EXPERIMENT--WILL I GET CHUMPED???

[jingle_jangle]

I recently bought a bargain used Strat on eBay. It was listed as a "custom shop" Strat, but of course, it wasn't a Fender Custom Shop ($5400.00) item. Instead, it was a Parts-O-Caster built from Squier and American Fender parts to replicate a '69 Jimi Hendrix guitar: Oly White with parchment guard, American CS '69 pickups, white knobs. The headstock has the "Stratocaster Fender" decal, not the mirror image one. I got it for less than $300.00.

It's a lefty, strung righty, and I'm doing some upgrades. It was built out of used parts, so there's wear, but no phony "relicking" (note spelling...). When I got it I restrung it with Ernie Ball .010" Clapton round wounds, and did a thorough setup including neck shim and blueprinting the vibrato. I replaced the Asian cast saddles with some nice old aftermarket solid brass ones, put a gennie '69 neck plate and replaced the Squier tuning machines with genuine Fender "F" lefties.

It plays and sounds the best out of all 4 of my Strats. All in, with neckplate, strings, and tuners, I'm into it for about $450.00. Not bad, and it looks the part.

While researching this oddity, I came across the ubiquitous China listings on Google...

Found this on a website called "MadeinChina" and decided to play the fool. Would my guitar luck hold out? I ordered one.

Of course, this is a photo of a CS Jimi "Monterey" Strat, conceptualized by John Page and Pamela Hovtanian, of which there were "only" 210 made. This is (to me) an iconic instrument...the Monterey Festival was one that I could have attended (I was in college at the time), but didn't. I had to be (dis)satisfied with the film...

Yep--I could have (and may still) build one myself, as this brave soul did: http://www.guitarattack.com/mattocaster ... strat1.htm

But this Chinese one was "in stock", and came out at a tad over $400.00 with HSC, with free EMS shipping. So I bit hard, and ordered one through Paypal. Not a whole lot of risk there: Paypal has all sorts of ways to get one's money back if dissatisfied with the product or seller. I mean, we've been bashing Chinese Rick knockoffs for awhile now (and for good reason!!!). I've read all sorts of attacks on Chinese product, from a quality and IP standpoint, and in online discussions, I've seen lots of ignorant comments made, and plenty of opinions, but not a whole lot of reality.

This is reality, as it happens.

I'm writing this now, because I want to "share the experience"...it may turn out that I'm merely spreading my stupidity, or giving a glimpse of my gullibility, or advertising my asininity; you get the point. But what risk and fun is there in waiting until it's arrived? If I do that, you guys and gals might never see the face of my folly, or join with me in celebrating my good fortune. What's this going to be like?

I know what things cost to produce in China. I worked in the toy industry for a number of years, and costing was part of the design process. How are you going to know if you have a viable product if it doesn't meet price point? Currently, I'm working with the second factory to get our first run of Waterstone Light Fire light show guitars completed.

So, I mean, really, somebody over there is making a nice profit on this particular item; my experience tells me that it should cost around $160.00, landed on the USA West Coast. Two-and-one-half times that (or twice plus shipping) is a nice markup. What will the quality be like, and will it be worth the bucks? The body can be bought in the UK http://relicguitarstudio.com/bodies/jim ... aster.html , and shipped to the USA, for about $700.00 US. A nice neck could easily cost $450.00 from a Fender-licensed supplier...The decals could be very hard to find, as these are trade-dress-protected items. A Fender CS neck is about $650-800.00. Then there's the rest of the stuff, so you're probably looking at about $2K to put together your own kit with really nice parts.

OK. I ordered this guitar on 5-10. That very day I got three emails from the Chinese vendor, asking to verify my address. The next day it was shipped, EMS. I've had amazing results with EMS,. ordering guitars from Japan. They are reasonable and reliable and very fast.

Yesterday it landed here in the USA (probably in Oakland)and right now it's in customs. We should see next week.

Egg or smile on face? Or (as so often happens) neither joy nor sadness, but "Meh".

Stay tuned!

We'll see. It's good to have you along for the ride.

[cjj]

I'm betting on "meh". The Chinese can produce excellent products, but like everywhere else, you have to pay more for it (though maybe not as much as from other origins). They can also produce some phenomenally bad stuff too, but that's often really low end throw-away stuff.

For reasonable quality at a fairly cheap price point, it's hard to beat China mostly due to the cheap labor rates. I remember talking to some manufacturers reps a few years ago for some electronics products we were sourcing and the labor rate for skilled electronics assembly was 2 cents/minute, or $1.20/hour. I found it more significant that the rate was billed as "per minute" than the overall labor rate...

[libratune]

Good lord, I clicked on the "guitarattack" link and spent 20 minutes reading about the finishing process for building a Monterey Strat! I thought it was 2 pages long but it kept on going on and on . . .

Good luck with your Strat, Paul, and thanks for sharing the experience. We're looking forward to your appraisal of the new machine.

