Anyone noticed guitar manufacturers squeezing their margins with cost cutting on materials and quality ?
Gibson have made it an art form to sell shit guitars to mongs for ridiculous prices.
Current rrp price for a Les Paul 59 reissue is $12,000 - that's just insane. Yet idiots are buying them [usually non players as well].
The latest Gibson con is they have a LP called the 50's Standard which is around $5k but has sfa to do with the originals [different pickups, bridge, electronics, tuners, and design has a short tenon join not a long one like an original... and so on].
I like Gibson's - if you find a good one they are magnificent - but it's not a cult I want to be a member of and as such I got rid of mine a while back.
Fender are not much better these days - even the Custom Shop guitars have issues - it's not until you get into the MasterBuilt custom shop ones that you get the really nice ones ?
But $25,000 for a new guitar that's unlikely to appreciate in value ? No thanks - that's insane.
G&L used to be all special / custom builds and were very affordable $1800-$2500 to your spec in a case. Now they are $4k plus so more than doubled in price. The Fullerton Standard which is the starting point for a USA made G&L is the same price as what a custom build was 2 years ago - but nowhere near the quality.
I'll probably never buy another guitar but if I do I'll find a good luthier to build me one - totally over the mass produced shit going around today at Custom prices.
Amps are even more dire. The shit Fender are selling is woeful. Again, find a builder and get it done right - probably for less money as well.
Last edited by The Dunster; 10-05-2019 at 01:55 PM.
There was a terrible knock off of a Gibson Custom Shop Tony Iommi SG recently. They wanted $800 for it. I dont even think it was uptown the quality standard of a good Chibson knock off.
Everything on it was wrong, but it looks like it sold.
I hear you.
I actually play Gibsons for the most part, but other than my 94 Standard, will not pay retail for a new one. For the most part its highway robbery. Shop second hand and there are some bargains to be had if you are patient.
Amps are a joke, mass produced circuit boards. I'll pass.
If you want a good Marshall or fender, buy a Ceritone clone. Handwired, point to point and cheaper than the Fender/Marshall.
Ive just picked up my holy grail amp, a 1970's Baez Lead head. Made in Newcastle, modified by the builder to be switchable from Class A to Class AB and convertible from 40/30/20 Watts. Smashes the Marshall and Vox tones in one head.
Mick Sampson ? I heard he was retiring awhile back ? I don't actually know him just conversations with other gear nuts.
I thought they were more of a Hiwatt clone than a Marshall.
One on Gumtree at Mayfield for sale now - for lunch money type price.
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/mayf...amp/1217351791
Last edited by The Dunster; 10-05-2019 at 04:28 PM.
I'm not sure what they are modelled after, Mick did say once but I honestly can't remember. They look very Hiwatt from the outside, but I don't think the circuit is.
Ive got a Bass Head and the Lead Head, both awesome amps for guitar, but they are super heavy to move around.
As far as I know Mick has retired, he worked on my Marshall and Baez Bass amp a few years back and was winding up then. I'm really not sure who to use for amp stuff now, but he was an absolute guru. He had a heap of new models half built in the shed, they never got finished which is a shame. The one I heard was an incredible amp.
I looked at the one for sale in mayfield, but I just bought my Lead Amp two weeks ago for less. Mine has the option of Class A and Class AB and has internal switching to change the bias from EL34 to 6550. That said, If I had spare cash sitting around I would grab another one.
^^^^ Nice amp.
Darryl Hoy [Scion] is still building amps - they go by the name of Valvetone now. All hand made with point to point wiring. He makes a 2w head that's under $400 which is all tube.
Oh ffs when will it all end ?
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/cess...ves/1215195959
Not rare, not high quality - stop talking shit.
It's like all this matched tubes / valves shit. Back in the day you asked for valves / tubes and you took what you were given.
The less said about the Russian / Chinese brands putting names like Genelex on their tubes the better - Genelex went bust around 50 years ago ffs.
If you buy MArconi or Osram tubes they are exactly the same thing - same factory - Genelex were just the stamp used for marketing them in the USA.
Last edited by The Dunster; 17-05-2019 at 03:14 PM.
Just when you thought it was safe to look at guitars on Gumtree.
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/bate...ter/1163052154
Wtf does this arseclown mean by original guitar ? It's a mini pink chinese strat copy. The boss plays a vintage telecaster ffs.
The part at the end of the ad is priceless. He's willing to swap for a Les Paul - but only a USA made one.
Good to know - I'll dust of my R9 and give him a call. Not likely.
As we have said before.. The sad thing is that some chump will buy/swap for it..
The whole thing just looks.... awful..
Listened to Stairway yesterday for the first time in, I reckon, 15 years or so.
Surprising number of flutes. How many do you hear?
My only interest in stairway is the aeolian mode solo. Simple box pattern and all but it sounds huge. And to think it's a telecaster with a single coil and a lipstick in the neck still blows my mind.
I'm thinking about getting a Mesa Boogie Mark V. Anyone have any experience with them ? Only thing holding me back is they look very complicated under the hood and might be an absolute nightmare to maintain / repair.