The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Uhu John.
What MAKES for a highend guitar?

Take the Daion MkXX of mine for instance.
No offense,but it is one of the most beutiful guitars i´ve ever had the pleasure to abuse.Uncle Mats included.
It´s not a guitar,it´s a downright sculpture which in turn says nothing of what it´ll make me do or what it can deliver.
(it IS an amazing guitar out of any perspective though,make no mistake,and i´d recomend one to anyone in the market for a highend piece of lumber)

The whole thing boils down to two major aspect IMO.One being the pracitcal and real values of materials asf used and the other being the rather abstract part of it.
The X factor as Kees calls it.Does looks go under X factor? I guess it does as i guess looks can affect how you take to an instrument as i presume you´d rather sling something you find beutiful around you than something you percieve as ugly or mediocre.
The thing is that the abstracts of it will have a rather profound effect on what you deliver.At least to someone like me as stated.
Hoooooooooowever..be that as it may i can get to handle an instrument that looks the world,what will that help if it in turn is put together like the luthier was putting out a fire and at that with secondary materials in turn making it sound like a wasp on steroids?
See where i´m getting?
There´s another important abstract to this,and that is if you take pride in your guitar.Not in what you can do with it,but more..in the guitar someone built.
If you do,you will most likely use it differently. In my case in turn for instance as i work on a guitar,fret jobs and what have you not,i kind of bond with it.
I then get a different feel for it as i dig into it,and thereby get to know and understand some of its shortcoming/strenghts asf.

Question still stands though.What makes for a highend Uncle Mat guitar? I mean..some of them put emphasis on electronics,some on estetics and some on "pure performance"-while i guess all those aspects intersects at various points.
A Lespaul pour example...Got a RCL Burny standing around here.A guitar considered by many as good as the original.Well...if i compare the LS700 to that Burny the Burny truly carries more bells and whistles in as much as inlays,bindings aso.From a craftsmanship,tone and player feel POW tho it´ll lose like a ton of bricks vs the LS700.Simple as that.
IMO the LS is WAYYYYYYYY more Lespaul than that Burny will ever be from that POW

yeah, yeah - I can see what you're driving at, Jesper, and I sort-of agree but still, I look at the PE's and they don't give me shivers, regardless of the build quality yadda yadda, whereas the APII Inazuma I does! I also agree with Kees that I don't like to see guitars classified as 'entry level', mid range' or top of the range; they are simply guitars and as such are either good at what they do, or not.

Now if you're talking about guitars as art, well, I find absolutely abhorrent, and anathema, the idea that guitars are put on a wall and looked at a la Hard Rock cafe' don't you?! Whereas I can appreciate the beauty of Kenny Burrell's .... whilst he's actually playing a tune! I honestly don't care particularly what my guitars look like as players as long as they do what I require them to. That said, if they look stunning - and the VA900 with it's neck that goes on forever, certainly does! - then well and good!

I do in a way. Those are usually less ornate, which is what I prefer. Within a model, the build quality is usually comparable so what you're left with is a good guitar at a reasonable price. Look at all of mine. They may be lowend or entry level or whatever. You'll never see me with something "considered" hi end. They just don't appeal to me. In no way did I intend any disrespect toward any of my guitars.
When I originally answered this, I considered all guitars I've ever seen and rated mine realistically. There are some out there I'd be afraid to get a scratch on because the "value" would drop. That's not what I call a guitar.
Now, I do take care of my stuff. You won't see a lot of scratches or dings on them.
They may be a cheap pos to some but they're special to me and I wouldn't hesitate to take them anywhere.*






* steps away from soapbox. . .

Interesting topic and discussion.Being ever the diplomat, I concour with everything everyone has said so far.

But to attempt to answer the original query, I'll borrow a piece from Jorg's format.

