Guitar Lab

Which cable should I use?

2011-10-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

I get emails now and then asking about cables. The most popular question would likely be about George L solder-less cables. These cables are ideal for many musicians as you can easily customize the length of each cable. However, the older style right-angle plugs tend to fail and I do not recommend them. They have a new right angle plug called the "Master Series" and it is a different design that is less likely to give out on you at a gig. George L cables have good signal strength and to my ears accentuate the treble frequencies. Many players like this and it has become known as a cable offering great clarity.

My favorite "affordable" high end cable would be Lava! Lava Cables cost about as much as the Monster Cable brand you'll find as most Guitars Centers, however they have much better signal strength and a more pleasing EQ. I find Monster Cable to be very dark sounding. To my ears, their cable adds bass frequencies that muddy up my tone and I don't want that. I much prefer the sound of both Lava and George L cables when compared to Monster.

My favorite "un-affordable" cable would be Evidence Audio Melody. This stuff is really pricey, but offers a perfectly balanced EQ and strong signal strength to my ears. Sadly, their pricing keeps it out of reach for most players.

While I've gotten to personally use all of these cables in my past work with Daniel Klein as an early beta tester for Port City Amplifiers, you don't have to take my word for it. Take a look at the Lava Cable website. Mark Stoddard sells all of the best cables. His solder work is top notch and his website is a great resource for brand to brand cable comparison.

Goodbye Tube Screamer!

2011-10-01T08:19:00.001-07:00

I am no longer offering Tube Screamer mods. Why? The short answer... it's a waste of your money. Consider the price of a new Ibanez TS-9 at $100 and then add my fee for the mod. Your looking at $145. That amount can buy you an overdrive pedal far superior to any Tube Screamer, even vintage ones.

A quick word about Maxon. They stopped making Ibanez pedals for Ibanez long ago. Their own line is impressive, but extremely overpriced in my opnion. My point? A modified Ibanez-made TS-9 will not sound as good when compared to a modified Maxon-made TS-9.

If you love the sound of a Tube Screamer with a clean tube amp and are reading this, disagreeing with everything I've written, I urge you to try out some Barber Pedals. The different versions of the Barber LTD, Direct Drive, and B-Custom Cool pedals will make any Tube Screamer sound like a fizzy toy. I'm talking uncompressed, transparent overdrive with real amp feel and tone.

Maybe you use a Tube Screamer into an already distorted amplifier to push it for extra gain and palm muting crunch? There is a better way! Have a look at the BB Preamp Pedal from Xotic. This pedal has an active EQ, (meaning it truly adds bass or treble, not a passive hi-cut filter) plenty of volume for boosting, and lots of gain as well. This will give you the quality rock and hi-gain sounds of your favorite recordings.

These pedals have price points of $180 or less. That is a lot of money. I get that. However, you truly get what you pay for. Not some cheap, slave labor, mass produced seasick green pedal...

eBay & Paypal - It isn't if, but when!

2011-06-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Joel Reed,

We're writing to let you know about a change to your PayPal account.

Starting 7/3/2011, money from payments you receive will be placed in a pending balance for up to 21 days. By doing this, we're making sure that there's enough money in your account to cover potential refunds or claims.

Even though you can't access the money right away, please ship orders quickly and communicate with your customers. After 21 days, you can withdraw money from each payment as long as the customer hasn't filed a dispute, chargeback, claim, return, or reversal.

The money may be available sooner if:
We can confirm that the item was delivered.
Your buyer leaves positive feedback. (Applies only to eBay items)
This change isn't necessarily permanent. We'll review your account every 35 days and re-evaluate if we should continue to hold your payments. If we decide to stop holding payments, we'll email you to let you know.

Why are my payments being held?
We reviewed your account and determined that there's a relatively higher than average risk of future transaction issues (such as claims, or chargebacks, or payment reversals). We understand that it may be inconvenient to have your payments temporarily held but please know that we didn't make this decision lightly.

