Influencing The Marketplace

[westhemann]

When I see this

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ESP...itar?sku=515734

I can't help but think that consumer marketing geeks are finally starting to really pay attention to the "build what you want because you can't buy it" market...

This looks exactly like what some of us might build,with the mahogany and maple neck,mahogany body,and a "pretty" top to look at through a clear finish...and I think that is awesome..

But I have one question...why in the hell would you make a sweet instrument like that,and then throw on a cheap trem and cheap pups?If they put on duncans or emg and a real floyd or kahler,they could chrge $900 and it would still be a MONSTER of a guitar for the price...I guess that is what execs do,take a great concept and water it down to decent with cheap hardware.

[rhoads56]

At $900, they'd sell less than a quarter of the number of guitars. Most (95%) of guitarists have zero clue, and dont care, about which pickups sound best, or if their trem is cheap or not.

[westhemann]

Sure,but it SEEMS as if they are shooting for the market of guys that favor custom instruments,so why not at least offer a slightly higher end version?Like an LTD deluxe witth the same woods,but better hardware.It just seems as if their line could be more complete.

Bu then again,they are I believe the highest sellers in the marketplace...

You are right though...I know a guy who plays around Austin all the time,and he could care less about the difference between a bottom of the line ltd vs a top of the line custom...Plays through a Randall digital amp too...I guess for most it IS just about price.

He has a KK v(bc rich)...one of the really cheap ones...under $200 I think...he loves it.I kind of wish I was that easily satisfied...I sure would save time and money.

[Prostheta]

Add another $9500 on top of that and you get free mojo, apparently.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ESP...itar?sku=512961

*cough*

For that price you could buy all the tools including spray equipment and dust extraction. It's not as though it's a Ouija, or requires tooling they haven't already got set up.

[westhemann]

I think everyone can agree that is too much.I wonder if anyone but Kirk himself owns one?

Read the reviews..."The strings are kind of sharp though,I have to wear band-aids to play it."

????????

Somehow I think those two guys never bought one...I think they are just reviewing to be heard.

[Prostheta]

"The strings are kind of sharp though,I have to wear band-aids to play it."

To quote a favourite comedian of mine: "Here's your sign".

[westhemann]

Allow me to do a bit of an "about face"..

I was flipping through MF and saw the "ax" version of this guitar(remember the mustaine axxion?)

Same woods and pickups as the f,but with a tom...it was about $400,so I could not resist...and I must say,this is the best off the shelf guitar I ever bought,at any price..if I had built it myself,I would be very proud..

Made in vietnam,which is strange,but so much better than I expected...the pickups are passives made by EMG for ESP,and are super quiet and sound much like a cross between an active 85 and a duncan jb...

so anyway,I withdraw my complaint about the pickups...they are quite good.

[crafty]

At $900, they'd sell less than a quarter of the number of guitars. Most (95%) of guitarists have zero clue, and dont care, about which pickups sound best, or if their trem is cheap or not.

+1

Most guitarists are content to buy the prettiest Ibanez or BC Rich on the rack at Guitar Center and plug it into a Line 6 Spider. A lot of them are incredibly talented and could do even better with great equipment, but as long as the dorm room/basement groupies are satisfied, who cares?

It takes a lot of time, money, and practice to be a true Guitar Geek.

[Daniel Sorbera]

Allow me to do a bit of an "about face"..

I was flipping through MF and saw the "ax" version of this guitar(remember the mustaine axxion?)

Same woods and pickups as the f,but with a tom...it was about $400,so I could not resist...and I must say,this is the best off the shelf guitar I ever bought,at any price..if I had built it myself,I would be very proud..

Made in vietnam,which is strange,but so much better than I expected...the pickups are passives made by EMG for ESP,and are super quiet and sound much like a cross between an active 85 and a duncan jb...

so anyway,I withdraw my complaint about the pickups...they are quite good.

I'm quite happy with the way budget electric guitars are turning out these days, there are lots of very nice ones out there. It really is a great thing because now the average joe can have a decent guitar that wont cost an arm and a leg.

[Prostheta]

Very true. I think however, that it's a double-edged sword as it can spoil the new player-buyer into the "modern shape build thin-flat usual pickups materials and scale lengths and stuff". I for one am glad that I cut my teeth on a cheap no-name P-Bass copy, and a plywood Hondo Strat copy.

In a lot of ways, I think cheap rubbish guitars do lend a lot to the learning curve for new players instead of jumping halfway up the ladder and not being able to figure out how to negotiate your way up from there....

I wish I could still have that old Hondo. Knowing what I know now wouldn't be what I know now without knowing what it was then to play those instruments.

I love that sentence. WOW.

[westhemann]

Don't be misled though...I have never been happy with an indoneisian or chinese guitar...horrible "craftsmanship",horrible frets,etc...

This Vietnamese guitar is 1000% better quality...literally on par in quality to japanese or american high end guitars.I know it's hard to believe,but I stand by it in this case.Maybe it's a fluke like that studio les paul I once had...but I would not hesitate to buy another.