kodiakblair Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 18 minutes ago, Cato said: I have noticed especially on US guitar forums that there seems to be an expectation from a suprising number of people buying brand new guitars that they'll want to modify it in someway There's a whole industry supporting it. 15 minutes ago, neepheid said: I think that's a foolhardy waste of time I've done all sorts of mods and wholeheartedly agree 🙂 As @Cato said, it's not uncommon to see posts on US sites where folks have a shopping list of aftermarket parts before they buy the actual bass. There's little thought given, just a bunch of buzzword brand names they hope will gain them 'likes'. As an example of how little thought is given there's light weight tuning pegs, Hipshot Ultralites are popular. Now we've all heard of or experienced 'dead spots'. One cause is the mass of the peghead yet nobody seems to give a monkey's, it's shave 200g off and damn the results. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 19 minutes ago, Burns-bass said: Thankfully I don’t watch YouTube Sensible chap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binky_bass Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 It has arrived... I shall report back in a few hours once home from work... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 In other cheap new guitar news, late last year I paid £110 for this from Gear4Music: OK - £159 list, reduced to £139 in a sale & a subsequent £30 refunded because it arrived a bit bashed up. Mild cosmetic damage that I didn't mind because I'm modding it. Been GASing for a hardtail HSS or HSH Strat-ish thing for ages but the new options seem to be limited to a Charvel San Dimas Strat or a couple of Ibanez Prestige things, all with prices getting on for 4 figures. Thought about building something but counterintuitively, a hardtail Strat body actually costs significantly more than one routed for a trem. And typically - more than the whole thing pictured above! This thing's a mess of contradictions & obvious cost-cutting - the humbuckers are garbage (doesn't matter because I want splittable ones & they're not), the bridge top-loads meaning the E & A won't intonate perfectly because the string itself fouls saddle travel (again, doesn't matter because it'll get drilled for through-body stringing & a new bridge) and the finish on the neck's weird. It's sold as roasted maple but I'm pretty sure it's dyed, the 'satin' finish on the back of the neck is poly that's been roughed with coarse abrasives to the extent it feels like unfinished wood - and I'm pretty certain the fretboard IS unfinished wood! On the other hand - it has a real flamed maple top, fully bound body, neck & headstock - and a quite excellent fret job, very smooth & level, nicely profiled with no sharp ends, and despite a ridiculously high-cut nut it's quite lovely to play. It's currently in bits having its issues dealt with, and about £70 of slightly better cheapo parts waiting to be nailed on. Will start a thread in the builds folder when there's more to report. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binky_bass Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 Given it a good, thorough inspection... ● No dings or marks anywhere ● Overall look and feel exceeds price paid ● GuitarGuitar definitely set it up ● Low action ● Nice neck ● Fret edges are sharp and need filing ● Crap strings (that was always going to be the case) Not plugged it in yet, but except needing to change the strings, and assuming it all 'works' when plugged in, for £99 it's a bit of a steel. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c2 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 On 28/01/2024 at 21:20, gjones said: I watched this review and because the guitar sounded so good in the video I had to try it out. When I actually played the guitar in my local shop it was absolutely s**t! The sound was thin and nasty and the tuners couldn't keep it in tune for more than a few seconds at a time. I actually did buy a guitar that day, it was a Yamaha Pacifica that they had going secondhand. It stayed in tune, had a decent set up, sounded pretty good and only cost me £68. Don't believe the hype. I used to watch a bunch of Anderton's music stuff (the "Sound like ................. for £500" is a good series) but its best to consider it a long advert with a bit of actual useful info here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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