Before deciding to hold payments, we consider many factors. These factors include account and transaction activity, the rate of customer disputes, the type of business a seller runs, average delivery timeframes, customer satisfaction, performance and history.

Questions? Let us know
We understand you’d like to have immediate access to the money you receive and we’re here to answer your questions about this change to your account.

For more information and tips on what you can do to avoid having your future payments held, please see our Frequently Asked Questions. To speak to a Customer Service representative, log in to your PayPal account and click “Contact Us” at the bottom of any page.

Thanks,
PayPal

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click the Help link in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

A short video BLOG about Nitro and Poly

2011-05-06T00:13:00.000-07:00

All over the internet there is debate about polyurethane paint and nitrocellulose lacquer. This is more fuel for the fire. You be the judge!

A closer look at guitar cases - Part 2

2011-05-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

A closer look at cases - Part 2 - Sorry for the poor video quality, working on getting a better cam situation. Anyhow this video will show the finished SG from Part 1, the case that broke it, and some Gibson style cases. Enjoy.

A closer look at guitar cases - Part 1

2011-04-28T12:27:00.001-07:00

Sometimes the most expensive case isn't always the best one for your guitar. Here we take a closer look at two Fender guitar cases. Also a preview of the next BLOG where I repair a broken headstock on a Gibson SG, and showcase some Gibson guitar cases as well.

Hey, not all "fake" Gibson guitars are bad!

2011-03-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

Not all fake Gibson guitars are bad. In fact, some Japanese copies of Gibson Les Paul guitars are equal to, or better than, the real thing! They fool your eyes, sure, but also your fingers. This Yamaha is one of those. Enjoy the video!

How to spot a fake Gibson guitar!

2011-03-02T19:08:00.001-08:00

Pictures for a world that stopped reading.

2011-02-14T22:06:00.000-08:00

So what is the first thing you see when you pull up an eBay auction? The picture, sure... but what if it is terrible? It is likely you'll move on to a similar item. I know this all too well and I've gotten some really great deals buying items with crappy pictures from honest sellers who just don't know how to get a decent picture uploaded to the web. Don't expect eBay to help you either. That's a train that just don't come. There is a solution though... Spend major cash for shadow boxes, tripods, and top of the line digital cameras you have no idea how to use... OR contact a professional. I highly recommend Aria Images for this. Melody Kristensen is great at what she does, from wedding photos to actual product photos for magazines, etc. Exactly the kind of quality you see when you pull up some new guitar on a popular guitar vendor's site. How will having better pictures affect your eBay auctions? Immensely! You'll get higher bids now that people can truly see what your selling. Plus, they may actually read what you wrote about the item! This helps to avoid many needless questions and misunderstandings. Worth something? You bet!

WE HAVE MOVED!

2011-01-22T08:40:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to let anyone who hasn't heard know... Guitar Lab has moved! Yes, we are no longer located off of Peachtree Avenue. You can find Guitar Lab about 10 minutes down the road, off of Market Street, near Britt Motor Sports & Bruce Cavenaugh Automart. A map has been posted on our facebook, twitter, news, and contact pages for your convenience. If you would like simple turn by turn directions, please email me and I will be happy to provide those to you.

Also, you can Google us and see a map there. Yahoo, another excellent search engine displays our new location and map correctly. However, BING, an inferior search engine made by Microsoft still shows our old location. Please ignore it and do not use BING for anything. Google and Yahoo are much better search engines.

Thanks for reading and I do apologize for the long delay in being able to take in repairs. I truly appreciate your patience during this transition. I hope all of your past experiences with Guitar Lab were good ones. If not, I want to know about it! Please tell me in email or by phone. I look forward to serving you in the future, at our new location!

Gibson and TonePros? Finally!

