what do you think of guitar fetish products? i saw a bass build with a G.F. Pbody and it looked fine did nt hear it...the guy who build it says it s all right..also affordable prices. any body there used G.F. parts? thank u.
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guitar fetish ?
- Thread starter funky duck
- Start date
My friend uses guitar fetish parts for budget builds / repairs when its not worth sinking 300 dollar parts for someones 300> dollar instrument. For the money they are a good value. He's bought several of their strat pickups and other hardware with no issues. Don't expect these parts to compete with hipshot or dimarzio, etc... They're just good for the money.
I bought a few parts from there recently and I haven't actually made the instrument yet, but they seem like good quality parts to me.
I got a tune-o-matic roller bridge (for guitar), a nut, jack cover, and ferrules and they all look exactly as expected and look a lot better than what I bought for my bass (mostly on ebay).
That being said, I don't have much to compare them to and I haven't actually installed and used them yet. Someone I know buys all of his replacement parts from there to customize the guitars he buys and recommended it to me.
I got a tune-o-matic roller bridge (for guitar), a nut, jack cover, and ferrules and they all look exactly as expected and look a lot better than what I bought for my bass (mostly on ebay).
That being said, I don't have much to compare them to and I haven't actually installed and used them yet. Someone I know buys all of his replacement parts from there to customize the guitars he buys and recommended it to me.
Hopkins
Commercial User
They have some pretty good stuff, like Hammerhed said, don't use their tuning keys. They are junk and a waste of money. I wouldn't go any cheaper than Wilkinson when it comes to tuners.
Here are a few other suppliers that I use when I'm looking for inexpensive hardware
http://www.guitarpartsonline.com/ They have the best prices I have found on pick guards, I have read some positive reviews about Dragonfire pickups too.
Link Removed
Here are a few other suppliers that I use when I'm looking for inexpensive hardware
http://www.guitarpartsonline.com/ They have the best prices I have found on pick guards, I have read some positive reviews about Dragonfire pickups too.
Link Removed
thanks !!! what interests me it s a P Body with a Jazz bass neck. I ve got the p ups bridge and i m planning to buy schaller vintage tuning keys. more advices welcome!!!!
Their bodies are great if you're okay with doing some work to make it work right.
The pickups are actually pretty good! I just got a set of pickups for my tele and it sounds great. Also am using a P bass pickup from them in my main bass.
The bass that I made with their body is all GFS parts except the neck. The hardware is good enough and I haven't had any problems with the tuners after 2 years and a lot of use....
The pickups are actually pretty good! I just got a set of pickups for my tele and it sounds great. Also am using a P bass pickup from them in my main bass.
The bass that I made with their body is all GFS parts except the neck. The hardware is good enough and I haven't had any problems with the tuners after 2 years and a lot of use....
The first bass I built was from their parts list, which I cherry picked for parts. Their 'kits' bear a notice that one would want to upgrade some of the parts to make a really nice guitar/bass.
I didn't change any profiles or shapes and just decided to go with the parts as they came out of the box, just adding the finish and fine adjustments as needed..
So, picking the pieces I wanted, got me some better parts up front and they are really quite nice. I went with the Antiquities standard-wound pickups.
I also decided on gold for the hardware and quite expected that it would flake off or wear through in short time. In almost three years of almost every-day playing it, the finish is still bright, shiny and definitely not breaking down.
About the tuners: these are great and I've used them successfully on a few repairs and replacements one friend's basses and such and they work just fine. I don't see any room to complain about them, but some persons don't even like the VM/CV tuners either.
Go figger.
They don't fall off, unwind (which is an impossibility for a worm gear arrangement anyway) and they haven't bent, bagged, nor sagged in any way. They are also very smooth with no oddball tight-spots in a bad gear design type problem.
The bridge material is the same thickness as a Fender/Gearhead OE-R part, and the finish - chrome or gold - is worthy of praise too as much as a part should be praised at least.
The necks (I've bought a few of them so far) have all been straight, clear (no knots) and the fretwork on a couple needed a meaningful amount of touch-up, the others were decent and just needed a small adjustment. None were loose nor were any floating and not fully seated.
The nuts are pre-cut and although I go over them pretty closely, they are decently close to very good as-is from the factory.
The body - well, there are a few issues - beside the unnatural fear of them being extremely soft - a few steps below balsa it seems.
But screws and hardware stay where they are - and here's where the one caveat I have found: the routing is too large in some places under the PG.
You'll have to add some sort of bonus wood pieces to give the screws some purchase where they will fall into a blank space with no wood under them. It's easily do-able, and only requires some small brain work to get it covered.
This is getting long, but I need to talk about the softness as perceived of this cultured wood. IF you just stain or oil it, I believe you'll get a lot of dings and gouges in it pretty fast.
I use an aviation butyl-nitrate non-shrinking dope mixed with talc for a filler/sealer and after a few coats of that, there is a thin candy-like shell much like the old shellacs and nitro finishes on expensive guitars.
After sanding the first coat:::
I used NO stains or colors here at all; just the dope.
This is a semi-gloss or matte finish and if I would do this again, I'd maybe add some slight tinting to the natural color to deepen it a little - but not much.
One can see that after just a dozen or so of those layers of that dope, the shine comes up pretty nice:::
This is NOT a thick poly-coated body and as such I treat it a little more gently, although there are very few marks except for on the back where my cardiac monitor made a few marks.
All in all, the body is quite decent, and if I went to a thicker catalyzed finish, it'd be even better.
