# fishbone guitars???? man must be bad!



## beerbelly2

last try i found these fishbone guitars out of brandford ,isee him on ebay some nice lp copies with emg pups but i just cant find anyone who even has picked one up?!gezz ya would think at those prices and parts someone would have commented


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## sulphur

Must be Chinese knock-offs at those prices.


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## Accept2

I wonder if the real Fishbone company knows about this shit..............
http://www.fishbonebassguitars.com/

Now those are sweet.......


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## beerbelly2

have you seen the ads on ebay? canada,the black LP with emg s ? well yes chineses fer sure but when your spending 500 to 600 on LP guitars isnt that what your getting anyway from epiphone? i dunno


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## Budda

beerbelly2 said:


> have you seen the ads on ebay? canada,the black LP with emg s ? well yes chineses fer sure but when your spending 500 to 600 on LP guitars isnt that what your getting anyway from epiphone? i dunno


... Have you *played* a recent Epi?


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## Milkman

They are definitely Chinese knock offs and it'd steer clear.

the guy selling them has no problem selling knock offs with Gibson on the peg head. He showed me one.


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## Steadfastly

Milkman said:


> They are definitely Chinese knock offs and it'd steer clear.
> 
> the guy selling them has no problem selling knock offs with Gibson on the peg head. He showed me one.


What was the quality like?


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## bw66

beerbelly2 said:


> last try i found these fishbone guitars out of brandford ,isee him on ebay some nice lp copies with emg pups but i just cant find anyone who even has picked one up?!gezz ya would think at those prices and parts someone would have commented


I'm sure that someone will be on here in the next few days using their inaugural post to tell us how great they are...


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## beerbelly2

i actually wrote to someone who bought one and he just replied saying that if your not too talented in the setup dept dont bother!! the thing was whacked out really bad! the pups are some kind of korean epiphone he thought ,the bridge was junk so there ya go iam glad i found someone because really the ads on ebay portray a pretty damn good axe,but just another guitar needing 200 or more in parts!hope it helps someone to know this! cheers


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## cheezyridr

when you're talking about 200 for a guitar, i would fully expect to have to change everything. it's just not reality to expect to see things like nice pups, quality electronic components, good tuners, bone/graphite/corian nut. i would, however, expect the bridge to be at least usable. it's not like its new or difficult technology or something. if the wood is good, and you like the neck, and the frets are good, then you at least have a good foundation. just don't expect the upgrades to affect it's resale value.


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## Budda

Just get a used Agile AL series with EMG's. Known good guitars.


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## Steadfastly

Budda said:


> Just get a used Agile AL series with EMG's. Known good guitars.


Or even a new one. The price is not really any different.


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## Milkman

Steadfastly said:


> What was the quality like?


It looked like a thick poly finish but to tell the truth, as soon as I knew it was a knockoff I didn't want anything to do with it so I didn't look too closely.


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## mark1959

the only thing i can say about fishbones guitars i took a chance im 54 have been playing since i was 11 i own a 70 strat and a 74 i also have a gibson sg and a few knockoffs i looked at the fishbone firebird took a shot an ordered it im in the detroit area had to use windsor to get on site took forever for mail to get it to me was very happy with fit and finish took it to a lady friend her dad worked on every guitar i have owned now she does she was happy to see that the guitar was solid not hollowed out wired very well the emg were of the better stock and i am very happy with the guitar


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## bw66

bw66 said:


> I'm sure that someone will be on here in the next few days using their inaugural post to tell us how great they are...





mark1959 said:


> the only thing i can say about fishbones guitars i took a chance im 54 have been playing since i was 11 i own a 70 strat and a 74 i also have a gibson sg and a few knockoffs i looked at the fishbone firebird took a shot an ordered it im in the detroit area had to use windsor to get on site took forever for mail to get it to me was very happy with fit and finish took it to a lady friend her dad worked on every guitar i have owned now she does she was happy to see that the guitar was solid not hollowed out wired very well the emg were of the better stock and i am very happy with the guitar


I hate to say I told you so...


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## Scottone

bw66 said:


> I hate to say I told you so...


LOL it's just the original poster with another ID.


