Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

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Hey Guys.
its been a ****ing while. Isnt it? Q: P
ahahahahahahahah
I was checking my Guitar Arsenal here, and i noticed i have 1 made in korea Ibanez Bass. 4 made in Japan Guitars and only one made in Usa guitar.
I was also noticing that , lots of indonesian, chinese and India, taiwan or wherever they are made in Now, are popping up a lot.

back in the day , i remember that Made in Korea wasnt Good. And then they improved quality(i GUESS. am i right here?) and they became acceptable.
is that happening RIGHT Now with the chinese made ones? jackson, ibanez , dean and maybe even fender and gibson are doing these(if its not the counterfeit parts).

Let me know cause i need to get an update on this . im feeling a bit Outdated. OVERALL. Q: )
Thanks again and ill be waiting for your reply.
Hails
JP

 

[kilphody]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

I just got an Indonesian LTD that looks and plays better than anything I've seen come down the pike in years. Setup, frets, action,are spot on. I'm not crazy about the 81-60 's but that's more of an EQ issue for the moment with my amps. Out of the box it blew my LP (2011 Studio) away. For less than $500.
PC

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

As much mystique as we wish to attach to them, guitars are very, very simple devices, and frankly, anyone with the slightest engineering nous can make one.

 

[CountFeedback]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

the quality is getting better, but I think some of the prices being asked for high end Asian imports is absurd.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

The worldwide economic slump has made the guitar business much more competitive over the last 5 years. Koreans have gotten much better, and I think Chinese are surpassing them. I really like the Chinese guitars I've seen. They've got new, state-of-the-art machinery and well-trained employees. They really want to catch up with the rest of the world, and they're making progress. There are high-quality PU's coming from Asia too, at very competitive prices (which was inevitable). It's a new world, baby.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

Country of origin means jack-**** unless it comes down to resale value. Every country has its F-ups and gems, just in different proportions, but that doesn't change the fact there are good and bad guitars.

Resale value is the only reason country of origin matters in the guitar market IMO. I'll play a guitar from any country by any worker in the world if I think it is good enough and fair-priced. My general question when trying/buying guitars is "Is this of a quality worth the $$$?" To some it will be, to some it won't.

And FWIW, I'll take a guitar Made in China that is overall a great guitar with effort put into it, than some Made in America guitar if some careless worker slapped it together and the guitar is barely usable. The American guitar will just be likely to hold more value.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

You need to follow the manufacturing companies (which are different than the brand name on the headstock). They usually keep quality constant when the majority of their production moves countries.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

IMO, the "old rule" was untrue in the first place. It was based on false, nationalist generalizations. Some of the worst crap guitar brands ever made were manufactured right here in the good-ol' U.S. of A. Harmony, Silvertone, Kay, Danelectro...and those are some of the "better crappy ones." I've played ****ty Japanese guitars from the '60's that, while crummy, are easily better than anything these brands ever turned out. And it goes down from there when you get into the less well known lousy American guitar brands (many of which were also manufactured by Kay).

And now, both Gibson and Fender are making themselves look really, really damned bad (though Gibson is a whole helluva lot worse than Fender in terms of quality). The only instruments from either of these companies that get anywhere near the attention they deserve are the custom shop models. (Like I said, Gibson is particularly bad; Fender's problems mostly come down to setup quality and value.) That, of course, makes the imports (and the "good" American companies, such as G&L) look better in comparison. It's really sad, because both of these companies really turned it around in the '80's, and through the '90's. They were making decent quality, affordable, U.S.-made guitars worthy of the legacies of their respective names. If you want a really good quality, affordable Gibson, then snatch up those late '80's and '90's ones; don't buy new.

I'd take a Fujigen-made Japanese Fender sight unseen any day before taking a new American one. And my Epi SG from Japan (also Fujigen) was an incredible guitar. If I didn't have a '68 Gibson SG, I would have kept it. It was easily the '68's equal (if not better) in terms of quality; I was just broke and I didn't need two of them any more.

The list of examples could go on and on for pages. But for me, the bottom line is that you can't judge a guitar based solely on what country it was made in. Great guitars and complete crap can be made anywhere in the world.

 

[alteredbeast]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

i have 3 MIJs, 2 MIKs, and 1 china, the differences are often subtle, yet sometimes crucial. I guess it is all subjective.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

I like guitars.

 

[ExplorersRock]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

The only rule I have about buying guitars is this: cherry-pick them! I've got some great imports like my Blacktop Strat, my Schecter C-1 Custom, and my Epiphone Les Paul. Mexico, Korea, China. I also have a couple KILLER Gibson Explorers. When buying an import, I expect to invest in some of the stuff they spent less on like tuners, bridges, pots, and pickups. But is that so bad? My Blacktop Strat now sports the WLH set and locking Schallers. GREAT sounding guitar with those pickups! My Epi LP has a Tone Pros Bridge, Sperzels, a Duncan Custom and an APH-2n. To me, it's an opportunity to customize and have a fun project. Besides, sometimes that is advisable on American stuff too (the '57 Classic Pluss humbucker in my new Gibson LP has GOT to go :cussing.

If you cherry-pick and find a guitar that is really something, forget about where it was made. Sounds good, plays good... that's all that should matter. I'll say this. I don't miss my American Special HSS Strat at all. But I do miss the Chinese-made Modern Player Tele Thinline Deluxe w/P-90s that I sold. E-V-E-R-Y DAY!!! I even tried to buy another one, but that was still the best one I've played and I'd give anything to have it back :crying:

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

I spent part of today sorting out a MIK Washburn Maverick series HSS guitar, installing Duncan Designed TE101n, SC101m and HB103b pickups. Eventually, I want to govern the coil selections using a Schaller Megaswitch E. For testing purposes, I connected up via the original Asian selector switch, pots and jack.

