edwards guitars made in china

[van_halen]

i just read phil's post about edwards guitars being made in china, and i was very surprised because all along i've read that they were made in japan. so i decided to google it up, and here's some links that i found:

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/other-les-pauls/42463-edwards-made-china.html

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/other-les-pauls/43888-edwards-guitars-whole-story-more.html

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=2323169

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055550018

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=13235

 

[Phil]

www.mylespaul.com FTW.

Actually it doesn't matter where it's made as long as they're good guitars. But there might be some people who would mind, because they based their purchased on the pure fact that it's fully MIJ. Which is not exactly the best way to go about buying things, well.

 

[teleplayer]

put 'Made In Japan' on a 'made in china' guitar and it is made in japan!

It doesn't really matter.... unless you can really differentiate the difference between MIC, MIJ, MIK, MIM, MIA and MI........ It is good when it feels good in your hands.. :mrgreen::mrgreen:

 

[neuro182]

It is all in the mind. A couple months back, my friend did an experiment for his project to test human perception and mentality.

He filled 2 tubs with water - 1 with rain water and the other with tap water. He purposely swap the labeling of the tubs i.e. the one with rain water is labeled as tap water and vice versa.

Later he got his subjects to wash their hand in both tubs and asked them which one is cleaner. 100% of his subjects testify that the tub labeled with tap water to be cleaner than the other.

Funny? Like I alway say, "it is all in the mind".

 

[spythere10]

That goes to show that not all China made guitars are bad coz the Edwards Lp I recently owned was a very fine Instrument.

 

[neuro182]

Sadly, most people nowadays, have the perception that MIC products are bad. I mean there are hits and misses.

 

[Phil]

I agree that it does not matter where it is made as long as it is good.

As long as it's done properly and is suitably supervised, it doesn't matter if it's MIC or MIA. We are paying more for MIA and MIJ because the wages and everything there is sky high compared to MIC.

I believe that the ESP China factory is their own and not contracted out, that's why the quality is still there.

Another good example would be Blueridge, MIC, but if I didn't tell you that, you wouldn't know.

In the past, the Americans were similiarly biased against goods there were made out of the US of A. Think MIJ products.

And how it has changed now.

MIJ, MIA are representations of continued and consistent quality. Although there are gems in the MIC line, there are also many lemons. So MIC still has some way to go before attaining a similar status as MIA/MIJ products.

The issue about the Edwards being partly MIC is that fact that people wrongly assume that it's fully MIJ. But only the first few runs were fully MIJ. That's where the 'surprise' comes into play.
It's not whether MIC is bad or not, or whether our own opinions/placebo/perceptions play a part.

 

[edgie]

I have a made in japan sticker in my Edwards SRV relic strat and Jimmy Page relic les paul so they MIGHT be really MIJ. I think for the other models of their guitars, they don't have that sticker(correct me if i'm wrong) so they really are not claiming they are made in japan. But even if they are MIC they still are great guitars for the money. As long as they keep the Japanese QC standards, they're gonna be fine guitars. As per the links, they don't subcontract the guitars/guitar parts to other companies so i guess that's why Edwards guitars are that consistent in quality.

A good example of this kind of topic would be Yamaha guitars. Most of them now are not Made in Japan(MIC and MII), but the mid-priced models are still good-playing guitars due to their Japanese QC standards.

I also read a somehow similar story about fender before where some insiders said that some American Standard models are actually Made in Mexico but marketed as such which can be possibly true considering that their American factory is just 5 miles away from the Mexican plant. If you think about it, what are the chances that a big company won't do this? You make about 30-40% more on your profits just by sending them to and fro for about 5 miles.

 

[neuro182]

"Give MIC a chance" - neuro182 Jun 2, 2009

:lol:

I owned 2 Edwards before - a John Sykes LP Custom & a E-LP92SD. Both of which, I supposed are China made (although @ that point in time when I bought it, I thought it was MIJ).

Doesn't change much about the fact that both have great tone and playability. If it feels good and plays good, it is good then.

