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Post subject: CRAFTED in China....
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:50 pm
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Location: Basingstoke, UK
I'm a guitarist owning 2 Classic series Fender guitars (50's strat & 72 custom Tele - made in mexico)

On my strat, there is varnish slopped over the frets and nut, you can feel the skunk stripe with your thumb, and there is pencil markings under the trem...
On my Tele you can see and feel glue where the rosewood finger board is fixed to the neck....Don't get me wrong - I love them and they sound great, hold their tuning well and make me very happy......

Today I purchased a Squier classic vibe 50's bass, ('Crafted in China' it says on the headstock) and I'm astounded by the build quality!

The squier is flawless! the frets are so well finished, the paint job is perfect, and it's so resonant, the whole thing vibrates when you pluck it. it's light and all the electrics seem pretty good (smooth tight pots, etc) tuners are very nice....it feels like a proper guitar should feel, and looks as good as the pictures you see online and in the Frontline catologue.

I feel like I got more guitar than whay I paid for....

Any one else find a similar case here????
Are we paying a premium for the 'F' decal????
Will Chinese guitars one day be considered on a par with USA made instruments (as are Japanese Fenders)?????
Does 'Crafted in China' mean more than 'Made in Mexico'????

Am I about to be lynched by pursists!!!???


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Post subject: Re: CRAFTED in China....
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:10 pm
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ian sheridan wrote:
I'm a guitarist owning 2 Classic series Fender guitars (50's strat & 72 custom Tele - made in mexico)

On my strat, there is varnish slopped over the frets and nut, you can feel the skunk stripe with your thumb, and there is pencil markings under the trem...
On my Tele you can see and feel glue where the rosewood finger board is fixed to the neck....Don't get me wrong - I love them and they sound great, hold their tuning well and make me very happy......

Today I purchased a Squier classic vibe 50's bass, ('Crafted in China' it says on the headstock) and I'm astounded by the build quality!

The squier is flawless! the frets are so well finished, the paint job is perfect, and it's so resonant, the whole thing vibrates when you pluck it. it's light and all the electrics seem pretty good (smooth tight pots, etc) tuners are very nice....it feels like a proper guitar should feel, and looks as good as the pictures you see online and in the Frontline catologue.

I feel like I got more guitar than whay I paid for....

Any one else find a similar case here????
Are we paying a premium for the 'F' decal????
Will Chinese guitars one day be considered on a par with USA made instruments (as are Japanese Fenders)?????
Does 'Crafted in China' mean more than 'Made in Mexico'????

Am I about to be lynched by pursists!!!???


I remember something similar to that. I was waiting for my guitar lesson at the local music store and one of the employees starts playing a bass. It was some sort of "vintage reissue (something like that)" Squier P-bass with Duncan-Designed pickups in them. He wasn't kidding when he said it was the hottest bass they had in stock. Said he also owned an Am. Std. P-bass and it didn't come quite close to the hotness of this Squier.

After that I never saw that P-bass again (I guess he bought it!). :lol:


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Post subject: Re: CRAFTED in China....
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:38 pm
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Location: Telford Pa.
ian sheridan wrote:
I'm a guitarist owning 2 Classic series Fender guitars (50's strat & 72 custom Tele - made in mexico)

On my strat, there is varnish slopped over the frets and nut, you can feel the skunk stripe with your thumb, and there is pencil markings under the trem...
On my Tele you can see and feel glue where the rosewood finger board is fixed to the neck....Don't get me wrong - I love them and they sound great, hold their tuning well and make me very happy......

Today I purchased a Squier classic vibe 50's bass, ('Crafted in China' it says on the headstock) and I'm astounded by the build quality!

The squier is flawless! the frets are so well finished, the paint job is perfect, and it's so resonant, the whole thing vibrates when you pluck it. it's light and all the electrics seem pretty good (smooth tight pots, etc) tuners are very nice....it feels like a proper guitar should feel, and looks as good as the pictures you see online and in the Frontline catologue.

