Kiwi

I think you may be right. Additionally, there are plenty of other makers out there doing almost exact replicas, like Heritage who even use the old Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, who weren't subject to this level of attention from Gibson. So it seems sensible that they would feel threatened by PRS. And there is the 305, plus the swamp ash single coil models - that's all about as strat as a guitar needs to be for the sound and playability. But the shape and the scratch plate also in the Silver Sky? I don't blame some out there for interpreting this move as antagonism from Paul. I think you're right about the pattern of emulation...which is ironic given music is supposed to be a creative industry. One would expect a bit more originality from us guitarists. But anyway, I think some of it is to do with many guitarists not being that interested in their instruments and just want something reliable without going down a rabbit hole of spec. that'll perform predictably...which is arguably Gibson also dropped the ball on...and PRS around the mid to late noughties. Lee mentions in one of the early PRS review vids with Rob Chapman by Anderton that PRS appear to have improved the quality. And speaking of Chapman, and Sire. Two brands that have managed to establish themselves through grass roots support via social media rather than support from the industry. Hats off to both Rob and Kyle Kim for that. Interestingly enough, Kyle Kim actually displayed Sire at NAMM with the support of Marcus Miller already in place. Yet NOONE in the US was interested in representing the brand despite the clear and obvious game changing nature of the products. So clearly even superstar endorsements aren't a silver bullet (although they have definitely helped Sire). Kyle Kim's theory is that there's a music industry cartel in place...which isn't exactly espousing the ideals of free trade and healthy competition.

Yes, and there are probably parallels with the exotic car market and fine art as well. The number of people who can afford original vintage instruments and are interested in owning them will continue to dwindle over the next 100 years. And prices will probably continue to rise mostly because the demand is not driven by players so much as collectors. Gibson actually took them to court over PRS single cut models. Paul was in his element in the witness chair though and Gibson ultimately lost their case. Fender gave up rights to their body shape IP long ago. Endorsements are the most effective form of marketing. Fender have been guilty of buying competitors purely for their list of endorsees - I think it might have been Genz or SWR who were an example of that happening, I can't remember exactly. But it's why good brands die after being bought out by a larger corporate interest. Mark Gooday tells a good story about Fender's interest in Trace Elliot shortly before announcing they'd purchased SWR. Trace had to open up their books to Fender as part of the due diligence process...

Oh you mean the other upselling bit.

Depends on whether you're assuming that past simple or present continuous is the correct verb. Marketing activity for a company that still exists has no end...

Many suppliers have factories located in Shandong which is up north near Beijing, although Guangdong is bigger. But I think you are probably correct, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if someone skilled up at the cost of Epiphone and then went their own way in search of an easier life and more money. But finding someone in that position from outside China would be literally like finding a needle in a haystack. There's already precedent with brands of companies outside China. It's not hard to beat any custom shop on price and quality, the prices of almost all custom shop instruments do not reflect the actual cost of making them. Yes there is better quality and attention to detail in custom shop instruments compared to off the shelf models but not three or four grand's worth of attention. But endorsements, online fan boys and youtube influencers are running effective interference. The key things to watch for are moisture content, tolerances of key joints, finishing and fretwork and they're labour intensive and tend to be skipped in the race to hit production targets. I've been advised that it's much harder to establish a brand these days than it might have been 15 years ago. I think the market is shrinking generally but there are still some players out there willing to shell out eye watering amounts and plenty of sellers wishing to charge outrageous amounts if the market lets them. There's also more competition in the mid price range sector as budget companies like Shecter and ESP are upselling themselves in the same way that mid priced brands like Warwick have upselled themselves to boutique level.

I'm really curious to know who might be making them. There are only a handful of Chinese companies that do quality builds. I've found the rest of them just rush things and try to get away with sometimes school boy errors. Having said that, the parts are pretty simple and if he's finishing them off by hand and assembling then quality might not be such a problem so long as the wood is seasoned properly.

It's not bad, you can definitely get Richie Blackmore sounds out of it. I wouldn't say it's high gain either - more medium gain with fuzzy tendencies. The voice control will take you into more modern territory as well (which is what I'm after) but it really needs a TS type pedal (I'm using the Mosky Silver Horse) in front of it to kick things squarely into the 80's. I got it to see whether I could get the Def Leppard thing happening, which it does after a boost from the Mosky. BTW my first JF14, which I've had for about 6 years, has developed a persistent scream at extreme settings. So there may be a shelf life to the op amps they use but I'm far away from anyone who could tell me for sure. It was actually cheaper (given they're 13 quid each where I am) for me to get another.

