Is my silver sky about to become a lawsuit era guitar?

jeztone2

If I were Ibanez I’d fire up production of the Roadstar II again. Do a modernised version with locking tuners and an AZ headstock. Fucking eat into that market share. 

crunchman

jeztone2 said:

If I were Ibanez I’d fire up production of the Roadstar II again. Do a modernised version with locking tuners and an AZ headstock. Fucking eat into that market share. 

If it had the horrible locking trem then no thanks. 

steveh

Philly_Q said:

steveh said:

Today I have just two electric guitars: Both are USA Silver Skys, both bought used, and both fabulous.
Fender would have to build something extraordinary at a very tempting price in order for me to return.

One maple board and one rosewood, or both the same?

Both maple - I'm not a fan of glossy neck finishes and the maple version is satin.

nikharrison

I don't know what Fender are thinking... The basic strat design has been in place for too long for the foundation of too much for a lawsuit to be realistic.

DuploLicks

Oh to be a fly on the wall of Andertons Or Thomann sales report this month…

JayGee

DuploLicks said:

Oh to be a fly on the wall of Andertons Or Thomann sales report this month…

It would be quite funny if sales of Strat clones rocketed as potential customers decided to buy them while they still can… :-)

crunchman

JayGee said:

DuploLicks said:

Oh to be a fly on the wall of Andertons Or Thomann sales report this month…

It would be quite funny if sales of Strat clones rocketed as potential customers decided to buy them while they still can… :-)

Shouldn't be an issue buying them in this country.  The German ruling doesn't apply here or in the US, which is their biggest market.

There might be a business opportunity smuggling them into Germany for an enterprising rogue.

topdog91

Without wanting to derail the thread, we're talking about mass produced solid body electrics, wood and metal components that basically screw together. I don't really do new guitars so I guess I'm asking out of curiosity. What defines "better built" here? (Fretwork is the main thing that comes to mind where humans can make a difference, but I wouldn't call that part of the build quality.)

Philly_Q

Why wouldn't you call fretwork part of the build quality?  It's a key area.

topdog91

Philly_Q said:

Why wouldn't you call fretwork part of the build quality?  It's a key area.

Good point. I guess I tend to think about build quality as stuff that falls apart / breaks / stops working if it's no good. I think of fretwork as something that can be fixed if it's not the best (and it rarely is).

Thinking about it more, most of my gigging guitars have been to Graham Noden at some point to have the frets levelled and dressed. Not meaning to humble brag, more like because of this I don't notice so much what they were like from the factory.

The worst offenders I can recall were:
Chapman ML-1 original run sprout
Ibanez RGR465M sprout
Squier Classic Vibe 60s Strat 1st string would catch on a high fret
Fender Player HSS Strat sprout

But everything has come back noticeably better.

Other guitars I've taken to him have been more because they were coming in to my gig rotation and why not get the thing playing as well as it can play for the price of a meal out for two.

crunchman

Fret sprout could be a sign that the wood hasn't been seasoned very well.  It's something I've experienced on a Mexican Fender, and on some budget guitars, but never on a PRS.

WezV

crunchman said:

Fret sprout is could be a sign that the wood hasn't been seasoned very well.  It's something I've experienced on a Mexican Fender, and on some budget guitars, but never on a PRS.

It is rarely down to poor wood seasoning - no factory is using wet wood, all will be using it dried to a specific hydration level before building

Some may be using poorer quality wood, or less ideal cuts of that wood 

Some may be shipping from different climates, with different steps in the supply chain

Some may be using species that shrink more than others.   Ebony is one of the worst for shrinkage, even top quality fully seasoned old stock ebony.

Philly_Q

topdog91 said:

Philly_Q said:

Why wouldn't you call fretwork part of the build quality?  It's a key area.

Good point. I guess I tend to think about build quality as stuff that falls apart / breaks / stops working if it's no good. I think of fretwork as something that can be fixed if it's not the best (and it rarely is).

That's reasonable as you're obviously someone who's owned multiple guitars and can recognise a good "fixer-upper".  I think most guitar buyers, especially first time buyers, would expect a guitar to be perfectly playable out of the box.  They might not spot a high or low fret initially, but they will certainly notice sharp fret ends.  And they wouldn't expect to be having to pay a three-figure sum to a guitar repairer to sort it out.