How to run your own guitar company

I'm not suggesting you do this, but it is interesting you can do it.

Being I have a web site that has many articles about guitars and guitar related stuff, I will periodically receive emails from those hocking their wares in my direction.

A guitar company from China has emailed me for either the second or third time in a row with this exact same email, grammar mistakes and all (certain parts redacted):

Dear sir or madam,

Glad to hear that you're in the market for Musical instrument .[Redacted]. is specialized in electric guitars,basses and hollow guitars field for several years with good quality and pretty competitive price.We are so nice to visit your website . All the guitars can be made according to your requirements . Because of the high quality and competitive price,our products are sold to all over the world,including American countries,European countries, Southeast Asian countries and so on .We sincerely desire to cooperate with you in the near future,hope you are interested in our products and expect your orders.

Please do not be hesitating to contact me if you have any question.

Sincerely yours
Sheila

Skype [redacted]
...........................
[Redacted]
Tel: [redacted]
Fax:[redacted]
Mobile :[redacted]
Office ADD:[redacted]
Factory ADD: [redacted]
Email : [redacted]
Website: www.[redacted].com

Yes, this totally looks like junk mail but it's actually not. This is a real company in China with a real factory, real phone number, web site and so on. It's all legit. Or at least it appears to be. However, "Sheila" evidently didn't bother to address me by name properly even though my name is plastered all over my web site. How nice. I guess it wouldn't have made any difference anyway.

I visited the web site of this guitar company, and yes, they do offer several styles of guitars. How is the quality of the instruments? I have absolutely no idea.

As for the guitars offered, there are Strat copies, Les Paul copies and some hollow body offerings. Nothing you haven't seen before.

Why am I not showing the guitars? Because it's possible some other guitar "companies" here in the US use this China company, and it just so happens this China company uses headstock shapes that Fender would instantly shut them down for.

For those not in the know, it is usually true the #1 thing Fender will lawyer up for is when another company copies specific Fender-design headstock shapes. Not the body, not the pickup layout, not the control layout. In the end, it's all about that headstock shape. And this China company absolutely has an offering that copies the Strat and Tele headstock shapes way too closely, hence the reason I can't show it here.

Example of good: The Fender Modern Player Telecaster Plus. That guitar is absolutely a 100% pro-built machine and I am seriously not kidding. That guitar is one of the best electrics China makes. I don't know who Fender is outsourcing to build that particular guitar, but I can assure you IT IS GOOD. It's probably the same company who produces Squier Classic Vibe guitars, which are also VERY GOOD.

Example of bad: "Chibson" Les Pauls. Actually, they're not all bad, but whenever you buy one it's a total crapshoot whether you'll get a good one or not. There's significant buyer's risk involved there. Then again, it is cheap, so... I guess you just take your chances.

As for this guitar company that emailed me, it's like I said, I honestly do not know if they make good or bad stuff. But they fact they're fishing for buyers just by randomly emailing people like myself makes me believe the quality isn't exactly top shelf.

Instant guitar company, just add guitars

The thing I find amusing and a bit scary is that all I have to do to become a "guitar company" is contact some China-based outfit that will build my guitars real cheap to my specs, have them built, shipped here and start selling.

Not only that, I could have an entire range of guitars in several shapes. I could even include bass guitar models too if I wanted.

And yeah, it's that easy.

Would I do it? Heck no...

...but it's fun to think about.

Published 2016 Jun 17