Members Badside Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 Cheap imported hardware... The tremolo arm threaded extension just broke into the block, no way to get it out. Oh well, I'm getting a brand new guitar (ok, the guitar WAS brand new). Hope the replacement holds better. If the replacement also breaks, I'm getting an upgraded trem. I love the guitar to death, I have no interest in the American Std. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 [video=youtube;WBgh7dIIXqE] 0:29 to 0:39 is relevant and the rest is still fun. Sometimes I think I should invest in a set of those "easy outs" for life's little broken threaded shafts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lincoln40 Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 Cheap imported hardware... The tremolo arm threaded extension just broke into the block, no way to get it out. Oh well, I'm getting a brand new guitar (ok, the guitar WAS brand new). Hope the replacement holds better. If the replacement also breaks, I'm getting an upgraded trem. I love the guitar to death, I have no interest in the American Std. That's no surprise. Whenever a guitar is cheap like that its because some costs are being cut by putting in cheaper material. Thats why I laugh when people are on here claiming their $200 Agile is equal to or better than a $2000 Gibson or PRS. They make look the same but that cheap copy is not made of the same materials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members diceman1000 Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 That's no surprise. Whenever a guitar is cheap like that its because some costs are being cut by putting in cheaper material. Thats why I laugh when people are on here claiming their $200 Agile is equal to or better than a $2000 Gibson or PRS. They make look the same but that cheap copy is not made of the same materials. and Jimi, Clapton, SRV... any of the greats could play a Daphan Strat copy through a Gorilla amp and still sound {censored}ing amazing:o... i've played a few Gibsons, Fenders, and PRSi... they felt great and sounded great, but they were in no way, shape, or form $1000's better than anything i already own... now, when you get into uber cheap, well yeah, that's what it is is junk. but, i'd pit a high end ($600-$800) Cort or Greg Bennette by Samick against about anything... yes, there are major differences in hardware, electronics, and pickups... but the thing about that is that you can drop $300-$600 on an X brand cheapie, upgrade the bad stuff, and still be under the $3000-$6000 it costs for a comparable "name brand"... and don't givr me the "wood" lecture either. i've seen and heard plywood guitars that played and sounded phenomenal... to the OP... sorry to hear about your trem bud... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scolfax Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 Cheap imported hardware... The tremolo arm threaded extension just broke into the block, no way to get it out. Oh well, I'm getting a brand new guitar (ok, the guitar WAS brand new). Hope the replacement holds better. If the replacement also breaks, I'm getting an upgraded trem. I love the guitar to death, I have no interest in the American Std. Sux! Wonder if that's covered under warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Badside Posted December 4, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 Sux! Wonder if that's covered under warranty. Guitar is 6 days old, I'm getting a new one as soon as it comes in (didn't have the same model in stock)I did notice the arm was "wobbly" no matter how much it was screwed in, I figured it was a limitation of this old-school design (even though I've had many screw-in arms that didn't do that). Now I'm thinking it the thing was defective from the get go. I hope the replacement is good I really love this guitar, it's everything I want in a Strat. But I've played some where QC was really dubious, like a nut cut so bad that the high-E string keeps falling off. Not a big deal to fix, but it's impossible not to notice it when playing it. How did that one go out the door? It waters down the "Made in USA" label a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BadDaddy Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 That's no surprise. Whenever a guitar is cheap like that its because some costs are being cut by putting in cheaper material. Thats why I laugh when people are on here claiming their $200 Agile is equal to or better than a $2000 Gibson or PRS. They make look the same but that cheap copy is not made of the same materials. I also laugh when people think that just because a manufacturer spends and additional $20 on materials that a guitar is worth an additional $1000. Gotta love marketing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bobtec Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 Thats why I make my own Kit guitars.There are a few real good places to buy body and necks hefner,warmoth,are two. Being left handed I go into GC and theres only 2 2nd with broken knobs ect.I buy good laquer paint fron reranch good pups bridge,ect.Now I laugh when I see a $6,000 Custom shop that takes 1 year to get.One month of waiting for the paint to dry.I have really nice Tele and strats All for less then $600.00 and 4 hrs of total time.I spent around $200. on good guitar tools Nut saws,books, files most of the tools I got from www.stew-mac.com and the rest from ace,and Lowes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fireproof777 Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 That's no surprise. Whenever a guitar is cheap like that its because some costs are being cut by putting in cheaper material. Thats why I laugh when people are on here claiming their $200 Agile is equal to or better than a $2000 Gibson or PRS. They make look the same but that cheap copy is not made of the same materials. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lincoln40 Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 I also laugh when people think that just because a manufacturer spends and additional $20 on materials that a guitar is worth an additional $1000. Gotta love marketing. I would say it comes down to more than just $20 on materials, you are exagerating. Beware budget guitars: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2572329-Severe-Agile-PS-970-Amber-Problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fu2jobu Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 I would say it comes down to more than just $20 on materials, you are exagerating. Beware budget guitars:http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2572329-Severe-Agile-PS-970-Amber-Problem Beware more expensive guitars - http://www.myguitarbuddies.com/problems-in-buying-a-new-gibson-sg-standard-4902.