rant about the state of new guitars leaving the factory

Keira-WitherKay · 2012-01-20T19:57:40+00:00

in last 6 months i have bought 2 new guitars , as in from the dealers and out of the box............ and both were in a bad way regarding setup and playability right out of the box............. a few months back in june last year i bought a brand new Fender american standard tele , from a music store .....and the guitar came with a badly setup nut and intonation that was hideously out ....... dispite this being a guitar which in this country carries a retail of 20 K and after discount it's 12 - 13 K BUT i still had to spend extra on a setup ........ on top of the inflated fender price which is only $1000 in states ........ i expected better set up guitar out of the factory ....... BUT i thought this was pretty isolated......till this week i bought yet another brand new guitar this time a $1100 dollar list price and $700 street price epiphone emperor regent archtop jazz guitar which i paid R6200 which is in line with the usa street price NOT like the fenders ......... BUt i got to see this guitar 2 days ago.....when it arrived at marshall music ..........and it was so unplayable that it buzzed at the 5th fret and many other places .....shocking to think it left the factoty like that .............. BUT THE GREAT NEWS , and huge thank you to Marshall music woodmead , ( stuart and garth ) cos when i pointed this out to them they immeadiatly offered to sort it out at their expense .... the guitar which is beautiful and really well made (construction wise) was just not set up at all.......... so Marshall music paid for it to be sorted for me........... and they did pay ..cos they have JD running a workshop there on the same premises but he's a private biz....not part of marshall music .....so jd would actually invoice marshall for any repairs and so JD got the guitar 2 days ago ........... after i basically said i would NOT buy it in the state it was.........and the guitar had a full fretdress , a pro setup with my choice of strings and the stock plastic nut which was cut badly was not just recut but replaced for me with a graphtec nut ..........so i reckon about a grands worth for the setup /fretdress and new graphite nut and they (Marshall) music covered the costs ,,, without too much screaming and shouting from my side so yes i went to fetch the guitar today and it's awesome .......... on arrival..... fussy as i am........ i got them to lower the action even more and tweak the truss rod one last time...but now it's a lovely flat action and sounding sweet and not one buzz or dead note .............. love it love it love it but i appreciate that Marshall took the responsibility to get the guitar sorted for me to my liking .......... and i sing their praises for this......... but later on speaking to them i hear most guitars come out of the factory in a hit or miss state quite often shocking ......sure we not talking bad craftsmanship BUT just NO or bad setups when they leave the factory you know if i buy a guitar off gumtree or 2nd hand i expect to spring for a setup .....BUT NOT when i buy a new guitar at the asking price.......... so yes the tele i fixed at my expense , but thanks to my big mouth .......and not just accepting a below average setup instrument , and thanks to Marshall music putting their money where their reputation is ..............i have an awesome jazz archtop which plays like a dream But what woulda happened if i was too shy to bitch and moan ......... and i think it's attrocious that guitars can leave the factory in the state they do ...and the guitar buying public accept it ........ or is that "just the way it is" ?

PeachyDragon

singemonkey wrote cough-MIJ-cough!

Ok. No one is perfect. You can find dud MIJs too. But Japanese made instruments do pay more attention in this area in particular. As Japanese industry does in other fields as well. You just won't find the same number of poorly finished instruments from the land of the rising sun. At least not for the past 30 years.

It's a rare manufacturer outside that country that puts in the same amount of dedication to this particular area. And I don't just say that for the brands I'm allegedly "shilling" for. Hell, even Gibson's Epiphone MIJ Elitist line are allegedly spectacular out of the box. ?

Interesting observation. Most people assume that Asian guitars are pretty shoddy, but I was shocked to discover that Takamine is made in Japan...
I know Korean guitars are usually cheaply made. I'm not one to talk... Most of what I own is Korean.

PeachyDragon

Keira WitherKay wrote
Alan Ratcliffe wrote It's been going on the last 40 years Keira - where you bin? ?
? alan truth be told in last 25 years i've bought all but maybe 5 including these 2 guitars new ?

Where does that leave younglings like me who didn't even know what a truss-rod was just 13 years ago? ?
Born into this society with their bad setups and their instant gratification lifestyle. ?

singemonkey

PeachyDragon wrote Interesting observation. Most people assume that Asian guitars are pretty shoddy, but I was shocked to discover that Takamine is made in Japan...
I know Korean guitars are usually cheaply made. I'm not one to talk... Most of what I own is Korean.

Quality in other Asian countries varies considerably - from poor to great. But Japan has had extremely high quality standards consistently for domestically manufactured guitars since the late '70s to early '80s to the present with very few exceptions.

AlanRatcliffe

PeachyDragon wrote Where does that leave younglings like me who didn't even know what a truss-rod was just 13 years ago? ?
Born into this society with their bad setups and their instant gratification lifestyle. ?

No excuse. ?

You have to put it all in context. Actually, if anything, in general, things are far better now: manufacturing tolerances are much higher; decent guitars and amps are readily available and relatively inexpensive; and all but the very cheapest stuff is at the very least playable. We've always had to search for the good'uns unless we had the money for the top of the line stuff. These days there is a luthier on every street corner who can improve a cheapie no end and it is well known what makes a guitar good.

Consider that in the "Golden years" of music in the UK, you would probably only be able to afford your first US made guitar when you made it big and signed a record contract with a hefty advance. Sole requirement for joining a band in the '60s was usually that you owned a guitar, any guitar - they were a complete luxury, beyond the reach of most of people and were seen as a way out of a life of post-war drudgery.

What I have a problem with these days is that some of the iconic, ridiculously expensive guitars do not hold their own, quality-wise against the best of the cheaper instruments, but are still priced like they far outstrip them. I don't mind paying a lot more for a little better quality, but paying more for less really irks me. Fenders in the '70's - mid '80s were truly atrocious, but change of ownership brought a new standard that turned things around. These days Fender have a wide range at different price points and you mostly get pretty much what you pay for. Buy any cheaper model guitar though and you should expect to invest in having a pro setup. That's part of buying an inexpensive instrument.

MoJo-JoJoe

X-rated Bob wrote Where does the buck stop? If you buy a new Ibanez or a new Tokai from Music Connection then that's not THEIR brand. If the guitar needs setting up then should they bear the cost? Are we expecting them to inspect every guitar that comes in to their shop and do the necessary? And are we willing to pay the extra? Setting up every guitar in the store is going to cost them money. Which is why some manufacturers don't do it - to cut costs.

I don't know where the answer is, but I do know it's going to involve a cost to somebody.

Bob I was refering to distributor (aka agent / aka wholesaler). THAT is where I believe the buck stops. They need to ensure the brand they are representing is protected from gaining a poor reputation within their market. They are the only ones (if any) who can directly liaise with the factory to sort out these sorts of issues. The music store should not be responsible for making a poortly finished/setup product saleable.

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