OK phase reversing is a different thing altogether and involves the frequencies shared by both pickups cancelling each other out to get that Peter Green thing. I'll be looking into something similar for a project I'm planning - recreation of an Aria RS Esprit but with middle pickup. I've been advised that phase cancellation will get me in the ball park of positions 2 and 4 on a strat even though I won't be relying on reverse wound reverse polarity in the middle pickup for hum cancellation (each pickup will have a dummy coil and be self sufficient). I think combining splits and phasing on the same switch is way more complicated than it needs to be, assuming that you have found a push pull pot that can offer all the necessary connections. Probably better to leave phasing and coil separate but also you'll need to consider whether how the coil splitting will interact with the phase switching. Are you going to end up in a position where using the phase switches in coil split mode will be like a kill switch due to earthing? I dunno but it's something I'd be checking. Anyways, back on topic: Have you heard of the site Guitarelectronics.com? Some useful stuff on there once you've navigated your way past all the product placement. https://guitarelectronics.com/guitar-wiring-resources/2-pickup-guitar-wiring-diagrams/ For my Esprit project I'm pretty clear about what I want but it needs a rotary switch to keep the number of knobs under control and also because it's the easiest way to make sure that each setting won't interfere with the others. Something along the lines of: Posìtion Bridge only Bridge and middle out of phase Bridge and neck in phase Middle and neck out of phase Neck only

Polarity comes from the orientation of the pickup magnets, it can't be changed via switching. Neither can the direction of the windings of the pickup. I have a master split on my Yammie MSG's which works well for me as the only time I ever use single coils is for both pickups at once. You'll probably need to decide what you need specifically and how much extra complication you want in terms of wiring. There are some schools of thought that say part of the sound of a Les Paul comes from the wiring harness and there are a load of companies that specialise in recreations of the LP wiring. Pots are a complicated thing in terms of inductance and I know that better quality pots do make a slight difference to clarity. https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/whats-the-go-to-wiring-harness-now-that-mssc-is-gone.436264/

I believe they're still being made, but it's a bit of a rabbit hole to go down. In any case a lot of these details just end up being hair splitting and make little difference to things to an on stage mix. I had a set of authentic replica 57 single coils in my Nile Rodgers strat made by some guitar fetishist in Russia. They had period correct windings and aged Alnico magnets...in fact they were so authentically weak and scratchy that I replaced them with some Fender vintage noiseless. Be careful what you wish for.

Various youtube videos that have dissected them to reveal a plain old normal resistor under the orange packaging. A bit like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eek0azC6JV0

Ah...he sounds like a reseller rather than a manufacturer.

Who was the supplier? Chinese manufacturers can be highly variable

All you really need IMHO for a Gibson is some decent PAFs unless you have something specific in mind that needs high output or specific character (like djenting). As for wiring, I think the sprague orange drop caps are a con and I'm not a fan of twin volumes generally...but there again, I like active guitars so...what do I know? lol

To be an appreciating asset, music gear generally needs some kind of cultish or nostalgic appeal, or bragging rights. A sleb name and rarity often isn't enough.

Tom Scholz from the band Boston set the company up. He's a bit of a lectroniks wiz. X100's were headphone amps set so you could have gain, chorus delay and compression in a single unit that could fit on your belt

The price of Rockman X100's has exploded in recent months. They used to be snaggable for a hundred quid but now asking prices are around £350-500. A quick search on YouTube will reveal a slew of videos posted in the last 6 months by vloggers which will have probably been driving demand. Why? Def Leppard used them to record their Pyromania and Hysteria albums at the behest of producer Mutt Lange. Interestingly Mike Shipley (RIP), the engineer on those albums, has publically slated the sound quality of the units. He emphasised how much eq-ing was needed to get them to sound right. Phil Collen didn't recommend them for use live use either and this was all years ago. But nevertheless those prices have climbed... ... as will anything else seen as quintessentially top 40 eighties rock. Hamer Steve Stevens signature models for example. Prices of Fender Stratocaster Elite, Plus and The Strat models are climbing despite well documented tuning issues on the earlier versions.

Exactly and even more of a sense of achievement if you can manage to get close to your fave guitarist!

The cheaper end of the Ibanez SA range is worth looking at. Some great value guitars with fast necks and the whammy still stay stable even with dive bombs.

I agree with Dad3353, control and quality of playing is more important than speed. So yeah, slow it down, work on your notes, get control of the piece and then play slightly faster until you make mistakes. Once you make a mistake, stick at that speed for a while until you get control again.

Wow, I've always been very curious about them. The Parker Fly sounds quite bright to my ears so has Rob managed to tame things a bit in this?

The Amptweaker Tight Rock, or any of their other gain pedals, has a side chain loop for clean effects plus an effects loop for when the gain side is engaged. So basically you can scene change with the press of a button. But you'll have to buy pedals for each side. I believe the most recent versions allow you to send a signal to separate amps too. Amptweaker was started by the guy who designed the 5150 amp. So it could make your 6505 sound like a 5150 too.

Without more clarity regarding the actual problem, it's difficult to avoid speculating and be more helpful. Did the seller describe in any more detail what the issue was beyond 'a wiring problem'. That could be anything from a dry solder joint to a replacement pick up, as Dad3353 suggests.

Phwoar. I love the feel of PRS instruments. So slick and effortless.

Go to the sound applet in the control panel and make sure you are selecting the correct device and sending it to the correct output.