From: META000 <META@UNB.CA>
Subject: RE: What makes a good *guitar*?
Organization: The University of New Brunswick
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 20:03:51 GMT

In article <peter.721611689@palin.cc.monash.edu.au> peter@palin.cc.monash.edu.au (Peter Hawkins) writes:
>I've been wonderring, what are the manufacturing differences
>between good and less-good guitars?
>
>For example, I realise that certain brands of pickup are superior,
>but why? Humbuckers have a second coil wound the other way to reduce
>noise, but how is noise cut down in expensive single-coil pickups?
>
>I also know that Expensive guitars have lees joint movement (thus reducing
>absorption of vibrations), as well as certain kinds of wood (though I
>forget what kinds). I once saw a brand new Squire with a neck that wasn't
>straight, so clearly Strats have superior reinforcements.
>
>I'm also curious about differences between manufacture of high-quality
>guitars (eg why are certain strat models better than others, and apart from
>the obvious - pickups etc - what differences are there between Fenders,
>Gibsons, Les Pauls etc etc).
>
>In short, if I'm buying, it'd be nice to know the way *I* would put together
>a guitar if I had the resources.
>
>Peter Hawkins,
>.
I've been ogling "name brands" and comparing them to $89 department
store specials since about 1965 (the British invasion changed my
life). In a nutshell, I have to say the differences between
expensive and cheap guitars revolve largely around quality control
and attention to detail.

For instance, wood for bodies.  An expensive guitar will be made
from select pieces of some particular type of wood, whereas a
cheaper guitar will be made from whatever wood of that type is
hanging around.  You might get a gem for very little, but the
chances of getting a stinker are equally high (if not higher).  When
you lay out the big money, chances are someone took the time to
consider how the guitar would sound before it was made.

Necks are another area.  On cheap guitars, frets may be either
undressedorvery poorly dressed.  Tangs at the edge of the neck may
be rough, or the frets may be uneven in height, leading to fret
buzzing when the action gets even moderately low.

Pickups on cheap guitars, while they are definitely getting better
over the last decade, may often be wimpy.  The wimpiness seems to be
due to the use of thicker guage wire in such pickups, so asto reduce
the need to use higher quality pickup winding devices, or to monitor
pickups while being wound. Again, an issue of quality control.

Pickups on cheaper instruments may not have matched coils (resulting
in poorer hum-rejection) or may not be set up properly.

Again, much of what makes a cheap guitar a cheap guitar is generally
the absence of labour costs put into quality control or attention to
detail.  What this means for the typical user is that what is
ostensibly a real turkey of a guitar may be improved dramatically by
doing all the little things that the factory never did (I HIGHLY
recommend having a pro dress your frets.  You'd be amazed at the
difference in playability).  Alternatively, replacement of specific
parts (tuners, pickups, bridge, etc.) may improve the playability or
tone.  However, depending on how much needs to be done, how much you
can get away without doing, or by doing it yourself, how much money
you have to splurge, and so on,  more expensive guitars may end up
being more cost effective in the short run, and have higher resale
value in the long run.  A recent contributor to this listserve
tallied up the costs of several different strat-type Fenders, in
response to another users complaints about difference in cost
between the two models.  When all the nickels and dimes were added
up for the extra details, the more expensive one came out smelling
like one very inexpensive rose.

M. Hammer

Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar,alt.rock-n-roll.metal.gnr