Sparrow Guitars

[Nightclub Dwight]

Does anyone have any experience or ideas about Sparrow guitars?  There is a new-ish music store in town, and they carry this brand.  When my girlfriend was shoe shopping, I was able to duck in and try a few guitars while she shopped down the street.  I played a 335 copy.  I thought it played pretty nice and was decently constructed.  For about a grand, it seemed to be a great value.

Here is their website:

http://www.sparrowguitars.com/

One thing that concerns me is that the website says that when they receive the guitars from Asia, they are stripped down, set up and painted.  I am just wondering why they strip them down when they receive them.  Why don't they just order them the way they want, ie no paint, or no hardware.  It makes me think they are buying someone elses guitars, and just making money on top with a hand paint job.  For me, I'd just assume get the original guitar without the fancy pinstriping.  Or maybe its just the way its worded on the website and I am making too much of that.

As I mentioned, it played really well and seemed to be high quality.  I just wanted to see if any one has any experience with these guitars.

 

[line6man]

From their Q&A page:

Q: Is Elvis really dead?

A: Yes. In fact, I believe he died in 1962 in Germany, and it was actually his twin brother (who didn't really die at birth) who got fat and died on the can some years later.

Q: How come I've never heard of Sparrow Guitars before, and now I'm hearing about them everywhere?

A: We think it's got something to do with the CIA.

That is just unacceptably poor in my book. Gives me a very cheap and unprofessional vibe.

 

[big bob]

hummmm. a refinished asian copy.. would rather buy a refinished american original...

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

What part of Asia?  If it's China, Taiwan, or Indonesia, it reaks of cheap-ola.  If it's Japan or Korea, it might be decent.  However, I'm on a "buy American whenever possible" kick.

 

[mayfly]

A buddy of mine ran a shop that got these in.  Apparently the Sparrow folks used to do a LOT of work to get the guitars up to scratch.

The end product seemed to be fine, but I would not buy one for worry that the woods would become stable afterwards.

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

+1 to the buy American (or Canadian!) whenever possible....

I tend to agree with what you guys have said.  As I mentioned, the guitar seemed really nice when I was playing it in the shop, but something in the back of my mind was not right.  The silly website puts me off too.  Humor is one thing, but I left the website without really being satisfied about the answers to the questions I had.  Seeing as its a new company, they should be providing more, not less, info for people to become familiar.

In the end I'd rather spend my limited funds here at Warmoth with a known winner then take this gamble.  But you know how it is when you pick up a new guitar you've never heard of and it seems decent.  Its fun to look.

 

[blue313]

Good point, trying out new guitars is always fun.  You do run into some gems in that pile of coal once in awhile, on the cheap no less.