 

[teleplayer]

Jimmy Page relic les paul

sorry to hijack.. how you find this les paul? is there push pull knobs on the guitar?

 

[edgie]

The issue about the Edwards being partly MIC is that fact that people wrongly assume that it's fully MIJ.QUOTE]

Well said, phil. : )

 

[edgie]

sorry to hijack.. how you find this les paul? is there push pull knobs on the guitar?

It's a lightweight(heavy as a strat only) so it's very comfortable to play yet it's resonant. I'm not really a LP player and the only other LP player that I liked so much is a Heritage LP that a friend had. But the Heritage weighs like a bunch of bricks even with a thick strap to assist you so this one wins in the comfort category.

I have yet to have my Edwards set-up since I bought it about 1.5 years ago but it still sounds great to me. I find that this guitar has less bass than the other LP's i've tried maybe because of its light weight but that's not to say it's lacking. The fretwork and neck are nice. The neck is painted with nitro not the sticky poly that plaques most LPs which is also the main reason i bought this.

I don't have the Jimmy Page wiring on my guitar as Davis Guitars doesn't have the model with it yet at the time of purchase. But I saw recently that they have a new stock with it for about the same price I purchased mine(1350sgd). Damn it!.. hehe.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Agree with previous posts. If it is a good guitar, it is a good guitar. Whether it is made in China, Indonesia, USA or Mexico or Japan or whatever... Quality depends on the factory, not the country.

 

[9000]

yup that is true +1 to the thread above me.
Like i said in other posts,they just use cheaper labour to make the guitar.
its just business.

 

[iliLIGHTili]

OMG~

This is shocking. I thought cheap ltds were the only ones made in china~

 

[EADGBe]

But should we not take into consideration the fact that the wood used might be different? That the culture and industrial attitude of the workers in the two countries are so very different. Japanese are traditionally known to take very good care of what they do - as evident from the various products that came out of that country, be it cars, electronics, industrial automation to shipbuilding.

I should think that Korea comes close to what the Japanese represents and that China, though has some time to catch up need really to look at how they should adopt a similar approach to how they produce for the world. Most and if not all the time, goods from China are made to last but for a brief moment of use - clothing, iPods look-alikes, shoes, etc.

Don't mean to discredit them but this is how it is like for now!

 

[gsonique]

"Give MIC a chance" - neuro182 Jun 2, 2009

....just don't lick em ! :???:

 

[xpresso]

honestly, why care whether its MIJ or MIC?
The woods are from their China factory.
The final setup is at their Tokyo Factory.

Whatever the case is,
like what other softies said...if it plays good, why bother?
I've seen ppl on other forums wanting to sell their edwards just cuz its not MIJ.
Thats plain dumb if you ask me.

 

[iliLIGHTili]

honestly, why care whether its MIJ or MIC?
The woods are from their China factory.
The final setup is at their Tokyo Factory.

Whatever the case is,
like what other softies said...if it plays good, why bother?
I've seen ppl on other forums wanting to sell their edwards just cuz its not MIJ.
Thats plain dumb if you ask me.

Selling because it's not MIJ. Lolz~

 

[teleplayer]

It's a lightweight(heavy as a strat only) so it's very comfortable to play yet it's resonant. I'm not really a LP player and the only other LP player that I liked so much is a Heritage LP that a friend had. But the Heritage weighs like a bunch of bricks even with a thick strap to assist you so this one wins in the comfort category.

I have yet to have my Edwards set-up since I bought it about 1.5 years ago but it still sounds great to me. I find that this guitar has less bass than the other LP's i've tried maybe because of its light weight but that's not to say it's lacking. The fretwork and neck are nice. The neck is painted with nitro not the sticky poly that plaques most LPs which is also the main reason i bought this.

I don't have the Jimmy Page wiring on my guitar as Davis Guitars doesn't have the model with it yet at the time of purchase. But I saw recently that they have a new stock with it for about the same price I purchased mine(1350sgd). Damn it!.. hehe.

shit... if the page wiring in on that guitar.. and the relic are damn nice, then it's quite bang for buck.... but the pickups are quite ridiculous though...