Mark2 -> RE: GSI Chinese Sample Flamenco Guitars (Sep. 10 2008 7:18:10)
|
HAHA I see I'm not the only one who got a Bruce Wei special!! Get ready for this. The last time I took this dog out of the case to photograph for sale on craigslist, I noticed it was molding under the finish on the back with all the inlays. Lots of mold, completely ruining the only thing it had going for it-good looks, which if you look closely, you see that it really doesn't look that good because of the poor workmanship. I don't think it matters what you pay from these guys-they have no clue. Mine actually doesn't sound that bad - the action is horrible, and really it doesn't sound that GOOD either. Not worth fixing. Might make a nice bonfire, but I'd try not to inhale the fumes from the tons of finish and of course, the mold. I like craigslist much more than e-bay. Lower prices, and you get to see the stuff before you folk over the cash. And no shipping costs. quote:
ORIGINAL: a_arnold I bought one of those ornately-inlaid Taiwanese guitars auctioned on ebay -- there are several factories. Can't remember for sure who made it. Bruce Wei and Antonio Tsai seem to be the more productive makers. I think it may have been one of them. Indian rosewood, ebony soundboard, spruce top, all solid woods. Absolutely the worst sounding guitar I ever played. Bar none. Heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy construction, thick, gloopy sprayed-on polymer finish, frets badly set. Neck was straight, and I'm sure would never warp, it was so thick. MAYBE it could have been salvaged with a lot of work on the frets and installation of pickups that allowed a lot of independent frequency correction. I sold it in our shop at cost to someone local who wanted a gorgeous-looking guitar and didn't seem to care much about sound. I have noticed that the Taiwanese ebay auctions have changed recently: they put up a LOT more guitars that they call "high end" starting at about $400 reserve (I paid about $200 + $125 S&H). Maybe the high end ones are better than what I got, which was, admittedly, half the cost of their high-end ones. Anybody know if the "high-end" Taiwanese guitars sound better? I hope we are talking about a different animal here. I hope the GSI experiment is an attempt to lead the Chinese toward becoming competitive in making real guitars. It is hard to imagine they would ever make concert-grade guitars in a factory setting, but on the other hand, I hear they do make very respectable violins.
|
|
|
|