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## mark1959

no guys(Scottone) sorry have never posted here before i may have got lucky with the guitar i got have been playing it for over a week and not one problem LOL all you want for what i spent i think i did ok heck i did not think i was going to get gibson or fender grade parts but it all works well the only thing after a week i will replace the nut other than that its a keeper


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## Scottone

mark1959 said:


> no guys(Scottone) sorry have never posted here before i may have got lucky with the guitar i got have been playing it for over a week and not one problem LOL all you want for what i spent i think i did ok heck i did not think i was going to get gibson or fender grade parts but it all works well the only thing after a week i will replace the nut other than that its a keeper


At least try using caps and punctuation on one of your identities LOL


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## fredyfreeloader

Some of those guitars are very nice looking $4000.00 -$3300.00 big bucks. I saw some Fishbone's advertised out here on CL for $269.00 these can't be from the same company they were very cheep looking pieces of crap. Then again it seems every guitar company has some cheep junk hidden somewhere. When I say cheep I'm not referring to the better quality now coming Korea, Japan and some from China. I mean like the Pepto-Bismol special.


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## mark1959

Scottone I have only one identity I wish I knew who you think I am but not matter I am not here poke fun at anyone someone asked about a guitar as I said I must have got lucky.I never said it was a Gibson or A Fender,but it is as good as one of my Epiphones I wish you well as I said I am not here to poke fun or put people down someone asked and i answered.
p.s. if your ever in the Windsor or Detroit area the first pint is on me!!you too bw66


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## Steadfastly

mark1959 said:


> Scottone I have only one identity I wish I knew who you think I am but not matter I am not here poke fun at anyone someone asked about a guitar as I said I must have got lucky.I never said it was a Gibson or A Fender,but it is as good as one of my Epiphones I wish you well as I said I am not here to poke fun or put people down someone asked and i answered.
> p.s. if your ever in the Windsor or Detroit area the first pint is on me!!you too bw66


Mark: Some people just can't believe someone would tell the truth about an inexpensive import guitar. It just seems they don't believe people in other countries can build a decent guitar and make it very economically. I'm glad you cleared up who you are and took the comments with a grain of salt. Regards, Steadfastly


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## mark1959

Steadfastly well i would first like to thank you for your kind words i am not sure who they think am and it is like you said i just answered what someone had asked if any one had played a fishbone guitar and that was an old post i took a chance and ordered one and since i have got it have had nothing but fun with at 54 I do very few gigs just play for fun any more have 10 guitars now enjoy everyone of them from my 2 fenders down to my fishbone again thank you for the kind words im not a clerk typist so my caps etc suck sorry for that have a great day hope we can talk again thanks Mark
p.s. just ordered an epiphone slasher got a good deal will let you know how it works out il have it thursday


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## Wonder8911

I’m from Brantford Ontario Canada Home of the Fishbone guitars not made in China sorry fellas ...has gone out of business and entire stock was liquidated hence your cheap prices you see some models have great value but ya gotta find them good luck and good times all


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## vadsy

where were they made?


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## sambonee

Gone out of business? Since when? I met him. Seems like a Good guy. He’s been around the music business in cNada for decades. They’re good value guitars for the piece they’re asking. The will need a setup. Made in China iirc. Some set neck ones were sweet.


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## DeeTee

Perfectly normal to search for a company that you have no affiliation with, just to create an account and revive a five year old thread to defend them.

Even more normal to talk/type exactly like the last person to do the same thing.

All very normal here.


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## Hime Amplification

I got the double cut Les Paul copy (tv yellow of course) I assumed I was buying a project neck & body. Firstly, quality far exceeds the price in my opinion. But.. You will want a fret level/dress and potentiometers. 
I changed to locking tuners, bridge swap only cause I need vibrato, and bridge pickup, but kept the neck pickup. I love this guitar. It is either a really good starter guitar at the $$. Or if you like putting in a little customization it’s a really great platform!
Hope this helps!


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## Milkman

Are people still buying cheaply made crap with the Gibson name on the peghead and bogus serial numbers?

Sad.


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## tomee2

Milkman said:


> Are people still buying cheaply made crap with the Gibson name on the peghead and bogus serial numbers?
> 
> Sad.


