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?

 

[Benjy_26]

Inflation and automation are both realities. It is also true that there are plenty of MIA and MIJ guitars in the used market that sit in this price range. I'll gladly run through those before I scoop an Indonesian guitar for 1k.

 

[The Dali]

The days of the USA made guitars being better quality AND holding value over imports is LONG GONE. Unless you buy from an independent builder.

The Ibanez Indonesian guitars are crazy good. And Schecter and LTD are killing it with quality. Heck, every single person who ever bought an Eastman guitar made in the last 5 years simple raves about their quality.

As some said above, now it is about SPECS and not location.

With so many great manufacturers, I actually don't even look at Epiphone any longer - why bother? I bought the recent Alex Lifeson MIC Les Paul and it was a nice guitar, but it was $1000 with kind of a junky case and import electronics (aside from the Ghost bridge) (it was nice, but I was disappointed with the experience, no Lifeson swag with the guitar, the trem wasn't set 100% correctly, the case was junky IMO, it just didn't FEEL like a $1000 guitar) - but I can get a LTD with locking tuners, tone-pros bridge and tailpiece, Fluance pickups, a hardcase, and a unique body/neck style (as opposed to just mimicking Gibson 100%) for the same price...

Anyhow... to the original question... every single phone or tablet is made in China and they are all high-quality. Why would guitars be any different?

 

[Fender_Punk]

You used to be able to buy an ounce of gold for $1k. Inflation is a MF.

 

[Benjy_26]

Anyhow... to the original question... every single phone or tablet is made in China and they are all high-quality. Why would guitars be any different?

One can argue that a lot of the cost of new tablets and phones is there to pay for R&D. How much R&D goes into a floyded super strat that's punched out by a CNC machine and gets a poly finish?

 

[The Dali]

One can argue that a lot of the cost of new tablets and phones is there to pay for R&D. How much R&D goes into a floyded super strat that's punched out by a CNC machine and gets a poly finish?

But that R&D has zero to do with whether or not the guitar is well-made. I was only pointing out that China can make cutting edge technology goods, not reason they cannot make competent musical instruments.

Not to mention your point then begs as to why a Gibson would be $4000 and the same Epi is $850?