It sounds good, and it has a very distinctive voice that is rich, full of primaries and very tight harmonics and it has none of the usually requisite dead spots on the neck.
I have one of their bodies on the bench right now that I'm building for a friend, and it has the same quality control conditions as I mentioned before: the rout is too big, but it's handle-able.
The current build is getting a Cherry Tea Burst finish with a thick Fender-like poly clear coat over it, and a custom engraved neck plate. It's beginning to look very nice, will be light and have an industrial finish on it that will likely take a lot of abuse.
What I would do differently? Perhaps getting some blank PG material and building/cutting my own would be a good idea, since their tort leaves a little more eye appeal to be desired - but it's passable.
The three ply PGs are on the thin side, and don't have a quality feel or look to them.
I didn't change any profiles or shapes and just decided to go with the parts as they came out of the box, just adding the finish and fine adjustments as needed..
So, picking the pieces I wanted, got me some better parts up front and they are really quite nice. I went with the Antiquities standard-wound pickups.
I also decided on gold for the hardware and quite expected that it would flake off or wear through in short time. In almost three years of almost every-day playing it, the finish is still bright, shiny and definitely not breaking down.
About the tuners: these are great and I've used them successfully on a few repairs and replacements one friend's basses and such and they work just fine. I don't see any room to complain about them, but some persons don't even like the VM/CV tuners either.
Go figger.
They don't fall off, unwind (which is an impossibility for a worm gear arrangement anyway) and they haven't bent, bagged, nor sagged in any way. They are also very smooth with no oddball tight-spots in a bad gear design type problem.
The bridge material is the same thickness as a Fender/Gearhead OE-R part, and the finish - chrome or gold - is worthy of praise too as much as a part should be praised at least.
The necks (I've bought a few of them so far) have all been straight, clear (no knots) and the fretwork on a couple needed a meaningful amount of touch-up, the others were decent and just needed a small adjustment. None were loose nor were any floating and not fully seated.
The nuts are pre-cut and although I go over them pretty closely, they are decently close to very good as-is from the factory.
The body - well, there are a few issues - beside the unnatural fear of them being extremely soft - a few steps below balsa it seems.
But screws and hardware stay where they are - and here's where the one caveat I have found: the routing is too large in some places under the PG.
You'll have to add some sort of bonus wood pieces to give the screws some purchase where they will fall into a blank space with no wood under them. It's easily do-able, and only requires some small brain work to get it covered.
This is getting long, but I need to talk about the softness as perceived of this cultured wood. IF you just stain or oil it, I believe you'll get a lot of dings and gouges in it pretty fast.
I use an aviation butyl-nitrate non-shrinking dope mixed with talc for a filler/sealer and after a few coats of that, there is a thin candy-like shell much like the old shellacs and nitro finishes on expensive guitars.
After sanding the first coat:::
I used NO stains or colors here at all; just the dope.
This is a semi-gloss or matte finish and if I would do this again, I'd maybe add some slight tinting to the natural color to deepen it a little - but not much.
One can see that after just a dozen or so of those layers of that dope, the shine comes up pretty nice:::
This is NOT a thick poly-coated body and as such I treat it a little more gently, although there are very few marks except for on the back where my cardiac monitor made a few marks.
All in all, the body is quite decent, and if I went to a thicker catalyzed finish, it'd be even better.
It sounds good, and it has a very distinctive voice that is rich, full of primaries and very tight harmonics and it has none of the usually requisite dead spots on the neck.
I have one of their bodies on the bench right now that I'm building for a friend, and it has the same quality control conditions as I mentioned before: the rout is too big, but it's handle-able.
The current build is getting a Cherry Tea Burst finish with a thick Fender-like poly clear coat over it, and a custom engraved neck plate. It's beginning to look very nice, will be light and have an industrial finish on it that will likely take a lot of abuse.
What I would do differently? Perhaps getting some blank PG material and building/cutting my own would be a good idea, since their tort leaves a little more eye appeal to be desired - but it's passable.
The three ply PGs are on the thin side, and don't have a quality feel or look to them.
@ SurferJoe,
So in your experience, would you say the GF maple necks (for the most part) are comparable to say, All Parts or even a Fender neck itself? I have an after market p bass body that I would like to put a maple neck on. Also going to install a set of 1965 p bass pick ups. Don't want to spend big money on a maple neck.
Your take on these necks would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
So in your experience, would you say the GF maple necks (for the most part) are comparable to say, All Parts or even a Fender neck itself? I have an after market p bass body that I would like to put a maple neck on. Also going to install a set of 1965 p bass pick ups. Don't want to spend big money on a maple neck.
Your take on these necks would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
No - not a true Fender neck at all. What they are is an economical way to get a decent neck if you know what you're doing and can work them over a little.
The wood isn't as good as a Fender - not weak or twisty, mind you - just not as beautiful and of course there's a stigma attached to a less expensive neck or any parts really.
I think however, that the GF necks can be on a level playing field with some of the AP necks - but so far I've been very fortunate to get some really GF nice ones that are straight, well fretted with just some slight work and actually they all look pretty good too.
The last one had lots of bird's eye in it and it was very nice looking as well as functional.
As it is, I have no fear of the GF necks, although opening the box and seeing them as raw as they are is very underwhelming at first. :\
The finish is up to YOU to get it right and if you cannot do it well, then don't bother to go there.
The trussrod is adjustable, and although I've never seen one nor had one fall out, they work, adjust and hold as a trussrod should I think.
