Does made in china really suck?

[EugeneSmasher]

Nowadays I'm finding a lot of gems within the "relatively-unknown brands"... Particularly Marlique and Swing...

 

[fulltone]

China Guitars

China manufacturers can copy a pimple on a fly's A$$ like nobody's business! But the Korean Craftsmanship is superior. Look at the quality of the Schecter Diamond Series and PRS se models. In my opinion China is a long way off from quality standards. I see it all the time in my line of work. Anyway thats my two cents.

 

[taypeng81]

re:

in my opinion - made in china does not necessarily mean lousy but QC is less stringent. china workmanship can be pretty shoddy sometimes. e.g. strat neck not sanded properly/evenly. lousy paint job on some epi LPs..

 

[subversion]

But the Korean Craftsmanship is superior.

it's not about the chinese origin per se- definitely not. it's about which parties in china make the product. same goes for korean products, PRS simply chose the right people for their SE models.

Ibanez's Chinese Artcore guitars would shame many others.

 

[hellohello]

I have a MIC hamer and i'm not at all satisfied with it.

agreed. i have a kkw wartribe made in china. i'm also not satisfied.

 

[fulltone]

Yes~

ALL Im saying is that it doesnt matter Where your Guitar is made~

IF your talking about Factory made guitars then its a very Slim chance~

However if the guy in USA who made your particular guitar is sloppy then thats what you get, but if the guy in China Makes a good Piece then great for you.

Thats why you should ALWAYS PLAY the shit out of ur guitar before you buy it and Nail everything before you decide or end up like me.

I Agree! I have played a TON of Top Branded Guitars over the years and I sometime wonder if The U.S. Quality is going backwards. Especially the Gibsons and Fenders (50% crap nowadays). Being a PRS fanboy, I also do not understand the Pre-factory mentality. I have a pre-factory and a factory made PRS and I tend too enjoy the latter's playability much better. Maybe off the subject a little....anyway....

 

[fulltone]

it sometimes depends on the brand you are talking about. more reputable brands ie. ibanez, epiphone would probably have relatively better(or stringent) quality control as compared to those of lower end squiers and such.

Epiphone, Ibanez...Quality???? Bull$hit! Epiphone is the cheapy Gibsons..which we all know $uck! Gibson quality is crap after the seventies unless custom made. And it is a damn shame you have to get custom too get quality. Ibanez...well nuff said..NO Tone! In my opinion only...the guitar companies are gladly taken our cash for $hit quality...especially the american guitar biggies...and I am American. I have lost total respect for Gibson and Fender...total $hit. I would take PRS, Schecter, taylor and ESP, Fernandes anyday! Japan got it goin on!

 

[Blodstyre]

I have no qualms over where a guitar is made. yes I agree that I have indeed come across a China made guitar which is very well made. We all have our point of views over why a MIC is better or worse or equal in quality in terms of quality.

But let us all view in in this retrospect.

-You have in front of you two identical guitar. Very identical. Same brand, same color, some hardware, same material, same flaws, same everything including price. Heck even the bacteria content is the same. Only difference is where it is made. Guitar A made in Japan and Guitar B made in China.

Which one would you buy?




~meh~

 

[Godspeed64]

Soccer

Sian.. Wrong heading.. Was replying to a PM..
Anyways! Does it really matter where your guitar was made in?
Nowadays it's all about the power of branding..
Your underwear made in where? Got diff? Why aren't you driving a MIA Dodge?
Why are your clothes MIT?
Gotta face the music man.. China is picking up the pace..
More often then not their guitar workmanship has been decent at most.. But as time progresses, people improve..
And when I say people, I mean nations as well! Look at the Qing Dao factory for Epiphone! It has been receiving awesome comments..
I'm using an Unsung made Epiphone, a factory which was in Korea but is operating in China now..
And hell, my guitar ROCKS.. Even Beez was impressed.. If a luthier can be impressed, why can't you?

 

[ungauged]

After a long discussion while having midnight teh-tarek last week, I think the reason being why people still prefer a MIA guitar is maybe because they would take more pride in their workmanship as it's their brand hence, also the tighter QC. As it's been out-sourced to other countries be it Japan, China, Korea or even Indonesia where labor costs is cheaper. I think people have the tendency to assume that workmanship might be worst.

But in the past few years, Fender and Gibson hasn't really kept up with the standards that made them market leaders. Ibanez, PRS and Fender Japan have overtaken them, better value for money. This topic which I started I think is a never ending debate as at the end of the day, if you played it and you like it, that's all that matters even if it's made in Pulau Ubin.

 

[taypeng81]

After a long discussion while having midnight teh-tarek last week, I think the reason being why people still prefer a MIA guitar is maybe because they would take more pride in their workmanship as it's their brand hence, also the tighter QC. As it's been out-sourced to other countries be it Japan, China, Korea or even Indonesia where labor costs is cheaper. I think people have the tendency to assume that workmanship might be worst.

But in the past few years, Fender and Gibson hasn't really kept up with the standards that made them market leaders. Ibanez, PRS and Fender Japan have overtaken them, better value for money. This topic which I started I think is a never ending debate as at the end of the day, if you played it and you like it, that's all that matters even if it's made in Pulau Ubin.

+1

well said.

 

[joshuak]

I have owned guitars that were made in:-
USA - Fender Deluxe Strats, Fender Deluxe Teles, PRS, Taylor acoustic
Japan - Orville Les Paul & Fender Strat
Korea - Epiphone Lucille, Cort acoustic
Taiwan - Yamaha RGX and Yamaha APX acoustic
China - Ibanez Artcore
Indonesia - Yamaha ERG121

The ones that were made in Taiwan, China and Indonesia sounded great and played acceptably well compared to the MIA and MIJs.
But after 1-2 years, I noticed that the rates of deterioriation (ie. for circuits and cosmetics) for those made in China and Indonesia were much faster than the more durable MIAs and MIJs.
Those made in Taiwan and Korea were quite durable, but over time can still see they cannot compare to the MIA and MIJ ones.

I have also looked into the hidden inner parts of the MIAs. They maintain quality workmanship and materials even for the usually unseen areas.

That's my experience over the past 5 years. So now I own only MIAs and MIJs. Esp the MIAs even though they hurt my wallet much more.

Maybe it just happens that my guitars are like that and the quality of China-made guitars have also improved much recently.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Epiphone, Ibanez...Quality???? Bull$hit! Epiphone is the cheapy Gibsons..which we all know $uck! Gibson quality is crap after the seventies unless custom made. And it is a damn shame you have to get custom too get quality. Ibanez...well nuff said..NO Tone! In my opinion only...the guitar companies are gladly taken our cash for $hit quality...especially the american guitar biggies...and I am American. I have lost total respect for Gibson and Fender...total $hit. I would take PRS, Schecter, taylor and ESP, Fernandes anyday! Japan got it goin on!

Dude, Taylors and Schecters are American. And about Ibanezs having no tone, its always subjective. Some like an Ibanez's tone, some don't. I don't know HOW MANY TIMES the word SUBJECTIVE has appeared on this forum. EVERYBODY is DIFFERENT.