Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Philly Q on February 11, 2010, 11:45:28 AM
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http://www.rasmusguitars.com/ (http://www.rasmusguitars.com/)
You probably all know about this already, but I stumbled on it yesterday. Basically it's a "budget" (relatively speaking) range designed by John Suhr and built somewhere mysterious in the far east.
(Rather a strange website they've come up with!)
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Well they're a nice shape!
The bizarre sideways-scrolling website seems to omit a few details like which country they're actually made in, we all know that "assembled in the USA" means nothing at all if they're just bolting together badly-hewn lumps of plywood.
Some googling reveals they're made in China ... not sure I'd shell out for a Chinese Suhr copy.
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Bizarre website!!!
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the name just makes me think about the singer from the (very shitee) band rasmus, which is not a good thing !!!
I'm sure they are great guitars but the name puts me off, and before you all critise me for being too focused on things that don't really matter, would you play a guitar with Hitler written on the headstock ?
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The bizarre sideways-scrolling website seems to omit a few details like which country they're actually made in
Yeah, they've gone to the trouble of writing a long paragraph about how Ed Yoon scoured the factories of the far east like the guitar world's answer to the Man from Del Monte.... then they bottle out of saying which factory he actually chose. :?
Very odd, and suggests they're ready to shift production somewhere cheaper if the profit margins don't work.
And yeah, the name is an odd choice even though they explain where it came from. I wonder if Suhr has ever heard of the popular Finnish "rockers"?
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I don't like sideways scrolling, it's not me. :P
And $1332? They look bog standard. At least add a veneer if you want to hog the massive profit margin that he'll get. And "discriminating customers" sounds wrong.
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He makes a bigger margin on those than the handbuilt puts no effort into design and we are supposed to be impressed.
I'd much rather buy a Squire Classic Vibe. :x
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I looked & the website & liked the idea of a cheaper Suhr, then looked at the price...WOOWZA!
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While they have Chinese manufacture, they've got the same pickups and hardware as the USA Suhrs, and are Plek'd and they are QC'd at the Suhr factory (which are the 2 factors most effecting the perceived quality of a guitar).
$1300 does seem a lot, but then MSRP on US guitars never remotely resembles what they actually cost. $950-$1000 is a more probable figure (based on how MSRP and MAP usually work), and if they play like a Suhr, and sound like a Suhr, which on paper they should, that could be quite a deal.
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Although, for £850ish these look pretty sweet, and they're handmade
http://www.guitarandpickup.com/index.php?lay=show&ac=photo_view&event_id=7053
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Those 'budget' Suhr guitars definitely don't deserve that kind of price point. You could probably get hold of a fender custom shop for that kind of money (possibly not straight from the factory but it would probably be on par with a Suhr as at a certain point the only real difference in quality is in the fit and finish.), hell you could even get a custom build (or something like a Blackmachine B6) for not much more.
That is ludicrous money for a guitar manufactured in the East.
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Those 'budget' Suhr guitars definitely don't deserve that kind of price point. You could probably get hold of a fender custom shop for that kind of money (possibly not straight from the factory but it would probably be on par with a Suhr as at a certain point the only real difference in quality is in the fit and finish.), hell you could even get a custom build (or something like a Blackmachine B6) for not much more.
That is ludicrous money for a guitar manufactured in the East.
Maybe you should do a search on Musiciansfriend and see what $1300 actually gets you. Mostly USA standard strats, lower end Gibsons, and upper end Korean and mid point Japanese models, as well as the Chinese made Deans (the Razorback models). You can get a Blackmachine for not much more than £830? Where? Also, as said before, MSRP is nowhere near what you actually pay.
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Just to illustrate my point, this Epiphone has an MSRP of $1332!
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Les-Paul-Tribute-Electric-Guitar?sku=621058
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I was more talking about spending an extra couple of hundred to get something nicer.
Point taken actually; the exchange rate and price lists aren't quite as they were last time I looked, which was a couple of years ago (I did want to take a look at the current price lists but my connection dropped.).
Also with the internet market becoming more and more important the price lists are becoming more or less meaningless as a way of comparing prices.
But I do still think that you could do better than get one of them by buying a Japanese manufactured guitar (By the East I wasn't really referring to OES companies like Fuji-Gen or Tokai that manufacture extremely good instruments at prices that undercut US manufacturers, I was more referring to subsidiary companies like Epiphone or this one. I do regret that my wording was rather poor.).
I seem to remember the BM B6 model was set at £1400 or so and factoring in the fictional exchange rate that would be employed by a distributor taking them to the UK the Suhrs might end up as being more expensive than the BM second hand.
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sifu they look ace!
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Comparing like for like is probably a more reliable method for estimating how much they're going to cost. Like I say, I figure $900-$1000, although, as illistrated by the Epiphones, could be as low as £800. The MSRP on the Les Paul Prophecy GX is actually more than the Rasmus models, and that goes for £550ish. Realsiticly, and looking at the models around the $950 mark I'd say probably £600-£650. Since Ibanez's price hike, this makes them cheaper than a Japanese RG, with proper pickups and the same hardware as the US Suhrs. They're Plek'd, and provided they do decent QC (I can't see they won't) they should be great instruments.
One of the things that was a pleasant surprise for me while researching this post is that US and UK guitar prices are roughly equivalent at the moment :o
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The Suhr forums were raging when this was announced :lol:
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This has been discussed at length weeks ago on the HRI forum. Bottom line is that these will end up at a price point to compete with the Charvel SoCals at the 1,000 mark.