1) PE-60 My wedding present to myself when I got married about 6 years ago. Original intent was to find a Epi SG, or LP Junior, but found this on a pawnshop wall, and like everyone else here I've been a Matt convert ever since. Still the most "Hi -end " of any of my Mats, and is in the best shape by far. I had previously owned both a LP Deluxe and Standard ( probably 70's models) and the 60 is easily the equal or better in most respects to either of thse guitars. I don't feel like I'm missing a thing by having this as my "Paul' if you will, rather than the "real thing" except possibly the "snob" factor, which is easily outweighed by the look on the faces of dedicated LP fans when they play it. I've never played a PER, so I don't know how it compares, but I can't find a lot to complain about, aside from the weight. It is a beast.

2) CS-350's 1 and 2. Still my favorites ( although I sold 1 to a friend). I just like the feel and sound of these better than my PE. No doubt that the PE-60 is a "better" guitar constructionwise, at the end of the day, I get a lot more out of my Cardinal. The neck feels better to me ( slightly thicker than the PE-60 which is a little to thin for my taste)and IMO the MMK45's work better in the Cardinal than they do in the 60. (in fact , I'm still looking for the right pup combination to pull all of the tone I know is there in the 60.) If the Cardinals aren't high-end, they live right next door.

3) PE-450. Ok, "chambered" ( Bent top ) and bolt in doesn't exactly scream high end, but I LOVE this guitar. Sticking in a set of Guitar Fetish "filtertrons"really brought out the personality of this axe. I guess this would be a mid-line git.

4)TSB-400- As basses go,I'm gonna say High end.It feels and sounds as good as any Bass I've had.

5) CSB-300-Another mid level ? Certainly miles beyond any new Squire or low end Ibanez or whatever they are selling to kids these days !Same ballsy PUP as the TSB.

6) And finally my $30 Skylark. Don't remember the model at the moment, but mine is the bottom of the line.Possibly the closest Matt made to an "entry level" instrument, but that being said, not a turd either. Hope I have some time this summer to finish up the project. If it was a POS, I wouldn't waste my time !

Cheers,
G

As I mentioned in another thread, I had the luck to visit the Fujigen factory a couple of weeks ago...

They do make guitars in the price range of 400 USD to over 10000 USD in this place... so what is the difference: wood, hardware quality, finish and attention to detail. Imho hardware makes the smallest part in the price difference (that's why you can get e.g. cheaper Schecter guitars with quite good hardware and pickups)... wood quality is making a difference in terms of selection (basically every maker has Indian rosewood fretboards, but the quality (selection and attention when cutting) is different). Anyway, the finish and the attention to detail make the biggest impact (you can not invest several hours on the fretboard or the finish of a guitar you want to sell for 400 USD).

So for me a good manufacturer manages to deliver the highest possible quality in a given price range... and especially in the lower price range this means better settling for function instead of flash (better invest in wood than pearl inlay trees). If the basis is good, you can get quite far with a good setup (and maybe some replaced hardware).

So talking about Fujigen my old Ibanez AS-50 is exactly this... and the PE-60, TA-60/70 are other prime examples of the function instead of flash thing (if you talk bolt on guitars, that woud be Ibanez Roadstar series, CS-350...).

I have the perspective of having instruments that are both ends of the spectrum in the same line (i.e. an AP II RSB Deluxe and an RSB The Cat). The Deluxe was the top of the RSB line. The SB line did get more expensive and have features such as neck-through and active electronics so it may be considerd that the RSB Deluxe was the top of a middle line. For that it was not cheap when I got it new around 84. I think around $450US. It is still my main bass and the one I measure all others by. It has a very fast and comfortable neck that has been extremly stable. You can only get that with a high degree of craftsmanship and quality materials. The fit and finish are high quality as is the hardware. It has a plethora of sound options with a soupbar pickup in the neck postition and a "J" style in the bridge. It has a coil cut for the neck pup and a phase switch. Concentric volume and tone pots keep the control area from getting to crowded.

The Cat was at or near the bottom of the RSB line. It has just the soapbar and it is positioned closer to the bridge, one V and one T, simple. The harware is the same as on the Deluxe. The neck is not as nice and the sound less variable but very good.