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashasha Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 A higher price doesn't always ensure higher quality, but cheap stuff pretty much puts a definite limit on what just how much you can invest into manufacturing and that does effect the final product. It's not a dig or anything like that; it's simple logic. People sometimes charge an arm and a leg for the label on the headstock and some people are willing to pay that premium, but usually only because there has been a proven track record that has shown in the past that they can make a product worthy of that price to those buyers. Doesn't mean that everyone's definition of value is the same. That's why there are so many different successful manufacturers at so many price points. There are a lot of reasons for such a huge disparity in prices of guitars and you have to decide whether those reasons are justified. Telling other people they are right or wrong or even whether a guitar is better than another is pretty much like saying "I like the color blue better than green so you suck". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluesguitar65 Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 Cheap imported hardware... The tremolo arm threaded extension just broke into the block, no way to get it out. Oh well, I'm getting a brand new guitar (ok, the guitar WAS brand new). Hope the replacement holds better. If the replacement also breaks, I'm getting an upgraded trem. I love the guitar to death, I have no interest in the American Std. Is the hardware in the American Standard Strat made of imported parts? Or all are made in USA? Hell, even the electronic parts, like caps, resistors, pots, IC and etc are mostly made in China....so what is not made in China these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lincoln40 Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 Is the hardware in the American Standard Strat made of imported parts? Or all are made in USA? Hell, even the electronic parts, like caps, resistors, pots, IC and etc are mostly made in China....so what is not made in China these days? Prove it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BadDaddy Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 I would say it comes down to more than just $20 on materials, you are exagerating. Beware budget guitars:http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2572329-Severe-Agile-PS-970-Amber-Problem No, I'm not exaggerating. The price difference between quality parts, and imported parts isn't that much at the point of manufacture. The biggest expense in manufacturing a production guitar is the factory time, not the materials, though every penny saved in manufacturing adds up. BTW, the vendors who supply parts to Fender can vary from month to month, depending on who met the price point for the specifications required at the time. You have posted that link before, which is actually a pretty good case for buying budget guitars. I mean, a guy buys a guitar for $200, finds that it's his no.1 instrument for gigging, and has the scarf joint fail after nearly 5 years. Not a bad investment, wouldn't you agree? It's not like expensive guitars never have failures:http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101013133010AASBCaLhttp://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=420119http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-542199.htmlhttp://www.tdpri.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-168520.html Well, you get the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kayd_mon Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 A guy once said something to the effect of "Why pay more for a USA Fender, which is made in California by Mexican immigrants, when you can pay less for a Mexican Fender made by Mexican nationals?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DukeOfBoom Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 Cheap imported hardware... The tremolo arm threaded extension just broke into the block, no way to get it out. Oh well, I'm getting a brand new guitar (ok, the guitar WAS brand new). Hope the replacement holds better. If the replacement also breaks, I'm getting an upgraded trem. I love the guitar to death, I have no interest in the American Std. same thing happened to me quite some time ago. fender wouldn't replace it either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members headless Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 Cheap imported hardware...The tremolo arm threaded extension just broke into the block, no way to get it out.... There are ways... But if you're getting a replacement, then it's a moot point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gmac Posted December 4, 2010 Members Share Posted December 4, 2010 Cheap imported hardware... The tremolo arm threaded extension just broke into the block, no way to get it out. Oh well, I'm getting a brand new guitar (ok, the guitar WAS brand new). Hope the replacement holds better. If the replacement also breaks, I'm getting an upgraded trem. I love the guitar to death, I have no interest in the American Std. Same happened to me once - you can drill it out of the block. Not worth the hassle though if they are replacing it. Is the American special the same as the Highway 1 (C shaped neck, jumbo frets, greasebucket circuit, etc) - bar the pickups and the finish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lincoln40 Posted December 5, 2010 Members Share Posted December 5, 2010 No, I'm not exaggerating. The price difference between quality parts, and imported parts isn't that much at the point of manufacture. The biggest expense in manufacturing a production guitar is the factory time, not the materials, though every penny saved in manufacturing adds up. BTW, the vendors who supply parts to Fender can vary from month to month, depending on who met the price point for the specifications required at the time. You have posted that link before, which is actually a pretty good case for buying budget guitars. I mean, a guy buys a guitar for $200, finds that it's his no.1 instrument for gigging, and has the scarf joint fail after nearly 5 years. Not a bad investment, wouldn't you agree? It's not like expensive guitars never have failures:http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101013133010AASBCaLhttp://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=420119http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-542199.htmlhttp://www.tdpri.