New pickguard for the CV 50's Strat

[deeaa*]

Exactly Eric - I think they _are_ a good deal thru and thru, and I really dig mine too.

BUT I think it's only good to have an open mind about their (possible) shortcomings. I mean, they have only been sold for what, 3-4 years? Clearly not enough time to find out whether the woods and materials will stand the test of time.

For what they are, they are very good. But let's not forget we're talking about roughly $300 guitars here, and nobody seriously believes Fender/Squier didn't cut any corners making these vs. the more expensive models? I think fret materials are one, much like on Epiphones, which also do not have any Dunlops or such, but wear out much quicker. And still loads of people use 'em for years even in hard use despite that.

One thing I find these CV's to be is great examples how how woods and such matter very little, because these do sound really good, despite cheap pickups, the very liberal use of 'plastic' type lacquer, very thick body lacquers and body woods being either pine or basswood - that's a good 'in-yer-face' for tone fanatics raving about tone woods and thin finishes etc. cellulose lacquers being pivotal to the sound.

So let me remind you that I haven't yet run into real issues either, and it IS a great player and I like its sound, it's very responsive and lively (pine I guess does that to some extent, it's the traditional violin wood after all...Fender didn't use it because it's clearly more reverberant and feedback prone than ash)...all I'm saying is I think I may have found the spots that make the guitar fit into the lower price bracket.

I have no doubt it will work fine for years to come, but remember I use my guitars VERY roughly. My CV has been hacksawed to a new shape, it's spent weeks lying on the floor of our training facility, it's suffered temp changes from -25 to 100F and humidity changes from 15 to 99 etc...it's a hard life for a guitar. I don't even have a bag for it. I've had two guitars develop a twisted neck during my ownership in a very short time, probably much due to my hard use. I'm not saying I'm a professional guitar tech, but I have played and set up hundreds of guitars, and this for a year now, and I think I can with some conviction now say I have some doubts on how it will fare in the years to come as opposed to a MIA or MIM for instance.

These things often develop into almost religious issues, sometimes people just reject realities and substitute their own when they become real fans of something. Same with some Epiphones, no matter how easy it is to spot the differences (lacquers, laminates, frets, etc.) - AND those differences may really have NO impact on the guitar's actual playability, at least on short term and for hobbyists - it's weird how people simply may just dismiss the notions entirely. Rave about how great the woods on their Epiphone are and how it sounds like '58 Korina for real, and when pointed out that it's actually a photo-thick veneer over assorted bits of wood which isn't actually even Korina, they just bypass that entirely.

NOT saying it's a bad thing, and NOT saying these things actually even matter usually - hell I'd take an Epiphone over Gibson any day, I really dig my Prophecy for instance, it looks and plays better than most gibsons - BUT I'm the first to admit that it'll likely need a fret job much quicker than a gibby would, and whatever the woods are, they probably make very little difference because the lacquer is like 1/2" thick in places so it might as well be made of plastic entirely...and that the neck joint doesn't reach nearly as far into the body as on a gibby and the woods have way less grain than a gibby...yet I think the fret softness is the only thing I'm concerned with, really.

I would definitely still recommend a CV for anyone looking to buy a 300-400 dollar classic guitar; they do sound terrific and are very playable indeed.

[NWBasser]

I have no doubt it will work fine for years to come, but remember I use my guitars VERY roughly. My CV has been hacksawed to a new shape, it's spent weeks lying on the floor of our training facility, it's suffered temp changes from -25 to 100F and humidity changes from 15 to 99 etc...it's a hard life for a guitar. I don't even have a bag for it. I've had two guitars develop a twisted neck during my ownership in a very short time, probably much due to my hard use. I'm not saying I'm a professional guitar tech, but I have played and set up hundreds of guitars, and this for a year now, and I think I can with some conviction now say I have some doubts on how it will fare in the years to come as opposed to a MIA or MIM for instance.

Holy cow Deeaa, you are brutal to your guitars!

I'd think those temp and humidity changes would wreck nearly any wood instrument!

I'd think a graphite neck guitar would be best for those conditions.