2010-06-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

For years now, I've been telling my customers with Gibson Custom Shop Les Pauls some sad and surprising news, "You've got to change the bridge on your guitar or it will never stay in tune." and I've had some mixed responses to say the least! Most are in total disbelief that the guitar they just spent $3-6000 on would not come with the very best parts. I sympathize with that and agree completely! It should! However, until recently it did not. Gibson was using inferior tune-o-mattic bridges that had alot of play (or movement) in them. Don't take my word for it! See for yourself! If you have a Gibson Les Paul that is a few years old, simply take the strings off and see how much you can rock the bridge back and forth. Now take your finger and press back and forth on the saddles within the bridge itself. You'll find they have quite a bit of play in them. This is a problem I've been dealing with as a Guitar Tech for years now. Several of my customers have put their trust in me and paid for the overpriced TonePros locking tone-o-mattic bridge with stellar results! These bridges are rock solid and stable. There is no play in the saddles and they even lock onto the studs! This generally eliminates any play (unwanted movement) in the entire bridge! Oh, by the way, no more "bridge accidentally falling off" when your changing strings too! TonePros claims their bridges increase sustain. Well... of course they do, but that isn't the point. The real reason to buy one is how much better your guitar (once professionally setup) will stay in tune! I am so happy to see the recent ad on the back page of Vintage Guitar Magazine showing Gibson and TonePros partnering together for the 55 Reissue Les Paul. Your paying a premium for these guitars and it is about time they came with a decent bridge! My hat goes off to Gibson for doing this. Also, on a side note, for those on a budget who need a better quality bridge I highly recommend the Gotoh Tune-O-Mattic as sold by various suppliers on my Links page. Did you know Gotoh also makes TonePros hardware for them? Yes, the Gotoh version is basically the same Les Paul type tune-o-mattic bridge, but non-locking and half the price! I bet that is a secret they'd like to keep, but their high prices disgust me so I'm disclosing this infomation to you here. In the future, I hope to see Gibson and other guitar manufacturers using Gotoh and TonePros parts on their guitars from the factory. It makes my job easier and saves you money. Are you interested in upgrading your Les Paul style guitar with a one of the bridges discussed in this BLOG? Send me an email!

A fresh look at eBay for 2010

2010-01-26T06:26:00.000-08:00

eBay used to be a great place to buy and sell just about anything. However, recent updates in policy and an overall lack of customer service has all but ruined it. I'd like to discuss this here in an effort to make existing and future eBay members aware of the problems they may face...

The biggest problem is feedback. Sellers are no longer able to leave negative feedback for buyers, even if they refuse to pay. Your only option is to report them to eBay and hope that they're account is suspended. If they get reported enough, it will be. Of course, until that actually happens they're free to keep doing what they're doing. Even if the claim you file is granted and eBay refunds your final auction fees, it's not without risk! What's to stop the buyer from giving you negative feedback if they think your going to report them? The truth is simple... eBay would rather you do nothing... they make more money that way! They know most sellers won't risk negative feedback just to file a claim on a small item of little value... and they get to keep the final auction fees they've billed you for!

Another problem is how feedback is calculated. As I write this BLOG, I currently have 383 positive feedback and only 1 negative feedback. You may expect my feedback rating to be around 99% and a few years ago you would be correct. However, feedback is now calculated within a 12 month period. Since I've sold less than 50 items this year, my feedback rating is actually around 97%! Yes, my entire feedback score is almost meaningless. That means if you have 50,000 positive feedback from last year, but receive only 1 positive and 1 negative feedback this year, you'll have a 50% rating, not a 99% rating! Stupid huh? This new way of calculating feedback allows eBay sellers who list several auctions per month to be nearly immune to negative feedback. If someone lists 100+ auctions a month, they can get 1 negative feedback each month and still keep a 99% rating. Would you feel comfortable buying from someone who gets 12 negative feedbacks each year?

