Members soundcreation Posted August 19, 2012 Members Share Posted August 19, 2012 So anybody actually play the higher end Waldens to know if this guy is full of it or not? Yes....as I said before I almost bought a G3000. Very nice guitar. Ebony fret board, solid top and sides. Projected very nicely. I just try to not support chinese manufacturing as much as possible...I was able to find a used Yairi instead. Better guitar and cheaper so it was an easy choice for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted August 19, 2012 Members Share Posted August 19, 2012 Well I just want to know if a higher end Walden can actually compete with 1000-2000 dollar Martins and Taylors. Basically the guy is stating in that snippet that his guitars are built on par with other companies and aren't your "standard" Chinese guitar. They probably do compete as lower end Martins and taylors aren't particularly good bang for the buck. I used to visit a music store with lots of Martins and they were great high up ($$$) but shockingly ordinary around the price point you mention. Also the cheaper Taylors don't impress me much. My point was that no matter how decent his guitars are, his statements to convince us that they are better are ludicrous and I just hope that the guy is simply ignorant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members foppy Posted August 19, 2012 Members Share Posted August 19, 2012 i don't know if words can express how over the whole "country of manufacture" thing i am Me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted August 19, 2012 Members Share Posted August 19, 2012 I won't hold it against you but you have the wide spread sentiment that Yamaha acoustics are good cheap guitars that don't compare to the like of taylors or martins. Do you know how much an L-86 cost before the options come in? $12,000. They don't bother to offer them to the american market. ...I admire the technology involved in the Taylor factory with computer driven tools and pre-shaped parts that fit perfectly and are assembled using great tools that minimize errors. Smart way of doing things but the skills involved there by the "assemblers" couldn't be more different than the skills of the people building the hand made Yamaha acoustics. It's just a very different approach.I understand that. I was comparing Chinese-made Yamahas to American-made Taylors to make a point, that there are very few people at either company that could make a guitar from start to finish, and that the Chinese-made Yamahas probably see more human hands, and that there's no real magic required in making a great guitar. The high end Yamahas seemingly come from a boutique shop, where people do know how to make guitars from start to finish, but honestly, having seen Taylor's processes and the resulting guitar, I think I prefer precision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted August 19, 2012 Members Share Posted August 19, 2012 Walden are nice, I used to have one. A lot of guitar for the money. That other stuff the owner is sayingI am not sure if I agree with.I think in this day and age, almost any guitar above $200 can be said to bring "a lot of guitar for the money." We can choose to be more demanding now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted August 19, 2012 Members Share Posted August 19, 2012 I understand that. I was comparing Chinese-made Yamahas to American-made Taylors to make a point, that there are very few people at either company that could make a guitar from start to finish, and that the Chinese-made Yamahas probably see more human hands, and that there's no real magic required in making a great guitar. The high end Yamahas seemingly come from a boutique shop, where people do know how to make guitars from start to finish, but honestly, having seen Taylor's processes and the resulting guitar, I think I prefer precision. Yes, I imagine all major makers have employees doing a specific job (maybe rotating a bit so they don't go insane). It was the case for Larriv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PeaveyPlayer Posted August 19, 2012 Members Share Posted August 19, 2012 I own two SX GG1's, they are great guitars. Both made in China. Now I am not going to do something stupid and say they are as good as an American made Gibson Les Paul, they aren't. The build quallity in both of my GG1's are excellent. I have owned these guitars for almost 10 years and they look and sound as great as day 1. I bought the first one and was blown away with the sound. The second I bought to modify. I can't do it, it sounds that sweet. The GG1's lack in electronics. I am not saying this is bad but not as hot as American made. The stock pickups have a slightly darker tone, maybe mellow is a better word to describe them. I was really surprised at the tone these produce for such a low cost. These are great guitars to modify or leave stock. I would not trade either of these guitars for a LP, I would just have to buy one to add to the family. Do the eastern countries build quality guitars? In my opinion ...yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Danhedonia Posted August 19, 2012 Members Share Posted August 19, 2012 "All the Chinese need is time and the incentives to produce a quality guitar. I have no doubt that they already possess the skills needed." This, x 1,000. Right now, there is a MASSIVE incentive for anyone - and I mean anyone, right down to amateur collector-flippers - to toe the line that "US built is better." Because when that is no longer true, the