General opinions on high-end JM clones?

[Unicorn Warrior]

You couldn't pay me to play a Suhr.

I guess I fall in with the consensus here, that the quilt top JM clones are for midlife crisis guys with no taste. And that Squiers and Epiphones can be plenty good.

I used to think this way as well. I used to think that Parker Flys were ridiculous overpriced rich person guitars. Then I played one. The experience was nothing like I anticipated. The ergonomics and playability were absolutely unrivaled by anything else I had played. Now, I still don’t own it because I couldn’t justify the price. But, if I had the means it would have been mine.

I feel like these quilted guitars probably fall in the same category. Much of the time they’re high quality builds. They’re just not made with everyone in mind. And yes, they may seem tacky. But to someone they’re going to be the right fit. If the person enjoys it and has the means that’s all that matters. Will I judge them for it? Probably, but that’s my problem not theirs

[losador]

Get one of those Squier affinity ones and upgrade the hardware or something! Nah, the blokes in the band would laugh at the logo. But then again, I would far rather gig with my 1986 Squier Tele that I bought new and havegradually wrecked overthe years than a brand-ne 'road-worn' fake like a Nash or Fender CS.

Does anyone still think Squiers and Epiphones are shameful to gig with? When I was 12 years old I dreamed my Squier said "Fender" on the headstock, but once I could actually afford Fenders I was more worried about getting a nice guitar stolen at a gig than I was about how appealing the guitar would be to others.

Maybe it's the circles I run in, but all the actual gigging musicians I know or play with bring their cheaper guitars to small gigs. At bigger venues or tours where there's someone else to watch their stuff it's different, but that wasn't the majority of gigs for most folks I know personally. I've only got two friends I can think of who have been doing those kinds of shows in the year leading up to the pandemic.

There is still a lot of snobbery amongst guitarists... possibly not so much those who have grown up with Squier and Epiphone 'copies' of the Big Brands. I remember one time at work (a school music department) when I had my early 80's Westone Rainbow semi with me and the visiting guitar teacher saw it; after an initial start of excitement he commented rather sneeringly: "Oh, I thought it was a real one!" to which I replied "it is a real one - a real Westone" but he just scoffed. He later delightedly showed me his latest purchase, a vintage Gibson ES-125... I remained unimpressed!

I think much of the customer base for these high-end 'copies' is the well-off, middle-aged male professional who plays the occasional gig doing un-ironic covers of 'Sultans Of Swing'. Not that I'm stereotyping at all

To me, it really boils down to peoples' intents.. like is your aim to try to create something, or maybe you get the best out if what you have at any time be it a 10 grand 60s Jag or a 300 dollar squire (constraints leading to creativity and all that to be considered too) but also finding the character of something no matter what guitar it is, or do you simply want to have the 'best' guitar, whatever that means? There are loads of great artists who use real high end guitars, and loads of great ones who don't!

[Tafarel]

You couldn't pay me to play a Suhr.

I guess I fall in with the consensus here, that the quilt top JM clones are for midlife crisis guys with no taste. And that Squiers and Epiphones can be plenty good.

The headstock on Suhr's is a complete turnoff -- it looks half-born, as if they started to think of something decent and just gave up midway. It looks like a failed can-opener to my eyes.

I've played a Nash JM at the local mom & pop shop. It had the most unrealistic wear on it, and at $2300 left me unimpressed, as there were a few Fender AmPro's and others sitting nearby that were significantly less, played and sounded just as good or better.

The quilt top thing leaves me cold, as well. Whenever I go to the aforementioned shop there are a bunch of middle-age crisis gangsters with too much money drooling over the latest quilty or flame, or whatever. I don't even care for sunburst, or tort -- I like paint, I guess. To each their own, however.

[blunderbuss]

The quilt top thing leaves me cold, as well. Whenever I go to the aforementioned shop there are a bunch of middle-age crisis gangsters with too much money drooling over the latest quilty or flame, or whatever. I don't even care for sunburst, or tort -- I like paint, I guess. To each their own, however.

Aside from the comment on tort I totally agree here. I've never been able to look at flamed tops without anything but mild disdain. The only bursts I can really take are classic strats and my MP Starcaster. But I think that's mostly down to the strat having been my first real guitar that I saved up and payed for as a kiddo. I'd never play it, but wish I still had it tbh. The MP Starcaster just has this whole like dumb 70s vibe thing I dig and I just really like that guitar. Really need to put "real" WRHB in it.

People do things for a myriad of reasons and I guess 2020 has just changed my mind on a lot of stuff. Honestly these days I'm more in line with, "whatever gets you through the day" without a ton of judgement.

[SignoftheDragon]

Flame maple tops: I'm usually not terribly impressed, but I've seen a few that have wowed me- even owned a couple Surfcasters with nice flame tops that I wouldn't mind having back in the stable. Just depends how the whole thing comes together IMHO. The whole "General rule vs. exception" thing applies well here.

