ryan summit wrote:besides not lookin the same did they play well or were they horrible
I did a search on TalkBass trying to find the threads, and there's a couple where someone bought one and said they were fine, could use a fret dress & setup, but weren't terrible or fantastic. In all the other threads, people asked if the Asian Ric copies were any good, and just got yelled at for being immoral by old people playing boutique Fender copies.
Got one from there, really fucking nice for the cost, few very minor imperfections but nothing to bitch about, quick set up and it was a really nice playing/sounding guitar.
However it's down to chance and who the seller is, so yeah, gamble. Probably wouldn't pick an elaborate guitar though as there's more to go wrong.
I'm thinking about picking up one of these bass bridges for my wife's Squier VM Jag SS. I think it would fit. I'm not so sure about it being held on by just 3 screws when the current one uses 5.
At $12.48 delivered, I may just try it... after Christmas.
i've had at least 6 of these in diff flavors of LP's. this was a couple years ago and at the time they're were mostly LP's, no fender 6's or anything like that. i had fun with those little fuckers. you have to be careful. some of the ads show pics lifted from outside sources and not the actual guitar. that scares me. all the ones i ordered showed the actual guitar and you can tell by small details not being correct. we're talking small details like the truss rod cover and the binding not being correct. things like that. some are so heinously wrong that it's amusing (like the gretsch's). the hardware is CRAP and need to be changed. DO NOT BUY hardware from china, no matter how cheap it is.
from my experience, you get a neck and body that needs nearly everything else changed. yea, they work OK right out of the box but the tuners crap out rather quickly, the frets usually need to be seated and leveled, the nut is always fucked up. but all mine were bought at least 2 or 3 years ago. the quality may or may not have gotten better and they seem to differ quite vastly.
i would only buy if you want a blank canvas for guitar fun. you do receive the guitar extremely fast. i have 2 that (after a bit of work) are killer and i'm glad i bought them. i gave a few away and i'm still holding on to a couple more to redo and give away. i look at them as a disposable guitar that can be abused onstage without a care in the world.
be careful when ordering and use you head abit. if they show a fender 6 pic from a US dealer, ask for a pic of the actual guitar...if they won't give you one, or send you another stolen image...obviously stay away. if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
billy gibbons contacted a factory and had 12 custom made for him (of coarse). he found a factory that did the best work (he's ordered countless) and just went for it. i think he only paid about 100 bux a guitar for 12. he still had the frets, nut and a few other things dealt with once they arrived.
fuck, i've not looked at these in a while...the ric's and bass 6 are inviting...but be beware.
masked elwood wrote: i look at them as a disposable guitar that can be abused onstage without a care in the world.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand this is why I want one. Thanks for the input, I was waiting for you to chime in here. Prolly gonna buy a LP, honestly. Never had one!
And, yes, Trade Tang is now a new term, yes, yes, yes.
They do some guitars really well. I bought a Gretsch style one a really ugly green colour came through though not like the pictures but I kind of like it better now anyway. The wood working is pretty great the thing I'd think of when buying is that most of the places also make guitars for proper us companies. So it's gonna be equal to the quality of most of those chinese instruments. My pickups weren't great but aside from that it was easily equal to any other cheapish guitar i've ever used. You can see on the rickenbacker style ones that they havent really got the bridge down but that's because they've never had to make one for the proper maker. They do Fender style ones really well though. If you keep it a simple guitar you should come out real well. I want a bass vi now though
huzzaah finally some first hand experience im glad you threw in the hardware bit i was about to go searchin for some crazy chinese trem im definately lookin for a guitar base to butcher even my samick im havin to change out hardware that cheap shit just dont last im findin guitar gear is ALOT like tools harbor freight shit works one day thats it its like renting the peice of equipment a year ago i was like $80 for tuners,fuck that but as my 3rd slips out of tune for the billionth time $80 dont seem that bad