Rondo - B stock

[swarfrat]

Near I can tell - this Rondo is B stock because someone put a tremolo on a Tele.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I like.

 

[swarfrat]

The joke or the trem on a tele?

If its the latter it can be yours for $89.95.  I keep an eye out there regularly looking for 1) the magical combination of under $200 5 string P-bass with narrow bridge spacing in some color combination that appeals to me, and 2) 1/2 size left handed instruments, hoping someone will throw a tele or lefty mini LP up for cheap enough to get for my boy.

If it's the former... I was joking (sorta) but I do find the tremolo on a Tele bridge plate interesting. I'd be curious to see if they interfere.

 

[KaiserSoze]

Ahh Rondo.  An inexpensive way to learn repair, fret dressing, nut cutting, soldering and general setups.  I think I still have one somewhere that I was able to make into a pretty decent playing instrument.  I remember stopping before replacing pickups because I suddenly thought "Wait, why the F would I put $150 pickups in a $90 guitar?" 

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Trem on a Tele makes perfect sense to me.

It's like the solid body voicing of a Gretch.

 

[DangerousR6]

Trem on a Tele makes perfect sense to me.

It's like the solid body voicing of a Gretch.

:headbang:

 

[dmraco]

Ahh Rondo.  An inexpensive way to learn repair, fret dressing, nut cutting, soldering and general setups.  I think I still have one somewhere that I was able to make into a pretty decent playing instrument.  I remember stopping before replacing pickups because I suddenly thought "Wait, why the F would I put $150 pickups in a $90 guitar?"

I beg to differ.  My custom order agile with SS frets has a better set up and action than a Gibson that cost 2k

 

[Cagey]

I beg to differ.  My custom order agile with SS frets has a better set up and action than a Gibson that cost 2k

Same here. I'd take an Agile over a Gibson any day. Although, to be fair, if someone was giving them away I'd take the Gibson for the high resale value and throw it on eBay right away. But, for myself? The Agiles are the way to go.

 

[Ace Flibble]

You people must have been finding some unusually beaten-up Gibsons and some mythically well-made Agiles. Even the very worst Gibson I've ever handled hasn't left me as unimpressed as the better Agiles that have passed my hands, and at least in the case of the dodgy Gibsons, the 'problems' I've seen have been more down to a clash of taste than actual technical faults.

And I mean, I say that as someone who sold all his custom shop Gibsons because he realised he wasn't enjoying playing them as much as he was enjoying playing his old basic Epiphone.


As for the guitar above, that's the first time I've thought that kind of vibrato has looked good. I'd want a closer look, but if the pickup mounting plate and the bridge are actually exactly the same width and the finish on the two is close enough, I'd be very tempted to copy that idea onto a guitar myself. And I hate vibratos.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

For every 10 $3k Gibby LP's I pull from the rack at GuiTarget, maybe one or two are actually professionally setup like a $3k guitar should be, and ready to gig with.  More often than not, I find up-bow, old dead strings, some of them rusty, and Taco Bell dingey sweat all over what would otherwise be a beautiful finish.

Compare that experience to the average $3k PRS, and 8 or 9 out of 10 of those PRS's play like a $3k guitar, right off of the GuiTarget rack.

 

[Ace Flibble]

Then you should probably try to find some stores which actually maintain the instruments in stock. Bowing, old, rusted strings, and staining is the fault of whoever has been handling the guitar since it left the manufacturer. And again, set up is a matter of taste. What one person calls 'professionally set up', another person might consider to be damn near unplayable.

I mean, it's not like Gibson employs Sweaty Ken to thrash each newly-completed guitar in a steam room for four months before they ship it off to the stores. If a guitar's scummy and rusted, that means the shop has let it be 'tested' by every 15-year-old who's come along in the last six months, and not bothered to maintain it. You'll probably find this happens to more Gibsons than other guitars because if you give your average grubby teenager free rein in a guitar store, chances are they're going to pick up the £4,500 custom shop Gibson they would otherwise never get a chance to play, before they look at a Burny.

I will grant you that I'm here in England, and I know Epiphone guitars that are sold here go through three stages of QC: a basic check at the factory; a thorough check as they are shipped through Finland; and a quick acclimatisation when they reach English shores. I do not believe Gibson guitars go through the exact same routine, since they're coming in from the opposite direction and simply go through more testing before they leave the US, but given they're the same company, it wouldn't entirely surprise me if maybe the dealers in Europe insist on stricter QC for both, while perhaps US dealers might give less of a damn.