eBay does nothing to educate sellers on how properly to pack and ship the goods they sell. This is a huge problem. I cannot recall how many broken items I've received in the mail due to poor packaging! You literally need to explain how you'd like the item packed and shipped each time you buy something. I've had guitars shipped to me without a box! They wrapped a few layers of bubble wrap around the guitar and taped an address to it. Its amazing the neck wasn't broken during shipping. Other people have sent me effects pedals in padded envelopes. That's a great way to receive a pedal with the knobs broken off!

eBay now regulates the maximum shipping price you can charge for most items. That's ludicrous! For example, the maximum you can charge to ship a music CD is currently $3 and that's fine if your using a padded envelope and shipping by standard US mail. However, what if the customer asks that the CD to be shipped in a box so it isn't crushed when the mailman crams it into your mailbox? It doesn't matter... you still can't charge extra! You either eat the cost or factor it into the price of your auction, making the item less likely to sell. So why regulate shipping costs? It makes eBay more money of course! Remember, they get a percentage of the final auction price, not the shipping price. They'd rather you factor the shipping price into the auction and ship for "FREE" so they get a percentage of what you charge for shipping too!

Finally there is the issue of payment. The only method of payment currently accepted on eBay is PayPal. They would like you to believe this is because it's a safe and secure way to pay online. Did you know eBay owns PayPal? It's simple... eBay makes money when you use PayPal... if you pay with a Postal Money Order or other form of payment, they don't! There is more to discuss regarding PayPal, but that's best left for another blog. Thanks for reading!

What is Twitter and how can I use it?

2009-12-12T12:01:00.000-08:00

The easiest way to explain Twitter is to liken it to a very slow chat room, but technically its a micro blog.

Mobile businesses, like the street vendors selling food in California, use Twitter to let their customers know exactly where they'll be, and when. The result is a crowd of customers waiting to purchase their delicious food as they arrive. I also use Twitter for my business, but in different way. If you visit my Guitar Lab Twitter page you'll see a series of links you can click on to see what I've been building or repairing that day. So no matter what type of business your in, Twitter is a great way to connect with your customer base and keep them informed. If you'd like to take a look at our Twitter page, simply click on the link below...

twitter.com/guitar_lab

Twitter is especially useful for celebrities! Unlike facebook or MySpace, there are no awkward friend requests to approve or deny. You can have millions of followers without seeing a single thing they write! It's also a form of free market research. For example, Debi Mazar (of HBO's Entourage) sent out a Tweet before she agreed to do the TV show "Dancing With The Stars" asking her fans on Twitter if they thought the show was lame, or something they would like to see her in. You just can't beat Twitter when it comes to instant, real time feedback.

Possibly, the most useful thing about Twitter is its search engine. Unlike searches done on Google, you get results in real time, not days later! This is the best way to find out about breaking news. In fact, most major news networks have been stealing their stories from people's Tweets (messages) for a while now! Here is how it works... lets say you've just heard about a plane crash in Nevada... simply search for "plane crash Nevada" and you'll get real time results of what people are saying about it!

If your just an "average Joe" like me, you may not find Twitter to be very useful as a social networking tool. What fun is posting something unless someone else is reading it, right? So my personal Twitter account is more of a news feed, letting me stay informed about the people and businesses I think are cool.

My recent negative feedback on eBay

2009-12-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

Today I listed a lot of old He-Man toys. I saw a lot similar to mine sell for $260 so I had planned to do an open auction with no reserve starting at $1

However, I made a mistake in the listing and it was listed as "Buy It Now" for $1

The auction had only been up for a few moments, so I quickly went to fix my error. I was told by eBay the item had already sold. I knew right then I was about to be the victim of a scam.

I wrote an email to the buyer apologizing and explaining what happened. Then I relisted the auction in the correct format with an opening bid of $1 and no reserve.

I got a rude email in reply and threats of negative feedback. I refused to sell the entire lot of toys for $1 and in a few hours I had my first ever negative feedback.

