I’m not an expert but it’s incredible with guitars as well - the craftsmanship when comparing something off an assembly line versus a true luthier crafted instrument. There are visual clues easy to spot like the tuning pegs, but upon closer inspection of the fretboards the material used for inlays is an indication, and then the intricacy of fitment. With something like an acoustic guitar - Pimentel versus an off the rack Breedlove, the sound will be staggeringly different and you’ll understand where the extra $9,000 came from.
There are of course forgeries in music instruments of high value - violins - and the ugly reality that Chibsons exist and are pieces of shit because they’re produced by a culture with serious fucking problems relating to creativity and freedom of expression and individuality.
There is a market for Chibsons—not everyone is willing to spend on expensive instruments.
As a beginner, I’m too much of a cheapskate to drop $9,000 on a musical instrument. I can’t even play properly or distinguish the right tones yet.
I agree with you that, at my current skill level, my ability to express creativity and individuality is limited. But I’m okay with that. For now, I just want to enjoy learning to play the music I love. I’ll consider upgrading once my skills improve.
> As a beginner, I’m too much of a cheapskate to drop $9,000 on a musical instrument.
There is a wide range of choices before you reach $9K. If I'm being honest, $9K for an electric is absurd.
For beginners at guitar, this is a great time. Thanks to CNC machines, guitars at low price points are ridiculously consistent. Yes, they're cheap, but they are precisely cheap. You pretty much get exactly the same level of guitar at the price point no matter whether it was manufactured 6 months ago, today, or 6 months from now.
The downside is that you don't find the bargain "stage queen" where all the stars lined up that day to make a much better guitar than it should have been. The upside is that you get way, way, way fewer absolute dogs that are unsalvageable.
Your logic is terrible and Chibsons are terrible instruments - usually they are unplayable. They are SHIT simply built for making a cheap revenue through infringement.
A Korean made Agile for $300 is an actually playable instrument and not garbage. You don’t play so I don’t expect you to understand. Let’s just put it in a method you can understand - Chibson is the equivalent of somebody using your picture and LinkedIn profile to apply and get hired for a job. Do you extend your excuses to that scenario?
> Pimentel versus an off the rack Breedlove, the sound will be staggeringly
Not sure about acoustic guitars specifically but for electrics there's plenty of evidence that the magic is mostly in the hands (and the brains) of the player.
Plenty of yt videos on that subject blind trials and stuff as well as stars playing regular or cheap kits.
For a nylon string classical, the sound must come from the wood and the construction--there is nothing else to generate the sound. There is a balance between tone, volume, and tension that different guitar makers choose (for example, flamenco guitar builders generally choose to make the attack and decay quick relative to a "standard" classical guitar--you can see this in the waveforms on an oscilloscope if you so choose) .
And, sure, a master player can make any guitar sound good, but it's a lot easier for an amateur to make a nice guitar sound good.
Electrics are a totally different story. It's pretty much all about pickups, strings, and the distance between the two. Wood is almost completely irrelevant.
I am sure about acoustic guitars and that’s why I specifically made that reference. There are situations with electrics as well - a standard Stratocaster versus a John Mayer PRS actually is noticeable to people who are at a level to understand these things.
Basically a lot of critique on my post boils down to “well I think and feel this” with no grounding whatsoever. I’ve seen those YouTube videos and they are entertaining but substantively shit from a professional musician standpoint.
I don’t wander into Ruby threads telling people JavaScript or Python is better.
Audio's not ideal, but it's still him with his tone and recognizably so!
Sure Strats and, sayy, Les Pauls are noticeably different but you can still play heavy stuff on a strat with minimal adjustments (Yngwie Malmsteen for one).
I believe it was Rick Beato interviewing Nuno B: Nuno once tried Eddie VH's rig, and guitar. Nuno said he sounded like himself, and definitely did not sound like Eddie.
There are of course forgeries in music instruments of high value - violins - and the ugly reality that Chibsons exist and are pieces of shit because they’re produced by a culture with serious fucking problems relating to creativity and freedom of expression and individuality.