Best import quality guitar?

[6string40]

Japan. The new Charvel Pro Mods or ESP/Edwards.

 

[RJF]

A 1990's Jackson professional series neck thru. The Japs were doing such a good job that Jackson said they had to dumb it down, they were almost as good as the USA models.

 

[gbsmusic]

PRS SE. I'd put mine up to my PRS Custom 22 any day of the week.

Really? What SE do you have?

 

[stratotone]

i cannot say the same about my ESP - i wont order or own another ESP unless its a custom shop model and i have $5,000 spare cash to burn in my pocket.

FWIW i have a korean 1988 charvel. they are getting harder to find - but i would take a made in USA jackson over it anyday. back to back, the tone difference is substantial.

In 88 Charvels were made in Japan, I believe. What model is it? I've owned several ESPs, each has been a great guitar, and that's including a custom shop. I haven't cared much for the LTD's I've played though.

Pete

it has the made in texas plate stamp - but im pretty sure its not a made in USA. i think its a 475xl special (special because it had the active passive jackson pickups stock with the small preamp board as the volume knob)

the paint scheme is crackled off-white - i did alot of research on this guitar and they only made this paint scheme in 1988 and 1989. they normally go ~500+.

thanks for asking though. if you know any more about these guitars let me know. the build quality is great - but it does not seem to contend with higher quality guitars i have seen/played/heard

That's a japanese guitar, and great values for the money. I've owned a lot of them. The Texas stamp is because that was where they were sold from (IMC's offices). Kinda shady and makes a lot of people think they were made in usa (It says texas on the plate!)

Some of the higher end japanese guitars from Charvel/Jackson at that time were competitive with the USA ones. I think the older ones like yours are better than the newer japanese jacksons, other than the pickups... the stock jackson pickups back then were horrible IMHO.

Pete

 

[stratotone]

PRS SE. I'd put mine up to my PRS Custom 22 any day of the week.

Really? What SE do you have?

Ditto, I've owned a few SEs and they are nice guitars, but my Cu22 smokes anything I've seen or heard. That doesn't mean the SEs aren't a great value, but if you were comparing them without thinking about price, the Cu22 is much nicer.

Pete

 

[Jordon]

PRS SE. I'd put mine up to my PRS Custom 22 any day of the week.

Really? What SE do you have?

Ditto, I've owned a few SEs and they are nice guitars, but my Cu22 smokes anything I've seen or heard. That doesn't mean the SEs aren't a great value, but if you were comparing them without thinking about price, the Cu22 is much nicer.

Pete

SE Mushok Baritone. Different beast than a CU22 of course.

The rundown is like this:
-The neck shape and feel of the carve is very, VERY close the the Custom.
-The body size is the same as the CU22, just without a carve. Weight is comparable as well.
-The thing resonates like a mutha, but doesn't feel cheap or flimsy.
-The stock hardware really isn't that bad. The tuners especially. I'll be swapping them for the PRS locking tuners at some point, but I'm not in a rush. No slipping, very smooth and they hold tuning quite well.
-The stock pickups were nothing to write home about. I put the same combo into the baritone that I have in my CU22 and when taking into account the different body and neck materials (solid mahog body, no maple cap and a maple neck and fretboard) and the inherent tonal characteristics of a baritone-scaled guitar, they sound very, very similar. I'd be happy to post a comparison.

 

[Chris O]

My best experiences have been with Japanese made Charvel & Jackson for the 80s & 90s, and the higher end Yamaha Pacificas (700 series on up). Every bit the palyers & quality of US made guitars.

 

[the rossness]

I'd check out the stuff Gary Kramer Guitars makes. Maybe a delta wing is up your alley. They're really comfy to play and look like a spaceship.

As for import stuff, I'd check out what Jackson and Ibanez offer.

 

[threadkiller]

Those Gary Kramer models look great. Have you actually had your hands on one to see about build quality?

 

[RaceU4her]

id loved my buddies Dean V black gold. with a setup that thing played as good as anything and it wasnt much more than 500 bucks

 

[the rossness]

Actually I have. Build quality was quite impressive. I really couldn't find any flaws in my delta wing. Even the floyd stayed in tune. I didn't like how thin the neck was at the nut and I eventually sold her, but with the upgraded pups, she sounded super tight. Her's a pic of mine-

Here are some videos I made-

 

[threadkiller]

Cool. Definitely putting one of these Gary Kramers on my short list. I'm pretty interested in the Kramertorium. I've never used active pickups before and it looks like it has EMG's. It's cool that they have a 7 day return policy as well. I figured they were made in Korea but couldn't find it on the website. Thanks for clarifying that.

 

[madrigal77]

Agiles are pretty nice as well after a pup swap.