I've been on eBay since 1997 and it gets worse every year. What can I do now? Nothing! eBay only lets sellers leave positive feedback. Stupid huh?

So I called eBay to explain and report this scam artist. Surprise! eBay supports her fully and says I should sell the entire lot to her for $1 Of course it wasn't really eBay I was talking to, it was someone in India that they outsource their customer service to because their pockets are already fat with our money and they don't care!

This scam is called feedback blackmail and eBay helped her pull it off.

Her name is Nisha Jhangimal

Her eBay ID is pnb_nisha665

Her email is nishajhangimal@yahoo.com

Black Cat pedals are back!

2009-10-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

In the early 90s Black Cat pedals were well known by guitarists seeking unique fuzz tones. They were originally built in Texas by Fred Bonte, who also designed and built some of the Custom Audio Electronics (CAE) products sold by Tom Bradshaw. When he stopping making Black Cat pedals in 2007, the demand never went away. Tom Hughes (author of Analog Man's Guide To Vintage Effects) recently brought the brand back to life and actually improved it. I was skeptical to say the least when my demo unit arrived. Before even plugging it up I looked inside and my jaw dropped at the clean wiring and high quality parts. More importantly, when put side by side with its 90s predacessor, it was a mirror image of that fantastic fuzz tone. Its a rare thing for a company to change owners and things actually get better. I'm happy to say that is the case with Black Cat... a flashy new look, better build quality, same great sound!

Guitar Store Etiquette

2009-08-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

1) Avoid showing off - Can you really shred it down? Me too! Lets all agree to not to it in guitar stores OK? Think of the salesman and their tender ears... do you really want to force them to listen to Metallica's Enter Sandman one more time? Haven't they heard enough Creed for today? Also, you never know who is in the store with you. Perhaps the gentleman standing to the side, reading a guitar magazine is a graduate of the Musicians Institute? Chances are he can play everything you can... but faster, better, and in several different keys. So keep it simple when you try out new gear. Strum a few chords, then buy it or put it back while you think it over.

2) Do not brag - It all starts the same way, "what kind of guitar do you have?" and then its a downward spiral into a war of words as each person name drops what cool gear they own. Its harmless banter right? No... first off, it makes you look like a horses rear end. Secondly, there may be a quiet fellow standing in the corner, listening and chuckling on inside because he owns more gear than both of you. Then again, perhaps that quiet fellow in the corner is listening to your conversation with the intent of following you home and robbing you blind? Modesty is the best policy when it comes to what gear you own, no matter how proud you may be of it.

3) Know when to barter - On the retail side, its expected. In fact, some stores often mark up their prices so they can appear to give an even bigger discount. The salesmen are usually paid an hourly wage plus a small commission based on the profit made from each sale. This is done to motivate them as salesmen, but also to keep food on the table when business is slow. On the repair side, don't even think about it. You're no longer asking for a discount done by a simple click of the mouse... your asking for time spent working for free. Would you agree not to be paid for an hour or more of work each day at your job?

4) Its sad to hear a grown man whine - I've got a gig tonight! This is my only guitar, I can't be without it! Enough already! I mean really, if you want to be treated as a profession musician, you've got to man up and act like one. First, get a backup guitar, amp, or whatever you rely on to make your sound. Second, maintain your gear whether you have a gig or not. If something is broken, fix it, or have it fixed by a qualified technician as soon as possible. The night before a gig is not the time to call and whine to your local guitar tech. Being a profession musician requires more than just skill. Being responsible and having a humble attitude will help others to take you seriously. To summarize: Professional + No backup guitar = Novice

5) Emergencies - If you've got an emergency situation that requires a repair technician to work outside of their normal business hours or provide "same day" repair services... expect to pay extra! In fact, you should offer that up front if you really expect a call back. Think about it. Your asking someone to give up their free time for you. That's time normally spent with family and friends. Can you really put a price on that?

The big Yellow Book you just threw away!

