Leaderboard

...and then there is: "Tone comes through fingers". Even a so called crapy guitar can sound good or uniquely good to someone's ears when played the right way. - Masonite made Danelectro, already mentioned - Blockboard with an old fireplace piece of oak made Brian May Red Special guitar played through a modded old transistor radio circuitry, the Deacy amp. Created the tone in Bohemian Rhapsody!

I don't care what the HC/TGP people claim - Agile guitars are pieces of crap.

You can upgrade electronics, refret and plek, change a bridge/tailpiece, add a bone nut, but you cannot upgrade the wood. You cannot recarve a neck to a thicker dimension. Be the corksniffer. And then pick up a Danelectro and marvel at the unique tone of the masonite.

Original Teles and Strats were meant to be cheap guitars that anyone could afford, slapped together on an assembly line. They are now 'Holy Grails'. I always thought it a bit odd that so many boutique builders chase that.

There are accidents that occur which results in an outstanding instrument made from inferior parts and woods as well as high quality parts, woods and luthiery that yield a dog. In the grand scheme of things quality ingredients and crafsmanship are more likely to yield a quality instrument. ArnieZ

I forgot all about this thread...this beauty showed up at my house last month: 2004 Robin Avalon Classic

A silly debate raged on another forum last week and continues still. The topic? That a lower-cost guitar can be made to be as good as any high priced custom or fancy-shmanzy high end production model. This debate is nothing new and it's been touched on here at the HFC. What makes this somewhat noteworthy is my shift in perspective. I have vacillated back and forth between pro and con on this issue for years but I finally took the position of: higher end guitars , in most cases, are superior and that it's not likely that you can mod a low cost import to be as good as or better than an comparably equipped high end. And if you can, it's likely you're spending as much as you might have initially spent on a new or used higher end ax. Lots of reasons behind this perspective and I'll state for the record that exceptions do exist. But I approached this debate from the stand point that the other side did, which was dealing in generalities. My general premise was: if you have superior materials and superior craftsmanship, you're more than likely gonna have a superior instrument. Discuss.

My buddy constantly berates me for buying Hamers. He thinks Gibson/Fender is always better. Better resale, sure. Better anything else? Not usually.

What is cork sniffing when Hamer buyers can't wait to swap the standard SD 59s out?

Are you guys really out of the normal Schaller tuners that go on Standards?

Don't worry about it unless the first "r" changes to a "c".

My favorites are the guys who say "this $500 import Brand X guitar is just as good as their American-made Custom Private Elite Shop guitar that costs 10x more - all I had do was change the tuners, the bridge, the pots, the pickups, the nut, level and finish the frets, put in a new jack and get new knobs". Well, yeah, other than that.