** Thoughts on the far eastern manufacturers **

[Davey]

japanese guitars rule!

their craftsmanship is on par with the usa counterparts, but like said, they usualy have inferior hardware, like pickups and bridges, but the woods and build quality are very good.

[chrisola]

i read a discussion on the HC forums where a guy insisted that even though the hardware on a LTD EC1000 is the same make\colour\model as on the ESP EC-1000, as it was a lower price they used 'cheaper materiall' versions or b stock QC failure examples of the hardware :lol:

Some people lol :lol:

but realisticly, yeah a few jap makes use floyd rose copies rather than original floyd rose, or no brand tune o matic 'style' bridges where as most USA spec guitars have the actual things

[_tom_]

Is there actually a big difference between the bridges that epiphone use compared with gibson? I mean, I will be upgrading to string saver saddles soon, will a "real" TOM help me snap less strings and sound better? Its just metal, right? I'm probably totally wrong here  :lol:

[Davey]

that is my beef with ESP/LTD

almost everybody gets hung up on the hardware.. omg it has a tunomatic.. and sperzels.. and real duncans/emg's etc etc


what the miss is the wood QUALITY, the build quality and the assembly, which makes or breaks the guitar.. not the hardware

[dave_mc]

^i agree wholeheartedly- any korean makes i've tried (not many, i must add) lack a little "je ne sais quoi" compared to american or japanese manufactured stuff- nothing to do with the hardware or whatever...

still, i'm half looking into an ibanez sz (since i'm cheap), so...

[Ratrod]

Check out the new Reverends. They're built in Korea and everyone says they're just as good as the Americans. The pickups and electronics are better than what you get on a Fender or Gibson even if they're Duncans.

Too bad they discontinued the American made originals.  That body design was pretty unique. My early Wolfman is gonna be a collectors item.

www.reverendguitars.com

[jt]

:D I`ve played guitars from all over the world & i`ve played good ones & bad ones from the same manufactures same models every thing the truth is all manufacturuers have good days & they all have bad days !!

what you need to look for is consistency & i have to agree that Japanese made guitars tend to be the best. I`ve still got my Ibanez St55 which is now 26yrs old & still plays great !!

You also have to be realistic, if you pay £200 for a guitar don`t complain when you don`t get a £1000  guitars quality !

 :D  8)

[Drac]

Few thoughts on this thread-
-For sheer numbers, I bow to the multinationals, eastern conglomerates, offshore producers- at their technology, concepts, statistics, etc.
-They certainly have their place in modern marketing, and produce what the designers want to sell to their dealers, and customers.

 I have owned bottom dollar axes in the past, think they are ideal for beginners and pros alike, and myself make more jingaling repairing, than building, these days- working as indiscriminately as possible for my people,
regardless of the pedigree status of their axe.

If I was to throw politics , and personal bias out the window for a minute,
 I  could relate that the instrument building industries of the mass producing countries is AMAZING-Japan,China, and Korea  fill ships with well made things  that  we stand in line/work/finance/sell our souls to possess...

 My beloved Macs /iPods are designed in Ca. , and "made in China"...
There are now generations of instrument builders in all these countries -I imagine one person, classically educated ,guitar builder/violin builder, teaching a whole town of families to build a million strats next week...
- I have Made a living most of my adult life  repairing axes, a large fraction of that  offshore goods,and if they function, (same rule holds true for US/UK/whereever), and please aesthetically, they are great-Even a "cheap guitar", if made well, can be made to play...
 I've run into scads of Namebrand axes with built-in problems, and contradictions,too...Inflation,collectibility, e-bay-ability...20000 dollar strats...aaarrggh.
-The only sin is that the buyer ever pay good money for less than the idea he was sold...A beginner may not know why it's so hard to play, sounds sick, won't stay in tune, etc, and give up, quit, etc.
  Even faster if it's a violin- learning to play is hard enough already.

I could never build a guitar for $70USD-(I'm thinking of these "Kramer" strats for sale on www.musicyo.com (owned by Gibson) ))...
 I would expect nothing of an instrument for this much money.
Makes me rethink my whole concept of axebuilding, though...

I would like to build a "Peoples Guitar"- ridiculous cheap for the quality, and made in an expensive western superconsumer country-

I have a tendency to turn every thing into a "Sistine Chapel" -trying to work on that...
 Thanks for the mindfood- Drac

[indysmith]

What do people here think of the Taiwan-made Yamaha Pacifica 112? For less than £200 you get premium north american alder body, canadian maple neck, and an indian rosewood fretboard, all put together very well. The tuners tend to stay in tune, i have no problem with the trem system, and it has a good comfortable feel to it, with a medium sized neck. People may sneer, but i don't care - i'm perfectly proud of my Pacifica - in fact i'm going to add her to my signature right now. It needs BKPs and custom paintjob tho :twisted:

[dave_mc]

^you can get those pacificas for £150 if you shop around- IMO they'r virtually unbeatable for the price...