2009-06-29T21:14:00.001-07:00

Its that time of year again and families everywhere are opening their doors to find a heavy yellow book inside a plastic bag which is often wet and smells of mildew by the time you find it. Lets get right to the point... What is this book? Why do I need it? Why does it keep appearing every year in my driveway?

The simple answers... This is a phone book. Its what people used to look up phone numbers before Google came along. You don't need it now. I advise throwing it away. AT&T's Yellow Book and The Talking Phone Book are what we call obsolete, a dinosaur, or dead media. Yearly updates are not enough for today's fast paced world. Also, any business worth doing business with has a website, even if its just a single page with services and contact info. It keeps showing up each year because they don't want to loose ad sales, so they blindly pretend that the phone book is some how relevant for today's consumer. OK, another question... How did this happen?

The simple answer is greed. AT&T and The Talking Phone Book have salesmen who call local businesses each year with the same failing sales pitch: A slightly bigger ad for a much higher price or the same ad as last year for a slightly higher price. Its a lose / lose scenario. So the final question, why Google?

Google is free! Searching with your home computer or cellphone is easy and fast! You don't just get the phone number and business name like in the phone book... You get maps, directions, information about business, phone numbers, and so much more!

So where is my proof? Just look at the Talking Phone Book for the last few years. I've never paid them a dime, yet Guitar Lab in clearly listed in there each year along with many other businesses who also pay nothing. Why give us ads for free? Its simple. They don't want their book to be empty...

Tuning Machines! Upgrade or Waste of Money?

2009-06-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

High quality tuners are one of the best upgrades for improving the tuning stability of most guitars. They are also one of the biggest marketing gimmicks out there. Companies like Sperzel, Grover, Gotoh, and Schaller do indeed make very nice, high quality tuners. However, its important to remember that they are in the business of sales, NOT service. They portray their tuners as something that will "magically" solve all of your tuning problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are three reasons why...

Imagine a Ferrari racing around the track... its time for a pit stop and new tires are put on... but the pit crew only fills them up half way with air! How well will the car handle the curves? Poorly! Its the same basic idea with the tuning machines on your guitar. They must be installed correctly for your instrument to truly benefit from them.

The way you string your guitar also affects how well it stays in tune. If you use too many wraps, your strings may keep stretching and you'll have to retune constantly. Using too few wraps can make your strings slowly slip out of tune as you play. With locking tuners its best to have almost no wrap at all or you defeat the whole purpose of the locking mechanism.

Finally its important to mention that all of the information above is useless if your guitar is not professionally setup. Picture a man using a rope and pulley system to lift a heavy box. As he pulls on the rope, the box raises smoothly by use of the pulley. What if the pulley was too small and the rope kept rubbing up against it? The man would have a hard time raising and lowing the box wouldn't he? The man is your tuner. The pulley is your nut. The heavy box is your pitch. The string must be able to move smoothly thru the nut slot. It must not bind in a nut slot that is too narrow. If that happens it won't matter what tuners you have because you'll never stay in tune for long. Intonation is also very important. If the bridge and its saddles are not in the right spot, you can't even be in tune to begin with. Some chords will sound fine, others won't and it gets even worse as you go up the neck.

So in conclusion, high quality tuners (locking or otherwise) are not a magic cure for the out of tune virus. Make sure your guitar is set up to get the most out of them. Locate a trusted professional to install them if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself. New tuners can either be a godsend for your instrument or a complete waste of money... the choice is yours!

The myth of the FREE Setup.

