Underrated guitar companies???

[mmbass21]

Kiesel.
Great quality versus price (as good IMHO as instruments costing 2x as much, I mean but really, you reach a point of diminishing returns before that I think), quite a selection of custom options and customer service (at least in my experience) was great.

I second Kiesel, their value if you want some custom. Even their in stock section has some great buys too. They were more known in their Carvin days but now they have more options than ever and I've had great experiences with their service.

 

[Skillet]

Danelectro. They are better than they have any right to be.

Came here to say this. I'll echo! My '64 is a fantastic player, and my NBD post several months ago got barely a hint of notice. Yeah it looks odd, but I like it, and the playability is wonderful.

 

[arbiterusa]

Cort
First Act

 

[Modler]

Most of the folks on TB live in the US where Stephen doesn't have distributors,they can't talk about something they haven't seen. When it comes to Retrovibes,which ones do you fancy ?

I've owned a Vantage 5,RV4,Evo,Super-P and a Zygote

I quite fancy the Vantage and the Evo.
They are planning to launch a revised Indonesian-made Vantage at Namm '19.

 

[Flashback Bass]

Guild!

 

[creaturegods]

Guild!

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Thank you!!!
Guild stuff rocks. They have all sorts of designs, whether you're into a more classic vibe or into the flamey, quilty stuff. They play great, they're well-built from any era, even the new ones that are built overseas. Guild rules!
My favorites:
The Starfire series:

The Gibson Ripper-esque B302 Bass:

 

[InhumanResource]

CallowHill
James Tyler
Reverend
Muckelroy
Roscoe
Mike Lull

Underrated by who?

 

[pappabass]

LTD B series
Dean

The B206SM & Edge 4 Fretless are solid basses.

I have 2 LTD's. A D4 and Korean made B205.

 

[Fender_Bender]

About the higher end Ibanez stuff; anybody have a handle on the resale value of them compared to Fender etc.?.

 

[alembicbones]

I'm going to throw out a pitch for the Dingwall Combustion series. Great basses for the money. Serious boutique quality at an affordable price.

Bones

 

[LanEvo]

what are some of the more under appreciated companies in your opinion?

Vigier
Hamer
Leduc

 

[LanEvo]

ESP
FERNANDES

I’d add Tokai

 

[pbass2]

I gotta add G&L too. Always surprises me you don't see more pros using their instruments - the build and quality of them is as good as MANY more "boutique" brands.

 

[BobDeRosa]

I hope so because I just bought one!

I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. Yamaha makes great instruments. What did you buy?

 

[pbass2]

And while he is sadly out of the biz now, I gotta throw in Jerry Jones. Pros, session guys, etc all know about his excellent boutiquey Dano re-creations, but not so much the general guitar/bass playing public...

 

[rodak]

First Act.... they make some very interesting stuff in their custom shop

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Those are some interesting looking instruments. I thought First Act was the brand that Wal Mart used to sell many years ago - same company or what?

 

[ZBirdV8]

Dean actually makes cool ass basses. BC Rich used to.

 

[Rib 13]

Those are some interesting looking instruments. I thought First Act was the brand that Wal Mart used to sell many years ago - same company or what?

yes they are which is why i posted them in this thread...while theyre known as a WalMart or Toys R Us (RIP) brand, First Act always had a custom shop that produce some very nice instruments (some retail upwards to $2K)...some are USA made....blew me away when i found about it

 

[Gizmot]

Serek basses - made in Chicago. Invalid Link Removed.

G&L - nice, well-made instruments. www.glguitars.com.

MusicMan - I just got my first MusicMan and love it so far.

 

[Oberst]

Many people remain unconvinced about one of the two companies in your premise.

Oh come on, Fender isn’t all that bad!