over rated and under rated guitar brands
- Thread starter van_halen
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Haha...I was about to say that till you beat me to it.
naviros
New member
hahahahahaha... Agreed!!!
relinquish69
New member
I don't think that being over/underrated is a problem. a good guitar will be a good guitar and a lousy guitar will be a lousy guitar. at times like these, branding power does nothing but provide potential customers a certain level of confidence.
Overrated guitars are good for newbies starting on buying a guitar. Their choices revolve around a limited choices like Ibanez, Fender, Gibson. It is only until playing for a few years before knowing what they prefer in a guitar so in the mean time, just grab something reliable to play with over that span of time.
Since they are overrated, people can sell them (if they really find that the guitar does not suit their needs) at a better price compared to other guitars because there would be a market for such guitars. That being said, not everyone sits down and really spends time listening to the quality of tone. They think to themselves: "oh reliable brand, it feels good and the price is right, just buy first" .
In my impression, overrated means the instrument's price does not justify it's tone but people are still willing to fork out good money for them. Most of the overrated guitars mentioned are reliable in a sense that they won't break after a few strums. The tone search can be done only after you feel that your instrument is not giving you the sound that you are looking for.
Also, people are more inclined towards good deals for overrated guitars disregarding the tone of the guitar itself. For example a brand new Gibson Les Paul standard costs around $4k first hand at our local dealer. If a 2nd hand store sells that same guitar used for $2.8k, I'm sure many people would be happy to save that 1.2k despite being limited to one guitar compared to getting it first hand.
Since dealers will mark up the price for overrated guitars knowing that there would still be a demand, the price gap between brand new and used guitars would have more room hence making it seem like getting one 2nd hand a good deal. What if you get a lemon? not many people will bother and even if they do, they could simply sell it off knowing that there is a market for such a guitar (as mentioned above).
Overrated guitars are good for newbies starting on buying a guitar. Their choices revolve around a limited choices like Ibanez, Fender, Gibson. It is only until playing for a few years before knowing what they prefer in a guitar so in the mean time, just grab something reliable to play with over that span of time.
Since they are overrated, people can sell them (if they really find that the guitar does not suit their needs) at a better price compared to other guitars because there would be a market for such guitars. That being said, not everyone sits down and really spends time listening to the quality of tone. They think to themselves: "oh reliable brand, it feels good and the price is right, just buy first" .
In my impression, overrated means the instrument's price does not justify it's tone but people are still willing to fork out good money for them. Most of the overrated guitars mentioned are reliable in a sense that they won't break after a few strums. The tone search can be done only after you feel that your instrument is not giving you the sound that you are looking for.
Also, people are more inclined towards good deals for overrated guitars disregarding the tone of the guitar itself. For example a brand new Gibson Les Paul standard costs around $4k first hand at our local dealer. If a 2nd hand store sells that same guitar used for $2.8k, I'm sure many people would be happy to save that 1.2k despite being limited to one guitar compared to getting it first hand.
Since dealers will mark up the price for overrated guitars knowing that there would still be a demand, the price gap between brand new and used guitars would have more room hence making it seem like getting one 2nd hand a good deal. What if you get a lemon? not many people will bother and even if they do, they could simply sell it off knowing that there is a market for such a guitar (as mentioned above).
in general, i find mij/cij fender strats to be overrated if you compare them to the mim fender strats, which are underrated. i said in general because most of the mij/cij strats use basswood, while most mim strats now use alder. why is this an issue? the basswood strats don't even sound like strats, unlike the ash or alder strats..
and in terms of worksmanship, mim strats compare favourably vs the mij/cij strats.
yet i see people shunning mim strats and embracing mij/cij strats. therefore mij/cij strats are overrated, and mim strats underrated.
and in terms of worksmanship, mim strats compare favourably vs the mij/cij strats.
yet i see people shunning mim strats and embracing mij/cij strats. therefore mij/cij strats are overrated, and mim strats underrated.
i just have to say this about ibanez:
everytime you hear a rookie who wants to start out on guitar, and wants to play hard rock or metal, people will recommend ibanez, or the rookie himself will target ibanez as the 1st and foremost brand to consider. so it's like whenever you bring up the rock or metal genre, you hear ibanez. the response is overwhelming and i always think aloud "oh no, not ibanez again!" it's as if ibanez is the greatest thing since sliced bread!