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-168520.html Well, you get the idea. And how do you know this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brewski Posted December 5, 2010 Members Share Posted December 5, 2010 That's no surprise. Whenever a guitar is cheap like that its because some costs are being cut by putting in cheaper material. Thats why I laugh when people are on here claiming their $200 Agile is equal to or better than a $2000 Gibson or PRS. They make look the same but that cheap copy is not made of the same materials. you know I could not disagree with you any more. Except for the wonderful woods PRS selects for their guitars they cut corners on the hardware as well. Why lese would a $3500.00 guitar that is so beautiful have plastic pickup rings and a five position selector knob that just has a volume knob on it? No the cost is expense for making it here in America where everyone has to make $80K a year even the sander and pickup installer. With that said some of the hardware is better but an additional $250.00 on the $200.00 and you can replace every single piece of hardware on that cheapo guitar with quality parts and your own persoanl pickup poreference versus stock. As far as the Agile thing goes - I have a PRS, I prefer my Agiles and my $250.00 Ibanez RG320DXQM for tone and abusability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Badside Posted December 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2010 Thats why I make my own Kit guitars.There are a few real good places to buy body and necks hefner,warmoth,are two. Being left handed I go into GC and theres only 2 2nd with broken knobs ect.I buy good laquer paint fron reranch good pups bridge,ect.Now I laugh when I see a $6,000 Custom shop that takes 1 year to get.One month of waiting for the paint to dry.I have really nice Tele and strats All for less then $600.00 and 4 hrs of total time.I spent around $200. on good guitar tools Nut saws,books, files most of the tools I got from www.stew-mac.com and the rest from ace,and Lowes. Funny you mention this, there's another Strat hanging in my kitchen right now, curing. The neck is on its way and should arrive by the end of the week. However, this is stuff I got for cheap of Kijiji and eBay. There's no way I could build the equivalent of my American Special for the same price once you add in shipping and taxes (I'm in Canada), especially with the Texas Special pickups (my favorite Strat pickups). Regarding the little cheap vs expensive argument going on here, I find it interesting cause I sold a more expensive G&L Legacy Special to pay for the American Special. The G&L was much higher quality, but didn't have quite the sonic complexity, it sounded "hard" and cold. Also, I recently sold my Gibson Les Paul Standard, arguably the best exemple of paying tons of cash for the name of the headstock. I got a Yamaha RGX520FZ (similar to a Ibby SZ, and I say this as a former owner of a Prestige SZ) to replace that one live. In every way, the Yammy feels much cheaper, the finish on the back of the neck feels like plastic, the bridge is cheap light metal, the pickups are on the thin side, there is no way this guitar gets the same complex voice as the Gibson. But damn, I love this guitar! Feels so great, and the weight is perfect! The pickups might be on the thin side, but at least I'm not constantly fighting them for a percussive clean tone like the LP. And the upper fret access is so much better. Finally a guitar I can just forget about when I'm playing and concentrate on my performance. Each type of guitar has its market. I love a good cheapo for live use. But next time I'm in the studio, the Yamaha is not even coming with me, I'll be using my bandmate's LP for those tracks. The American Special Strat however IS coming with me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GilmourD Posted December 5, 2010 Members Share Posted December 5, 2010 I did notice the arm was "wobbly" no matter how much it was screwed in, I figured it was a limitation of this old-school design (even though I've had many screw-in arms that didn't do that). Now I'm thinking it the thing was defective from the get go. Sounds like the store gave you the wrong arm. I've seen that happen before when putting an arm with a thinner threaded area into a block with a slightly larger thread. You're putting more stress on the arm in a specific spot rather than spreading it over the entire threaded area, so it breaks. The fix is actually probably easy. Remove the strings, undo the three screws holding the block onto the bridge plate, and there's probably a bit of the threaded section of the arm sticking out of the hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aliensporebomb Posted December 5, 2010 Members Share Posted December 5, 2010 Wow, were you whammying the hell out of it like it was a Floyd Rose? I've never heard of that happening. Surprising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spike Li Posted December 5, 2010 Members Share Posted December 5, 2010 Cheap imported hardware... The tremolo arm threaded extension just broke into the block, no way to get it out. Oh well, I'm getting a brand new guitar (ok, the guitar WAS brand new). Hope the replacement holds better. If the replacement also breaks, I'm getting an upgraded trem. I love the guitar to death, I have no interest in the American Std. I always thought that Fenders were cheap to make cause they were designed that way - ie CNC neck, CNC body, dip both in poly, bolt together, screw on pickguard with pickups already installed, charge thousands of dollars! As for the cheap vs expensive debate.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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