Guitar Shopping In China (JEM Clock)

[iced_earth]

In honor of Endrik's Fancy Chang thread, here's my experience guitar shopping in China.

My first stop was in Dong-guan, a mostly industrial city. Not much in terms of guitars. Looked in about 4 shops and saw a total of 4 electric guitars.

Next stop was Shanghai, one of the most expensive cities in China. There's a few blocks that are packed with instrument stores (guitars, pianos, traditional Chinese instruments, etc.). The guitar shops were full of knock-offs and Chinese brands. Fake Fenders, Gibsons, Ibanez, ESP, Jackson, Dean, etc. can all be had on the cheap. Strangely enough, a real Squire costs over 2x more than the knock-offs (The Hello-Kitty guitar runs $300, most of the knock-offs were in the $100-$200 range). I didn't have time to play any of the guitars, but I did pick up a JEM that I turned into a clock. Total cost was $1100 RMB (about $135). There must a ton of knock-off factories because every JEM I saw was a little different. Anyways, it's late, so onto the pics:

Headstock with fake logo:


Fake Serial #:


Three-piece neck:


Neck Pocket:


Neck Scallop (before cleaning):


Some Clock Pics:

[Sparkytfl]

Those are some sharp looking fret ends.
That is a fairly cool decoration.

[slayer32390]

did you play it before making it a clock? I've always been curious about those chinese knock-offs. Anyways cool project regardless.

[Sanctuary]

Trem don't seem parallel and the action looks a little high.

[zeegler]

wtf! The neck pickup isn't even wound!!

[StukaJU87]

wtf! The neck pickup isn't even wound!!

:ROTF:

[Bengal]

Cool clock. At least it shows what a motivated individual can do with crap...

[iced_earth]

did you play it before making it a clock? I've always been curious about those chinese knock-offs. Anyways cool project regardless.

Unfortunately, I didn't even strum a chord on it... I pretty much walked through all the shops to compare stock/prices and bought the cheapest one that looked acceptable. I didnt' want to hold up the people waiting for me. Before I walked out the door I had them take off the neck for easier travel.

wtf! The neck pickup isn't even wound!!

Good eye . Actually, I had to unwind it and cut the base plate to fit the clock movement in. The only pickup that would work is the bridge...

[shobet]

But does it keep perfect time?

[Stinkbug]

Cool idea. I didn't have the time to go to any music stores in China. Actually, I didn't really think about it. If I go back I will have to make an effort to look for some.

[iced_earth]

But does it keep perfect time?

I used a Japanese movement for that, so I should be OK .

[Bryan]

I saw a guitar just like this in a LMS a year or so ago. I was fooled until I saw the trem. It said "Music Master" or something like that. Luckily I came home and looked it up before I did anything else.