, and G&Ls could not be mistaken for each other, though G&L has some Fender-ish offerings.  Fender, the basic P and J styles.  EBMM, the Stingray.  G&L, their L and M series basses are uniquely G&L.  Compound that with each has it's own unique distinct bridge type, the latter moreso than Fender, and pickups and wiring unique to each mfg.  There is a definite P, J, and MM sound too.  Each company's designs are very different.

http://www.glguitars.com/instruments/USA/basses/index.asp

http://www.music-man.com/instruments/basses/stingray.html

 

[alterbridgefan]

As for G&L, when fender sold out to cbs, he sold all his original designs. He, in that  moment, lost all rights to his original designs.

 

[swarfrat]

Some guys have every intention of retiring but can't. Others go crazy if they stop trying to do what they love. Not that I've managed to accomplish anything earth shattering with it yet, but i go stark raving mad if I dont have a sketchbook and some sort of design in the works. We went on vacation a few weeks ago. I tried sitting around doing nothing, sleeping in late. It was fun for about two hours. 

Every time i think I'm burned out in my career, I think back to when I've been out of work, and find I end up doing similar stuff even when noone is paying me. Its really frustrating because you finally get to work on your own ideas with noone overriding you, but you dont have funds to make ideas happen.  Worst of all you are forced to wear the bean counter hat yourself, and that will just make an engineer/tinkerers head explode due to internal conflict.

I've literally been at Disney World, frustrated because I wont be back at the hotel for hours and oooh ooh oohh if we drive the cathode with a p-channel source follower....

 

[Johnny]

My point is that the guitar should not be cosmetically the same. An Ibanez art does not a les paul make. I have no problem with Music Man, There is nothing I have against making a similar sound. But all the fender copies, yamaha pacifica, etc.... I strongly dislike.

I hear what you're saying; however, I find that I can't just group all the "copies" into one bucket.  Suhr makes some very nice Strats (Warmoth bodies?).  Collings makes a beatiful 335.  Tom Anderson's Bulldog is also a gorgeous LP copy.  I love to have any of them.

 

[mayfly]

Yes - and Hahn makes a great telecaster.

BTW - Happy Telecaster Day!  ccasion14: