Chinese custom guitar - dipping my toe in to test the water

[sookwinder]

OK... resurrection of this thread ...

Due to the superb quality of the first LP I ordered from this Factory I have ordered two more custom builds

WOOKIE 002
Flamed maple with blue tint
Ebony fret board with MOP (MOTS) trapeze markers
Full size HBs
Custom headstock logo and MOP inlay

WOOKIE 003
same as WOOKIE 002 except
a yellow/orange sunburst in quilted maple
P90s

Here are the first photos:

[ifallalot]

Is this the Rare Electric Guitar place or somewhere else?

[sookwinder]

No it is a different factory ...

This is the web page of the GROTE Guitar factory where I ordered the guitar from.
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/1267158

[sookwinder]

some older shots from a month back of the headstock decal and logo inlay

[sookwinder]

[Jaguar018]

So Mr. Sook... two more custom guitars?

How many guitars do you have in your stable these days?

(or is that one of those impolite questions to ask on a guitar forum? )

[sookwinder]

no .. it isn't rude ... 42
5 acoustics (60s Gibbys and Epis)
7 basses (hofner club, Jazz, bass VI)
30 guitars (strats, teles, 335, Rivieras, Sorrento, LPs, ricky 360, Casinos, Jaguars, JMs, ES137)

... and yes, before you ask, I can play them all at the same time

I am actually quite excited about the yellow LP that is being built ... with p90s

[sookwinder]

OK ... some more pics of WOOKIE003 (WOOKIE002 had a slight painting mishap and is back in the production process ... more about that below)
Apparently these photos are taken after the workers have gone home and late in the evening, so not perfect quality, but certainly good enough to "check out".
I like the fact that I am getting photos along the build process, so I can make any comments or point outr issues (as I did with WOOKIE002)

I can see two issues with this one... one is easy to fix, the other ..well I don't really mind.
The truss rod cover has some e\weird arsed words on it, I'll get them to change it and the colour of the back of the guitar is darker than I wanted (but not as dark as some). In this end it is not a deal breaker, so I will leave that one alone.
I may change the knobs myself when it gets here, but they look ok for the moment
I also have a circular locking nut to replace the hexagonal locking nut that is on the PUP switch... again something I can sort out. (I bought 30 odd circular nuts from aliexpress for $3)
I am getting evening more excited


Now as far as WOOKIE002 is concerned.... if you look above you can see the lovely flamed body with a light sea blue colouring... this was exactly what I wanted.
But apparently the paintshop guys in the factory thought that it needed an extra blue burst and did the following...see pic below.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ...
I told the factory this was no good and it is back on the production line.
To my eyes that dark blue burst is atrocious, but I have learnt over the past week or so that Chinese think it is good.... this is something we westerners need to be cognisant of that we should never assume some one in another country will see things the way you do or assume they will "just get it right"
Clear instructions (best in bullet points) need to be given. And as in the case of WOOKIE002 I had given clear instructions and my contact understand them ... in this situation the paintshop guys just went ahead without checking and added the dark blue edging

[Mechanical Birds]

This is just infinitely cool dude! Is the communication pretty easy? I assume it has to be if you're getting pretty much exactly what you want, especially for so cheap - am I right in remembering that these are like less than $200 for you? That is just, wow!

Cool that you're doing this, dude.

[Shadoweclipse13]

Man, that looks sweet!! To each their own though

Their prices are really reasonable. I might ask if they can do lefties and if they do, get one of their 335 style in tobacco burst with P90s

[sookwinder]

Well ... what can I say... the wookie003 is completed (other than a couple of screws to hold the truss rod cover in place).
I have just paid the cost of the guitar ... a grand total of $269 for the guitar.
If you recall this includes the extras such as
- ebony fingerboard
- MOP neck markers
- MOP "WOOKIE" logo on headstock
- palm tree decal on headstock
- serial no. and "MADE IN SHANGDONG" on the back of the headstock
- a change in tuners from grover style to tulip kluson style

here are the shot I just got sent ... the guitar is up on the website to allow me to purchase it.

wow ! I am almost speechless...
Enjoy

[NoiseNoiseNoise]

I'm not a fan of the LP, but that does look pretty sweet.

[sookwinder]

While my WOOKIE003 LP style guitar is making its way through the chinese postal service (which to be honest is pretty damn good) the lady at the factory sent me these photos ... apparently this time of year (starting in late August) is their busiest as it is the xmas production rush, where they are making product for a large number of brands (ranging from those main US/German guitar brands that have their Chinese lines and the smaller brands as well as the factories own brand)





A week or so back, one of the directors of the company I work for passed by my desk and stopped ... I happen to have my PC open to a web page of a guitar store.
But all was good because he told me he had looked at that chinese guitar factory website and wanted to order a particular model, albeit it with Chrome hardware rather than gold ... if that was possible. (The director cannot play guitar, but wants to learn ... he is almost 60 years old and I think there is going to be a little father-son bonding going on, as his son is a damn fine player)

This is what he was wanting to buy:




So I sent off an email and about 2 hours later I received this photo of a guitar taken off the production line, ready to have chrome hardware fitted in lieu of the standard gold hardware.


Apparently it was such a quick "customisation" that my boss's guitar is being shipped with WOOKIE003. So I can do a review of that one as well when it arrives.

[cmatthes]

That's IMPRESSIVE! Looking forward to hearing your "in hand" review of those...

I will say that the pic at the very bottom they sent you of your co-worker's guitar has damned close (if not the same) figuring as the sample guitar. Not sure if it's the same one or not, but if not, that's a damned good match!

[sookwinder]

Close up I think the guitars are different guitars... there are variations in the grain, but maybe from the same tree