Cheap or expensive

What do you think about cheap vs expensive instruments. It is as you will all problarbly agree about clear that the sound and quality is very different but thats NOT what im on about here.

Now suppose you had an Epiphone electric guitar do you think your playing would be any better with the much more expensive original gibson? or applause acoustic guitar (ovation copy) vs ovation. Do (poor) musician hold back because they can't afford the real thing?

Until last year I owned an applause guitar which I used throughout my album A new time and some time earliere someone I went on a music course with looked at it and was very exited and thought at first it was an original Ovation etc. woowww. but when he saw the text inside " made in korea " he lost interest strait away and put it down NO GOOD hm.... Or what are your thoughts

Expensive or inexpensive instruments, eh? Wow, thats a question fraught with much baggage. I'll just mention some general points but not all:

1. Try the instrument out - sometimes one can find a real beaut for an instrument at a very reasonable cost.

2. Get the most upscale instrument you can on your budget. Work hard, scrimp, save, eat bread and drink real fruit juices - anything so that you can buy the classiest instrument you can and that won't break the bank.

Cheerio,

CD

Ow! I feel left out. What about instruments that are built by the player? That's a whole different category, especially if you have something no-one else has seen before. That's a whole new thrill. You're talking about guitars. I can say that the modern guitar scene is more than deceptive, with endorsers either not using the product live or altering it to their comfort. Sometimes recording requires the use of a certain product that isn't used onstage. Too much tech to no tech. It's all there. as always, John Watt. tuneUupL8r!

Aloha Mr. Watt,

A very valid point you bring up. Without much ado one can build a Double-Bass if one has their wits about them. Some of those well-thought-out, single copy, custom built DB's can be a real surprise to even the most professional and jaded DB'ers. I am toying with the idea of making one myself with extended range. It'll be most hard to find properly seasoned wood - the stuff is really expensive too. Someone said to make it out of carbon-fiber - Thats an idea that can be realised for a very small investment in materials.

Cheerio,

CD

I have had both in guitars. My first guitar was from Mexico as a keepsake
later in my life I bought a Fender Strat secondhand because I even then
couldn't afford a new one with matching amp. The little Mexican guitar
cost my dad five dollars. The fender cost my husband five hundred.
Believe me I loved them both. Now talking about cheep. There are cheep
instruments out there and ones that are made cheep. Right now I own
an Estaban guitar which I have a hard time playing because the strings
are too high. The strat was a real joy to play because you can individually
adjust the strings to what you like. The little Mexican guitar was a cheep
price but was to me made as good as the Strat. I wish I could go down
there again and purchase a little mexican guitar because they are small
and I can play one now.
judy tooley

Hmm, Cheap vs. Expensive ... I prefer "Affordable" vs. "out of reach".

But, all said and done (in most cases & there are exceptions) one does get what they pay for. Unfortunately expensive does not always equal best quality.

Corno, Corno Dolce! Thinking of building a double bass in Hawaii? Forget carbon fiber unless you want to play NASCAR and get some ear-shattering low end. One of my favorite solid-body guitars was made from oak when an entire small factory was built with it, 2x4's, beams, everything. Even the office trim. I was excited about all this over seventy year old wood, and the new owner thought I was doing him a favour hauling some away. Hawaii? Think of tropical wood that grew in your climate. That's best. Imagine using an old original surf board, beaten by the waves and sun. Or wood from Royal Hawaiian palaces, surviving all this time. Wood that has drawn itself together for the nicest density that won't crack when the barometer changes. If what I'm seeing environmentally reaches you, you could float away on it. Using a copy of a '64 Strat neck, Paul Saunders, international luthier, removed the rosewood fingerboard and let me pick a nice piece of ebony after making his sign. He built a smaller scale, giving me three extra frets making two full octaves, slanting them lefty. Incredible! Extra notes! What a concept! I even placed the pickups so that holding notes there were in tune. But this is the digital era, and we'll pass that some day. My first recommendation is to implant a pickup so you can plug in. Years from now, history will look back at Leo Fender, inventing individual bridges for each string so that scientific tuning could be achieved. If you've ever played in loud stereo effects maelstrums, playing a straight bridge instrument leaves you alone in the atmospheric mix. Yeah! You should try individual string harmonic tuning, if that makes classical sense. as always, John Watt. tuneUupL8r!

Aloha John,

Here are the members of the string sections made of carbon fiber:

http://www.luisandclark.com/theinstruments.php

Of course I would love to use Koa wood but the DB would then be extremely heavy. It would be a very good stroke of luck to find two whole sections of Koa wood to fashion the top and the back - those pieces shall have been properly seasoned.

It would be an awesome instrument - the distance between the top and back would be 13.57" and the width of the lower bout will be significantly larger than current Orchestral Double-Basses. It would be an extended-range bass tuned in fifths (FF, CC, G, D, A). The instrument draws its inspiration from the design of this DB:

http://www.nevillewhitehead.com/BassGalleryFiles/solbass/sol.html

Cheerio,

CD