the thing is, ibanez makes decent guitars at every given price point, not stellar but decent. but are they really as good as people think? are they the best at what they are supposed to do (rock/metal)?
i suppose their low-mid priced guitars are still ok, not the best but ok, but once you get to their higher range it's still the same old formula of basswood. i don't know about you guys but i won't pay too much for basswood guitars. ibanez seems to have struck gold with basswood. they seem to be the 1st company to start using basswood for guitars back in the 80s and they have stuck with it till now. it's a cheap wood and they did it to keep costs low. their persistance paid off as artist endorsements propelled the popularity of basswood and basswood has become a widely accepted wood for guitar bodies. but basswood is also dead sounding. the thing i dislike most about basswood is its softness. for fixed bridge guitars its still ok, but for whammy guitars you can loosen the mounting holes for the tremolo due to its softness, and it dings easily and you can easily loosen the screw holes too.
when you think of ibanez, you think of their RG and Jem series, the flagships of the company. i think these 2 shapes are ugly as hell. look at the 2 body cutaway horns, too thin. unlike the strat which is much better looking and whose beauty survived the ages, the RG and Jems are just ugly due to the horns. it's like an anorexic version of the strat.
i'm neutral about their other guitars such as the S, SA etc. i think S is ok cos some of them use mahogany and the design is pretty sleek but then it's behind RG in popularity and is not the 1st model you think of when you think Ibanez.
the overratedness gets worse when you get to their higher range. $3000+ for a current model jem7vwh or a universe? do you know what materials are their inlays made of? are their features really top of the line? or $2k or $3k or more for a Prestige or J-Custom that uses basswood for their bodies? buy a Prestige and still need to fork out more money to upgrade to seymour duncans or dimarzios?
and i absolutely cannot stand the way they name their models. rg550, rg560, rg350, rg321 etc... it's like nokia phones! so confusing! and they have SO many models even within the same range! just count how many different models there are in the RG range!
when people think of shred guitars, they think of ibanez. let's just say there are better brands out there when it comes to shred guitars. Jackson, Charvel, old Kramer, ESP...
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keithC
New member
the overratedness of mij/cij fender strats gets apparent when you hear people saying that they are better than the mia fender strats. c'mon, strats made of cheap basswood that are soft and don't even sound like strats better than the mia strats which are true to the roots of the Strat and crafted to better quality and built to better specs and made of better wood? and let's not even talk about the craftsmanship and level of detail between the mij/cij and mia.
ymmak
New member
I guess the question of "overrated or underrated" is really a consumer's perception of the product, and consumer's perception (in Marketing, this is a form of product differentiation which the merchandiser may exploit to their advantage) is often subjective, because the basis of comparison between products differ from one individual to another. Some people determine whether a guitar is "over or underrated" on the basis of retail price, some on the basis of utility, some on the basis of tone, some on the basis of workmanship, while some on the basis of guitar wood. Worse still, some do their comparison based on other people's opinion, without trying the guitars themselves.
Now, if you agree with me that using different basis of comparison will lead you to different judgement of the guitar, then which basis of comparison is more accurate, relevant or representative of the guitar? If you choose, let's say guitar wood as a basis of comparison, can you justify why you choose such a basis?
Now, if we so quickly jump to the conclusion that, let' say MIJ/CIJ Fender Strats are overrated compared to MIM Fender Strats, then we will have carelessly overlook the merits of the MIJ/CIJ Fenders Strats, such as good workmanship, bang-for-bucks, good tone despite not being historically correct. If you judge your guitars by the guitar wood alone, without regards to other attributes of the instrument, then you are probably a little too myopic, and you may have failed to fully appreciate and embrace the instrument.
So you see that different form of comparison can lead to different result, and different form of comparison is limited in their assessment of the guitar. Thus, I feel that it is important to state clearly the basis of comparison that you are using to arrive at your conclusion.
Now, if you agree with me that using different basis of comparison will lead you to different judgement of the guitar, then which basis of comparison is more accurate, relevant or representative of the guitar? If you choose, let's say guitar wood as a basis of comparison, can you justify why you choose such a basis?
Now, if we so quickly jump to the conclusion that, let' say MIJ/CIJ Fender Strats are overrated compared to MIM Fender Strats, then we will have carelessly overlook the merits of the MIJ/CIJ Fenders Strats, such as good workmanship, bang-for-bucks, good tone despite not being historically correct. If you judge your guitars by the guitar wood alone, without regards to other attributes of the instrument, then you are probably a little too myopic, and you may have failed to fully appreciate and embrace the instrument.
