nanobug

I guess it depends on perspective. A few years ago, a roommate left me stuck with $600 worth of bills/rent. Entirely his own stupid fault, he decided hanging out with his control-freak girlfriend was more important than working or paying bills. I kicked him out. He owned a bass guitar that he didn't know how to play, and he left it along with some other things that he intended to pick up later. I sold it for $50 to the guy who taught me to play. I didn't own it, but posession is 9/10ths and he owed me money so I don't really consider it theft.

overrated: your opinion underrated: my opinion

I spend my weekend camping in Hershey, Pa. Last night, it was 32 degrees. No campfire. No campfire boozing. 7:30 this morning, our water was shut off. It was kinda slushy according to the campground security. We went with our motor home. I did the tent thing many years ago. I'm too much of a {censored} to do that now. Anyway, we went to the Harrisburg, Pa GC. Nothing said go into a 12 month pay off deal for me. They did have this PRS Starla in the ugliest color blue I have ever seen. It was close to Fender's 1980 Maui Blue. It'll probably be worth a fortune 30 years from now. The Harrisburg, PA GC is pretty weak. The acoustic room is alright, but otherwise it's underwhelming. Most of the electric guitars are beat, and their prices aren't all that great. If I'd have known you were freezing your ass off in Hershey last weekend I would have swung by to say hello and brought some booze along. I live 20 minutes away, in Lebanon.

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Personally I just pay no attention to the label. I shop by the quality of woods used, feel of the neck, resonance of the body, and overall mojo of the guitar in relation to price. I think Fender/Squire quality control is all over the place and how good their guitars are depends on far too many variables to be simplified down to the country of origin. How good your guitar is can be influenced by: What species of the specified tonewoods were used (there are 30 different species of Alder, around 60 species of Ash - five of which are commonly referred to as "Swamp Ash" despite being different species from different geographic locations) How old the tree was before being cut down How long the wood was dried The quality of the blank that the body was cut from, in regards to grain, density, whether it was cut from the outer or inner part of the tree, etc How many pieces the body was constructed from, how much glue was used What kind of finish and how heavily was it applied, how skilled the worker who applied it was and how many paint fumes they inadvertently inhaled Whether the person in the finishing room working the morning, afternoon, or late shift; Whether they just started their shift, were about to call it a day, counting down the minutes until lunch, completely overwhelmed all day long, or having a great day with minimal stress or pressure at the time of assembly. Same for the person who made the neck for the guitar in question, the person who wired the pickguard, and the quality control person who examined the finished product and signed off on it meeting their standards How rigorous those standards are combined with all mentioned concerns in relation to the price point of the product. Where the guitar was purchased, and whether it was exposed to any extreme variations of temperature, humidity or pressure in transit to the dealer/your shipping address. Whether the guitar was ever at any point in time in the possession of UPS before sale, or left unattended on the sales floor near a UPS agent while the sales person signed something, or otherwise within immediate striking range of a UPS employee. Whether the guitar was purchased at Guitar Center? Whether it was handled frequently by prospective buyers and bored teenagers before purchase, or sold as new in box? What kind of tolerances are the pots rated for? How close to or far away from the rating are they? How long were the electronics and hardware sitting before being installed, and what kind of temperatures and humidity were they exposed to? What year was the guitar made? Were there any layoffs that year? Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do you? Aside from all of that, what makes a good guitar has a lot more to do with the quality of the woods used, the routing and contours, how well the neck fits into the pocket, how resonant the body is and the quality of the finish of both the neck and body. Everything else comes down to personal preference and features. I can rock out every bit as good with crappy Squier Affinity tuners as I can with the tuners on my MIM, pickups are very subjective and one man's holy grail is another man's garbage, the quality of the switches pots and wiring is highly variable across the entire range of Fender guitars to the point of being insignificant, bridge style and fret size depend on preference. Unless the neck is visibly warped, will need completely re-fretted, or has an obvious truss rod issue I don't even take action, intonation, buzzing or the nut into consideration because more often than not a few hours of work can sort those things right out and I've yet to find a Fender nut that didn't need replaced right out of the box.