I feel like I got more guitar than whay I paid for....

Any one else find a similar case here????
Are we paying a premium for the 'F' decal????
Will Chinese guitars one day be considered on a par with USA made instruments (as are Japanese Fenders)?????
Does 'Crafted in China' mean more than 'Made in Mexico'????

Am I about to be lynched by pursists!!!???


its hard for me to beleve that a MIM strat in you case was made that
poorly. the 2006 to present MIM strats are being praised for there
craftmanship and quality there being compared to the MIA strats.
what year is your MIM strat?


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Post subject:
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:47 pm
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the classic strat is an '07. It's a nice guitar (it had to go back to Fender when it was a few months old as some varnish blistered and fell off the neck).

But the crux of the issue is that the RRP on the strat is £500, whereas the squiers are going for around £250.


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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:03 am
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Guitar Player magazine did a feature on guitars under $400 (I think it was $400). They were astounded at the build quality of the products coming out of China and elsewhere in Asia. I remember their conclusion was that if a $400 guitar was that good then the American guitar for $2,500 had better be perfect.


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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:26 am
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With the modern CNC machines used now days if you have a good body blank and neck blank you can have a guitar that is put together good from anywhere. What it is going to be different is going to be things like tuners, picukps, switches. There are companies in Korea and China that have been making guitars a long time many are high quality. The best Japan made Fenders I think are the ones that were made by FujiGen who made them for like 15 years. A lot of nice guitar have come from Siean, (Shine)Samick, Tokia, FujiGen which are Korean,Chinese,and Japanese companies

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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:44 am
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cvilleira wrote:
With the modern CNC machines used now days if you have a good body blank and neck blank you can have a guitar that is put together good from anywhere. What it is going to be different is going to be things like tuners, picukps, switches. There are companies in Korea and China that have been making guitars a long time many are high quality. The best Japan made Fenders I think are the ones that were made by FujiGen who made them for like 15 years. A lot of nice guitar have come from Siean, (Shine)Samick, Tokia, FujiGen which are Korean,Chinese,and Japanese companies


the MIK lite ash strat is a great exsample
i would match this strat with MIA'S any day.
most of the parts in this strat are american made.


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:03 pm
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joephstrat wrote:
cvilleira wrote:
With the modern CNC machines used now days if you have a good body blank and neck blank you can have a guitar that is put together good from anywhere. What it is going to be different is going to be things like tuners, picukps, switches. There are companies in Korea and China that have been making guitars a long time many are high quality. The best Japan made Fenders I think are the ones that were made by FujiGen who made them for like 15 years. A lot of nice guitar have come from Siean, (Shine)Samick, Tokia, FujiGen which are Korean,Chinese,and Japanese companies


the MIK lite ash strat is a great exsample
i would match this strat with MIA'S any day.
most of the parts in this strat are american made.

I have some Korean made Epi guitars they are very well made. Both fit and finish are high quality. I have looked at both Chinese and Korean made Samicks and they played nice. Not sure who makes the Korean Fenders but would realy like to no because they are nice. Maybe someone on the forum will no that answer and let us all no.

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Thomas Jefferson


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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:12 pm
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Speaking of Asian guitars . . . Just before Fender's management bought the company from CBS, Fender offered a line of guitars called the Master Series which included the Fender Esprit and later, the Robben Ford sig model. All of them disappeared during the transition. By all accounts they were wonderful guitars built in Japan because the old Fullerton, CA factory didn't have the capability to build them. It was Fender's latest attempt to compete with Gibson's ES -3xx series of semi-hollow bodied guitars since the Coronado.

I saw one in a high-end Ft. Lauderdale guitar shop a few years ago, a bright yellow one selling for $4,000 !!! (More than 4 1/2 times its original sell price. And they wouldn't let me play it. I guess I didn't look like I had $4K on me.) A few years ago Fender reissued the Esprit under the Squier brand. Like my Gibson Vintage Mahogany LP, some were great while others had significant quality issues. I would love to see Fender make a serious attempt at reissuing the Esprit. I for one would buy one immediately.