So you see that different form of comparison can lead to different result, and different form of comparison is limited in their assessment of the guitar. Thus, I feel that it is important to state clearly the basis of comparison that you are using to arrive at your conclusion.
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dopplegangerz
New member
Underrated: Practice, being content
OVerrated: GAS, "more $$$ = more mojo", discussing what's under or overrated
OVerrated: GAS, "more $$$ = more mojo", discussing what's under or overrated
relinquish69
New member
1 bad thing about a guitar being overrated is that some people view how good a guitar is by it's price. they can say things like, this guitar cost me $3000, therefore it has to sound good. at the end of the day, it's all about whether you feel good about your purchase be it a cheap or expensive guitar.
naviros
New member
Wahh... why the huge debacle over Ibanez's use of basswood... High quality basswood have good tones too... Its all a matter of preference...
Also, I have yet to get a guitar, pick it up, play it, and say... THIS IS PERFECT! No matter what the price point. Rather than debating about overrated, underrated, a guitar should be personalized to fit its player... no..?
"Same same but different" comes into play here. Hahaha... Same model, same specs, but all different tone / playability. Unless a company comes along, producting guitars out of synthetic wood (which there are...), and the machine is like SUPER CONSISTENT (which I doubt), there are bound to be gems and lemons.
The image of over-rating a guitar, which i assume brand in this case, is all about marketing. Let's admit it, a person going up on stage totting a Gibson Les Paul versus one holding on to, say, a no name stratocaster that looks beaten up... who would you think is a better player? Lets not talk about tone, or what the heck, but hey! This is what it is!
Let's just say that over-rated or not, when you play, the audience knows. Having the brand / fame there just creates a better first impression (akin to you dressing in a tuxedo versus wearing lao pok shorts and flip slops) ^.^
Also, I have yet to get a guitar, pick it up, play it, and say... THIS IS PERFECT! No matter what the price point. Rather than debating about overrated, underrated, a guitar should be personalized to fit its player... no..?
"Same same but different" comes into play here. Hahaha... Same model, same specs, but all different tone / playability. Unless a company comes along, producting guitars out of synthetic wood (which there are...), and the machine is like SUPER CONSISTENT (which I doubt), there are bound to be gems and lemons.
The image of over-rating a guitar, which i assume brand in this case, is all about marketing. Let's admit it, a person going up on stage totting a Gibson Les Paul versus one holding on to, say, a no name stratocaster that looks beaten up... who would you think is a better player? Lets not talk about tone, or what the heck, but hey! This is what it is!
Let's just say that over-rated or not, when you play, the audience knows. Having the brand / fame there just creates a better first impression (akin to you dressing in a tuxedo versus wearing lao pok shorts and flip slops) ^.^
I have about similar sentiment about thr RGs and S series. But slim necks (which some love about Ibanez) is overrated. Some people think slimmer necks = better playing. Not really true.
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jskadiang
New member
I agree with Dodgethis, all that's going on in this thread is TS's opinions being shoved down people's throat and passing it off as universal truth. Overrated and underrated is purely a matter of opinion, it's the same as the debate between good guitars and bad guitars. Lolwat.
superpotato_30
New member
100% agree.
I do not think it is fair to say cij/mij strats do not even sound like strats.
seriously like !? thats not a fair judgement. one has to take into account so many other things such as the pickups/cable/amp/player whos making such a comparison.
Basswood = bad? I dont think so. If you are looking in terms of quality build alone i doubt its fair to entirely use woodwork as a foundation to slam which guitar does or does not sound like what.
The idea is that every single thing is subjective. A Basswood cij strat may sound like plastic flapping to you but may sound awesome to another person. And unless you add in the details i mentioned above before judging any guitar, it would still be a biased comparison.
Is it accurate to entirely condemn a guitar for its sound based on its quality build?
I personally do not think so.
Then again its up to your ears. so dont blame me for providing my input.
ymmak
New member
I just want to add that, the TS and some of us may have stated clearly the basis in which they use to do their comparison, but not all readers are aware of the basis that the TS and some others have used in their comparison. If an impressionable reader read this thread without much thinking, they might be very badly misinformed, and as a result, miss out on alot of good guitars.
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