HILS Headless on the cheap. Seems too good to be true

Eagle said:
I just don’t accept that much of this is subjective so I can come across badly and for that I apologise. It is my intention to provide objective information from my experience not my opinion . But it depends on how you read it.
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I accept that, and that's big of you to say. And you're right; it's not all subjective. But you've got to realize that I also try to frame things based on what I've seen as well, and what my techs have dealt with over the last few decades. And frankly, I have no doubt you're an excellent tech, however not knowing you, not being directly familiar with your work, I have to take everything you say with a certain amount of grains of salt.

Not saying this is you at all, but there are techs in Chicago that think they're a big deal, and they do absolutely shit work for TONS of money. So I am very, very skeptical of any techs, regardless of the years of experience.
 
paisleywookiee said:
I accept that, and that's big of you to say. And you're right; it's not all subjective. But you've got to realize that I also try to frame things based on what I've seen as well, and what my techs have dealt with over the last few decades. And frankly, I have no doubt you're an excellent tech, however not knowing you, not being directly familiar with your work, I have to take everything you say with a certain amount of grains of salt.

Not saying this is you at all, but there are techs in Chicago that think they're a big deal, and they do absolutely shit work for TONS of money. So I am very, very skeptical of any techs, regardless of the years of experience.
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I am in the UK and there is not enough work to be shit🤣 I am skeptical of most techs too but I hope to gain people’s trust in my information by it ringing true with there experience. I am also terrible at tact in writing. 🤣
 
Eagle said:
I am in the UK and there is not enough work to be shit🤣 I am skeptical of most techs too but I hope to gain people’s trust in my information by it ringing true with there experience. I am also terrible at tact in writing. 🤣
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Again, it's big of you to say that, and I will also say myself that I can definitely lack tact, and be arrogant. It's all good.

EDIT

I'll also say I'm extremely annoyed with things in the IT world at work that have positively zero to do with TGF, and was probably too hot under the collar. So apologies there as well.
 
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paisleywookiee said:
Now, cheap guitars: Warmart and I are hoping this leans more to the better "bang for the buck" Indo guitars, and with a little work it could be a handy bang around guitar. Hopefully it's not a Harley Benton. :D
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My problem with most cheap guitars is that if the electrics and hardware aren’t good quality they end up not being cheap if you have to replace them. That and often they are not standard sizes added complications and cost. Lots of companies do great woodworking because of CNC . If you can get to cherry pick ones with coincidentally good wood there’s bargains to be had . This is why I often recommend MIM Fender brands because the hardware is solid and parts are easy.
 
Eagle said:
My problem with most cheap guitars is that if the electrics and hardware aren’t good quality they end up not being cheap if you have to replace them. That and often they are not standard sizes added complications and cost. Lots of companies do great woodworking because of CNC . If you can get to cherry pick ones with coincidentally good wood there’s bargains to be had . This is why I often recommend MIM Fender brands because the hardware is solid and parts are easy.
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That'll be the tough question. I'm actually fine with replacing electronics, because I have the unfair advantage of being the shop's PT web guy, and thus getting cheaper labor+parts. But for the average dude, you're potentially talking hundreds for a $500 guitar.
 
norminal said:
Looking forward to @Warmart’s review.
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And your faith shall be rewarded-eth. :grin I hope it's worth $500 of my hard earned $$$. I'm not sure if I mentioned, but it's Metallic Fucking Orange (MFO). MFO is supremo and will potentially make it a replacement for my Majesty and Mayones. :grin HA!

paisleywookiee said:
Now, cheap guitars: Warmart and I are hoping this leans more to the better "bang for the buck" Indo guitars, and with a little work it could be a handy bang around guitar. Hopefully it's not a Harley Benton. :D
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Exactly! I've had guitars from damn near every country that's been making guitars over the last century, Indo can make excellent stuff (their craftsmanship goes back thousands of years, after all) and they should be able to make great guitars, consistently and TO THE PRICEPOINT by now. Hopefully they dry the wood better than the Jackson I flipped last month. :hmm

I'll do my best to grade it thoroughly when received on Monday. I know the Anderton's video could be "staged", but to my ears the pickups sounded better on this than the Strandberg or Ibanez. If the pots or switch are junk I can replace them lickety split.
 
paisleywookiee said:
Read the thread.
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8:30 am - read post by the Wookie.
8:31 am - make wisecrack reply

take a shower and run a few errands

10:18 am - read reply to wisecrack
10:19 am - post another wise ass reply
10:20 am - start catching up on the rest of the thread

10:22 am - DOH!
10:23 am - the Wookie already read my 2nd reply......

