Quote Originally Posted by NWBasser View Post
Deeaa, I agree with you that the neck makes or breaks the guitar and so your points about the fret/neck quality of the imports seems very reasonable. I'd guess that the fret material is probably the same stuff on either MIA or import, but maybe the wood quality and/or finishing processes may have a significant effect on the stability of the frets.
I don't think they are anywhere near US strat quality for instance...neither is the wood even close to MIM as far as I can tell. Again, this is NOT to say I don't like them - quite the contrary, I think they are very nice indeed (Mine is a Classic Vibe 2009 model) - BUT if you compare the frets on a MIA or MIM to these, you instantly see that not only the fret profiles are quite different, the metal is clearly quite a bit more brassy/yellowish and not nearly as shiny; obviously of much lesser quality metal.

The woods are looking fine but the lacquering is really thick in places, making it hard to see what it is really like, but I would guess the woods they use in the Americas is also quite different batch than what they use in China...they likely do not ship them accross the pond but each use more local wood varieties.

So I'd be amazed if they have ANYTHING more in common than the basic shape really. You get what you play for, and while it's a good deal for the money, it's starting to look like I could not recommend one for any player who really plays a lot and needs a really stable instrument. Better off getting some old guitar which has proven to be stable and has good quality frets.

But, I do like my CV neck...it's really too bad if it will require a fret job soon. I'd be leery of sanding off the thick lacquer too. The emerging woods might react quite adversely to the climate here when exposed. Maybe it'll work as a backup guitar for a good while still, but right now I'm already quite keeping it off the circulation. I have played one entire gig on it and it worked well, but now it looks like it's gonna need some neck adjustment again, which also indicates little less stable neck material.