Plus, I can't say I ever go to any cheapskate stores which won't keep fresh strings on a guitar. (Which actually really bugs me; I much prefer worn-in strings.) Any store that is handling PRSs, Gibson, American Fenders, or whatever else of that level, should be keeping their stock clean and in some form of decently playable state. (Personal set up tastes notwithstanding.) Half the stores 'round here don't let you touch a guitar unless they think there's a reasonable chance you'll buy it, i.e. kids don't get to handle the Gibsons.

Like I said, y'all have been spectacularly unlucky and/or need to go to better shops.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I've played many a $400 Epi that played far better than a $3k Gibby, so the checks and balances of QC prior to going out the door could be quite significant.

I know that there is a fair amount of Epiphone's product line that is built by Samick, and Samick has been a very consistent builder with good quality on much of their line for many years, which is likely what has earned them these O.E.M. contracts.

I agree about going to stores that maintain their gear, which is why I tend to favor the mom & pop shops over Guitar Center, but I do tend to go to Guitar Center when they have a big sale on accessories.  In fact, I've only ever purchased 1 guitar from them, which I still own.  My Ibanez AEW CE-100 Acoustic with the Fishman O.E.M. "Equis" preamp.  A friend of mine was an employee, I narrowed down my pic from about 15 that I tried down to about 5, requested that he have them re-strung as they were old anyway, then I chose the one I ended up with.  He purchased it with his employee discount and I paid him back.  Other than that, I've only purchased accessories, software, or synth controllers from them. 

The guitar store in the area that I favor is smaller, and only deals in guitars/basses and their respective accessories.  No P.A., no drums, no synth, just gutiar stuff, and I've not touched one guitar in their store, even Squiers and Epi's that weren't set up like pro gear. 

 

[Timmsie95]

My dad's Epiphone Les Paul Special II plays just as well as my $2500 Gibson Les Paul Standard. It's all about the set up. Parts do matter to a certain extent, but the set up makes all the difference.

 

[swarfrat]

Do mom & pop stores actually change strings on guitars on the wall? Has any retailer ever in the history of guitars? I suspect that they simply receive vastly lower traffic than GC does.  I think most places, by the time an instrument would need new strings would already be eyeing it as a non-mover and take action.

 

[Timmsie95]

Do mom & pop stores actually change strings on guitars on the wall? Has any retailer ever in the history of guitars? I suspect that they simply receive vastly lower traffic than GC does.  I think most places, by the time an instrument would need new strings would already be eyeing it as a non-mover and take action.

I used to work at a mom & pop guitar shop, and every single guitar that we got in, we did a full fret dress, polish, setup and restring. We wiped every guitar down two to four times a day, and tuned every guitar on the wall at least twice a day.
It's an image thing too. It makes the customers happy, and makes us look good.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Do mom & pop stores actually change strings on guitars on the wall? Has any retailer ever in the history of guitars? I suspect that they simply receive vastly lower traffic than GC does.  I think most places, by the time an instrument would need new strings would already be eyeing it as a non-mover and take action.

I used to work at a mom & pop guitar shop, and every single guitar that we got in, we did a full fret dress, polish, setup and restring. We wiped every guitar down two to four times a day, and tuned every guitar on the wall at least twice a day.
It's an image thing too. It makes the customers happy, and makes us look good.

Smaller ones can do this, not so much with the larger ones, which is why I favor the smaller ones.  I come across this reasonably frequently with smaller shops.

 

[Timmsie95]

Yeah, the one i worked at was medium sized. We got in quite a few guitars at a time sometimes, having three guys doing setups at a time, and probably close to 200 guitars on the wall at any given time.

 

[DangerousR6]

For every 10 $3k Gibby LP's I pull from the rack at GuiTarget, maybe one or two are actually professionally setup like a $3k guitar should be, and ready to gig with.  More often than not, I find up-bow, old dead strings, some of them rusty, and Taco Bell dingey sweat all over what would otherwise be a beautiful finish.

Compare that experience to the average $3k PRS, and 8 or 9 out of 10 of those PRS's play like a $3k guitar, right off of the GuiTarget rack.

Agreed, I've played some lower end $700 Gibby's that play better than the $3k ones, even some of the lower end PRS play just as good as high end Gibby's. It all comes down to the people putting it together...

I have some Jap made Jacksons that play and sound just as good as $3k Jackson's, just because it's expensive doesn't make it better...