2008-08-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

Its time to expose a lie that retail musical instrument stores have been enjoying for far too long... the free setup! How many guitar stores offer a free setup with the purchase of a guitar? Exactly! Its quicker to try and think of a store that does not offer this service isn't it? This brings up many questions. Whats included in this so called free setup? How exactly do shops like Guitar Lab stay in business if every single guitar sold is setup and ready to go? The answer is simple. Most stores consider a fresh set of strings and turning two screws that raise or lower the bridge to be a setup. As someone who takes pride in their work, I find this pretty insulting. I don't have a name for what they're doing, but its most certainly not a professional setup. For example, when I do a setup on an American Series Fender Stratocaster, I'll be adjusting the neck pitch, bridge tilt, bridge height, individual saddle height and radius, individual nut slot height and width, neck relief, pickup height, intonation, etc... I also go over the guitar and make sure all the hardware is installed correctly and that the electronics work properly. Now what are the chances someone is doing all that for free? How about for an hourly wage of $8.50 like the guys at Guitar Center make? Not bloody likely! Now I'd like to end this blog on a positive note and mention that there are indeed some stores out there who hire skilled guitar techs to setup every new guitar sold. That price may then be added into the purchase price to appear as free. My hat goes off to those stores and I say, old chap, good show!

Why Boutique?

2008-07-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

Over the past few years we've seen smaller high priced boutique guitar and amplifier companies popping up everywhere! Why is this? There was a hole in the market place ready to be filled and the big guys missed it! Big companies like Fender stopped making amps the way they used to... the way that made them one of the largest most respected amplifier companies around today! Why? The use of PC Board made things cheaper. It didn't have to be that way. Companies like Bogner and Diezel use PC Board thats high quality to build amazing amplifiers with channel switching, insane high gain distortion, and many more features that you just can't effectively provide with point to point wiring. Sadly companies like Fender and Marshall only use PC Board to make their amps faster and cheaper. They are also farming out the work to other countries as well. It may say its made in the USA, but many of the important parts such as the transformers could be made in China! So with most vintage amps being very hard to afford or even find, many small amp builders stepped in and the cloning began. The irony of this is that Fender is now in competition with many older versions of itself under different names. The Victoria amp company is a good example of this with their great sounding line of point to point "Tweed" Fender clones. Guitar making has taken a similar turn with companies like the japanese based Ibanez who now puts their name on guitars that are made for them by companies like Cort in Korea. Yes, if your Ibanez is made in Korea, its not really an Ibanez. So what happened? Once again small builders stepped in with their own creations. Small companies like Suhr guitars stepped in to make some of the finest instruments i've ever laid my hands on. An odd thing happened with the guitar surge of small builders though... One big company really gave itself a makeover. Gibson invested in several PLEK machines (computer fret leveling and nut making machines that cost about $120,000 each) which can level frets better and faster than any human. Now their custom shop puts out the finest Gibson guitars ever made. The playability is just outstanding and I dare say they are truly mirror images of their vintage counterparts. My hat goes off to Gibson for that. I hope more larger companies like Ibanez and Fender follow in Gibson's footsteps and get a clue! Its time for them to bring their quality up to justify the high prices being asked for them at local guitar stores.

Chinese Guitars

2008-06-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

I was working at a local music store many years ago when the first few Chinese made electric guitars started showing up. They were a new level of poorly crafted crap, the likes of which I'd never seen before. Sharp fret ends, poorly seated frets, truss rods that just don't work etc. Fast forward until now and everything is pretty much the same. There are a few exceptions now though. One is from Ibanez called the Artcore Custom. Actually i shouldn't say its from Ibanez really. Its from whatever factory Ibanez contracted with in China since the only real Ibanez guitars come from the Fuji-Gen Gakki factory in Japan. That's probably a subject for another post, but as most people know, Korean Ibanez guitars are actually made by Cort or Samick. OK I'm getting off track... These Artcore Customs are just superb and i can't believe I'm saying that about a Chinese made guitar. They have excellent construction, fantastic finishing, rounded smooth fret ends, and level frets. Even the hardware such as the tuners, pickups, and bridge are OK. Maybe this will be a new trend? Will China become the new Japan? (Japanese guitars were hidden gems few people knew about years ago... all common knowledge now though) We shall see! As a general rule though, i still say buyer beware if its made it China.