Why this Guitar will ANNIHILATE American Builders
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- Опубліковано 28 лют 2024
- The Spectre of Chinese Made guitars has loomed on the horizon for a long time. And the inevitable has finally happened. The KS Custom Premium at www.keiproguitars.com/shop/
Disclosure: Yes, this is sponsored. My opinions are my own & the brand does NOT get to see it before it goes live.
About Spectre Sound Studios:
I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
We've covered Moon on the Water, played Bias FX, given you the absolute best in Stupid Musician Texts, ranted & raved about bass guitar, and this channel is where The Eagle has Landed.
Everything you've wanted to learn about recording Hard Rock & Heavy Metal can be found right here on this channel!
I also respond to your comments & questions: The best make it into the SMG Viewer's Comments series of videos. Loads of fun, lots of laughs.
Thanks for checking out my channel & please subscribe!
"Id never spend 1000 or more on something from China!"
iPhone and Samsung prices:
I am pretty sure modern Samsung phones are made in Vietnam to cut the manufacturing price
For phones which cost $10 to manufacture...
sammy is south korea
Not the one I have. Says "Made in China" right on the box.
People aren't really buying the "chinese phone" they're buying the American branding, and the "luxury experience". Same with Samsung they've invested billions into market positioning and branding so they're basically synonymous with flat screen TVs and hard drives, even though pantone and kodiak make tvs they don't position as effectively and cant charge the premium.
Hahaha the pink panther out of nowhere wasn’t expecting that.
This is not the channel where I expected to hear a bit of Henry Mancini's music.
But still with that horrid distortion!
Lmao at first I thought he was gonna do the Motley Crew Smoking in the Boys Room cover
For that amount of money, it should come with a hardcase! 🎸
And a Floyd Rose
I bought a Spector NS-5 dimension recently.
Almost $4K australian, and it didn't even come with a gig bag :(
My number one gripe!! If I'm dropping over a grand, you can dang sure throw in 150 dollar hardshell case!!
@@nuberiffic should have!
EXACTLY my first thought.
Now we need a lower end version sent blind to see if their quality compares.
Just went to site and not seeing one over $1100
Same here, don't see any compared to what he has here.
Maybe it’s a custom order for him? Don’t see any over 1100 either on the site, most of the prices seem pretty reasonable honestly
I didn't see your comment, but I couldn't find it. They look really good.
@will_the_don he said they were sending him a top of the heap model that retails for 2200. So yeah, it seems more like a custom why I say we need a blind shipped base model for comparison cause they may have sent him a way above average quality guitar. Yeah, prices seem decent. Ive just seen him do blind ships before for comparison sake so feel it would be a good follow up video. Plus not seeing the option for the same guitar on site raises extra questions, same as any other manufacturer.
@@fat_ninja_statusThe one on the site for $1099 is a custom shop premium. It looks very nice too.
7:14 he did it, he actually used it. Shout outs to the guy in last video's comments that came up with that absolutely brilliant and hilarious line.
🤘Thanks man, feels good to contribute. Now when my mixes get up to par with my one-liners I'll be in business. Cheers to all.
the stained fretboard is something kiesel has been doing for years, and you can get a custom kiesel with similar specs and stained fretboard for about the same price, just with a few months of wait time for a custom
My kiesel has an awesome blue stained flame maple board... the unstained sides look like binding, and the finish on the top is a candy blue over Mastergrade quilt... while that may be a nice guitar, I would still rather deal with a maker in country, rather than a factory halfway around the world...
Dunable too
Not anymore. You’re looking at well over 3k for a K series. And a stained fret board
And it'll have resale value! Unlike "made in china"....
And it'll have resale value!
I haven't bought an American made instrument in 20 years, not because I'm anit-American or pro-China, but because I'm broke.
You can get a made in USA music man cutlass for that price which also has a noiseless circuit.
I own one of these and it is a FANTASTIC guitar.
Looks like a Harley Benton Fusion lll.
And only $2000 more, lol.
Ayy turn that gain up and it sounds like one too ;)
it does, but it has a nicer neck heel, i have 2 fusion 3s, on my 22 fret version i actually had to sand the heel down to get it where i wanted it, the fusion has stainless steel frets though, i dont know if this guitar does, if it doesnt, i wouldnt touch it
Charley Chenton
Probably same shit but someone gets a slice of the pie
IYV out of Vietnam has been making CNC great quality instruments for a few years now. I've got a few, including a 5 string bass that I only paid 100$ for and it's flawless.
Yeah if you're going to buy chinese, pay chinese prices.
