Is it worth to give 1000$+ for an Indonisian or MIM guitar ? Remember the past !!

[narcsoul]

So... i am thinking a lot of this question....

Once upon a time ( not so many years back ) you could have an MIJ jackson for 700$ ( brand new ) or an Ibanez mij prestige for 1000$ + hard case!!! .....

....and now what??? Asking for indonesian and mexican guitars 1000$+ ?? sometimes even used!! without even a hard case...

I REMEMBER......i had a Jackson USA sl1 for 1400$ ( used ) ... now they sell them... for 2.500-3000$ ...and an ESP M-II which i bought for 1800$ and i sold for 1000$ and now they ask 1600$ for the used one (near brand new price once upon a time again )

What happened guys....and HOW DO YOU FEEL.... When you pay so much money for a NON Japan or USA instrument compared to what you remember from the past ?

I would like your opinion...

Thank you

[nexion218]

If it's good, it's good, no matter where it was made. These are manufactured to a price point as per the the main brabd's request. Indonesia and even China can/could build stellar instruments they are simply not getting asked and paid to that.

I have Japanes E-II, Japanese Jackson and IndonJackson too. The attention to detail is hands down the highest on the E-II. But the best sounding one, the one that I'd dare to put against a USA counterpart any day is an Indo Pro Series King V... Go figure.

And on the other end of the chain, the gear is selling, so why would the manufacturer change anything? Honestly, if it is well built, plays and sounds good, I am not interested in paying thrice the price or even more for basically eyecandy. Sure that made in usa/japan sticker feels good, but I play just as bad on those than on the cheaper stuff... Lol

[Blille]

If it's good, it's good, no matter where it was made.

This.

The quality of manufacturing now is remarkable. Great guitars can be built anywhere. It's all about the specs.

[TVFV]

The CNC machine has no clue what country it's in.

[dave74]

Maybe I'm just a lucky guy but my two recent Indo/Korean Schecter guitars have both been stellar.
They both have very accurate stainless fretwork that would rival a good pleking.

[JOLLY]

Twenty years ago I could buy a brand new flamed out USA made Gibson Les Paul for $1800. Now they're a minimum of $3000, if you're lucky. It's inflation. It doesn't matter where the guitar is made. Big name guitar brands are going to always go up at least $50 per year.

[Mincer]

I remember buying MIM Strats all day for 250-300. No luck now. Buy what you can afford at the time. Prices will only ever go up.

[JMP/HBE]

F-no.

[dave74]

Well what are you going to get USA for a grand these days? Used all day yes,,,,,,,but we're talking new here I assume.

[dave74]

Buying online is always assuming some risk no matter where it's produced, so be prepared to send it back and only buy from sources that allow for that possibility.

[Ashurbanipal]

The pandemic has also affected things so prices have gone up because supply/production isn't able to keep up, so stuff has to be more expensive for companies to cut a profit. Used market has mirrored this to an extent.

Back in the day, people were saying the same stuff about Japanese guitars, then they played them and got over their prejudice, and now Japan is seen as the place where nice stuff comes from. If builders are properly trained and give attention to detail, it doesn't matter where it happens. I know people are b!tching about stuff like a Premium (MII) Ibanez being 1.5k, well, whatever. If it's good, it's good - certainly the new ones they just released have ss frets, Japanese hardware, USA pickups. It would be difficult to price them lower, also simply because the various parts are not oem. Fwiw, you can find plenty of older Japanese Ibanez for 1k or less - various RGs, Roadstars etc. The JS1000 in particular is often a good deal.

Guitars under $500 have also gotten very good in recent decades, and have nicer specs. The Thomann in-house brand Harley-Benton is a good example - by cutting out the middle man, you can get a Strat style guitar, for instance with alnico pups, ash body, pau ferro board, 2 point, big block trem for about $200. When I started, $300-400 got you a plywood body, ceramic mudbuckers and recalcitrant tuners. So, for a beginner it's amazing; those of us who are a bit further along can buy a nice beater to mod some parts to taste etc. and have a cool guitar without sinking much $ into it.

It depends what you're looking at. Want USA made? Want something else? Can find good bang for buck.

[Dudeman7]

I have been shopping around for a P Bass for a while and I play as many as I can. The Fender American Performer PJ is the closest US made model to what I want, but there are things that I don't like about it, such as the neck heel truss adjustment, Greasebucket tone circuit and separate volume controls for each pickup. These are $1,500.00 now and I know that I would spend more to make it like I want.

On the other hand, ESP LTD Surveyor '87 basses come exactly as I want from the factory in Indonesia. Seymour Duncan pickups, Gotoh hardware, alder body, maple neck with an awesome ebony fretboard and jumbo frets are all standard. These basses cost $600.00 dollars less than the Fender but they're a better fit for what I'm looking for.

I have absolutely no problem spending the money on the bass I want, regardless of where it's made. Fit and finish-wise, this ESP is top notch and for me, the neck is far superior to the more expensive Fender.

[JOLLY]

Inflation is the reason for the prices, but this should answer questions about quality.

[VIDEO]

[Hsb]

I can say the ESP LTD 1000 series guitars built in Indonesia are great quality. At one point the 1000 series guitars would get the same Quality Control checks as the US made ESPs. Those LTDs were built overseas and shipped to the US plant in CA and they would do Quality Control on those guitars and they would get the same set up, etc as the US made ones.

The LTD 1000 series guitars are great, of the 3 guitars I have, my MIJ Iceman, Indo LTD 400 series and a 1000 series MIK, honestly quality wise the 1000 is the best of all three.

[Blille]

It is all about technology, production costs, competition, demand, and volume. You know, the little things.

But what about... the toanz?