Jary Turser axes - lots out there, not familiar with company

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 7639 Location: Florida

I tend to spend some time on eBay while at the office (bad employee, no cookie!) and there are tons of these axes on there at all times. Is this the new/cheap version of Cort and the other cheaper guitar makers of the late 80's? Haven't really kept up with the times.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 79 Location: Dayton, Ohio

They are cheap, and made so. There are many guitars in the same price bracket that are higher quality. Including Korean Dean's and Tradition (seem decent for the price).

Tim

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 7639 Location: Florida

thx, wasnt planning on grabbing one, just wondering who they were. Was also trying to remember the cheaper guitar makers from when I was younger besides Cort - remembered another one - Hondo

Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 108 Location: Michigan City, IN

Amen....cheap,.....cheap.. I made the mistake of owning one. Nothing but problems. I have a Jay Turser 12-string I got a while ago and that can hold it's own but i could have done better. But all in all it's better then a broom stick.

Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 10:40 pm

I beg to differ - I had a Turser SG Custom and it was a very nice guitar for the price point. Set neck, full binding, good electronics (epiphone) block inlays & gold hardware. The setup was spot on from the factory - I couldn't build it for $200 if you gave me all the materials.

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 12:52 am

my friend in texas has a Turser Music Man ripoff and i must say it sounds pretty good for what he payed for it.

Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 697 Location: Colorado

Talan wrote:

They are cheap, and made so. There are many guitars in the same price bracket that are higher quality. Including Korean Dean's and Tradition (seem decent for the price).

Tim

Traditions are really nice guitars!
I picked up a new old stock Michael Batio sig on ebay, and It has one of the hottest pups in my arsenal.

Really nice top too.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 79 Location: Dayton, Ohio

I keep getting drawn back to the Tradition Jerry Reed Signature. Very versatile Tele-copy. I just can't bring myself to pay $599 (street price) for one.

http://www.traditionguitars.com/JR%20Pro%20Series.htm

Tim

Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 6 Location: Colorado

Really nice import once you change out the pickups.

Do you remember Hondo?

Gregory

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 5324

Talan wrote:

I keep getting drawn back to the Tradition Jerry Reed Signature. Very versatile Tele-copy. I just can't bring myself to pay $599 (street price) for one.

http://www.traditionguitars.com/JR%20Pro%20Series.htm

Tim

those are without doubt, Samick guitars..

Smaick will produce "custom" stock models for anyone.. you can change the headstock and come up with a logo, and they will pop them out.. i think the minimum order is something like 50 guitars to get the logo, and 150 for the headstock change.. they can shoot non-standard colors for an additional cost..

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 5324

Music Gear Guys wrote:

Really nice import once you change out the pickups.

Do you remember Hondo?

Gregory

yeah, i do.. i had a 1982 Hondo-branded Tokai Love Rock (Hondo Deluxe 757)..

it was a Japanese Love Rock that was the model of the 59 LP... it was in a really faded amberburst.. and it was shot in thin nitro lacquer.. really sweet.. a buddy of mine was starting a band, and i sold it to him for $450.00.. solid flame Maple top, not a veneer.. single piece Honduran Mahogony body, set mahogony neck.. Gibson Headstock.. thin binding like the very early LPs.. the pickups were pretty "vintage" sounding.. the only strange thing was that the electronics were mounted on a PCB in the control cavity.. the pots and caps.. the output jack and pickups connected to the PCB with mini-Molex connectors.. strange..

well, every single time that i pulled it out of the case.. i was repeatedly asked if it was a Gibson.. and from 3-4 feet, you'd swear that it was one..

so, not all Hondos are crap..

Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 3939 Location: Orlando, FL

I had a friend in High School that had a Gold Top LP Love Rock. Man, I hadn't thought about that in years! It was a really nice guitar. The Love Rock logo was written in a script so that it looked like it said Les Paul. I wonder what ever happened to that guy?

Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Posts: 2705 Location: Dallas, TX

I had a freind who had a Hondo II, whatever the hell that was. It was a black LP bolt on.

And it was a horrific POS. You could not get the intonation set on it to save your soul. The frets were peeling up out of the slots on the fingerboard. The neck vaguely resembled a roller coaster, and the binding had separated away from the body in the cutaway area.

It was just dreadful.

The sad part was that he paid almost as much for it as I paid for my Electra MPC LP copy, which was (and still is) a really decent guitar.

Joined: 08 Dec 2003 Posts: 38 Location: Fullerton, CA

Talan wrote:

They are cheap, and made so. There are many guitars in the same price bracket that are higher quality. Including Korean Dean's and Tradition (seem decent for the price).

Tim

I can't speak for all JTs but I own a JT134 DC which is a 335 type semi-hollow body guitar, and it is very nice. They are cheap. But I find the quality to be very good. On the other hand, I did check out a Strat style JT in the store where I bought mine and it felt like a toy, pretty flimsy. So I guess it depends on the model you are looking for.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 79 Location: Dayton, Ohio

LewnWorx wrote:

I had a freind who had a Hondo II, whatever the hell that was. It was a black LP bolt on.

And it was a horrific POS. You could not get the intonation set on it to save your soul. The frets were peeling up out of the slots on the fingerboard. The neck vaguely resembled a roller coaster, and the binding had separated away from the body in the cutaway area.

It was just dreadful.

The sad part was that he paid almost as much for it as I paid for my Electra MPC LP copy, which was (and still is) a really decent guitar.

Actually, I still have my very first guitar, which is a Hondo II (Les Paul copy), black with white binding. I logged a lot of hours on it in my early teens, a lot of them spent tuning it. Over and over. It's heavy and solid as a rock, but the neck is a total POS. Bad inlays, fretwork and it won't intonate. The bridge is to close to allow for it. I've kept it for sentimental reasons, and the fact that it is not worth anything. Maybe I should've bought and Electra.

Tim

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 5324

LewnWorx wrote:

I had a freind who had a Hondo II, whatever the hell that was. It was a black LP bolt on.

And it was a horrific POS. You could not get the intonation set on it to save your soul. The frets were peeling up out of the slots on the fingerboard. The neck vaguely resembled a roller coaster, and the binding had separated away from the body in the cutaway area.

It was just dreadful.

The sad part was that he paid almost as much for it as I paid for my Electra MPC LP copy, which was (and still is) a really decent guitar.

hence the Hondo that i had was a Tokai, not manufactured by Hondo..

Hondo actually had a "high-end" line.. and they weren't cheap like the Hondo-II's.. all of them were made by Tokai.. the Coyote, the Deluxe series, and there was another line that was strats and teles.. and the Chiquita.. those were all Tokai-made.. and they were high quality instruments, and cost about the same as a Tokai..

all the other Hondo stuff was/is crap.. plywood, bolt-on crap..

Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2003 11:01 pm

my dad and i are droolin over that acoustic with the MOP eagle inlay..... dean you think you guys could do that? we know what mad inlay skillz you got