Looking at the instrument, the only obvious give away to its Korean origins is the misalignment of the pickup cavities relative to the centre line of the neck and body.

Despite this, plugged in to the amplifier simulations of Apple Logic, this little blue monster does a pretty mean Alex Lifeson tone circa Vapor Trails.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

IMO, the "old rule" was untrue in the first place. It was based on false, nationalist generalizations. Some of the worst crap guitar brands ever made were manufactured right here in the good-ol' U.S. of A. Harmony, Silvertone, Kay, Danelectro...and those are some of the "better crappy ones." I've played ****ty Japanese guitars from the '60's that, while crummy, are easily better than anything these brands ever turned out. And it goes down from there when you get into the less well known lousy American guitar brands (many of which were also manufactured by Kay).

And now, both Gibson and Fender are making themselves look really, really damned bad (though Gibson is a whole helluva lot worse than Fender in terms of quality). The only instruments from either of these companies that get anywhere near the attention they deserve are the custom shop models. (Like I said, Gibson is particularly bad; Fender's problems mostly come down to setup quality and value.)

I think this is doing some injustice to Fender's AVRI line. They are very good and getting better.

Fender AmStd also doesn't so much have quality control issues, compared to Gibson, but they constantly mess with the hardware and pickups, the routes and whathave you so that now you also need to play in person.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

Hey JP! Long time Bro! Lotsa good advice here. I agree with nearly all. The rest of the world is catching up FAST! There is good stuff coming from all over. Fujigen are nearly ALWAYS gems, but thats talking older guitars as IIRC that factory was victim of the tsunami. Chinese guitars (reputable brands) have gotten very good. New Epis seem very consistant and pretty nice. Korean guitars and Indonesian guitars have gotten strong too. There are turds in all batches, and jems too. I think the key is to look for a reputable brand. Schecter, LTDs and other imports are normally all good

 

[Brian Griffin]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

As much mystique as we wish to attach to them, guitars are very, very simple devices, and frankly, anyone with the slightest engineering nous can make one.

It's just woodworking, with some wires thrown in

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

Well, I couldn`t stand not having a seven string anymore, so just this once I broke down and purchased a chinese Jackson for christmas (and a duncan Nazgul to go in it). JS22-7 in satin black, to be precise. Seeing at that`s kind of exactly teh direction I expect you to be looking, maybe my impressions will help.

First off, I had serious concerns, especially since I kind of hated myself for buying a chinese product. But once it got here a few days later, I was very quickly shown that they were completely unfounded.

The Fit and finish were literally better than anything that I`ve ever seen come out of korea in the last >20 years, and actually up there with most production japanese instruments fo the late 90s /early 2000s. The workmanship is almost unbelievable for the price, I mean, I charge more for a refret w/nut and setup that this guitar costs as a whole.

There`s a aeautiful piece of quartersawn maple for the neck (with some very light but consistent flame), a nice uniform slab of rosewood for the fretboard, perfect neck fit, flawless finish, and better setup and fretjob than I`ve ever seen in the sub 500$ price range, much less for HALF that. Excellent sustain, lowest action of any guitar I have (partly becasue It still has 9s which i`m surprisingly OK with...). Even the stock pickups were surprisingly good.

Even the soldering job surprised me.. I`ve been soldering for what, 29 years, and somewhere in China there`s a kid that makes me look like a beginner.

I am very glad that I never said anything about chinese workmanship, just about the regime and that they need to start using decent raw materials. This was the very first guitar that ever came into my house and "needed" absolutely nothing done to it. No fret polishing, no recutting the nut, no realigning the neck, no tweaking of the truss rod and setup...

And then I actually realized this is the first guitar that I`ve ever actually purchased brand new (or from an online store, for that matter). I am in no way disappointed by that. Best 250 bucks I ever spent.

FWIW

 

[Adieu]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

The REALLY old rule about crappy japan doesnt... The new one sort of does.

Sounds smthn like this:
"Really hiend stuff only comes out of USA, and Japan for certain brands (esp, ibanez, caparison). Mid-hiend stuff comes from both, and gets fancier from america - but more stably good from Japan... Korea makes good uppermid stuff sometimes (Ltd deluxe, agile), same for mexico and fenders.

Everything else is junk"

...YMMV!

 

[Adieu]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

Hey JP! Long time Bro! Lotsa good advice here. I agree with nearly all. The rest of the world is catching up FAST! There is good stuff coming from all over. Fujigen are nearly ALWAYS gems, but thats talking older guitars as IIRC that factory was victim of the tsunami. Chinese guitars (reputable brands) have gotten very good. New Epis seem very consistant and pretty nice. Korean guitars and Indonesian guitars have gotten strong too. There are turds in all batches, and jems too. I think the key is to look for a reputable brand. Schecter, LTDs and other imports are normally all good

Wha? Fujigen is still around, makes most prestige and all jcustom ibanez, their own FGN brand, and a buncha other stuff

Its Matsumoku (of "STEEL ADJUSTABLE NECK" on the neckplate fame) that went bellyup...but that was ages ago, in like 86 or 87, and after a fire that coincided with a horrid exchange rate crisis, not a tsunami

 

[Jocelyn]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

The overall quality has improved a lot. When I got my Indonesian made Ibby, I could not find any flaws, just the way Zerb described it. Yes even the soldering was good. I am still using the stock pots which I actulay like better than the Dimarzio pots on my other guitar. I thought at first I would need to change the tuners. But I am very happy with them.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Does The Old Rule still Applies? (guitar country of origin)

I think the Epi Les Pauls being built in China right now are really good.