Amazing value.

Eagle said:
Sire are total garbage dressed up to look nice.
I usually need to work on any guitar however much it cost to get the best out of it. The only guitar that I didn’t feel the need disassemble and rebuild from new was a Vigier.
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What is your actual beef with them? So far it seems...you don't like the look?
 
Boudoir Guitar said:
What is your actual beef with them? So far it seems...you don't like the look?
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They look great but they are built out of low quality materials. You can’t really do much about it. The wood is not really selected at all and a total lottery. The hardware and electronics are bottom of the range dressed up as quality components. It’s like dress jewellery fundamentally worthless but looks like the real deal. The Charvels are the opposite, good designs top quality materials but rushed out with QC issues on some. If you avoid these and add the fine detail work they can hang with £3k guitars easily often made of the exact same materials and with identical electronics and hardware.
 
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Eagle said:
The wood is not really selected at all
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We're gonna need a language barrier demolition here, because when you say "selected wood" I'm thinking of a guy who goes out and picks pieces of wood.
I may be a cynic (I most certainly am), but I'm a million percent certain that no one is going out hand picking pieces of wood for 1000€ guitars. Especially for guitars glued from three (or more) different pieces of wood, destined to be covered in poly.
 
the-trooper said:
We're gonna need a language barrier demolition here, because when you say "selected wood" I'm thinking of a guy who goes out and picks pieces of wood.
I may be a cynic (I most certainly am), but I'm a million percent certain that no one is going out hand picking pieces of wood for 1000€ guitars. Especially for guitars glued from three (or more) different pieces of wood, destined to be covered in poly.
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I think you would be pleasantly surprised by most companies. The criteria is obviously different from high end brands but Charvel are two and three pieces. Weight is not checked at all and substantially varies by a far bit. The days of five pieces with veneer are over at Fender Mexico. Fender USA did this in the 90s ;
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Note this sunburst in the contour 🤣 not any more.
 
the-trooper said:
Yup, so you'll forgive my skepticism about picking pieces of wood for much cheaper mass produced guitars. Brand irrelevant.
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Cosmetics is one thing but they are fundamentally sound. Sire is so far behind that it’s not true. Different species and different densities is ok under the 3mm plastic dip. Beautifully polished for the pot metal hardware and $5 pickups.
 
I played a Charvel Dk24 in the store a while back.. felt super nice.
But I have read about fret sprout issues even with the roasted maple neck.
I’m hoping it’s not a big deal but I’m not sure.
If only they did a 24.75” scale model…

Never tried a Sire but have read good reviews. Mostly youtube marketing though.
I think the selling point was QC and roasted maple at $600.
 
V|J said:
I played a Charvel Dk24 in the store a while back.. felt super nice.
But I have read about fret sprout issues even with the roasted maple neck.
I’m hoping it’s not a big deal but I’m not sure.
If only they did a 24.75” scale model…

Never tried a Sire but have read good reviews. Mostly youtube marketing though.
I think the selling point was QC and roasted maple at $600.
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The fret sprout issue is partly because of the little to no finish on the necks . It is very easy to deal with though and wouldn’t put me off . They are probably not drying the wood enough but with graphite reinforcement rods it’s going nowhere . Think of Charvel being a 2k guitar that is not completely finished . The materials and specs are easily that price from anyone else.
 
Eagle said:
The fret sprout issue is partly because of the little to no finish on the necks . It is very easy to deal with though and wouldn’t put me off . They are probably not drying the wood enough but with graphite reinforcement rods it’s going nowhere . Think of Charvel being a 2k guitar that is not completely finished . The materials and specs are easily that price from anyone else.
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You know what’s trippy…when i moved back to Germany a bunch of my acquaintances who own a metric boatload of planks have the weirdest take. Like that a new PRS has to go to a master luthier fir set up.
One guy literally picks up his guitars, never plays them and brings them to be set up.

So one day im over at his house and hes showing off his stuff. Out if 20 fiddles that guy set up one i think is acceptable.

Side note…In all the decades i got guitars and set them up myself the ones i didnt have to touch…Tyler, Vigier, O’Donnell, Marchione, some of the Suhr stuff, some Ibby stuff, and a a 200 bucks Harley Benton
 
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Ed DeGenaro said:
You know what’s trippy…when i moved back to Germany a bunch of my acquaintances who own a metric boatload of planks have the weirdest take. Like that a new PRS has to go to a master luthier fir set up.
One guy literally picks up his guitars, never plays them and brings them to be set up.

So one day im over at his house and hes showing off his stuff. Out if 20 fiddles that guy set up one i think is acceptable.

Side note…In all the decades i got guitars and set them up myself the ones i didnt have to touch…Tyler, Vigier, O’Donnell, Marchione, some of the Suhr stuff, some Ibby stuff, and a a 200 bucks Harley Benton
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It’s partly taste that I disassemble new guitars but there is usually something that could be better. On a good guitar I would usually find plenty I could do but nothing I have to do now. Fine details on the fret dress and fingerboard edge are nice but not absolutely necessary. Here is a Warmoth neck after I finished the dress.
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I can easily do that on a cherry picked Charvel and it’s going to be up there with the best because it’s got the fundamentals all there. This is why the Charvel Mexican range are the best value available now.
 
The other cheap guitar I bought recently was an Ibanez RG550 Genesis but that needs electrics to bring it up. Fantastic functionality and core materials for the rest though. I got both of them after playing them extensively unplugged and they are both very good examples with great acoustic tone and no issues with dead spots. It comes down to a degree of compromise at this price ( or even 3x) you either get a half polished diamond or a well polished glass bead and that is an easy choice ( or it should be). The companies that are big on pearl pick guards and flame top veneer are just trying to sell shiny things to people that don’t know better.
 
Eagle said:
They are probably not drying the wood enough but with graphite reinforcement rods it’s going nowhere .
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If this were true (and I don't think it is), fret sprout (a fact of life that is easy for every guitar player to deal with him or herself) would be the least of my concerns. If you truly think this might be happening, I can't imagine why, regardless of how many instruments you've worked on, you would ever consider recommending them.
 
Boudoir Guitar said:
If this were true (and I don't think it is), fret sprout (a fact of life that is easy for every guitar player to deal with him or herself) would be the least of my concerns. If you truly think this might be happening, I can't imagine why, regardless of how many instruments you've worked on, you would ever consider recommending them.
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Because of all the instruments with fret sprout that I have fixed over the years not a single one had any other related problems.
It’s usually the wood it not dried to 7% or less before use . It is also far more common in unfinished or very lightly finished wood. The graphite rods are a huge deal in the performance. I can’t recall any graphite reinforced necks that I have seen with anything more than a setup or a fret dress to play well.
What do you recommend at this price point and why?
 
The only company that has a completely foolproof system for wood seasoning is Vigier. Don’t assume that roasted wood is better because it has its own problems.
 
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