Suhr guitars in general: Definitely in the 'dad' guitar category for me. I've played two strat/superstrat style Suhrs in my life, but just because the shop I was visiting had several on the wall (some little house-turned-guitar-shop in Austin, TX.) Honestly I wasn't impressed, but I wasn't really expecting to be. Probably decent (even great) guitars, just definitely not the kind I would spec, buy, play, or even noodle with TBH. If they ever make a 12-string I'll be sure to try it out.

I also don't hold much with the cloners & relic-doods: Nash, Danocaster, etc. have some beautiful instruments to drool over online, But I'd spring that kind of cash on a true vintage example that needed some work before any offerings I've seen.

Boutique builders: Here is where I've had great stuff done- someone who knows what I want, and can make it reality. BiLt. Texas Toast. Rhoney. Maybe even Fender Custom Shop (though I'd go through any of the former first.) Alternately, a builder 'trying their hand at an (JM, Jag, FEXII, whatever)-style build' can impress me as well.

In short, I'll pass on the "high-end" guitars- I don't trust that they are worth the asking price. Unless it's a build specifically for me. Basically paying someone to build it the way I want it.

If you want a JM, start with a real JM.

[Ceylon]

These kinds of guitars always either end up with jazz fusion players and classic rock cover players, i.e. the people who either want a guitar that helps them go the extra mile or the ones that want something flashy to legitimise what they are doing.

Which, you know, one of those groups would not be into high-end boutique guitars if they weren't great instruments. But I think the natural evolution of, say, the Strat into the Superstrat came from the increasing demands of the genre with which it was most associated, i.e. rock. The Strat was dragged through the tackiest depths of the 80's and adapted to survive in a way that offsets never had to.

Offsets were never really a part of that, so to kind of force them into that corner of aesthetics and functionality probably creates an instrument that is great but lacks roots. The Bilt guitars reflect those roots better and some other designs reflect the kinds of mods and evolutions people made to their offsets to meet the changing demands of their genres, i.e. punk, surf, indie, shoegaze, ambient, grunge, noise and experimental.

Which isn't to say that a Suhr JM with a quilt maple top and see-through indigo finish, two-point Strat trem, bridge humbucker and two Strat single coils is in any way wrong, nor should anyone be offended by it, but I think it explains why that seems more off to most of us than, say, a Jazzmaster with a humbucker duct-taped inbetween the JM single coils, covered in stickers and with three extra mystery knobs added to it.

[marqueemoon]

Whenever I see something like a Tom Anderson or Suhr offset my first thought is those guitars are for hired gun players who are used to superstrats but the look required for the the gig is a little edgier. That or they’re for playing at “cool” churches.

[CivoLee]

Some of us might want to be careful about how we throw around terms like "middle-aged" and "classic rock", given that anyone old enough to remember groups like Nirvana, Sonic Youth and the Cure when they were considered "current" music are in or quickly approaching their 40s, and the kind of music that made offsets popular is old enough to be considered "classic rock" in some circles

[mackerelmint]

The headstock on Suhr's is a complete turnoff -- it looks half-born, as if they started to think of something decent and just gave up midway. It looks like a failed can-opener to my eyes.

Suhr's headstock is ugly and so is their logo. Just as ugly as sin.

[HarlowTheFish]

The headstock on Suhr's is a complete turnoff -- it looks half-born, as if they started to think of something decent and just gave up midway. It looks like a failed can-opener to my eyes.

Suhr's headstock is ugly and so is their logo. Just as ugly as sin.

Okay I'll give you that the beak-looking one isn't great, but the Hybrid with a color-matching swoosh looks pretty sweet.

[Larsongs]

It's hard for me to justify paying more for a Boutique Guitar than I would for the high end version of the Original.

That said, if I want it Spec'd unlike what the OEM can or will produce it makes sense...

[Meriphew]

For the price I'd much rather just buy a nice used Fender AVRI and maybe swap pickups and put on a Mastery or Staytrem.

[Loobster]

They do nothing for me and are worlds apart from Fender Jazzmasters, in basically every way. I think they have zero vibe and are completely uninspiring; perfect, yes, but uninspiring.

In fact they look pretty ugly, generally, esp. Suhr/Anderson. The headstocks are terrible.

[triviani]

Some of us might want to be careful about how we throw around terms like "middle-aged" and "classic rock", given that anyone old enough to remember groups like Nirvana, Sonic Youth and the Cure when they were considered "current" music are in or quickly approaching their 40s, and the kind of music that made offsets popular is old enough to be considered "classic rock" in some circles

Indeed . Because, you like it or not, grunge may look old in the eyes of a 2020 teen.

I wonder what are the “cool” guitars for these days teens, in the case there are any left playing guitar and not a Digitakt.

[CivoLee]

I wonder what are the “cool” guitars for these days teens, in the case there are any left playing guitar and not a Digitakt.

I feel like most newer music - including alternative "rock" - that isn't hearkening back to an earlier era *cough* Greta Van Fleet *cough* is played on "live music production tools" like Abelton Push and Akai MPCs, but those who do play guitar are gravitating toward brands like Schecter. They have a couple of offsets, like the Spitfire and Hellcat (though that comes in Bass VI configuration only now).