How do you order or check prices for instruments?
@@snap-off5383 but it's Vietnamese, man
@@MachinimasEvoluTioN
With the thing in your hand that you made this comment with?
I’ve bought two guitars in Vietnam, handmade, and one of them became my favourite acoustic guitar. Payed ~ 120$ .. can’t beat the price. The best electric I got I built myself, I’d advice anyone to check out their local luthiers. Can probably get a handmade custom guitar for less than most crappy mass produced ones..
Very nice, but this one was targeted at you. Can you try buying one without letting them know it's you? See if it's still as nice.
Exactly. And don't forget even within the same make and model no two guitars are identical.
He didn’t pay for this guitar. If he wanted to take you up on your challenge, it would cost him $2500.
When he bought the explorer style harley benton undercover I bought it from him and it was perfect
Wouldn't be surprised if Glen is actually reviewing a rebranded Acacia guitar
my friend have bought one of these chinese hi end "boutique" guitars...but not this one..Its called shijie. And i tell u.... the guitar is in the level of top line Suhr or Tom Anderson. Its considered expensive for a chinese guitar...but it still far cheaper than Suhr or Tom Anderson
Playing has greatly improved! Great review Glen \m/
Love that you are so honest!
Those guitars probably have spyware embedded in the bridge. I'll take one with extra MSG 😮
Loved the msg reference lmao
Also connected to the weather balloons!
As long as it's a Chinese AI chip and it also improves my guitar tone to my play standards and musical taste it can spy on me and my riffs all day. 😂
Ziz! Your editing is amazing! Keep up the good work, man.
Thanks brother! 🦅
'image not found' fkn hell 🤣🤣🤣 the editing is getting better and better, pure bliss ❤
I love the body shape. It woukd be a perfect guitar for me. Would pick a different colour, but this looks great.
An honest man, even with his guitar fails and review bloopers. We need more UA-camrs like him.
Glen, it is awesome to see how your video production got better and better over time. Congrats and keep up with one of the best REAL music information out there. 🤘
First video I've seen from your channel. Not bad. Subscribed and looking forward to seeing what's next and dive through old videos.
Have you tried Tagima guitar stuff? They’re Brazilian made, and they cover price ranges from upper end of low class to high end magic machines. I haven’t heard a proper metal demo on those things. Cheers!
Their budget models are made in China..I think nice ones are thd Stella DW and the Stella NTM.
Kiesel has been staining/dying fretboards since 1996
Glen, what was your rig for the first playthrough of the blue guitar? Were you playing in stereo? It sounded cool.
The improvement! Hats of to Glenn for playing, it even got me rehearsing a little bit, and for the editor for all the little details, eagles, music, farts...
I mean it's essentially a blue harley benton fusion pro3, tarted up a wee bit with 1900 added to the price. The value will depreciated by a stupid amount the minute you buy it. You can probably get a Guthrie Govern Charvel for that price. Is it a maple cap or a veneer?
FYI- Kiesel has been staining fretboards for years now. This is basically a Chinese Kiesel copy. (Chiesel?) You saw it here first!
Are you saying that Kiesel are the only ones who can do stained fretboards?
@@thesisterfister2984 Absolutely not. I'm saying that it isn't a new thing. Glen commented that staining the fretboard might be a new innovation. I think that this is the first stained fretboard that Glen has seen.
PRS, Warrior guitars and Kiesel guitars practically invented the tinted fret board thing and it usually costs a significant amount more.
Love the new edits Glenn. Great show.
Hell freezes over! Buffer actually LIKES SOMETHING I’VE DONE!!!
And my compliments on your riffing upset you? Or how I enjoy your show? How I'd jam with you? Those....nothing?
AMERICAN BUILDERS DONT HAVE ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT !!!
As much as I enjoy this channel I have to be honest and say that your guitar reviews are something I take with a grain of salt. Your playing is unfortunately sloppy and you do not have much control over your fingers it seems. That makes it difficult for me to believe that you have the ability to fully judge the instrument in a way that will translate to others. I know that this will probably be interpreted as an attack on you but that is not my intention. My suggestion is to do two persons reviews kind of like how Andertons do where the guitarist who is more skilled plays most of the time.
