Your next guitar?

[Ian B]

Wow! I've never seen one of those!

The body shape is a direct rip off of a XOX carbon fibre guitar http://www.xoxaudiotools.com/

The Curvycaster's body is Luana wood (iirc) and is lovely and deceptively heavy considering all the holes in it The only downside is the control cavity cover isn't recessed, tho' after contacting Steve Alden at Skylark over this and a few other ideas, he got back to say he'd accepted some of them and would try to get them implemented for the next production run.

[Ian B]

Hi Ian, it's hard to tell from the pages but they do seem reasonably priced, I would be more comfortable with a Double Expanding Truss Rod like Warmoth offers but it seems that these necks (based on lack of any info suggesting otherwise) are standard or 'vintage' truss rods,. There is no problem with that though the double expanding takes less maintenance and less seaonal changes so it's very possible you might have to tweak the truss rod in either of those necks.



Hibidy, I agree...the neck thru is more obvious and looks better with the red color of my guitar. I think they also have the wood wrong because I read that all power mark xx moels were 14 pieces of rosewood and maple.

Yeah, Warmoth would be a clearly better option Hink, but this is a low end budget guitar so I'd like to avoid spending a lot of money, hence the cheap-ish necks I linked to. Neither will break the bank and may well be up to the job, even if a bit of work is involved in getting them to that point.

[Hink]

Hi Ian, it's hard to tell from the pages but they do seem reasonably priced, I would be more comfortable with a Double Expanding Truss Rod like Warmoth offers but it seems that these necks (based on lack of any info suggesting otherwise) are standard or 'vintage' truss rods,. There is no problem with that though the double expanding takes less maintenance and less seaonal changes so it's very possible you might have to tweak the truss rod in either of those necks.



Hibidy, I agree...the neck thru is more obvious and looks better with the red color of my guitar. I think they also have the wood wrong because I read that all power mark xx moels were 14 pieces of rosewood and maple.

Yeah, Warmoth would be a clearly better option Hink, but this is a low end budget guitar so I'd like to avoid spending a lot of money, hence the cheap-ish necks I linked to. Neither will break the bank and may well be up to the job, even if a bit of work is involved in getting them to that point.

if you need advice tweaking it give me a shout

[xtp]

Not a new guitar per se, but I'm currently giving serious thought to getting a replacement neck.

Just for your reference Ian I purchased a Mighty Mite Fender style 22 fret maple neck + ebony fretboard about a year ago and it cost me $120.00 U.S $ + postage from memory. It has a really slim profile.

I should get around to putting it on the guitar someday.

[Uncle E]

I played a made-in-China G&L Jerry Cantrell signature model the other day that sounded fantastic acoustically. Maybe it was the combination of the ebony fingerboard, soft maple body, and Kahler tremolo, specs I would normally avoid like the plague individually, because that guitar absolutely destroyed all the other import G&L models.

[Hink]

I played a made-in-China G&L Jerry Cantrell signature model the other day that sounded fantastic acoustically. Maybe it was the combination of the ebony fingerboard, soft maple body, and Kahler tremolo, specs I would normally avoid like the plague individually, because that guitar absolutely destroyed all the other import G&L models.

good timing, I just sent a pm to susiwong about something similar...the ESP/LTD MG-350FR I bought. I feared being made where it was it might be junk but the carved top, the feel and how it plays is fantastic. It sounded great on it's own but I added a PA-2 and made it 18/9 volt. The only complaint I had was the fine tuners were not smooth and felt choppy, I dipped each one in white grease and that cleared that up

[hibidy]

@fender "pawn shops"

Thumbs down here. The bridge looks cheap, wasn't particularly great sounding to me, neck was ok but as Hink pointed out it's a 3 screw. Way overprices imho considering. ymmv

[Hink]

@fender "pawn shops"

Thumbs down here. The bridge looks cheap, wasn't particularly great sounding to me, neck was ok but as Hink pointed out it's a 3 screw. Way overprices imho considering. ymmv

some people like the three screw, I might look to flip it...it has to be vintage

[Uncle E]

good timing, I just sent a pm to susiwong about something similar...the ESP/LTD MG-350FR I bought. I feared being made where it was it might be junk but the carved top, the feel and how it plays is fantastic.