And claiming that with "a bit of work they play as well as a gibson so what does it matter? "


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## vadsy

Sounds like more than a ‘bit’ of work to get them playing right


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## Milkman

tomee2 said:


> And claiming that with "a bit of work they play as well as a gibson so what does it matter? "


Delusions abound (wishful thinking).


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## blueshores_guy

If this is the guy in Brantford I think it is, I've met him. Bought a Mooer pedal last year from the Mooer Canada website, and wanted to pick it up in Brantford rather than have it shipped.
Their site software wouldn't let me buy just the pedal and insisted on adding $20 or so for shipping. No way to remove the shipping. So I phoned. Spoke to Chuck at Mooer Canada, told him what I was trying to do, and he said no problem, come on by to pick up your pedal (even though I had to prepay the pedal and the shipping) and he'd give me a wall wart to offset the shipping charge. Fair enough. 

Drove to the address given, and it was an older bungalow in a not-so-ritzy residential area. Figured I was at the wrong place. Rang the bell anyway, and this dude answered the door, dressed in a shabby housecoat and slippers (this was about noon, if I remember correctly), cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Kind of a Doc Brown look from Back To The Future. Yup, he was Chuck, and I had indeed found the corporate headquarters of Mooer Canada. Place was a small house, and as you came in the front door, you were immediately in an L-shaped living/dining room setup. Both rooms were packed, and I mean PACKED, with equipment. Guitars, amps, keyboards, pedals, audio equipment, speakers, computers, giant TV's, unidentifiable crap, none of which looked anywhere close to new. Or organized. Place absolutely reeked of cigarette smoke. The walls and drapes were actually stained brown from smoke. Damn near gagged on the smell.
He got the pedal for me (and the promised power supply), then insisted on taking my picture with the pedal, serial number showing, to establish proof that I had in fact taken delivery. OK, did that, all the while enduring the awful smoke smell.

Got back in the car, and my wife immediately told me that I absolutely STANK of smoke (she has an allergy) and made me walk around outside for a few minutes in an attempt to air out a bit.
We still had to drive quite a while with all the windows down to dissipate the smell.

Having said all that, I have nothing against Chuck or the way he operates his business. The pedal (Mooer Ocean Machine) was in fact new, worked perfectly, and has inspired me to make several recordings using its lush delay/reverb sounds. And Chuck had the lowest price around at the time, and he actually had the pedal in stock. Probably in his bedroom. 

All in all, quite an unusual purchase experience.


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## sambonee

Ive met him. He’s a quirky dude who sells as much as a small long and McQuade does. I’m not kidding. He hosts 7-8 online stores from that spot. He’s quite the entrepreneurial genius. And I don’t say that lightly. 

The fishbones are good value inexpensive guitars. One of his stores alone did $400k+ volume in sales last year alone.


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## JBFairthorne

How are you privy to what his sales are?


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## Scottone

blueshores_guy said:


> If this is the guy in Brantford I think it is, I've met him. Bought a Mooer pedal last year from the Mooer Canada website, and wanted to pick it up in Brantford rather than have it shipped.
> Their site software wouldn't let me buy just the pedal and insisted on adding $20 or so for shipping. No way to remove the shipping. So I phoned. Spoke to Chuck at Mooer Canada, told him what I was trying to do, and he said no problem, come on by to pick up your pedal (even though I had to prepay the pedal and the shipping) and he'd give me a wall wart to offset the shipping charge. Fair enough.
> 
> Drove to the address given, and it was an older bungalow in a not-so-ritzy residential area. Figured I was at the wrong place. Rang the bell anyway, and this dude answered the door, dressed in a shabby housecoat and slippers (this was about noon, if I remember correctly), cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Kind of a Doc Brown look from Back To The Future. Yup, he was Chuck, and I had indeed found the corporate headquarters of Mooer Canada. Place was a small house, and as you came in the front door, you were immediately in an L-shaped living/dining room setup. Both rooms were packed, and I mean PACKED, with equipment. Guitars, amps, keyboards, pedals, audio equipment, speakers, computers, giant TV's, unidentifiable crap, none of which looked anywhere close to new. Or organized. Place absolutely reeked of cigarette smoke. The walls and drapes were actually stained brown from smoke. Damn near gagged on the smell.
> He got the pedal for me (and the promised power supply), then insisted on taking my picture with the pedal, serial number showing, to establish proof that I had in fact taken delivery. OK, did that, all the while enduring the awful smoke smell.
> 
> Got back in the car, and my wife immediately told me that I absolutely STANK of smoke (she has an allergy) and made me walk around outside for a few minutes in an attempt to air out a bit.
> We still had to drive quite a while with all the windows down to dissipate the smell.
> 
> Having said all that, I have nothing against Chuck or the way he operates his business. The pedal (Mooer Ocean Machine) was in fact new, worked perfectly, and has inspired me to make several recordings using its lush delay/reverb sounds. And Chuck had the lowest price around at the time, and he actually had the pedal in stock. Probably in his bedroom.
> 
> All in all, quite an unusual purchase experience.