There's clips of Christian Vegh playing in there as well 😁
bro did not watch the entire video
So when are you starting your 2 person review channel? You must really sit high on EGO. Anyone can give a review, your perception of WHO is qualified to give reviews is laughable. The fact this guy takes the time to review a product AND does a great job taking more of his own time to edit is beyond any ego driven dude such as yourself taking 15 seconds to comment. Remember a review is nothing but an honest critique an individual shares in opinion. I would like to suggest you aren’t qualified to give a review of this channel because your Fingers point directly at yourself, as if you feel you are guitar players voice and ambassador. Maybe you should start that Channel and see what numbers of subscribers you get when you start talking about yourself and how you know more than the next guy..let us know it goes. I’d like to do a review on it!!!!
@@riffjohnson22Thank you for the comment, @riffjohnson22.
So you missed the part when he threw it to “an actual shredder?” Those were his exact words.
Awesome unboxing montage!!!
Do you have the exact model # ? I didn't see your model on the site.
Glenn, question. Do any types of pickups increase sustain? I've been thinking about upgrading the pickups in my $400 Jackson V, but I want to know if it's either something else in the signal chain or the way I'm playing. Great show, keep it up.
I truly enjoy the REAL guitar review that is not “Polished and Perfect” Commercial Nonsense 🙂 Appreciate you, Glen!
Nice work with the Pantera riff and I like the "curb your enthusiasm" music at the beginning of the video. Doesn't seem like a bad guitar.
Wow Glenn, the hammer on/pull offs on your scales have gotten much cleaner recently! Keep it up!
Hey glenn, dont know if you’ll see this, but i think a stealth buy of one the cheaper ones might be a good idea to do to see what everyone else is getting. Great video glenn
Where has this guy been hiding? This dude is going to be a huge UA-cam star , sarcastic, knowledgeable and incredibly funny. Glen you are amazing! My new best friend. Thanks bro!
GLENNNNNN! Guitar seems fab. Oh... and here's a shout out to your playing. Been watching you for about three years now and you're killing it! Kudos, dude.
Okay, okay... I finally subscribed. Great channel, man!
Never heard of this brand. But that blue fretboard and back are really nice. The contrasting complementary colors are definitely attractive.
I've only seen Kiesel guitars that look like that, especially the fretboard.
Nice distortion sound today Glen!
9:35 I'm not a guitarist so I'm curious as to how stable truss rods are? How often do you need to adjust the truss rod on a quality guitar? Say you play at home and maybe a gig or two per month? I imagine changes in temperature and humidity play their parts. Thanks.
(I was wondering if it's fair to expect that a guitar arrive in perfect condition after being shipped though different climates)
It's a strange question from someone that is not a guitarist. I have a fender I bought in 1990 that has never needed it and I have lived in many different places, from humid to desert. Another guitar needed adjustment the first time I put lighter strings on it but was fine after that. It isn't something you should expect to have to do very often.
Excellent work as always, Ziz! :)
Thanks brother!
It's nice, a couple of things to note though if we're considering this high end competition; no carve on the top (affects playability and aesthetic, subjective), trem cavity cover sits proud of the body rather than recessed, which you tend to find on higher end guitars, and the hardware is own brand. Many, but not all, high end manufacturers will bring in brand hardware from companies that ensure you are getting the best stuff e.g. Hipshot, Gotoh, Grover, Schaller, Sperzel. It lasts longer and generally works better than company's own machined stuff. Also what are the frets made of? Stainless steel is basically indestructable and industry standard now. Are they well rounded on the edges? This is the stuff players of expensive guitars would be looking for.
Your guitar skills have improved a lot since the last time I saw one of your videos! Whatever you are doing keep on doing it!
Great sounding and beautiful guitar!
Looks very nice and I want the same one, but Unfortunately I couldn't find it on their shop. Maybe it is out-of-stock now?
That guitar is stunning. fretboard looks amazing.
Glennn,
I need your help. Back in December I bought your special bundle that included your courses, some others, as well as 4 plug ins. I did receive the code for the plug ins, but I must've waited too long because it said expired when I tried to download them. I reached out to your team 3 weeks ago, but I have yet to hear back. Any help would be appreciated!
Cool you got that CFH lick!
Keep doing what you do! 🤘
GLEEEENNNN!!! Pardon me for asking, but what is the tune playing during the unboxing?
That's the theme song for the "Pink Panther" show. ... suites Glenn seeing how he's a pink commie
@@underdog4255 not the part he plays on guitar. The background during the actually unboxing. Haha
@@rsdutton My bad ..... that is a cool riff in that music piece.
I love your videos Glenn. Keep em coming bro.
Cheers from NZ 😎🎸🤘
What a lovely, refreshingly honest review.
The guitar sounds and looks great! Also, ever thought about doing a solo album or EP? You're playing is amazing!!!
