Yuguitars.com thoughts?

[Rinaz]

Hi everyone,

My long story is I’m looking to guitars on this website because they’re a team of 3 guys, 1 owner, and 2 luthiers in China and some young guitar players on YouTube have them. It sounds ok through the videos but I haven’t tried one in real life so I cannot say anything about it if I want to compare it to an American made guitar. They make beautiful guitars and each one is unique as you can custom one every details. The price is cheap (well, simply it’s China, probably lower labor cost). I have had a long conversation with them and threw a bunch of questions. They’re very informative, being honest, and very nice to me. They’re saying that they are confident to be compared to Collings, Bourgeois, etc (I’m not trying to trigger anyone) and they have a good supply for BRW. They said “Brazilian rosewood itself is not that rare in guitar field. Because guitar makers only need a relatively small and thin set”. They didn’t push me into buying a BRW one even I told them I wanted one but they recommended me trying out Honduras mahogany or Wenge back&sides as an alternative for Madagascar rosewood.

And my simple question is Do you think they’re worth it? From low end to high end? Would you give them a try?

[Robin, Wales]

I would hold fire for a bit. There are still aspects that the 3 of them are not getting right. For example: guitar 287 has tuners made for a flat headstock fitted to a slot headstock guitar. And their comments on their website about using more stable wood stock in future are telling. They look like talented craftsmen but not, yet, talented luthiers.

[holly9000]

[Robin, Wales]

https://yuguitars.com/

You had the address wrong.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Rinaz

And my simple question is Do you think they’re worth it? From low end to high end? Would you give them a try?

Worth what? There are no prices that I see on their website.

From their "About" page, they haven't been in business long or have a lot of experience. That doesn't necessarily make them "bad", but you would be buying into relatively new luthiers: their prices should be commensurate with that.

There has never been more guitar makers than there are now. That includes domestically. Most beginning luthiers sell their instruments "cheap". Are their local luthiers that offer competitive prices on their instruments? Some beginning luthiers sell their instruments for as little as $2k or so.

Given the choice between providing a livelihood for a neighbour, and bolstering my immediately local economy, or someone half-way around the world, I'd want to support my neighbour. Even if I had to pay a few bucks more for a similar item. That's just me.

There are potential "issues" with international shipping of, specifically Brazilian rosewood. Does Yuguitars have all the necessary authenticating paperwork? If not, you'd be tempting fate to ship it internationally without it. Shipping of high-end fragile items also carries some risk. Buying local eliminates the issues of shipping, paperwork, returns and/or repairs/adjustment.

In the most general terms, there are a few primary reasons to engage a luthier to build a guitar. One is that you can't find what you want from a factory-made instrument. Another is that you want to support a local artisan/craftsperson. Another is that you want to develop a relationship with the person making your instrument - and get the service, before, during and after the build that that relationship can provide.

One doesn't usually commission a luthier to make one a guitar because it is cheaper than other options. If, for example, you really have your heart set on, say, a Collings, hiring a new (cheaper) luthier to make you a copy isn't likely to get you a Collings. You might, however, still get a very nice instrument.


The bottom line is that if you order a guitar from Yuguitars, if it survives shipping and makes it through customs, the instrument you get will probably be fine. Since tonal quality is so subjective, you might or might not like the tone of the instrument you get, as is true with any instrument ordered without playing it first. If you don't like it, or there is some issue with it, returning it could be challenging, as could any future warranty issues. The instrument would have to be cheap enough to cover your cost of having any future issues dealt with - e.g. premature neck reset, bridge re-glue, etc.

[The Bard Rocks]

Charles, you did not look close enough. Prices are below each model and if you look under "Contact" you will find prices for every option they offer. But they don't have a "Prices' page. Everything is right there and detailed. In my opinion, their prices are very low. Makes me wonder how they can do that....

However, your advice, like usual, is excellent and right on target.

[Rinaz]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

Worth what? There are no prices that I see on their website.

From their "About" page, they haven't been in business long or have a lot of experience. That doesn't necessarily make them "bad", but you would be buying into relatively new luthiers: their prices should be commensurate with that.

There has never been more guitar makers than there are now. That includes domestically. Most beginning luthiers sell their instruments "cheap". Are their local luthiers that offer competitive prices on their instruments? Some beginning luthiers sell their instruments for as little as $2k or so.

Given the choice between providing a livelihood for a neighbour, and bolstering my immediately local economy, or someone half-way around the world, I'd want to support my neighbour. Even if I had to pay a few bucks more for a similar item. That's just me.

There are potential "issues" with international shipping of, specifically Brazilian rosewood. Does Yuguitars have all the necessary authenticating paperwork? If not, you'd be tempting fate to ship it internationally without it. Shipping of high-end fragile items also carries some risk. Buying local eliminates the issues of shipping, paperwork, returns and/or repairs/adjustment.