[electrofaro]

Very cool experiment - hopefully it will come out of customs soon so you can get your hands on it and tell us how good or bad it really is

[godber]

This is a good bit of fun Paul!

If this test is successful, I going to order one of their Charles Atlas body stockings.


PS - like the use of "chumped"

[AlohaT]

I am onboard for the ride as well Paul. We have a "62" reissue strat we use, after changing out the pickups to fit more of a John Frusciante sound. I may be way off base but my guess is it will look good but, will not have those straty tones you want. So maybe lacking in the character dept. Very interesting study though.

[jingle_jangle]

All of you hoping for some tension and anticipation build-up are going to be disappointed.

It arrived today via USPS, a couple of hours ago, at 11 am...



Uh-oh...damaged?



Purchased online the afternoon of the 10th. By Thursday the 12th, it had been received in US Customs. Shipping was "free" (i.e., rolled into the cost of the guitar; about $80.00 from China)



First question--where's the hard case?

More later!

[rkbsound]

I think that there are plenty of Chinese instruments available in US stores, so I'm not sure if there will be any surprise at what you get. I have a made in China Epi Goldtop '56 Reissue. A fun guitar for the money, and nothing more than that.

[ozover50]

I like the experiment, Paul. I've purchased a couple of guitars from Asia - one from Singapore and another from China. Interesting that they both came in the same 'mummified' state. I wouldn't mind having the world distribution rights to the tape they use!!

The one that supposedly came with a HSC had a note inside..... "Sorry no stock case". When I asked when I might receive it the reply was "Don't ship with case any more". In the end I gave up. Even with the $150 I spent getting the case locally it was a really good guitar at a bargain price!!

[weemac]

I know what things cost to produce in China. I worked in the toy industry for a number of years, and costing was part of the design process. How are you going to know if you have a viable product if it doesn't meet price point? Currently, I'm working with the second factory to get our first run of Waterstone Light Fire light show guitars completed.

This is good news Paul, I thought that the Fire Light project was gone buy the way of the dodo! (one with flashing plumage)
Did the 12 string idea ever happen?

Emac.

[winston]

It's EMS that provides the packing service so I am told. All of the custom made guitars that I have had built are shipped via EMS. So that's where all the yellow tape and Styrofoam packing comes from Aitch.

Btw Paul you have to read between the lines with many of these sellers. In most instances they charge extra for a case. Depending on what sort of quality you select, the cases can be just about as expensive as they are here in North America. You really have to be careful who you buy from. It took me over a year to develop a healthy, respectful business relationship with my factory rep. Even after that work up front, they are still prone to the odd quality lapse.

I'll be interested to see what sort of quality of guitar that you end up with in the final analysis. Can we have a peek under the hood at some point?

[cjj]

I'm guessin' he's waitin' for it to warm up before he opens it...

[weemac]

I'm guessin' he's waitin' for it to warm up before he opens it...

Paul is probably wondering if he has been sent a guitar or a GSO... (a guitar shaped object)

emac.

[jingle_jangle]

I think that there are plenty of Chinese instruments available in US stores, so I'm not sure if there will be any surprise at what you get. I have a made in China Epi Goldtop '56 Reissue. A fun guitar for the money, and nothing more than that.

With all due respect, Jeff--

You're entirely missing the point...the whole fun factor is in the degree of risk. A good deal of it also is going for something really unusual and somewhat challenging to replicate.

It's one thing to buy a Chinese guitar from a USA source. If it's a place like a guitar store, you see, hold, and try out the exact instrument you're contemplating buying. If it's eBay, you're going on some faith, but can usually rely on seller feedback and eBay backup if the deal goes sour.

In this case, it was an impulse buy at a price that could be low from this end, but very high as far as Chinese prices go. The website itself that brokered the deal holds the payment in escrow, and also provides for dispute resolution. In this sense, luckily, it is friendlier than AliBaba.

I've bought a lot of instruments on eBay, bartered for some others, and purchased some from private parties. Even from the East Coast or Midwest, I will usually see a week or ten days go by before the instrument arrives...a couple of years ago, I bought an audiophile tube preamp/phono stage from a Chinese eBay vendor, and it took over 3 weeks to arrive, though EMS only took 4 days of that.

So, I was fully expecting something like that scenario.

Though the anticipation was shorter-lived than I expected, the fun factor is closely entertwined with the fear factor. That's the rub!

[jingle_jangle]

EMS wraps different ways in different countries. The guitars I got from Fender Japan were very carefully wrapped and boxed, though they arrived in the cheapest gig bags you can imaging (typical of Fender Japan, it seems...). The Japanese guitars all arrived in perfect condition and in tune, despite this rudimentary packaging.

I selected a HSC option from the seller, at a $32.00 premium.

Brian, like you I've taken a lot of trouble trying to build a relationship with our factory rep, and it's been perhaps 80% successful. They're always trying to get me to do their work, but it's a dance I'm accustomed to from my years in the toy biz.

Of course I'm going to give a peek under the hood...how about a small photo to whet your appetite?