Love to see Glenn rocking the Kyuss shirt🔥🔥🔥 People really take for granted how much those first 3 albums shaped the sound of 90s american heavy metal and laid the groundwork for the desert scene
Nice one. Warwick has been doing stained fretboards for years, but that's on their Custom Shop basses and not on regular production models, AFAIK.
I'm not usually crazy about the blue/green wood stains, but this one works and the pup covers are a great contrast too.
That thing sounds amazing and looks fantastic as well. Super impressed. Job well done. If this is a sign of things to come. Bring it on. 👍
Thank you for showing us how to open the box. That's a very important part a lot of people don't realize. I followed you step by step and it was a piece of cake. If not for you I would be screwed wondering how to get to that jewel inside. No I can actually play the damn thing. Thank you again
Dude you have to help me find how you ordered your guitar, They don't have the Model you are demo'ing. Please Please you've gotta help me.
HAHAHAHAH! Thank you for the 1st song you played. I was NOT expecting that!
Looks like a great value at that price point. I’d be really curious to see what their more mid priced and budget guitars play/look like.
Guitar is cool and all, but I wonder what are the locking tuners and bridge and pickups. Do they make them, or just buy it from someone else in china?
Hi Glen, discovered your channel not long ago, subscribed immediately, love it.
Speaking of Pantera (you were playing "Cowboys from Hell". What kind of speaker did Dimebag use, more so, what can I do to achieve his tone? I don't want to sound like him all the time or anything like that, but I do like to cover his songs because that's just fun to do. I know he "scooped the mids". What in ever loving fuck does that mean? Does it mean taking the mids to zero, or does it mean cranking the mids to 10? I tried both ways and it just doesn't quite do the trick. Side note, my metal zone sounds week when in gauged compared to when it's not in gauged. What are your thoughts? P.S. your guitar playing is getting much better, I mean it was always good in the videos I watched, but I can tell you're getting better. 🤘
If you are interested in headless Strandberg guitars but from china check out NK guitars Shi is the luthier and builds every guitar, turn around is typically only 1-2 months non custom . i've been using one in my indie band and it has served me very well.
Awe... played the pink panther theme.. that made me smile immediately, and for 2 minutes i forgot i was sick.. thanks, bro.
Your cowboys from hell jam has improved!! 🤘
I have an '81 ESP "Explorer" that is transparent teal with the map!e fretboard dyed the same color. They also had a "Strat" style that was transparent red with a matching red fretboard.
They have very nice guitars. It would be nice to see a few more mid range priced guitars on their site. Beautiful colors.
Stained Fretboard is pretty common in new brands, I think Kiesel has been one of the first one to introduce it into normal models
Hey, nice video!! This guitar reminds me a lot of the Harley Benton Fusion series, the finish looks very similar, and also the headstock. Has anyone else had the same thought?
cool guitar! Only one thing that stands out is the sharp edges on the high end of the fret board. Why so square? Also, FedEx? Not DHL or the USPS? Interesting.
Very interesting video. One has to wonder though above a certain price point regardless of where a guitar is made what are you really paying for.
Sweet guitar and nice review. Although if that gig bag is as good as it looks in the video, I think that's the way better option than a hardshell case. Super heavy duty padded gig bags (a la Mono, Reunion Blues, etc.) are way more practical for touring, etc.
it looks nice but why does it looked like that the control cavity cover is recessed while the trem cavity backplate is not?
What do you think about Phillip McKnight's stream from march 1st where he talked about guitars being off spec 95% of the time if they are made in china. He is not saying theres mistakes like in the building, just that the guitar specs on website arent matching the product in terms of dimensions, radius, etc. He also sh*t on american factories too but said the issue is way less significant. Do you think if someone wants a guitar with specific dimensions and they decide based on a websites specs that it is on the chinese factories to do better?
i would be super interested in this, but i can't find these high spec models on their site.
Looks like you could probably drop in the new Rick Toone tremelo directly into this should the trem have any issues
Also where are you based out of? What city? Thanks brother!
That sure is pretty. Dig that fret board. Give us a follow up review in few months?
Hey man! Love your videos. How's about man reviews one of them ESP Edwards guitars? I bought an Explorer from Edwards and it was one of the greatest guitars i've bought.
Beautiful guitar. You are right about quality coming from China, and Indonesia.I know Boucher is having Eastman make some very nice acoustics with the Boucher name. The upper scale ones are way over two grand.I still love your playing!
I got a Schecter about a half a year ago after seeing the great reviews on this channel and I can’t be happier.
