Were the columbus MIJ guitars meant to be good? £125 good?

[Transcend]

Just asking as i know a few people on here are fond of the MIJ LPS

and i found this

http://www.coda-music.com/product_info.php?cPath=170&products_id=11563

[Philly Q]

Back in the days when Columbus guitars were widely available in the UK (I'm talking early '80s...!) they were real cheapos, plywood bodies, cr@ppy pickups, cost about £80.  They used to sell them in the Littlewoods and Kays catalogues!

In those days "Made in Japan" wasn't such a big deal, they hadn't yet shifted production of budget models to Korea (then China, Indonesia etc.)

But I don't really know anything much about the brand or how big their range was - that one has a bolt-on neck which suggests cheap, but the tuners (at least) look decent and the pickups look like DiMarzios (I never knew if they were genuine USA DiMarzios, or made in the Far East under licence).

[Frank]

I remember the 1980s Columbus ones too, they were just nasty. I changed the pickup in one once and I seem to recall the top wasn't carved, it was just a sheet of thin plywood that had been bent roughly into the shape of a carved top then glued on top of the plywood body.

Embrace them as you would embrace a leper.

[Philly Q]

I remember the 1980s Columbus ones too, they were just nasty. I changed the pickup in one once and I seem to recall the top wasn't carved, it was just a sheet of thin plywood that had been bent roughly into the shape of a carved top then glued on top of the plywood body.

Sounds like my "Arbiter" Les Paul copy, I think that was similar. 

It also had really weird pickups - they had gold covers and looked like proper humbuckers, but I think they were some kind of single-coils.  If you unscrewed the polepieces they seemed to be fixed into what looked like a strip of copper tube under the cover (unless I completely misunderstood and my memory is deceiving me - I knew nothing about guitars in those days!)

But, as I mentioned, there were some £100 guitars from Hondo and Columbus (and probably other brands I forget) with DiMarzio pickups!  Very odd.

Of course it's all changed nowadays, nobody really makes bad guitars, except at extremely low price points.

[Transcend]

ah see i wasn't thinking of buying it anyway i just thought someone on here may be interested.

It's always good to be learning new stuff though.

[richard]

My first electric was an Avon LP copy which was basically the same as the Columbus. I did quite a few gigs with it before I finally had the cash for a Gibson SG which made me realise what an absolute piece of cr@p the Avon was.  Cheap guitars these days are 20 times better. Save your money.

[Frank]

But, as I mentioned, there were some £100 guitars from Hondo and Columbus (and probably other brands I forget) with DiMarzio pickups!  Very odd.

That was my first ever electric, a white Hondo Les Paul with DiMarzio pickups. At the age of 14 I thought I was Jimmy Page with that.

[Elliot]

What, in that you nicked everyone else's riffs and sounded like you were playing through a pot of buzzing bees? :D

[Frank]

What, in that you nicked everyone else's riffs and sounded like you were playing through a pot of buzzing bees? :D

I plugged it through the mic input of my parents' Sanyo stereo system, the tone was pretty damn close to Jimmy Page.

[stonevibe]

I remember the 1980s Columbus ones too, they were just nasty. I changed the pickup in one once and I seem to recall the top wasn't carved, it was just a sheet of thin plywood that had been bent roughly into the shape of a carved top then glued on top of the plywood body.

Yep, I had one when I was a kid and it was a cheaply made guitar. I had fun with it though.  :D

[stonevibe]

In fact I just found a pic of me playing it!  :D

[mikeluke]

Looks like it is sold, anyway...

I had the very same - black, Les Paul Custom by Columbus - was my first lekky guitar - as a 16 year old it was great but in hindsight it was cr@p!

:-)