In the most general terms, there are a few primary reasons to engage a luthier to build a guitar. One is that you can't find what you want from a factory-made instrument. Another is that you want to support a local artisan/craftsperson. Another is that you want to develop a relationship with the person making your instrument - and get the service, before, during and after the build that that relationship can provide.

One doesn't usually commission a luthier to make one a guitar because it is cheaper than other options. If, for example, you really have your heart set on, say, a Collings, hiring a new (cheaper) luthier to make you a copy isn't likely to get you a Collings. You might, however, still get a very nice instrument.


The bottom line is that if you order a guitar from Yuguitars, if it survives shipping and makes it through customs, the instrument you get will probably be fine. Since tonal quality is so subjective, you might or might not like the tone of the instrument you get, as is true with any instrument ordered without playing it first. If you don't like it, or there is some issue with it, returning it could be challenging, as could any future warranty issues. The instrument would have to be cheap enough to cover your cost of having any future issues dealt with - e.g. premature neck reset, bridge re-glue, etc.

Thanks for all the advice. They’re very cheap compare to other manufacturers and luthiers. With about 900$ you could get an all solid hand made one with honduras mahogany and a spruce top with custom appearance as you want. I may give them a try in the future for a low end first... a review on youtube said it sounds like Gibson guitars.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

Charles, you did not look close enough.

Not sure how I missed the prices.

Originally Posted by Rinaz

I may give them a try in the future for a low end first...

Seems reasonable.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

Not sure how I missed the prices.

Our prices are so low you might just overlook them!

[yuguitarofficial]

[SIZE="6"] A friend sent me the link, I really appreciate all opinions and comments here. I can offer a free trial if anyone here is interested. You can decide to pay&keep the guitar or send it to another player nearby who wants to try. Only the first tester gets a brand new guitar and other guys get a second hand guitar to some extent so the final price can be a bit lowered.
Guitars shown on the website were made during the OEM period so there might be some unprofessional mistakes. Right now we've got a good team and I've invested a lot in the workshop so I'm pretty confident our products can stand out among guitars at the same price or even at higher price

[jpmist]

Originally Posted by yuguitar

[SIZE="6"]
Guitars shown on the website were made during the OEM period so there might be some unprofessional mistakes. Right now we've got a good team and I've invested a lot in the workshop so I'm pretty confident our products can stand out among guitars at the same price or even at higher price

We have a saying where you only get once chance to make a good first impression. Didn't see anything wrong with the site when I scanned it. I would need to know a lot more about your shop before I ordered a custom, so maybe a picture tour of your manufacturing process? Also, I didn't see a 12 fret option right off . . . Best of luck!

PS What are the dimensions off your "mini" model? What style of bracing do you offer? Type of truss rod?

[Goodallboy]

Now I know why they’re so many Accident Attorney commercials shown during Maury.

[guitar george]

As reported in the AGF, yesterday, YUGUITARS is now an AGF Sponsor.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=597062

[yuguitarofficial]

Originally Posted by jpmist

We have a saying where you only get once chance to make a good first impression. Didn't see anything wrong with the site when I scanned it. I would need to know a lot more about your shop before I ordered a custom, so maybe a picture tour of your manufacturing process? Also, I didn't see a 12 fret option right off . . . Best of luck!

PS What are the dimensions off your "mini" model? What style of bracing do you offer? Type of truss rod?

Yes I agree with you, first impression is very important. That's why I'm here :-) To explain everything about our guitars.
We post daily picutures or videos on our instagram: yuguitarofficial . To be honest it's very tough to keep our workshop as clean&tidy as other individual luthiers', we're always handling a batch of guitars. Some machines and assistants will handle most time-consuming and rather non-tonal-functional processes. We'll re-arrange our workshop so more contents can be recorded, hopefully it can be done within 4 months.
The Mini model is actually very similar to Taylor's GS MINI, we've got a quite mature industry here so making a type close to that is economical(Especially not many people order a 36inches guitar)
The default bracing is scalloped X structure(a little bit forward shifted), which we're familiar with. So proper and predictable adjustments can be done perfectly. We've also tested other structures like lattrice or some variations of X structure, most of them just take us much more time to get the result we want. In our opinion, bracing structures do have advantages and disadvantages themselves, of course they've also got different applicable scope. But All Roads Lead to Rome（to some degrees).
We're now using double way truss rod, size is 420mm x4mm(for hex wrench), and we're considering a single way truss rod since it's more effective and easier to adjust.
I'm new here so I might have missed some messages, I'm glad to talk with you via instagram DM if it's easier.

[yuguitarofficial]

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

Now I know why they’re so many Accident Attorney commercials shown during Maury.

I'm not a big fans of TV shows so I can't really understand this