Ramon Jacinto guitars??? Pinoy guitar makers???

[vegetablejoe]

OT:

speaking of RJ as a store, correct me if im wrong, pero parang ang mahal nila magbenta ng mga old stocks nila. i saw a fender jazzmaster in the glorietta branch, it was like 68k. hindi ata ganun kamahal un e.. im not really sure. it looked good though. transparent to black burst.
tpos ung mga GT2 nila, 15k ung quote sakin..

fernydlp,

fwiw, those mij fenders came in at that price level of P60K+ over a year ago... and halos di pa nagbabago presyo.

On the contrary, as per my observation, RJ is one store that tries to retain its old prices on old stock. For years, I had been watching prices on the Gibson Nighthawk that I bought from them. Parang twice lang nagbago ang prices. (altho sobrang taas na ang bagong presyo ng same fuitar model ngayon, natatawaran yan especially during sale)... Even old stock pickups have not changed price. I know coz Gibson pickups that I bought from them 6 years ago are still at the same price now.  I grant that initial prices when those items were new were probably marked up pretty high... +40% is common. Just compare U.S. list prices to store prices here.

In contrast to RJ, Yupangco changes its prices on old stock practically everytime foreign exchange rates change and do not recover (excluding fluctuations). Over the years, binantayan ko presyo ng mga squier strat nila. A good example is their Squier MIK ProTone Strat which started out in the low P12-13K+ in price 6 years ago. Went down to P9K during a sale 3 years ago. Last summer I saw the same old model (same old green ash-bodied strat), kupas na and corroded yung gold plating, for sale at their regular price of P24K. Then pag sale (kuno), binaba nila by a few thousand. but nowhere near the orig. list price (na may +40% mark-up na originally). Sheesh... ibang klase talaga inventory stocking and costing practices nila. Parang ayaw paubos yung old stock, tinataasan pa presyo ng lumang gamit. Talo talaga customer...

I buy from both stores (because walang ibang choice for the items I want); am not pro one and con the other store... just wanted to set the record straight... after all you said "correct me if I am wrong..."  

Peace.

[fernydlp]

i stand corrected.

I guess i just did not expect those prices to appear on tags in an RJ store. sorry for the messed up post. thanks sir veggie.

btw, those nighthawks there.. how are they? those slanted pickups look cool, but is finding replacements for those a problem? parang i dont see any of those in the market kasi e.. i was interested in trying one before because of its les paul-ish look but people there seemed hesitant in getting those guitars from the rack at the back. so i never got the chance to..
just inquiring..

[musguit]

i stand corrected.

I guess i just did not expect those prices to appear on tags in an RJ store. sorry for the messed up post. thanks sir veggie.

btw, those nighthawks there.. how are they? those slanted pickups look cool, but is finding replacements for those a problem? parang i dont see any of those in the market kasi e.. i was interested in trying one before because of its les paul-ish look but people there seemed hesitant in getting those guitars from the rack at the back. so i never got the chance to..
just inquiring..

They are mini-humbuckers.  Obviously hard to find in 'Pinas but readily available in the U.S..

[fernydlp]

o? but they're slanted.. ung shape nya is parang parallelogram.. i think those are different from mini-humbuckers... again, i think lang. nagmamarunong lang ulit ako. hehe

[vegetablejoe]

There are Nighthawk models with two minihumbuckers; and there are models with a full-size, but slanted, humbucker in the bridge. I have one with the latter. Haven't found a replacement pup for it.

As to how they are... they are very comfortable to play, but Nighthawks have their own sound. Guapo nga and Les Paulish, pero they don't sound like an LP, SG, Strat or Tele. You have to like what they sound like. I hear strat/lp sounds in my head, so I prefer to use a strat for now.

[musguit]

Guapo nga and Les Paulish, pero they don't sound like an LP, SG, Strat or Tele. You have to like what they sound like. I hear strat/lp sounds in my head, so I prefer to use a strat for now.

Bullseye, you described it right Joe.  The mini-humucker's tone is between a single-coil and humbucker pickup.  You can say a little bit of both.  A brighter humbucker or a fatter single-coil-- not a cross or mixed but something in between a fender strat  or gibson LP--as you perfectly  described it.

rene

[fade2black0520]

rj les paul or SG??? i'm low on budget so is it safe to say that it's ok to stick on to rj axes???

[Red_Strat]

I've heard that RJ's SG copy is pretty good, in terms of looks & tone.

[BAMF]

RJ RULEZ !

Nope, I'm not part of their organization, but truly, the quality of their guitars have improved a lot. I just havent tried others like the legendary Roadtone, but RJ is light-years away from any other local guitar I've tried bar none.

