Ultra-cheap archtop from Asia, but ?

[j4zz]

Has anyone ever tried something like this. It's very pretty, but ...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004898616045.html

[dconeill]

Has anyone ever tried something like this. It's very pretty, but ...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004898616045.html

You get what you pay for - at best.

[j4zz]

You get what you pay for - at best.

Not my actual experience, however I suspect you may be right about something like this. I have bough really cheap electronics this way, for example, and it has nearly always been really good.

Just not sure about this guitar. However, it actually might be worth buying and tweaking it into a good guitar, if the base construction is what you would expect from low end guitar manufacturing. Hence I just wondered if anyone has some actual experience buying, even solid body guitars from places like Aliexpress.

[AllanAllen]

Yeah, eBay is full of these too.

There were a bunch of ES5 copies, looks like they’re selling Byrdland copies now.

[nyc chaz]

There's another thread this week on this forum about a cheap Harley Benton that turned out to be pretty good.That guitar you posted might be a good guitar that needs some work and parts or it could be a dog.Cheaper guitars today are 100 percent better than when i was a kid back in the stone age.That price is not that crazy to take a chance on if you are so inclined.

[John A.]

I don't know where you're located, so this might not be applicable, but for the same price or less you can get many different Ibanez or Epiphone archtops (both used and new) from Guitar Center. Given that you'll know what you're getting and will have a generous return policy, that strikes me as a much safer option. Unless that guitar at AliBaba is really substantially better quality than, say, a used Epi Joe Pass or a new Ibanez AF-75 (which I doubt), I would not take the chance on one. I mean if you're doing it for the sake of the experiment and experience, sure, but if the idea is to stay within a budget with a high degree of satisfaction and a low degree of hassle I think buying a known quantity from a known source makes more sense.

[Danil]

I've bought Grote p90 from AliExpress a year ago, which seems to be of a similar price and build quality. I quite like it - it is comfortable, lightweight and it sounds surprisingly good - lively sound with clear note separation. It is also loud when unplugged to the extent I don't use it when practicing ( not to bother neighbours in apartment block with my pitiful playing). I feel comfortable taking it to jams - as I said it works well and no fears of damage, etc.

I did pay luthier to level the fretboard (frets were uneven, I was told that is because wood was not properly dried before assembling), tailpiece and jackplate are cheap metal, but otherwise it is fine and accurately built.

So, if you're curious, adventurous and not too brand image sensitive it may work for you.

[garybaldy]

Has anyone ever tried something like this. It's very pretty, but ...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004898616045.html

Looks great for the money.
I got this for slightly less in the UK (MIC). It's pretty good plugged in. I bought a handmade pickup by Fletcher to put in it but never got round to it. And now I have a real 125!