What is your thought on mid-range guitars that are "knockoffs" of the original.

Examples:
Fender Player Series
Gibson Studio
PRS SE 24
Epiphone Les Pauls
G&L

I own a MIM Strat that I really like. It plays great although not as great as an American Strat.

I'm always debating in my head whether to buy another mid-range guitar or fork out the dough and by the real thing. So just curious about others experiences.

They're good guitars. Manufacturing has come a long ways in the last 15-20 years so that a lot of the knock-offs are pretty good and worth the money you pay for them.

However, when you play a real Strat, Les Paul, PRS, etc., you can hear and feel a significant difference. You pay more, and you get a little more. The MIM Strat vs USA Strat seems to be one of the closer divides.

I'll preface this by stating that I haven't shopped/played new guitars in over a decade, so any recent changes in the product lines are beyond me.

The Gibson Les Paul Studio is a good guitar, missing mostly cosmetic features from the Les Paul Standard (bindings, pickup covers, etc). To me the Epiphone always felt cheaper in the hand.

Back 20 years ago G&L made some good guitars. If I remember correctly it was started by Leo Fender, and at one point the quality was probably better than Fender Guitars. Again, my memory is a bit hazy, but I seem to recall there being a lawsuit from Fender causing G&L to drop or change their Strat model.

I'm not familiar w/ the Fender Player Series. The last new Fender I bought was a '96 American Std Strat. At that time they had a line that was made in Mexico - some were ok and some were pretty bad.

Full disclosure- I'm a PRS fanboy, and have owned a few American made models in my day. But, IMO you can't go wrong with their Korean-made SE guitars. I have bought several sight-unseen (Ebay, Reverb, Guitar Center online) and have yet to be disappointed. I haven't played in a band in a few years, and if I ever start up again I'd likely buy one of the Core line. But honestly I'd be perfectly happy playing one of the SE models I own now.







I find the Epiphones and even Gibsons to be a little more hit-or-miss.

1960s Pre-CBS Fender strat or GTFO!

IMO, the new overseas models have come a looooong way from the 90s. I have a MIM Strat (Jimmie Vaughn model)that feels the same to me, (actually I like the neck better) than American models. A lot of the cheaper models can easily be upgraded with better hardware and will sound the same. I spend the money here and for a good setup.

Les Paul studio is a bit out of place on the list. Still full blown American made Gibson's.

They use a little different frets and use the 490 series humbuckers which used to be Gibson's best. Less high end finishes and inlays and bells and whistles, but the best of what you listed IMO.

I bought an early-90s Japanese Strat from a friend of mine this summer, and absolutely love it! It feels great and has the perfect strat jangle to it...kind of a Steve Gaines tone mixed with Mark Knopfler.

A few years ago I bought a Gibson LP. It's a Les Paul without them having to pay to use the name, I guess. Not quite as pretty as a studio, but it was made in the US, and l love the feel and the heavy tone.

MIJ Strats are great. I had a nice one about a decade ago right after college, and the easiest way for me to afford a friends destination wedding in the Caribbean was to sell it. Didn't think it would be so hard to replace. Even though I don't think I paid much more than $300 (if??) for it, it was a a very dumb decision that I regret anytime I see a guitar. Very nice sunburst finish on it and great coils.

TequilaMockingbird said:

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Full disclosure- I'm a PRS fanboy, and have owned a few American made models in my day. But, IMO you can't go wrong with their Korean-made SE guitars. I have bought several sight-unseen (Ebay, Reverb, Guitar Center online) and have yet to be disappointed. I haven't played in a band in a few years, and if I ever start up again I'd likely buy one of the Core line. But honestly I'd be perfectly happy playing one of the SE models I own now.







I find the Epiphones and even Gibsons to be a little more hit-or-miss.

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Joe Walsh played a PRS SE for the Eagles performance at Minute Maid Park, it sounded great in his hands!

Big fan of anything G&L, and some of the Mexican Strats are pretty good, but for a cheap guitar I really like old used American made Peaveys. They made a great knock off!

I don't have any opinions on Epiphones or MIM Fenders, but since we're talking about cheaper guitars - I've often thought Ibanez made some great "budget" guitars. I'm historically a Gibson guy and my impression is that they've raised their prices but lowered their quality, unless you pay top dollar (meaning above a normal Les Paul Standard).

I've never bought a guitar without playing it; I feel like you have to try it out to know. Of course it's not really possible to disguise the branding of a guitar, but it would be super interesting if you could do a truly blind "playability taste test".

Why not build your own?

Go to Warmoth and pick out your body and neck (assuming you are OK with a bolt-on neck).
Learn to solder - ain't hard.
You can pick out your pickups from anyone.
The rest of the hardware you can get from Stewmac, Sweetwater, Guitar Center, or even Warmoth.
Doing the setup like saddle height, action, pup height, and intonation isn't hard, but you just need patience and a little time to watch a few YouTube videos.

Or, after you have it assembled, you can just take it to a local shop for setup.
I've built and modified many of my own guitars. The final product is always very rewarding.

And you can do something totally unique. How about a single cutaway LP style body with a reverse hockey stick headstock with an SRV neck contour???

TequilaMockingbird said:

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Full disclosure- I'm a PRS fanboy, and have owned a few American made models in my day. But, IMO you can't go wrong with their Korean-made SE guitars. I have bought several sight-unseen (Ebay, Reverb, Guitar Center online) and have yet to be disappointed. I haven't played in a band in a few years, and if I ever start up again I'd likely buy one of the Core line. But honestly I'd be perfectly happy playing one of the SE models I own now.







I find the Epiphones and even Gibsons to be a little more hit-or-miss.

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I would mirror this. I owned a PRS SE Singlecut for quite a while and it was an awesome guitar for $600. I finally upgraded to an American Custom 22 when I could justify it.

Got me another one by golly.

I've been looking for a Les Paul Jr or similar for a while now. Found this one the other day and couldn't pass it up, for about half the $ they've been going for on Ebay or Reverb.