I have two RJ's now...an RJ Les Paul and an RJ PRS copy. They sound great. I'm not *totally* happy with them though, I think something has to be done with their pickups. Like the LP is *too* beefy and the PRS is *too* noisy and thin (sounds like a single coil strat!) . I have to determine if it's the wood or architecture of the guitar,  or whether they were really made that way, but both guitars haven't gotten into my tone sweet spot yet. But replacing pickups is such a minor surgical procedure. When I get to replacing the pickups with DiMarzio's or Seymour Duncan's, I'll let you know what happens .

BAMF

[gabgonz]

hey guys i've been thinking of having a custom made bass done...do any of you have any experience in having a custom guitar made here locally? And how much did it cost u?

and last question: do any of you own RJ basses? kamusta naman ang tunog? salamat mga bro!!

[BAMF]

I was just at RJ Makati this evening. Their line of basses is also beefing up. Gawd. I couldnt believe what I saw...I was looking at this RJ Bass when I recognized the pickup to be that of an active bass system. I looked at the back and there was a battery compartment. Asked the dude there to confirm,  and he said yes it was an active bass guitar.

Then someone came in and tested one of the basses. Being a guitarist, I wouldnt a good bass from a bad one, but it seemed OK naman.

BAMF

[fade2black0520]

it's hard for me to choose which rj axe is the best for me

when i think of the les paul, i think of jimmy page...

in the case of the SG, it's tony iommi...

i'm really low on dough so i can't afford them both...

which one?? help!!!

[agentx44]

Go for the one that shakes you up each time you play it. Try both. If you're still undecided go for the "scientific method" (coin toss).

[gabgonz]

BAMF - which one was that? yung mukhang peavey grind bass (natural color)? I was checking out the MusicMan copy...didn't try it though but it looks decent!

[sigjoys]

RJ RULEZ !
Nope, I'm not part of their organization, but truly, the quality of their guitars have improved a lot. I just havent tried others like the legendary Roadtone, but RJ is light-years away from any other local guitar I've tried bar none.
BAMF

not for me...

i have 2 RJ guitars, a P bass (PJ Pups) and PRS Santana Copy Model which both sounded crap. To make it more worst, I had the P-Bass converted to fretless which turned out to be "Palpak" and it took me two months of waiting. Seems that i waited for long for nothing. Imagine playing a fretless bass without fret lines plus incorrect position markers. its just fine with me to play without fret lines... pero parusa yung tumugtog ka ng salasalabit yung tinutugtog mo. example, im playing a G note but based on the position marker, its positioned on the 4th fret   ... hirap naman kapag walang position marker (i tried practicing covering the markers) lalo na sa upper frets... you'll get lost... konting pihit lang ng kamay you're out of tune.

on the PRS Santana Model (those with neck thrus and laminated bodies/neck)... whew... pups are very ultra bright... tipong halogen (when you compare it to a light... i brought it to roadtone kung pwede pang i-revive and told me pwede pa naman but... major problems can't be corrected anymore... it has a wrong scale length and the tremolo is not placed correctly based on the standard scale which its supposed to follow. to add up more... i told him the story of the bass i mentioned above only to find out that RJ people we're asking help to do that job for them. due to their respective different "business rules", RJ peps have it their way. that made me think that's the reason for its delay.

since those two events, i never had an RJ guitar... this is quite subjective though since this is based on my previous experience - but that made me think twice when using an RJ guitar.

btw aside from Perf, Dondi Ledesma is using a bass made by RJ using local tone woods.

[tumorwarrior]

nasa trunk ng kotse ni dondi yung bass nya nung macarnap sa harison plaza. ewan ko lang kung nagpagawa ulit sya sa RJ.

[supacow]

i hava an RJ strat copy and i repainted it myself with a little help from the office.



sweet    

[Red_Strat]

 Angas ng strat nito ngayon o...I'm not a fan of pink, but it looks good. Why that color?

Chords pala nung Avenidang Tagpuan, musta na?

[kevlahnota]

i have an rj les paul copy yung mura na version(bolt-on), and it is very good sounding to me. i checked the pups and parang clone yun ng dimarzio kasi 5 yung wires nya and yun tunog ng bridge is like super distortion. baka na tsambahan nila ung pagkakarewind nung nakasama sa lp copy ko.  one of my fave guitar is this lp copy made by rj.

[oasgomez-is-banned]

Warning: Biased Opinion against RJ Guitars

If we talk about Value for Money, I believe it is better to give the Japanese Guitars coming from the pier a shot over a RJ guitar.  Period.  For example, one of my best sounding guitars came from the pier and it only costs P8,000 -- maraming patong na iyon ng mga middlemen.  Just to prove my point, I dare all the RJ guitars to go up against this one Les Paul type made in Japan. I really dont know who made it and I don't care.