10:42 am - my shoe tastes like ass!

:facepalm
 
Achilles said:
8:30 am - read post by Wookie.
8:31 am - make wisecrack reply

take a shower and run a few errands

10:18 am - read reply to wisecrack
10:19 am - post another wise ass reply
10:20 am - start catching up on the rest of the thread

10:22 am - DOH!
10:23 am - the Wookie has already read my 2nd reply which makes zero sense now

10:42 am - my shoe tastes like ass!

:facepalm
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You have to catch me on the manic side of my swing, man. I work in IT AND the MI gear industry, for crissakes.
 
Eagle said:
My problem with most cheap guitars is that if the electrics and hardware aren’t good quality they end up not being cheap if you have to replace them.
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How expensive are a few pots and a toggle switch? I mean, that’s even IF they fail. And when or if they do, just replace whatever fails. We’re not taking hundred of dollars here. More like $20-40.
 
norminal said:
How expensive are a few pots and a toggle switch? I mean, that’s even IF they fail. And when or if they do, just replace whatever fails. We’re not taking hundred of dollars here. More like $20-40.
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CTS pots are back down to like $14 retail again? Toggles similarly. Actually a little cheaper. All reasonable. I’d rather they cheap out on electronics but have attention to detail elsewhere. You can’t easily fix a fucked neck.
 
norminal said:
How expensive are a few pots and a toggle switch? I mean, that’s even IF they fail. And when or if they do, just replace whatever fails. We’re not taking hundred of dollars here. More like $20-40.
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I mean new pickups as well if they aren’t great . If a bridge tuners fails it’s not going to be easy to find something that directly fits . Headpieces can also cause problems holding a string with budget headless hardware.
 
Eagle said:
I mean new pickups as well if they aren’t great . If a bridge tuners fails it’s not going to be easy to find something that directly fits . Headpieces can also cause problems holding a string with budget headless hardware.
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I agree; it’s actually the bridge and headpiece that worry me the most here.
 
Quick story.

Remember buying a plastic model kit as a kid and all of the parts were connected via a plastic framework that you'd throw away once you removed all the parts from it?

That's the runner, which is like pipes in that the liquid plastic runs thru them to get to the part cavities in the tool before everything hardens.
When you mold any part - plastic or metal - you have runners as a necessary evil of the process.

They're shipped with models cause it's a logical way to hold all the pieces together. Now imagine the runners needed to mold something like a Boss pedal enclosure. Once they harden the housings are trimmed off and the runners are thrown away.........

LIKE HELL THEY ARE!

Regrind baby.

A certain % (10-15) of regrind is acceptable to just toss back in the hopper to remelt and be used to mold more parts. The rest is used to mold smaller - less structurally critical parts.

So which guitar's bridge has 10% or maybe even less regrind in it? And which is made from 20, 25, maybe even a higher %?

Now imagine this over every little individual metal part on a guitar.
You take it on faith that a brand charging more for a completed guitar is doing it cause all of the parts are of a better quality.

End of story.
 
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Again, we’re taking about a sub-$500 guitar here. If you’re gigging or playing these enough to wear out the bridge and headpiece, then these probably aren’t the guitars you should be playing.

That’s like a professional mechanic using dollar store tools when they really need the durability of say, Snap-On or MAC tools.

And the same could be said of Strandberg. In 50 years, you probably won’t be able to grab a Strandberg bridge off of Amazon like you can with say, a Fender Strat bridge.
 
norminal said:
Again, we’re taking about a sub-$500 guitar here. If you’re gigging or playing these enough to wear out the bridge and headpiece, then these probably aren’t the guitars you should be playing.

That’s like a professional mechanic using dollar store tools when they really need the durability of say, Snap-On or MAC tools.

And the same could be said of Strandberg. In 50 years, you probably won’t be able to grab a Strandberg bridge off of Amazon like you can with say, a Fender Strat bridge.
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It’s not wearing it out it is about it failing because the metal is not suitable for application. This happens all the time on budget Floyds . Even the special is touch and go every time you restring it as to whether the zinc will strip out . Headpieces are subject to force requirements that are way more than sintered zinc can take . Headless tuners also need to withstand more. Even the Steinberger R ( on spirits) trem collapses in on its self just from string tension.
It’s not about sometime in the distant future it’s about will it last a year and will it be supported for parts . Then what happens if they stop support in two years. A decent headless bridge and headpiece is more than that will be worth.
 
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