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Conference napalm::guitar

Title:GUITARnotes - Where Every Note has Emotion
Notice:Discussion of the finer stringed instruments
Moderator:KDX200::COOPER
Created:Thu Aug 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3280
Total number of notes:61432

1529.0. "Chandler Electronics---Base Note" by AQUA::ROST (Chickens don't take the day off) Tue Oct 24 1989 09:21

    
    I received a catalog and price list from Chandeler yesterday and was
    both fascinated and disappointed.  
    
    Most of you are familiar with the Tube Driver stomp box/preamp units
    they make, but they also make a selection of pickups, bodies, necks and
    other parts.  One thing they have in spades is *pickguards*.  Want ne
    for your Strat?  How about your Rick?  Maybe a Gibson Marauder (!), or
    an Ovation Breadwinner (!!) or an Ampeg bass (!!??)...the list goes on
    for six or seven pages and covers a lot of oddball instruments.   These
    are the guys to call if you need a pickguard.
    
    The bodies come *pre-finished*, but the color selection is somewhat
    limited.  You can get Strats in surf (foam) green, but not basses, etc.
    They have some cool stuff here, though, including Fender style bodies
    with hollow resonant chambers (body is lighter, but who knows what it
    sounds like) and Les Paul bodies with necks already attached available
    either in 24-3/4 *or* 25-1/2 scale lengths.  Necks, how do you want
    them, maple, rosewood, ebony, what radius, etc. they probably have it.
    Necks run about $200, bodies in the $300 range.
    
    They also have a number of "kits" available which appear to a set of
    all the parts you need to build a whole instrument (using Chandler's
    pickups and Gotoh hardware).  Some are interesting, like the
    "Dannycaster", a Strat with Danelectro-clone pickups, or the
    "Continuum" bass, a fretless J-bass with fret markers looking a lot
    like Jaco's, the "Palomino", a hot-rodded Esquire (Tele with one
    pickup) and the "Avenger", a Mosrite copy set up with Strat
    electronics.  Prices started at about $700-800 list for these and went up
    to just under $1000 for Les Paul kits.
    
    In the electronics stuff, in addition to the Tube Drivers, they are now
    making a digital delay and digital reverb, although I don't see why
    they are bothering as the prices were high and that market is so
    cutthroat.  
    
    BTW, the literature mentioned that the 12AX7 in the Tube Driver may be
    swapped for a 12AT7 for "high gain" applications or a 12AU7 for bass
    use.  Perhaps someone with a tube handbook could dig into the
    difference between those tubes?
    
    							Brian
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
1529.1lipsticks on a strat look coolSTAR::TPROULXTue Oct 24 1989 09:427
    Brian, it sounds like they've really expanded their line.
    The last catalog I saw didn't have that much. What do they
    get for the Danelectro-style pickups? They look cool, but
    does anyone know what they sound like compared to Strat
    pickups?
    
    -Tom
1529.2low-techMILKWY::JACQUESTue Oct 24 1989 10:2817
    My opinion of Chandler from the bodys, necks, and preamps is that
    they are all pretty low end stuff. I guess for the money the
    preamps aren't bad (rack mount preamp ~$200, stomp box ~$125).
    The bodies and necks I have seen appeared to be much lower 
    quality than Warmouth or even Stew-Mac.
    
    $200 for a neck ?? $300 for a Body ?? For that much money, you
    can get some of the more exotic components from Warmouth, and those
    feature the compound radius, as well as exotic wood. For the price 
    of the whole instrument ($700 - $1000) one could purchase the real 
    thing (ie. A real Fender, a real Les Paul, etc.). From what I 
    understand the Danelectro pickups are pretty close to the originals, 
    but keep in mind, the originals are pretty crude pickups to begin 
    with and I would imagine they must be fairly easy to copy. 
    
    Mark
1529.3sheesh!RAVEN1::DANDREABad Company, 'till the day I dieTue Oct 24 1989 10:3510
    RE: $200 for a neck; $300 for a body?!  My brand new Strat (AMER STD)
    was $415 for %^&*$# sake! Is the stuff supposed to be superior to the
    wood that Fender uses or is this just a "sucker" bet preying on someone
    who gets off on building their own axe?
    
    I priced all the parts I needed to build my own Strat from "another"
    catalog (configured JUST like my Standard) and it was over $700 without
    tax or shipping!  I don't get it......
    
    Perplexed_Steve
1529.4Guitars are like CarsORION::WIEGLERTue Oct 24 1989 15:006
    Well sure, if you build something from parts it is usually gonna
    be more expensive than buying it preassembled.
    
    Have you ever looked at the price of automobile parts and figured
    how much it would cost to build your car from parts?  It would cost
    a fortune.  It must be same for guitars.
1529.5yep....RAVEN1::DANDREABad Company, 'till the day I dieWed Oct 25 1989 08:1211
    Yep to .4, I know what ya means. What "perplexes" me is the ads pushing
    "build your own guitar!".  I'm trying to understand the motivation;
    other than the "pride/craftsmanship" thing, it makes no financial
    sense.  I'm sure there are skilled luthiers out there that believe
    they can actually make a better hand made instrument than the Fender
    (for example) factory can put out.  That must be it....I, personally
    would be afraid to try it unless it was a low risk (cost) endeavor.
    
    Later, and back to the note subject....sorry for the diversion.
    
    Steve
1529.6Hot Rod = BucksAQUA::ROSTChickens don't take the day offWed Oct 25 1989 08:3623
    
    > Yep to .4, I know what ya means. What "perplexes" me is the ads pushing
    > "build your own guitar!".  I'm trying to understand the motivation;
    > other than the "pride/craftsmanship" thing, it makes no financial
    > sense.  
    
    I see a lot of people in here who have bought stock guitars, then
    upgraded the pickups, tuners, whammy, neck, you name it.  I always
    wondered about the rationale of buying a $400 guitar and putting $300
    of parts into it instead of just buying a $700 guitar all set up and
    ready to go.
    
    Anyway, starting from raw parts means you can build from the ground up
    exactly the way you ike (assuming the parts you need are made).  That's
    the rationale.
    
    BTW, the Chandler prices quoted were "manufacturer's list", not what
    the dealer will charge you.  I think you'll find new Les Pauls list for
    over $1000, but stores sell them for about $6-700.
    
    I'm not endorsing Chandler by any means, just trying to add a little
    balance to the other replies.
1529.7Bodies *look* cheapMILKWY::JACQUESWed Oct 25 1989 23:2812
    I agree that building a component guitar has it's advantages, provided
    the components are of high quality. The Chandler bodies and necks I
    have seen do not appear to be the highest quality. For example, the
    finishes appear to be sloppily applied, and just don't look anywhere
    near as good as a Fender factory finish. I haven't seen *any* Chandler
    bodies with a natural finish, which leads me to wonder if they use
    wood with cosmetic defects, which are easily hidden under solid
    color finishes.
    
    Mark