4 years ago, the quality coming out of China was atrocious. It's better now, there are still aesthetic and structural choices a lot of Chinese manufacturers make that aren't in-line with current American and European trends (which, btw, aren't in-line with each other, either) but the actual quality can be surprisingly good. One of the best fret jobs I've ever played was in a Chinese factory.

[tapper mike]

If you are looking for high quality from the asian market look to Korea. Samicks have always been great value for the price.

[Hink]

If you are looking for high quality from the asian market look to Korea. Samicks have always been great value for the price.

asian guitars may not vary as much by brand as you think, often the same factory will make several brands (I'm sure it's the same in china as well). I feel with any such guitars it's really hit or miss, one year we had new Ctae guitars in our store (the first store I worked at late 90s) and they had these cheesy les paul copies that would be a guitar I would grab to wank on when I had extra time (which was often).

One of the problems is what susiwong was talking about in another thread and I think the cheap Samicks are the same, that's the layered (basically plywood) body guitars. I haven't touched a Samick this century so I have no idea how they are now but I sold a lot of them to kids who are all grown now as their first guitar. (I always get a kick out of that, every so often someone will recoginize me and tell me I sold them their first guitar).

A little OT for sec, I bought my Roland 76 key controller (A33) which I love on ebay from someone in my hometown. From the time I won it to the time I had it was less than half an hour, I met the dude at the atm 100 feet from my house. On the phone I asked him where he bought it and he told me Daddy's in Nashua from a long haired guy named John.

The look on his face was priceless, I was at least the third owner because not only did I sell it to him but it was a piece I bought for the store (or took in on trade, hard to remember but the price tag I put on it was still there with my salesman number). I dont recall what I paid for it when I bought it for the store but judging by the sticker price I would say it was close to what I bought it from the guy for. (he paid 400 for it and I got it for 200 from him)

[tapper mike]

I've had a Samick full body archtop since the late 80's plays great sounds Great.

Same Guitar, Not me


I've also got a Samick fastback (predecessor to the avion line) and that is serious wood. It is mahogany with a maple top. I've also had a few other samicks however they were stolen. I've never been ashamed to play out with them.

[hibidy]

Isn't it great we have so much choice

[Ian B]

Hi Ian, it's hard to tell from the pages but they do seem reasonably priced, I would be more comfortable with a Double Expanding Truss Rod like Warmoth offers but it seems that these necks (based on lack of any info suggesting otherwise) are standard or 'vintage' truss rods,. There is no problem with that though the double expanding takes less maintenance and less seaonal changes so it's very possible you might have to tweak the truss rod in either of those necks.



Hibidy, I agree...the neck thru is more obvious and looks better with the red color of my guitar. I think they also have the wood wrong because I read that all power mark xx moels were 14 pieces of rosewood and maple.

Yeah, Warmoth would be a clearly better option Hink, but this is a low end budget guitar so I'd like to avoid spending a lot of money, hence the cheap-ish necks I linked to. Neither will break the bank and may well be up to the job, even if a bit of work is involved in getting them to that point.

if you need advice tweaking it give me a shout

Thanks Hink, but hopefully there'll be no problems I can't sort out myself. I'd much prefer a maple fretboard but the one I linked to makes no mention of dressing and levelling being already done whereas the rosewood board one does. I've got the tools to do it and have done on other guitars, tho' I can't claim the results to be pro standard.

The original neck is a standard single truss rod so I don't envisage any problems there with another one. The real pity is I've got a maple neck and board on another totally neglected/unused guitar that fits the Curvycaster neck socket perfectly, but it's only 21 fret.

[Ian B]

Not a new guitar per se, but I'm currently giving serious thought to getting a replacement neck.

Just for your reference Ian I purchased a Mighty Mite Fender style 22 fret maple neck + ebony fretboard about a year ago and it cost me $120.00 U.S $ + postage from memory. It has a really slim profile.

I should get around to putting it on the guitar someday.

Thanks xtp, if I do opt for a new neck it certainly won't be put to one side, the fitting will start the same day it arrives.