Thanks for reading, I haven't been on my Esprit soapbox for a while. If you're unfamiliar with these models, I have an old link with great info on these wonderful guitars. Check it out and enjoy.

http://www.masterseriesguitars.com/


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:34 pm
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stratmansteve wrote:
Speaking of Asian guitars . . . Just before Fender's management bought the company from CBS, Fender offered a line of guitars called the Master Series which included the Fender Esprit and later, the Robben Ford sig model. All of them disappeared during the transition. By all accounts they were wonderful guitars built in Japan because the old Fullerton, CA factory didn't have the capability to build them. It was Fender's latest attempt to compete with Gibson's ES -3xx series of semi-hollow bodied guitars since the Coronado.

I saw one in a high-end Ft. Lauderdale guitar shop a few years ago, a bright yellow one selling for $4,000 !!! (More than 4 1/2 times its original sell price. And they wouldn't let me play it. I guess I didn't look like I had $4K on me.) A few years ago Fender reissued the Esprit under the Squier brand. Like my Gibson Vintage Mahogany LP, some were great while others had significant quality issues. I would love to see Fender make a serious attempt at reissuing the Esprit. I for one would buy one immediately.

Thanks for reading, I haven't been on my Esprit soapbox for a while. If you're unfamiliar with these models, I have an old link with great info on these wonderful guitars. Check it out and enjoy.

http://www.masterseriesguitars.com/

I have been looking for a Tokai Silver Star Strat, the few I have seen are great. I have bid on a few on ebay but have been out bid on them. At one time SRV played a Silver Star Strat from Tokai and Fender was going to use them for their Japanese Manufacter but ended up using FujiGen in the early 80's

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson


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Post subject: Re: CRAFTED in China....
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:40 pm
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Quality control knows no borders.

The first John Mayer I ever took off the wall, in the early days of its release, was an embarrassment. I wrote to Fender and advised them of such. May be certain factory personnel need to find another livelihood.

Anything you find in kind should be brought to the attention of the vendor AND the company, including serial numbers. If the MIC was to your liking, then OWN it by all means. I've seen Squiers that were drop dead gorgeous.

Anything less.....consumerrelations@fender.com and these Forums.

Doc :wink:

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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:50 pm
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Thanks for reading, I haven't been on my Esprit soapbox for a while. If you're unfamiliar with these models, I have an old link with great info on these wonderful guitars. Check it out and enjoy.



Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten those. Likely what you are looking at the the classic rule of the market place........supply and demand. Product disappears from the line, quietly.

High supply, low demand.....shift into something else. But NOW....you see what low supply and high demand brings you in the vintage market.

Must drive Fender boxy..They couldn't give 'em away!!

...and as for contentious vendors.....I personlly wouldn't want to purchase a guitar from a dealer who would sell ME one. :P

Doc

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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:54 pm
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I picked up a Squier Tele in a Sam Ash and was shocked at the craftsmanship and sound from this guitar. I own 2 vintage guitars and a Strat, all American made but I bought the Tele and I find myself picking it up more often than I thought I would. My American Strat is my favorite. Even though the Tele is nice to play, the Strat is a much better made guitar and thats why they cost more. Besides that, the value goes up over time where the guitars made in other countries don`t.


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 1:00 pm
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JPD wrote:
Besides that, the value goes up over time where the guitars made in other countries don`t.


I was shocked to find out my '86 MIJ Contemporary Strat was considered collectable by some people. I remember back in the day, I pulled the locking nut off and added string trees, all the time thinking it could never affect the value.

So, you never know !!


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 1:13 pm
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I wouldn`t think a guitar made out of country would hold or increase in value as American made Fenders, but I may be wrong on that. I guess it depends on what people are into and sometimes they just put things away thinking it will increase in value over time.


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