The guitars will be preproduced in asia but assembled, Plek'ed and set up in the US. Their hardware will be original parts (i.e. no cheapo Floyds and stuff like on the Charvels) and the guitars are supposed to be of the same standard as the Suhr Pro series, with a different badge and no nice maple veneers.
In my opinion the price/value ratio will be very very good. But the brand is not for me, I hate the name and the headstock logo. I'd rather had the Suhr logo with something like "LE" or "SE" or what not added to it.
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iirc the hardware is actually slightly different, could be wrong though. They do look bland and boring, but then, so do Suhrs custom stuff - they're just decent Strats with pretty tops and nice hardware!
In the bigger picture, 1k for a Chinese guitar will either challenge current opinions and truly open the door to Chinese guitars in the same way Fender did with Japan or will be a complete flop. Either way, Suhr have de-valued the brand with this, (you can disagree but you're wrong) although, they had already started that with the pros - I knew it was just a matter of time for the 'budget Suhrs'.
1000 quid for a Chinese Strat copy?! $%&# off.
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The Suhr forums were raging when this was announced :lol:
In a positive or a negative way?
I always feel big brands do themselves a dis-service when they dilute their brand in this way
BC Rich ruined a very prestigious name when they flooded the market with the far eastern stuff - I know Bernie had always done that with the BC Rico and NJ series but I think it all went too far in later years.
I know the bottom line is what has to be looked after and maybe more cash is earned by selling an offshoot like this than the top flight stuff - I just feel it tarnishes the image of the good stuff.
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iirc the hardware is actually slightly different, could be wrong though. They do look bland and boring, but then, so do Suhrs custom stuff - they're just decent Strats with pretty tops and nice hardware!
In the bigger picture, 1k for a Chinese guitar will either challenge current opinions and truly open the door to Chinese guitars in the same way Fender did with Japan or will be a complete flop. Either way, Suhr have de-valued the brand with this, (you can disagree but you're wrong) although, they had already started that with the pros - I knew it was just a matter of time for the 'budget Suhrs'.
1000 quid for a Chinese Strat copy?! $%&# off.
Well this is not entirely fair. It's made from American woods with Gotoh hardware and USA Suhr Pickups. Plus it's Plek'ed and set up in the US. I don't think it's a bad price (will be more 800GBP anyways => see Charvel prices).
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So you expect me to believe that they ship the USA wood to China - CNC it to shape - Then ship it back to the States?
B.O.L.L.O.X
:lol: :lol:
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In a positive or a negative way?
I always feel big brands do themselves a dis-service when they dilute their brand in this way
BC Rich ruined a very prestigious name when they flooded the market with the far eastern stuff - I know Bernie had always done that with the BC Rico and NJ series but I think it all went too far in later years.
I know the bottom line is what has to be looked after and maybe more cash is earned by selling an offshoot like this than the top flight stuff - I just feel it tarnishes the image of the good stuff.
Both, people were complaining that like you said, the brand was getting diluted and less valuable and other members were arguing with the people saying that, saying everything Suhr do is fine and dandy.
Well this is not entirely fair. It's made from American woods with Gotoh hardware and USA Suhr Pickups. Plus it's Plek'ed and set up in the US. I don't think it's a bad price (will be more 800GBP anyways => see Charvel prices).
Maybe. But, are you going to buy an 800 Chinese Strat, Hunter?
IMO, they should let it get assembled in China and sell it for 400-499 street. Then they would have a monster!
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So you expect me to believe that they ship the USA wood to China - CNC it to shape - Then ship it back to the States?
B.O.L.L.O.X
:lol: :lol:
Well I met both, John and Ed and I don't think they're the type that would lie about a fact like this on their web site. Indeed I believe 100% that what they state on there is true.
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So if it's the same wood, hardware (I don't think it is exacty the same hardware) and electrics on the Rasmus as the customs and it's all assembled and set-up in the same place and same way as the customs...
If you ordered a Suhr std with the same options and spec as a Rasmus you're paying 1200 quid difference for the wood to be cut by a CNC machine in America rather than in China and a different logo?
If so, how much extra tone do the American CNC machines have over the Chinese ones, then? 'cause either A)Suhr buyers have been getting ripped off big time, B)Suhr are telling fibs about the Rasmus construction or C)Suhr are just exploiting Chinese working conditions for a massive profit.
I've had a couple of Suhrs but I've not paid over 1400 for either and I wouldn't. Great guitars but hardly exceptional at 2k+.
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So you expect me to believe that they ship the USA wood to China - CNC it to shape - Then ship it back to the States?
B.O.L.L.O.X
:lol: :lol:
we live in a world where scottish salmon and cod is shipped to Thailand, packaged, then shipped to the UK for sale in supermarkets.
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So you expect me to believe that they ship the USA wood to China - CNC it to shape - Then ship it back to the States?
B.O.L.L.O.X
:lol: :lol:
we live in a world where scottish salmon and cod is shipped to Thailand, packaged, then shipped to the UK for sale in supermarkets.
That's as maybe, but the Suhr claim still seems very fishy to me :? :P
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Why? An Alder bodied maple neck Ibanez or Fender has to have the wood shipped to Japan and then the finished project shipped to the states. It's just the nature of global manufacturing.