Brand prejudices

[BDuncan]

Any older guys here still have prejudices about brands in the back of your mind? In the past, I would have never thought about owning something with Squier, or Epiphone, on it. They sometimes have the reputation of brands for beginners. A guitar with any brand name can be set up better or have great pickups installed. What about you? What brands come to mind? I may be wrong, but it seems younger players are more concerned about features, and quality parts, rather than brand reputation. That's a good thing.

 

[SpiderWars]

My first guitar was a Univox and my first pedal was a Ross Phaser/Overdrive combo. So I always associated them with beginner gear.

 

[VonBonfire]

DoOd tHaT'z NoT a ReAl GiBsOn.

 

[RaceU4her]

I do not

 

[Speeddemon]

Schecter = decent specced and made guitars with 0 character.

 

[rsm]

I cared about brands more when I was younger, and so did most others. Auditioning for bands, you'd often be judged on your gear not your skills.

 

[saxxamafone]

I was a late comer to 'older marshalls sound better'

 

[romanianreaper]

I'm one of those. I won't buy an Epiphone or Squier but that isn't because of the features, it is because everytime I pick one up they are noisy, go out of tune, have bad pickups, etc. One of the best Strats I ever played was one my buddy owned but was made in Japan.

 

[pipboy90]

Here are some brand opinions/prejudices I've gathered over the years. Some have changed and some have remained the same since I was a teenager:

• Gibson - Overpriced guitars marketed towards boomers. Coasting on brand recognition.
• Fender - Guitars/amps for indie rock, country, alt rock.
• Squier/Epiphone - cheaper guitars that need TLC and a setup to get into a good playable condition.
• Marshall - Out of touch, not interested in making quality products anymore. Coasting on brand recognition.
• Line 6 - Mediocre sounds and hardware that will probably break.
• Universal Audio - Quality but expensive software/hardware. Usually include a few dumb design decisions.

 

[midnightlaundry]

Fuck yo Tele..

 

[Zado]

Schecter = decent specced and made guitars with 0 character.

That's sorta my feel about guitars loaded with fish man pickups. But IME Schecter has many models with plenty of characters, at least as much as other import brands.



Oh my prejudice: Ibanez are mostly anemic to me and I hate their necks. Not a fan of BKPs as well. Oh and evertune bridge is not a fave too

 

[ZEEGLER]

I will admit, there are several brands that may or may not make decent stuff, but for whatever reason their names bring up negative connotations.

Cort, Samick,, Bugera, Behringer

I realize that Cort and Samick manufacture guitars for a lot of bigger well known brands.



Here's a weird one. Friedman.

I have owned exactly one Friedman amp, and I hated it. Now I have this ridiculous idea that because that one amp sounded like trash, that all Friedmans sound like trash. This is obviously not true.

 

[PDC]

I went from spending money I couldn’t really afford on USA / San Dimas Jacksons to owning over a dozen Musikraft / Warmoth Partscasters. I love spec’ing everything from the body wood up, assembling it myself, having exactly what I want, and spending a fraction of the cost of brand-name guitars.

 

[mooncobra]

Any older guys here still have prejudices about brands in the back of your mind? In the past, I would have never thought about owning something with Squier, or Epiphone, on it. They sometimes have the reputation of brands for beginners. A guitar with any brand name can be set up better or have great pickups installed. What about you? What brands come to mind? I may be wrong, but it seems younger players are more concerned about features, and quality parts, rather than brand reputation. That's a good thing.

I'm one of those. I won't buy an Epiphone or Squier but that isn't because of the features, it is because everytime I pick one up they are noisy, go out of tune, have bad pickups, etc. One of the best Strats I ever played was one my buddy owned but was made in Japan.

This is true. Most are utter garbage.

I’ve played some amazing Japanese strats, teles and Les paul clones.

 

[japetus]

I like Fender amps with 6L6 and I like Fender strats and teles, it's not brand loyalty though

 

[itsgoodnow]

This is true. Most are utter garbage.

I’ve played some amazing Japanese strats, teles and Les paul clones.

I have a lot of love for the Japanese made fenders. One of the few “why did I sell that” guitars I had was a Japanese telecaster that was built so well and had a ton of mojo.

 

[headlessdeadguy]

IDGAF what it says on the headstock. If it plays and sounds good? I’ll play it. As long as it doesn’t have a Floyd.

 

[VonBonfire]

One time about a dozen years ago at a blues jam I saw a guy playing a PRS barefoot on stage so I assume anyone who plays PRS is also gay for Mayer and Carlos so I guess that would be my brand prejudice.

 

[Classic]

Marshall. They make amps that do one thing well and in recent years (since 00’s?) have never made the amp everyone knows they could and should.

 

[Speeddemon]

That's sorta my feel about guitars loaded with fish man pickups. But IME Schecter has many models with plenty of characters, at least as much as other import brands.



Oh my prejudice: Ibanez are mostly anemic to me and I hate their necks.

I feel you. But my 1st expensive guitar at age 17 was my Ibanez S540FM TTS, which I still have (upgraded the pickups though). And while it's not characterful, it *is* a versatile workhorse.

Owned two Schecters, one of which quite a well-specced one, but I couldn't really gel with them.