The Ditch Pump Taken To New Levels

I've had a couple of Korean guitars and they've been really well made. Above Mexi Fender build. I also used to be snotty about chinese built guitars but I think my 'vintage' branded thinline copy is MiC and it's great. Needed setup tho. With cnc routing of most of the components as long as they're not made out of hardboard you can tweak a decent guitar out of most stuff

Btw, is this the 'secret guitar thread' now?

I hope so

 

Looks like we've just hijacked the thread.
Can we hold it to ransom?

 

I don't think there's any financial gain to be had because nobody will pay to save the BMW.

By the same token as nobody is interested in the BMW it's a nice dark corner to hide in

 

Well, on the subject of guitars, have any of you guys tried the Thomann own brand 'Harley Benton' guitars. T'other year I picked up one of their guitars which I think is an 'SC Custom II FR'. I don't think it even cost £250 and what I got was a solid mahogany (weighs a ton) matt black finished guitar with a genuine Floyd Rose 1000 trem and twin humbuckers with coil split facility. It's basically an ESP LTD Eclipse 1001FR (had to look that up) for about a quarter of the price. Plays beautifully and sounds great.

Oh just thought I would tip this in as it's a wee video of me rattling around on my Gretsch 5420 and looking extremely hairy. Jeez, just looked at the date and it was two years ago! My how time flies.

 

Excellent clip I'd love to play that fluently

 

So, if this is our behind the bike shed area to talk guitars i'd better post this so you can filter any subsequent comments accordingly

 

Samick Greg Bennett? I've never played a Samick although I believe that my Fender FB-59 banjo was actually made in the Samick factory and it's a bloody well made instrument.

 

It is, and it is. Was about £220 s/h. It's a better guitar than my ability. My old Aria Pro II hollowbody likely came out of the same factory as that was MiK (They frequently get passed off as MiJ) and that was a lovely tobacco burst 365 copy. Thinner fender type neck than a gibby though.

 

The Koreans turn out some bloody good guitars and have for a long time but they are becoming as expensive as anything out of Japan or the USA now for the top flight ones. About sixteen or seventeen years ago I bought a few guitars from a Korean company called Saein Guitars, branded 'Shine' that were of superb quality. I don't think the company exist any more as I think they overstepped the mark and lost their 'bread and butter' contract work. At the time I believe they were actually the manufacturer that turned out most of the Epiphone and Gretsch branded guitars.

I gave up playing about 2007 and sold all my guitars and equipment but then, three years ago I decided to take up the guitar again. I went from Zero guitars to over twenty in about six months! Kept convincing myself that I 'needed' Guitar 'X' as it had a different pickup configuration or Tremolo unit etc. and so was capable of doing things that nothing in the existing arsenal could do or just because it was shiny and cheap My most expensive guitar cost me something like £1700 but, if I am really honest, on the playing and sound quality side I would find it hard to really say that it is worth the additional £1650 over the cheapest guitar I have bought. I have had the opportunity to play guitars valued in the many thousands of pounds in the past and, to be honest again, they don't have anything the cheapest ain't got.

 

When I picked up my APII hollow I naturally did a tour of the local guitar shops to confirm the wisdom of my purchase or give me my deserved buyers remorse (bit like catholic guilt but I'm by ancestry Jewish)

It was about the time that the Epi dot semi hollows were being churned out and I *glowed* with the wisdom of my Aria. I'd get a good Korean in a shot. If I'm ebay buying I look out for triple binding, set neck (if appropriate to model) as a signifier of it being a 'best built' guitar rather than cannon fodder

OTOH one of the sweetest, easiest, guitars to play I've ever had was an indonesian built superstrat. May be sentimental as once my son started playing I noticed he had possession of this purple (yes) guitar that I hadn't bought. Turned out it was a mate of his that was looking for thirty quid for it. I bought it for me (bought Joe a Washburn 335 copy too, I'm fair)., set it up and it by accident or design is the slickest guitar I've played. No contest. I've given it to Joe now and it's safe in Germany as it made all other guitars seem awkward to play.

 

Seems the engine itself functions as an engine guard. Yep, expensive if you drop it.

 

I'd have to replace those mufflers before I even rode it out of the dealership.

 

I've a friend who rides a GS. He said he was considering an R 1250RS when he replaced his first GS with his second. Mr. Sandi and I asked him what he liked about the GS. He replied--I kid you not-- "it's so ugly that it's cute."

 

Marty makes a good point with his comparison of the Triumph vs. the BMW. And the BMW pic doesn't come close to indicating how far the engine sticks out. But it does highlight that odd silencer that to my eye totally overpowers the bike and doesn't fit the aesthetic BMW seems to be going for.



But Marty, not all cars are "fat and ugly" (not that you said ALL cars are). I think my car fits into the "sleek and sexy" category.

 

Maybe I should also post a photo of Mr. Sandi's guitars in this thread?!

 

Is your last para. not the reason why our bike (And many other things) industry went down the pan?
Ken.
PS. We even kept working to thous. while others used microns as a measure.

 

At least you can change the rear tyre by lying the bike over on its cylinders.

 

I'm actually a big fan of the BMW and have run several of these in my time.
I was tempted to buy a 1200 GS but was put off by their numerous reliability issues....from Dodgy clutches, oil leaks through to abs problems.
Oh and they cost too much to my penny pinching mind.

 

It's a bling version, exaggerated and chromed. It's for Bling riders. They bling'ing love it. If it makes you smile, buy it. I will ride with you any day of the week and enjoy the company. I am sure it attracts a crowd.

 

Well my views on this bike are nothing to do with brand loyalty but simply that I think it looks horrible. I actually like early BMW's in general simply because of their distinctly agricultural and chunky look but this one just seems totally out of proportion and like a caricature. I can see that it, and the Rocket3 are aimed directly at the USA market but I can't imagine that that market, with it's very strong ties to the 'flag' and 'brand loyalty' will be very open to converting to German, or British, iron. Strikes me that the way to sell into the US is to create something that isn't mimicking their big cubes, suited to straight lines, monsters and in the case of Triumph maybe even play on 'The Wild One' connection?

Bikes are largely toys to a lot of people these days and have to be beautiful, fun or both.
@Sandi T. You do have what I can appreciate is a sleek car, as far as cars go but I just can't and never have been able to get excited about cars of any shape really, especially from inside them. Yes I can appreciate the lines of an old Jaguar or Morgan or the sheer opulence of an early Rolls Royce and I have a big soft spot for the looks of the British model Ford Capri but even 'performance' cars bore me when I am behind the wheel. Just too isolated from the road and the elements you are passing through.