One minute into this video and I already have to pause it to say damn I love ya brother haha. It's a breath of fresh air to hear frank honestly in this field or any other these days. Keep up the good work. 🤟
Hey Glenn, hope you’re well. This is a long shot but by any chance are u in Toronto? Cause I think I saw u outside approaching queen street. I’m playing the rivoli tonite with my band Daggy. We’re gonna be on in about an hour and we’d love to see you there :)
Yes, I was in town for a bit!
5:20 Your playing is doing great, Glenn!
Would be cool to see a comparison to an identically spec'd Kiesel Theos guitar (they've also been doing the colored fretboard thing for years). It would cost a few hundred more from their custom shop, but it would be really cool to compare the quality from a really high-quality and efficient American custom brand with American-based customer service.
Great tone!
Couldn't find these on their website?
The wooden pick-ups or the material used to make it look like wood is a nice touch. Not something that would go nice with most guitars, but on this one it seems to work.
Awesome looking guitar. Great review. Kiesel has been making stained fretboards for quite awhile. Ain’t cheap though.
Blue and brown don't really go together. I like the warm colors, the neutrals and the blue of that guitar, but they would be better on separate guitars.
Glenn, Westone (Matsumoku) had a couple of models in the 80s that had a neck coloured the same as the body.
It never really did it for me, but those who love thenlm, love them.
Strap-on dive is also a pain in the ass
The stained fretboard superstrat thing was pretty much started by Kiesel. Sound familiar keipro? Lol
Right now I live in South-East Asia (guitar market is pretty much the same in the area). And a couple of weeks ago a guy came to an exchange program to our university. He wanted to buy an electric guitar from digital marketplace (Lazada to be precise) just to noodle around sometimes. Not gonna lie, I’m quite a guitar snob, so when I’ve learned he bought it for ≈70$ my first question was ironic “will it come assembled?”. And when it actually came, he gave it to me to set it up, as I was the only person capable of doing that around. When I’ve spent some time with it I was actually impressed, and to my surprise in a positive way. It wasn’t any sort of guitar-like product identical to music instrument, It was an actual guitar! Factory set up was pretty decent. String height was good to my taste, and intonation didn’t take long time to fix. Frets were very good, nothing was cutting trough my arm and they were polished very good. Tbh, those frets looked way better then some on Mexican teles. Guitar stays in tune, has quite recognizable tele tone, and have high-quality assembly, with no neck gap, and have a perfect(I’m not exaggerating) fretwork. I had only two concerns about this guitar, first one is factory pickup setup, it was so low that it was taking only high notes and also picking up resonance of tele bridge. I didn’t quite get it what was wrong with it at first, but then I looked at it again and it was almost body level. Took me like 15 seconds to fix. The other issue is just aesthetics. 5/6 of the body are made of quite identical planks of actual wood, but 1/6 at the bottom is a completely different color. We’ll, I guess that most of guitar is made of poplar, but this low appendix is made of maple. Why? Idk. But do we have a right to bitch over a guitar for 70$ that actually does the job? I’ve actually had so much fun with it, recording a small demo with a 70$ guitar into a ≈20$ audio interface, and I’m really happy that kids and guys from lower income parts of the world can now afford an actual electric guitar.
Ps
the guitar is called MartinLee, and has no serial number or any information in terms of where it’s made, so I can’t say for sure if it’s made in China or Indonesia, or any other country. But you got the point
I can totally understand the 'guitar snob' comment, I mean spending Gibson prices for your guitar, then finding one that was built for $70...is a $70 guitar going to be as good as a multi thousand dollar guitar, of course not ... but is the expensive one really 25 or 30 times better .... people bad mouth cheap guitars, they have to justify their purchase some how .. just one guy talking🙏
If my $200 Westcreek Revenge or a Firefly Flying V have a few flaws, I can live with that. But a person who spent $3000 on his guitar, that is not as easy to say
I've seen a few stained fretboards, a lot of them aren't done very well. That's a nice one, Valiant seems to make some nice ones.
They could’ve recessed the cover plates on the back of the guitar flush with the body for that price. Also, maple cap is a veneer possibly.
You are hysterical!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I Subscribed.
My question with the setup, did they ask you because you're an important client to them, or do they do that for everyone?
The blue stained fret board has been done by a couple manufacturers for years. The most popular manufacturer doing it alot is Kiesel. Couple of Japanese manufacturers like Combat Guitars do it too, see "kelly simonz ex-41". I wouldn't dock points for a tremolo not being a Floyd Rose. To me personally, that's a plus.