bottom drops out of a big market, and a lot of people will lose wealth. Nobody is stupid enough to beat themselves with that length of pipe. But the notion that in a nation of over a billion people they lack the skills to make a good electric guitar .... yeah, okay. Cuz it's lots more complicated than building nuclear weapons? It's just silly. I'm hoping DocJeffery returns, because I'd really like his input on 2010-later Chinese vs. earlier stuff. What's really changed isn't the skills, it's the incentives. There are now a lot more incentives to build a good Chinese guitar than once there was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor49 Posted August 19, 2012 Members Share Posted August 19, 2012 I am going to Shanghai in a week or so and plan to see the Gibson plant in Qingdao.I know its not really what we are talking bout here but a first-hand look will be better for me than the usual "10 year old slaves under machine guns" rhetoric that goes with Chinese manufacture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundcreation Posted August 19, 2012 Members Share Posted August 19, 2012 I am going to Shanghai in a week or so and plan to see the Gibson plant in Qingdao.I know its not really what we are talking bout here but a first-hand look will be better for me than the usual "10 year old slaves under machine guns" rhetoric that goes with Chinese manufacture. Well....if you really want to get the truth..then you should try and somehow arrange private meetings with employees outside of the eyes of a factory "tour guide/manager" or whatever. Offer to take them out to dinner or something and see if they have any complaints about the working conditions in the factory. When I went to Guatemala that's what we had to do to find out conditions in garment factories. Cause obviously nobody is going to tell you the truth on a factory tour with the boss standing behind them. I would be really interested to know what you find out on your tour. I hope you'll post a thread about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cylon Posted August 20, 2012 Members Share Posted August 20, 2012 then go to TGP. haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PeaveyPlayer Posted August 20, 2012 Members Share Posted August 20, 2012 "All the Chinese need is time and the incentives to produce a quality guitar. I have no doubt that they already possess the skills needed."The eastern countries already have the ability to produce guitars of equal quality of major brands. They build to the specs given to them by the seller. It's just like a made in Mexico Fender. They are good guitars but the differences are in the bridge spacing, tuners, pickups, electronics, and the final finishing of the guitar. These guitars are made to sell in volume with cheaper labor and low overhead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrawnHeed Posted August 20, 2012 Members Share Posted August 20, 2012 China has produced top quality goods of all types for thousands of years longer than the USA has existed. They are now making and exporting stuff that Americans and Europeans want to buy. The good stuff they keep for themselves. This is the business model they copied from Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RUExp? Posted August 20, 2012 Members Share Posted August 20, 2012 I had a Walden guitar but I got rid of it because my $100 Epiphone played and sounded better. Edit: I was wrong. The guitar I had was a Wechter. Apologies to Walden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grunge782 Posted August 20, 2012 Members Share Posted August 20, 2012 I had a Walden guitar but I got rid of it because my $100 Epiphone played and sounded better. What model Walden was this though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hubert Stumblin Posted August 20, 2012 Members Share Posted August 20, 2012 I can't speak much toward what the guy in the article is all about. I think he's just trying to hype his product and picked some rather badly thought out ways of expressing himself. I do own a Korean made guitar and a Chinese made guitar. I also own a couple American made guitars. But I've decided that if I'm going to buy anymore guitars I want to try to buy American made instruments. My main rational being that hopefully my one little purchace adds to enough others that it helps to keep somebody in this country employed. Hopefully, I won't give into some GAS for some of the perfectly fine playing/sounding guitars out there made overseas. MUST....RESIST....TEH GAS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor49 Posted August 21, 2012 Members Share Posted August 21, 2012 I can't speak much toward what the guy in the article is all about. I think he's just trying to hype his product and picked some rather badly thought out ways of expressing himself. I do own a Korean made guitar and a Chinese made guitar. I also own a couple American made guitars. But I've decided that if I'm going to buy anymore guitars I want to try to buy American made instruments. My main rational being that hopefully my one little purchace adds to enough others that it helps to keep somebody in this country employed. Hopefully, I won't give into some GAS for some of the perfectly fine playing/sounding guitars out there made overseas. MUST....RESIST....TEH GAS! good man. tell your friends. the best way to improve an economy is to use it, not to try to destroy someone else's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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