Buying a guitar from one of those Chinese sellers.

666irishguy

Anybody got any experience of buying off the Chinese sites that sell those copies at ridiculous prices? Whats the deal with bringing one into the country tax wise? I am just curious as to what the finished product is like or does it even show up at all? I'm thinking of buying a Tele copy off one of them, for the simple reason that considering the actual simplicity of the Tele's construction it shouldn't be that hard to make a decent copy of the body and the neck. I'd be thinking of binning the hardware and electrics right away and stick in some good secondhand ones. I'm half considering doing it up to look like Keith Richards' one if I got hold of one. Would it be worth it?

Ravelleman

I would highly recommend not doing this. The quality will be much worse than a Squier or even an SX

Your plan is based on the mistaken assumption that not a lot can go wrong in building the guitar - it can.

Beyond low qualities ply woods, I'd also expect terrible fretwork, at the very least.

666irishguy

Ravelleman wrote: »

I would highly recommend not doing this. The quality will be much worse than a Squier or even an SX

Your plan is based on the mistaken assumption that not a lot can go wrong in building the guitar - it can.

Beyond low qualities ply woods, I'd also expect terrible fretwork, at the very least.

I'd say you are right on with regards to the possibility of poor quality, I wouldn't be under any illusions about what comes out of a factory in China. I was thinking more along the lines of there will be less wrong, and if it was anyway half decent I'd just get 2nd hand parts and leave in open G for messing around on. I am just curious to see if anybody on here has actually gotten one in the flesh. I've seen a lot about them on various forms and it seems to be very divided on just how bad or sometimes good they are.

martinedwards

SOME chinese guitars are perfectly playable.

BUT

these guys are flaunting copyright laws so that makes them crooks.

do you want to send money to a place in the world where there will be no comeback if the people you ALREADY KNOW ARE CROOKS decide to pocket your money and not send you anything?

if you want a cheap tele, buy a squier and give it a decent set up.

kahler

why buy something you cant play first..?

The Master

Friend was buying one so I got a double neck left hand strat added to the order.
As the price was so cheap I thought even if it was junk I could still make use of most of the parts........

The only usable parts were the strap buttons.

Really, really, really poorly made guitars.
I'm guessing mine was much worse as they were trying to copy left hand parts but the frets were not even spaced correctly.

All I can really say is if you have the money and are willing to risk it.....maybe

check out youtube for videos both good and bad

wild turkey

666irishguy wrote: »

I'm thinking of buying a Tele copy off one of them, for the simple reason that considering the actual simplicity of the Tele's construction it shouldn't be that hard to make a decent copy of the body and the neck. I'd be thinking of binning the hardware and electrics right away and stick in some good secondhand ones. I'm half considering doing it up to look like Keith Richards' one if I got hold of one. Would it be worth it?

Buy a Squier, strip it down & rebuild it as you want it
some of the Squier bodys & necks are very good quality & will be way better than the crap youll get from these cowbows

Better still get a classic vibe & just play it,
probably cost about the same!

Ravelleman

wild turkey wrote: »

Better still get a classic vibe & just play it,
probably cost about the same!

This.

wild turkey

I did stumble across this recently
Looks great if its actual pics of the copies
More than likely a pos

http://www.joeperryguitar.com/

666irishguy

wild turkey wrote: »

Buy a Squier, strip it down & rebuild it as you want it
some of the Squier bodys & necks are very good quality & will be way better than the crap youll get from these cowbows

Better still get a classic vibe & just play it,
probably cost about the same!

I'm thinking about that too, also thinking of a building a bit of a frankentele. I found a place in the states selling decent bodies for around 60 euro. http://www.guitarfetish.com/Tele-Style-Bodies_c_71.html
I could get hold of a neck off them too and then get second hand bits and bobs for it on this side of the pond.

666irishguy

The Master wrote: »

Friend was buying one so I got a double neck left hand strat added to the order.
As the price was so cheap I thought even if it was junk I could still make use of most of the parts........

The only usable parts were the strap buttons.

Really, really, really poorly made guitars.
I'm guessing mine was much worse as they were trying to copy left hand parts but the frets were not even spaced correctly.

All I can really say is if you have the money and are willing to risk it.....maybe

check out youtube for videos both good and bad

Hard to get any definitive answer about them from the web. Some lads are saying they are grand and others are saying you'd be better off stringing a plank. Do you mind me asking how much you paid for the Double Strat?

martinedwards

666irishguy wrote: »

I'm thinking about that too, also thinking of a building a bit of a frankentele. I found a place in the states selling decent bodies for around 60 euro. http://www.guitarfetish.com/Tele-Style-Bodies_c_71.html
I could get hold of a neck off them too and then get second hand bits and bobs for it on this side of the pond.

Guitar fetish are EXCELLENT.

dirt cheap and thier customer service is second to none.

Ravelleman

martinedwards wrote: »

thier customer service is second to none.

That's curious. I've seen repeated suggestions that their customer service isn't great. I have no direct experience though, I must admit.

The Master

666irishguy wrote: »

Hard to get any definitive answer about them from the web. Some lads are saying they are grand and others are saying you'd be better off stringing a plank. Do you mind me asking how much you paid for the Double Strat?

I think it was around €300 in total delivered

Ravelleman

The Master wrote: »

I think it was around €300 in total delivered

That's not even that cheap though!

The Master

Ravelleman wrote: »

That's not even that cheap though!

Celtic tiger time though, €300 was nothing really for a double neck back then.
A fool and his money etc..:D

wild turkey

Ive seen mexican teles going on adverts for less than €300

Ive ordered a few times from Guitar Fetish & have had no problems

I have one of their necks & they're good but it wont fit a tele exactly, had to sand & plane it to get it to fit
So id say buy the neck & body together
Shipping will probably not make it worthwhile though !
Ive been considering building a double cut les paul junior but cant seem to find a decent kit & dont have the time or patience to make the body & neck myself even though I've a shed full of tools & old mahogany

666irishguy

wild turkey wrote: »

Ive seen mexican teles going on adverts for less than €300

Ive ordered a few times from Guitar Fetish & have had no problems

I have one of their necks & they're good but it wont fit a tele exactly, had to sand & plane it to get it to fit
So id say buy the neck & body together
Shipping will probably not make it worthwhile though !
Ive been considering building a double cut les paul junior but cant seem to find a decent kit & dont have the time or patience to make the body & neck myself even though I've a shed full of tools & old mahogany

Yeah I'd probably get slapped with the old import duty as well on top of delivery. I'll have a look at the cost of a neck and body this evening though because I'm starting to lean more towards getting something reliable, the more I read about factories in China the more I'm thanking god I didn't take the bait. There's a lad on Adverts cutting mahogany bodies for teles for a 100.00 euros I've looked at as well and he is fairly handy at it, I'd say he cut probably cut a cut away LP as handy if you got him a template, but I guess you'd still have the problem of getting a good fit on the neck.

666irishguy

The Master wrote: »

I think it was around €300 in total delivered

I suppose it was worth the chance if you had the cash and weren't going to be relying on it being playable and your only guitar. I suppose you got a nice wall hanger and a talking point.

martinedwards

Ravelleman wrote: »

That's curious. I've seen repeated suggestions that their customer service isn't great. I have no direct experience though, I must admit.

-I've never heard of any one else having problems.

I've asked questions by email and had responses within 3 minutes.

One of the 15 or so pups I've bought from them was faulty. I emailed and the "there's a replacement in the post" was back with me in under 5 mins.

the replacement pup was with me in 5 days.

I manged to repair the faulty one (only 2 wires rather than 4) so I now have a spare Gold FAT PAT if any one is interested!!