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There's a guy at work who has been talking to me for ages about buying a Les Paul, or at least a first electric. He plays acoustic and plays mostly blues, from what I can gather.

I told him that if I were him, I would wait patiently for something Matsumoko or similar to show up on ebay. He seemed to agree that this was a good idea, and we looked at a lot of lawsuit era Japanese guitars.

I armed him with a list of brands including Burny and Tokai, and he returned with new guitars released under these brands that he likes the look of. What we're wondering is whether or not the new guitars are of the same quality as the old ones. I didn't even know that anyone was turning out guitars with Burny on the headstock anymore. Something to do with Fernandes?

He likes the look of the new Burny Gold Top with the P-90's. It looks pretty good to me, but it also costs somewhere around £450, and I thought he could probably get better for cheaper with a bit of patience.

Any thoughts, folks?

Cheers!

Usually the stuff made in Japan is of great quality. A lot of these Japanese brands make guitars in Korea too. These are lesser quality but still not bad for the money. However they would be slightly better or on par with a current Epiphone. Where some of the Japanese made guitars compare favorably to current USA made Gibson guitars.

When it comes to vintage Japanese it also had different quality levels. Old Tokai stuff is really nice for the most part and you can use your common sense observations when looking at stuff. Look for set neck vs. bolt on. Look at the quality of the fretboard inlays, headtsock inlay, woods, look for correct dimensions, etc...

I dunno what the uk market is like, but you can score really ace japanese Hondo II Les Paul copies that are dead on for penuts over here.

samick les pauls are nice

Vintage guitars have had some good reviews.
I like the Peter Green lemon drop LP - currently on sale at Dolphin - LANK

I had a Korean Burny and a Korean Tokai and they were nice, certainly good enough for the intermediate player but the Jap (sorry) MIJ stuff is better. Old Yamaha Studio Lord models and Aria Pro II PE models usually go cheaper if he wants that MIJ quality. Korean Epi's are nice too.

Ive had 2 really great LP copies (both japanese) .. one was a "Pan" and was dead up.. the other is the Penco (yup same Ibanez family)

Gordon Smith do LP style guitars, you can pick one up 2nd hand for a decent price. Plus they are hand built.

Some examples

http://musical-instruments.shop.ebay.co ... _sacat=619

broncobuster80 wrote:Ive had 2 really great LP copies (both japanese) .. one was a "Pan" and was dead up.. the other is the Penco (yup same Ibanez family)

I had a PAN guitar, was a 335 copy. Sounded like a cheap banjo, as has every other 70's Jap/Maksumojo guitar I ever got sucked into buying.

Has he looked at the solid body Gretsch guitars. The Pro Jets are pretty nice LP types, for around that kind of cash. And lets be honest if he is willing to spend £450, Gibson Juniors and Studios aren't that much of a step up from there, especially if one can be found second hand.

I'm suspicious of the "new" Japanese makers. Mainly because my friend had a Tokai Love Rock thingy that I hated and partly 'cause the mojo feels wrong, which is obviously bullshit in terms on tone and playability but still represents something real in my mind..like they are impostors or something which again doesn't mean anything if you are being rational about it.

If a friend of mine wanted to spend roughly £400-£500 I'd be pointing them at Fender Teles, Mex, baja might even get a Highway One one if they are lucky.

How about an Orville - Japanese made Gibsons. Also heard good things about the Vintage Lemon Drop.

Johno wrote:

broncobuster80 wrote:Ive had 2 really great LP copies (both japanese) .. one was a "Pan" and was dead up.. the other is the Penco (yup same Ibanez family)

I had a PAN guitar, was a 335 copy. Sounded like a cheap banjo, as has every other 70's Jap/Maksumojo guitar I ever got sucked into buying.

Either Ive had 2 really good ones or youve had a long string of bad ones.. dont know what to say about that but I would be all about getting another Pan. Mine was a victim of our housefire (along with at least 10 other vintag guitars, several recent guitars, 2 milk crates full of pedals and several amps).

johnnyseven wrote:Orville

even if it was the nicest guitar on earth, i doubt i could own an orville. every time i saw it i'd think of this twat:

Do I sound like an idiot for recommending Agile guitars from Rondo Music?

Yes.

Only kidding
Some other forum were going on how they are good..

Hagstrom do a Les Paul like guitar

DO AN ESP EC-50.

chrislee wrote:Do I sound like an idiot for recommending Agile guitars from Rondo Music?

not at all, those guitars are pretty good for entry level (and good platforms for moding and exp's on)

Fran wrote:DO AN ESP EC-50.

Yeah those ESP EC series guitars are nice. I wanted one but they dont sell them in japan. I got the gibson DC w/ emg's instead. Honestly i wouldve preferred the LTD EC-1000 but hey....i got a gibson.