Best post of 2020 so far


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## laristotle

blueshores_guy said:


> All in all, quite an unusual purchase experience.


There's a song in there somewhere.


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## Cardamonfrost

This whole thread is gold.
C


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## sambonee

He and I had a fine discussion about his business model. He had claimed some numbers from some of his reverb stores. Then while we were talking, he logged into two of his reverb accounts and showed me the last 12 months. He’s a heavy hitter. And a pretty good guitarist too. The cigarette smoke was overwhelming for me too. I’d buy from him again.


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## Dorian2

Dealing with crazy musicians is fun! I do it every day with myself. Practice makes perfect.


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## torndownunit

Dorian2 said:


> Dealing with crazy musicians is fun! I do it every day with myself. Practice makes perfect.


Seriously, I've met some hilarious people. As long as someone isn't a negative jerk, I get something interesting out of every transaction.


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## brokentoes

There was a funny thread on the Tokai forums where all the Tokai's he sells turned out to be fake. Not so funny for the buyers mind you, so buyer beware.


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## Permanent Waves

I know I'm late to the game with this but I figured I could provide some independent input for reference. I bought a Fishbone Rickenbacker doubleneck copy for about $500 CDN in 2012. Bass/Guitar doublenecks are harder to come by, especially in that distinctive shape. I know some people who have gotten some way more accurate replicas out of China but apparently half of them get confiscated if they transit through the US since Rickenbacker is very particular about enforcing copyright. So for that price shipped from TO, it was a safe bet.

It's a Chinese knockoff doubleneck for $500, so you kind of have to scale your expectations accordingly. It's the only Chinese copy I ever bought, and only because it had a specific use for me (I'm in a Rush tribute band), and the real deal would run me in the 5 figures. In terms of authenticity, the body scale is smaller so a knockoff Ric bridge could not fit (it's got those 4 individual saddles). Electronics are pretty horrible, cheap pots, fake EMG pickups and loose switches. You get what you pay for, but if you are willing to replace all the electronics and invest in a good setup, it may not be a bad deal. I found the fit and the finish to be surprisingly good for such a cheap instrument.

If I can make a comparison, my bass player bought a Starfire 4/12 doubleneck (even harder to find a 12-string bass/guitar doubleneck) for about $200 and the guitar is garbage. It cannot stay in tune for 5 seconds - we just noticed the string tension from the 12-string neck has bent the cheap white metal tailpiece into scrap. I just took out my Fishbone from the case for the first time in over 2 years since our last show, bass was perfectly in tune and guitar was not that far off. I just don't use it enough to be worth re-doing the electronics, but it still holds up 8 years on.

I took it to have a proper setup (there was a very slight twist in the guitar neck but nothing to make it unplayable) and it came back playing and sounding pretty decent. Here is a picture of it when I took it to Ian Weston for a setup:




__ https://www.facebook.com/


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## dmc69

I recently bought a Fishbone firebird guitar. I think the only thing it had going for it was is had a set neck and it looked decent. 

Small list of things wrong with it:

terrible fretwork. I needed to level and crown the frets. Turned out to be the perfect candidate to practice fretwork on.
permanent marker was used to touch up some areas. The raised center piece of the body was Sharpie'd on the edges.
stop bar was not secured tightly, causing it to pull forward quite a bit when tuned.
godawful electronics

In summary, if you want a cheap guitar to practice some more involved repair work, these could be a good starting point. If you are looking to buy and upgrade components, just buy a used Epiphone. If you are looking for a decent guitar with minimal work, just buy something else.


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