Are Copies as good as the originals?

[Steve]

Are instrument copies as good as the originals? I have only ever owned 1 original. That was a Fender Telecaster. I thought it was a pile of poo and swaped it for the guiatr I have now, which is a Les Paul copy made by Antoria. I've had this guitar for about 28 years!

[ATom2]

With technology the way it is today and has been for the past 20 years I would say in many cases the answer is yes.

Many times you only pay extra for the name. Kinda like drugs.

Tom

[Alistair]

Hmmm...the question assumes the original was good. Often, copies have the chance to improve on the faults of the originals.

I have a Fender Strat. It is undoubtedly a good guitar. But whether it truly deserves its reputation is another question. I hardly ever play it, bu I do play my Yamaha acoustic which many people say has a lovely tone. I know which I prefer even if I am not really comparing like for like.

Are Martin acoustic guitars really worth so much? Is it just the name? Aren't there other cheaper guitars which are as good?

Are Armani jeans better than The Gap? probably not. We are all dupes.

[phantomengineer]

My father and I both have Martin guitars, speaking of which. They are both real nice guitars, but I don't have enough experience to adequately compare them to other brands

[Alistair]

Ha, ha, you nearly bit, I know you have a Martin....

[phantomengineer]

you sneaky bastard, you!

I'll have your head, McIntosh!

[hariossa]

I say that only some part of the copies are good, but also fender did some pretty bad copies of itself some time ago with all those first squire guitars... they were crap.

I think right now the market is like a dream come true,

you can buy a decent guitar for 150€, change pickups and use that one for the rest of your life...

[Rudi]

Well I still havnt found a half decent trad spanish (nylon strung) guitar, Ive been after one for years. Every one Ive seen in any shop is rubbish. To get anything better means a trip to Spain with £4000 in my pocket.

[john]

I have to say, in most cases when you compare originals to copies, the original wins hands down in every time.

[hariossa]

I have to say, in most cases when you compare originals to copies, the original wins hands down in every time.

that may be true in the case of les paul copies, because most copies has bolt on necks instead of glued ones, also if you buy a copy and leave it like that you can't expect to be the same.

when buying a copy you must ensure that the body is REAL wood, not plywood, which lacks sustain, tone, volume...

what I meant with my previous post is that a real wood copy with some little and easy improvements can be as good as a standard original. and for less money.

Rudi is right about spanish guitars, if you want a good one, there's no short-cut, you gotta pay for it!!

[Bang1]

Def agree with everyones reply..

[Rudi]

Steve's Les Paul copy (The OP #1) is better than all the half dozen real Les Pauls I've tried.

What he didnt tell you is that he did his own set up on it using some unique home made tools.

He should switch careers and become a luthier.

[TapperMike]

I've owned two Les Pauls,  A 57 Deluxe and a 78 custom.  Both were fine instruments and so far above the quality of copies at the time it wasn't even funny. Neither are with me anymore because they were just to heavy for a guy like me. Between them and my bass I started to develop tendonitis.

I've got a Samick Greg Bennet fastback (predecessor of the avion) It's great but it's no LP.  Gibson has had many crap years of overpriced guitars that were just shipped without any quality control.  Quality in Gibson seems to change as they go through CEO's  

 

Fender went through a rough cycle as well during the CBS years. Eric Claptons first Blackie was a combination of three strats because he couldn't find a decent single strat. It was a partscaster.  Fender makes Guitars in China, Mexico and the US now.  They can't pull a decent strat out of china to save thier lives so most of those are not released to Europe or the US.  My Fender Stratocaster has been right as rain since I bought it in the mid 80's. I've treated it like no guitar should be treated and it still plays like heaven.   My knock off chinese made Telecaster copy is another story. The string trees aren't roller so when tuning the instruments you hear a creak/squeak/scraping sound as the string passes under the tree. It actually shaves the string.

The nut was improperly glued. I've had to re glue it in so the strings are properly aligned along the fretboard.  The fretboard is slightly warped and the frets come up unevenly.  So I have to raise the action to compensate.  The binding on the neck is all cracked up as a result of the neck twisting. The neck isn't worth saving though I know several guitar techs who can do miracles.  The pickups are mediocre, I've thought about replacing them with Fender brand Tex Mex or Seymour Duncans. The body looks stunningly good.  If anything it has made me want a Fender Brand Telecaster even more.

 

 

Current mass production tooling (cnc machines) means that the same qualtiy of an instrument can be manufactuered anywhere in the world. However the quality of the raw materials and the finishing touches still matter.  Which is why it's hard to get high quality guitars out of China.  Korea is a different story although that's changing as many Korean manufactuers are farming out various stages of production to indonesia then stamping "Made in Korea" after the fact.  Most notably Cort and to a lesser extent Samick  who produce guitars not only in their name but for other brand names as well.

I've owned quite a few samick guitars through the years and my prize guitar is a "Cort" made in Korea Parker P44. As much as I hold affection for parker guitars (especially before the company was sold to washburn) the latest "P" series (korea/indonesia) are vastly inferior to the previous korean made parker models. I'm actually not as impressed by the Washburn American Parkers (made in Illinois  ) as I was the original Parker's made in Pennsylvania when Ken Parker owned the company.

[Xenicus]

I have found that guitars like the higher end models that the price does not reflect the sound. I have a cheap acoustic guitar that I love the sound. If I put a studio mic in front of it the sound is amazing. As far as electrics go, If the guitar plays nice and feels good, replace the pickups and get the sound you want. I've seen garbage guitars turned into incredible sounds just by replacing the pickups, caps, resistors, and wiring. It also has a lot to do with the player.

Brian  

[TapperMike]

All guitars have to be set up. Even big name guitars often get the finishing touches at a guitar shop. It's a shame really but it keeps the tech busy between repairs and mods. This is why even though I know how to do basic setup I prefer buying a guitar from a brick and mortar store as opposed to online. 

 

My three online guitar purchases..

Rondo, SX Tele.  The body looks outstanding. the wiring was correct.  The setup was hell.The frets were neither polished nor dressed. (scrapy feel frets extend past the fretboard) The nut wasn't correctly aligned, the intonation and action was off. and the frets were (are) uneven and now.... the neck is warped (not just bowed) I know how to do the gutter basics but nothing fixes a warped neck. the most one can do is replace it or raise the action. About the only thing I really still like is the body.  If I ever have the money I'll turn it into a partscaster at a guitar store because I lack the patience to do what I want done.

 

My Raven West 450

The frets needed a little polishing and that was it.  This was a direct from factory purchase. It was set up and... In tune when I pulled it out of the box. All I had to do was play it a little to polish up the frets.

 

The Parker.

My God this thing was perfect out of the box. I have never played a new or used guitar with the attention to detail inside or out like it. It's absolutely stunning for a guitar made anywhere in the universe.

 

Now here's the odd part. No matter how well a no brand or lesser brand guitar is fixed up it will not increase in value. And if you buy guitars as an investment you cannot change the pickups/wiring or any other features of the guitar. As soon as you do it loses any resell value.