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Ian Miller wrote:This is one of the guitars I mentioned in my previous post that I had to return! It was not good, badly assembled and totally out of alignment! They look pretty, but that’s all!

Ian

Same with me I sent for that model, it was awful. I wasn't expecting anything brilliant, just something I could gig with in tight spaces and wouldn't mind if it got knocked. maybe fit a better trem, pickups etc.if needed. In went straight back in the box and got returned.

I've found with Strat type guitars in particular, the budget stuff can be poorly set up as I don't believe it's something these eastern firms are good at, especially at the budget end of stuff.
But, as long as the parts are right and the measurements are in tact, you can set them up to an acceptable standard, as I did with the Encore Strat.
I do admit that I love having them arrive and be able to play them 'out of the box', which sometimes happens, but folks need to be prepared go put some time in on certain models. You can of course get bad ones, I ordered a Tokai Strat a couple of years ago and it was awful, I couldn't make the bridge/tremolo work as it should which rendered it useless to me so I returned it with an explanation and received an apology, as Tokai are supposed to be pretty decent, but their standards are no longer what they were in the early 80s.

Well Tokai didn't have much to compete with in the early 80s, as Fender and Gibson quality control was pretty bad, but the big boys have got their act together since then, so the cheaper brands need to raise their game too.

As you know I occasionally play bass for Ian McCutcheon who has loads of guitars. His Tokai is excellent, a favourite of mine.

In the early 80s, it was nothing to do with Tokai having nothing to compete with, as their early offerings were first class and as good as any Fender from the early sixties, I know this because I bought one and these are the ones commanding good prices today. They had names for these models like 'Gold Star Sound' and 'Springy Sound' and I never quite understood what all of that was at the time, as they were all excellent guitars.
The Tokai that I ordered recently of which I speak of being of poor quality is a different instrument altogether to the early offerings. The parts appear cheap and tinny and don't feel good like those 80s ones did. The trem felt 'awkward' and not convincing to me and the tuners were cheap too. The fretwork and build quality was not as I remembered and back in the eighties it was their amazing quality that made Fender take notice and eventually get their act together again. In fact the Fuji Gen Gakki factory who were building Tokai, set the example and that's why Squier appeared, now owned by Fender, to offer competition at similar prices and it is those JV Squier guitars that eventually had their logos switched to Fender Japan, with Squier product being manufactured somewhere else such as Korea. Those Squiers retained their spec and became Fender MIJ instruments.
Since then there have been numerous companies in Korea, China, Indonesia, Taiwan and others I can't think of that are now building Squier products.
It seems that they are all getting very good at it which explains the Vintage, Encore, Harley Benton, SX, Sire and the rest of them we see on offer. My guess is, they are basically the same guitars with various different headstocks and different logos. The pickups are certainly generic as they appear on all makes, unless like Vintage who specify Wilkinson pickups and hardware, but Encore who are owned by JHS the same as Vintage, use the generic pickups of which I speak, unless you buy their deluxe model with Lace Sensors and Wilkinson hardware , which is another great guitar at an affordable price.

I have been using the Duesenberg Les Trems on guitars that need a trem and with great results as well, it is a good unit and stays in tune.
However, I spotted a new trem system for the Telecaster and ordered one to try out, it's the VegaTrem and I'll test it out and see if it does the business for my Hank stuff as good as the Duesenberg does.

dave robinson wrote:Thank you for your input guys, I have ordered a Telecaster in black with binding and two humbuckers, I'll give it a blast and see how it goes. It's a 'B' Stock one @ £101 so not a lot to lose.
That said, I then found a 62 Custom in Candy Apple Red with body binding for £135, so that's on it's way too.

I bought a Telecaster copy too and wrote a review (with Google translation), but I rarely use it.

Both the Custom 62 Telecasters arrived and I set up the red one with a VegaTrem, comparing it with my Fender same model, it compared very well in every department. Recommended !

I've really got into the Telecaster thing these past few weeks and ended up capturing a Squier Classic Vibe Esquire to make me work harder - Single pickup and no trem.

I'm at it again and can report my enthusiasm for playing my new Squier Classic Vibe Esquire and deciding immediately that it needs a neck pickup, but not in the Telecaster way. I came across a country player named Brad Paisley who plays an Esquire but has a 'secret' pickup under the pick-guard concealed from view, so I'be took it upon myself to investigate and replicate that idea on my Esquire. There's a load of information about it on You Tube, along with impressive demos and I decided I want one, so I'm taking my router to the Esquire to fit the Phantom or 'stealth' pickup to mix im with the bridge pickup, with out of phase and coil tap to give more tonal options, as I'm using a Humbucker, as I have a few of those lying around in my spares box. It will be a challenge to do a good job, but for me it's something to do and I'll end up with a great guitar that's a bit different, especially after I add a trem system to it, the type that has yet to be decided. Watch this space.