PBGas":2rf0jz4c said:
People have notions of basswood guitars and really, I believe some of them have just tried a poor version of one. It all depends upon how those parts come together and how they sound in the end. There are duds everywhere with any type of guitar.
This is a fair comment. It is possible I got a "dud" floral JEM, but that also flies in the face of the notion that the earlier/earliest JEMS were the best JEMS......
PBGas":2rf0jz4c said:
Similarly, I've tried Les Pauls and PRS guitars and a couple of Suhrs that were dead chickens, so to speak.
Again, fair comment. Although, I would caveat that you have a much better likelihood of getting a beefy tone and good sustain out of a 10 pound, mahogany+maple "dud" Les Paul than you do out of a 6 pound, basswood "dud" JEM.....
PBGas":2rf0jz4c said:
I won't even look at any of the newer Fender stuff.
Well, now that is just crazy talk.

I don't even own a recent Fender, but I've played enough of them to know they aren't all garbage. In fact, I would argue that Fender is turning out some of their best American-made guitars in years, if not decades.