Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.
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Stephen_42
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Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by Stephen_42 » Sat Jan 18, 2020 8:40 am

Never heard of this brand before. But it looks cool, it's only £200, and the specs (alder body, roasted maple neck) seem a lot more high end than you'd usually expect at that price point. I also like how it's clearly Jag/JM inspired, but it seems to have its own look going on rather than trying to be a knock off of something else.

Presumably they've saved costs elsewhere, but seems an ideal modding platform at the very least:

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-B ... iwVDJu2cVA

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dadsoda
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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by dadsoda » Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:02 am

I would love to try playing that cigar burst vibrato.

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marqueemoon
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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by marqueemoon » Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:25 am

Ugly.

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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by HNB » Sat Jan 18, 2020 10:47 am

Would be fun to mod. I would change the guards and maybe put a vibramate bigsby on it or something.
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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by LVC » Sat Jan 18, 2020 12:45 pm

Hmm. Set neck, too. Block markers. And all that binding. Yeah, you have to wonder what corners were cut to meet that price point.

For some reason that split block at the 12th fret looks super cool.

Shit. Now I kinda want one in shell pink (sorry, "strawberry milkshake").

EDIT: took a closer look and I'm starting to see where corners were cut. Look at the binding on the end of the fretboard.

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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by Unicorn Warrior » Sat Jan 18, 2020 3:59 pm

LVC wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 12:45 pm
Hmm. Set neck, too. Block markers. And all that binding. Yeah, you have to wonder what corners were cut to meet that price point.

For some reason that split block at the 12th fret looks super cool.

Shit. Now I kinda want one in shell pink (sorry, "strawberry milkshake").

EDIT: took a closer look and I'm starting to see where corners were cut. Look at the binding on the end of the fretboard.

Image
I mean, it’s only $200 though. I think they look pretty cool. I’ve seen American Gibsons with this

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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by JVG » Sun Jan 19, 2020 2:40 am

I like the basic shape and style, but the close-up shots look a bit shit. The blockiness of the body, budget contours, paintwork around the neck, cheap looking hardware. But yeah, for the price maybe it’s worth it?

J.

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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by jvin248 » Sun Jan 19, 2020 5:40 am

.

It hits all the common popular upgrades players do or seek in guitars:
roasted maple neck for stability
locking tuners
set neck
painted matching headstock

Swap the controls (pots caps switch jack) and get either a setup or full fret level and you'll have a guitar that will be an easy player and can be a workhorse for years. The fret level, which is only $50 more than a pro setup, is the best value mod in the world and can make starter guitars play like custom shop (or whatever skill level the fret tech is at). Pickup tone output is heavily tweaked by the controls; I used to swap pickups until I figured out that $30 in all those parts mean as much tone shift as $300 in boutique pickups. I do swap pickups if shifting pickup styles like from HBs to P90s or Filtertrons or Gold foils or whatever.

The difference with these types of guitars is they are selling more or less direct from the factory, no price doubling at the Distributor and no additional price doubling at the Retailer.

.

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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Sun Jan 19, 2020 7:42 am

I never liked pointy headstocks - but somehow I find these really cool! Especially the Strawberry Milkshake one! Bindings are always a welcome extra!
As already mentioned check the electronics (pickups to taste) and the hardware (maybe give it a Les Trem) and have fun! :)

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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:34 am

I don't see any reason why a baked maple neck would be more expensive than a neck that was maple but finished over. It's not exactly an exorbitant technique or anything.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by vistavision » Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:13 am

jvin248 wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 5:40 am
roasted maple neck for stability
I'm probably not up on the roasted maple thing, but, could you explain?
I'm sure some Fender dealer in '64 looked at the new Duo-Sonic II and thought, "That's not a Duo-Sonic. That's a Mustang".

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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by Danley » Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:32 am

Damn. Even I like the Hartwood; for the price, this might occur.
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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by Mechanical Birds » Sun Jan 19, 2020 4:00 pm

Looks a lot nicer than £200 holy crap

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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Jan 19, 2020 4:25 pm

Yeah, a lot of times when I look at entry level guitars of these days I think, man, I wish that could have been my first guitar. They're so much better than they used to be.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

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Re: Roasted maple on a budget guitar?

Post by HNB » Sun Jan 19, 2020 4:28 pm

The gap between higher end and low end guitars has gotten a lot closer as time goes forward in my opinion. Pretty cool to be able to pay $200 and with a little bit of work have a really solid guitar. The more expensive high end guitars I try out, the less impressed I am for the price you pay. I can't see spending over a grand on guitars anymore myself. If it is more then that, I just make my own version with all the parts I want.
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