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Does anyone know anything about this ES-175 clone? They sell for £650 here in England and cme from the Fernandes stable.
It looks sweet with the single HB but I wonder how it would stand up against £600 worth of Ibanez, Epiphone or Godin.
I'd appreciate your collective knowledge and experience.
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09-06-2021 03:03 PM
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If it's in good condition it'll probably be a nice player. Likely made by Matsumoku in Japan, and they made some very fine copies of Gibsons back in the 70's. My Aria Pro II PE180 is a copy of the L5ces and is a splendid guitar. Matsumoku guitars were sold under several labels, Aria, Aria Pro II, Burny, and several others, some were "store" brands. But the underlying guitar was virtually identical.
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Originally Posted by Gladders
The new ones are made in china and have the single pickup in the neck?
They look ok. The top and back plate doesn't seem to have much shape so I suspect the sound will be non descript but that can be a good thing on a cheap guitar.
They used to be made in Japan and probably Korea in the 20's 2010's etc..
If compared to an Ibanez or Epiphone ES175 I couldn't say. I never liked Ibanez Arctores (the ones I played) so I would be interested in one over that and it's more traditional in shape.
I did enjoy the new Epiphone ES-175 but it felt incredibly cheap.
Buy one and send it back if you don't like it.
Fernandez are or were well regarded.
If it was a Japanese one at the price I'd be all over it. Perhaps they keep the same design but now have it made in china. If so, give it a go. Could be a nice guitar.
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This is very much the cheaper Chinese guitar, not the vintage Japanese one.
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Originally Posted by ArchtopHeaven
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I own one and have it listed for sale here. The reason I’m selling it has nothing to do with being dissatisfied with guitar in any way but rather the fact that, like many players, I simply have too many guitars and a ‘59 ES-125 is my “keeper.”
As with production of most guitars in this price range, production shifted to China, but that has never been a reason for me to dismiss a guitar out of hand. The Japanese have successfully exported quality and quality assurance practices to operations in China going back decades now.
I found this guitar to be very well crafted using good materials (including a dark rosewood fretboard) and components. Fretwork is done to a high standard with no gaps in fret marker inlays. I had expected to be underwhelmed by the pickup, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be very well-tailored to the target that this guitar is aiming for — ES-175. Fernandes produces its own PAF style humbuckers. The only issue I ran into initially was that the amplified sound caused a slight vibration noise between the pickup and its frame - easily solved with adjusting tensioning.
In terms of playability, the neck on this guitar is medium C depth with decent depth, neither slim nor chunky, and is comfortable to my hand (average size, long fingers) for playing chords or solo’ing.
Competing guitars in this range would likely be the Epiphone Zephyr Regent, Eastman AR372CE, or Guild A-150.
Best of luck with your quest. Ideally, try before you buy.
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Even Chinese ones can be great if it is set up well and old enough to see that the wood is dried out already and the costruction is settled down,
And if you swap the pickup.
It is light and very comfortable at least for me, body is not big but relatively big.
And it is rather es 165 than es 175 copy .. not sure though
Andrey Ryabov has it as a main instrument for many years (the pickup is not original). I played this particular guitar myself, it is Chinese but very smoothe
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Bump.
still looking for a discerning buyer….
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FYI, this is not an ES-165 copy per se. From 1949-1971 Gibson produced single pickup ES-175’s. The 2-pickup versions were designated by a “D” suffix.
What this is is is a great-sounding / great-playing / well-crafted guitar for the money.
As for the pickup, I fully expected I’d be swapping this out as Jonah comments here, but, after comparing this guitar’s PAF design pickup against other well-known options, I honestly saw no reason to do this. I guess it comes down to subjective taste (and the budget) of the player.
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Holiday bump
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I see these every now and then. Anyone else have any inputs on them or have one and can share? I see more of the newer Chinese ones than Japanese ones. Very attractive 175 single pickup type guitar and they come around fairly cheap.
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Hi Chris,
Great guitars imo, and mine is still available unless I change my mind.
Martin
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Originally Posted by Jonah
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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Originally Posted by chris32895
Check his live records on youtube with Attila Zoller with whom he had close friendship while he was in New York.
He returned to St.Peterburg some years ago and ever since led quite a modest life, plays a lot in local clubs with singers or solo sessions.
He does not promote himself and though everyone on local scene knows him as the best (and the local scene was very strong really at least before the war) you can hardly find an announcement about his gigs.
I took a couple of lessons from him in his small appartment which were payed as 1hour but lasted both like 4 hours and first two hours were more like drinking coffee and chatting about all the greats he met and played with while he was in US and then 2 hrs of just jamming together.
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