Now for a beginner guitar, an RJ is called acceptable.  But, I think as a beginner you owe it to yourself to get a Japanese guitar even if it is second hand from the pier or somewhere on this forum.   On the average, the average Jap guitar will be better than the average Korean or Philippine Guitar.  Now for guys who are 10 years or more experience playing the guitar, I suggest -- which is just my opinon -- you start saving up for the really good guitars and stop pretending that RJ guitars will be better than the average small luthier/custom order 20-35 years in the business American/European luthier.  I also dont go for the made in RP versus made in Korea or China.  The Electric Guitar has always been a Western Inspired Instrument and so naturally and unfortunately the luthier guys on the Western Hemisphere have an advantage and in the East, its the small Japanese luthiers and elite custom shops that can nail it.

On Rudy's guitars.  I had one made and it was horrible.  A [strawberry] LP bolt on with an unbalanced neck.  I wanted a Les Paul and he gave me a bolt-on. shish.  Uka pa ang fretmarkers.  I had to [strawberry] bug Rudy for 8 months before I got my guitar and I payed for it in full before he even started on it.  When the guy had a stroke, I pittied him and I started giving him money and hardware because he was asking for it.  This guy was not professional at all.

[deltaslim]

i have a different experience...

my first "real" electric guitar was an early Roadtone Strat model by Mang Rudy. i bought it 2nd hand from a semi-popular band's gtrst in the late 80s who happened to be my HS-mate's older bro.  to my knowledge he made that guitar before he was 'pirated' by RJ.

the gtr had dark wood (not sure which), natural finish, bolt-on, 22 fret, 2 HBs w/ coil split and switches.  it worked, great, played easy, and sounded great to my ears and hundreds of others who've heard it in private or in concert. i still have tape recordings of that gtr in gigs/concerts and it still sounds good to me when i hear it today. i sold that gtr for P1,500 and got a Fender Strat that wasn't much better.

just wanted to offer some diversity of opinions... but maybe we're talking about different phases of mang rudy's history w/ guitar here.  kung sa RJ pina custom, even tho you know Rudy is supposed to supervise things, perhaps QA was poor or Rudy never had full control over everything. the guy was a luthier, not a manager!

[Al_Librero]

Well God bless personal bias!  

[SDMF]

[Zazza]

i don't mean to have an off topic question but i can't hep to ask though so here it is...

1. is there a way to know or distinguish kung japanese made nga ang guitar na galing sa pier? lalo na yung mga walang tatak (of course if it's a Tokai, Aria, Greco or any prominent jap guitar brand, that's a guarantee at least) but we're talking about the guitars allegedly "japan made" pero walang tatak

2. are the peddlers in pier credible enough when they say it's a japanese guitar? kasi baka mamaya sasabihin lang nilang galing japan ung mga walang tatak para mabenta kasi yun nga naman ang hanap ng karamihan, yun pala galing timbuktu o kung saan man ung guitar

3. if there is such a "guide to distinction" of jap guitars over guitars from other point of origin, can someone post it so i (and the rest) would know heheheh

for me personally, i don't mind getting an RJ guitar or any guitar in posh shops, or in pier or raon, basta nagustuhan ko yung tunog at swak sa bulsa ko (but if i were filthy rich, it'll be a different story though), kasi ako naman ang gagamit nun e. and i don't blame others if they hear me playing a guitar i particularly liked because i liked the way it sounded but to them it sounds like crap, kasi hearing si subjective for every person. ang maganda sa pandinig ni pedro ay pwedeng di maganda sa pandinig ni juan but to each his own dearly

parang sa raon andaming fender (daw) strat china made, ok namang tumunog para sa akin, mura pa. the problem is i don't know how to spot fenders coz my first electric was an Ibby (sold it coz i preferred guitars w/o the floyd) meron po ba talagang mga fenders na gawang china? sorry for the off topic Q's

anyways, the LP copy of RJ is still one of the guitars on my list, alongside thos jap guitars kahit ano basta nagustuhan ko tunog, mainly because of my Chowking budget as i can't afford the american Gibsons or the strats n teles

[oasgomez-is-banned]

Deltaslim,

I would just like to correct you.  Rudy made my guitar and I spoke to him personally about it.  At that point in time, RJ guitars was just a fix it shop and they were selling imported stuff.  There was no manufacture if there was no custom order.  And Rudy was the only one who was knowledgeable at that time -- he was the only guy who knew how to make a guitar -- the others around were just hired helpers.  Please dont try to make excuses for Rudy because you did not deal with the guy.   I know that as much as possible you try to present a different view, but dont try to force possible situations kung wala ka naman doon nang ginawa ang gitara ko.  By the way, if the so called Rudy's guitar that you got sounded good, why did you sell it?  

Al,

Your point being?  It might be my bias but I say like it is.  Al, did you ever meet Mang Rudy or are you just caught up with the myth and his disciple?