[Shannon]

I see a lot of people who are aggressive in their defense of how Japanese-built guitars are better than Korean-built guitars. On nearly every guitar forum, including this one, I see this happening.

Honestly, who cares? I think both countries have their merits as far as quality and craftsmenship. IMHO, I see pigeon-holing an entire country as being sub-standard is rather dumb. I think the fault of sub-standard quality falls on the manufacturer, not the country. I think blaming a country is a very flawed excuse. If you're gonna blame something, blame correctly.

And another thing, I've owned tons of guitars that were built in the USA, Japan, Korean, Indonesia, etc. Some sucked & others ruled. I don't think it has anything to do with the countries they came from. The manufacturers drew up the plans & CNC'ed the guitar parts as they wanted them. A CNC machine works the same no matter what country it operates in.

Who's with me?
* Shannon stirs the pot & watches it unfold.

[Papa Shank]

I'm with you although I'm confident that on the whole different countries have different QC standards, I think it all depends on the standards expected by the company.

[Shannon]

Originally Posted by Papa Shank

I'm with you although I'm confident that on the whole different countries have different QC standards, I think it all depends on the standards expected by the company.

But then again, the MANUFACTURER decides where to have their products manufactured. They have the ultimate decision on the quality of their product.

[nyck]

Agreed!!

[shredfreak]

Cort makes excellent guitars and i'm not sure but i think they're koreans aswell. Depends a lot on the company though, It's they who set the standard

[The Dark Wolf]

Totally disagree.

Certain national economies are used EXPRESSELY because their labor costs, as well as initial investment costs (cheaper production equipment, for example) are much lower (i.e., Korea), and regulations are a lot looser. This has a direct result on product quality. Granted, the times, they are a changin', and the marginal difference is less than it used to be even 5 years ago.

But you're old enough, like me, to remember stuff that said MADE IN TAIWAN, Shannon. Remember how absolutely shitacular stuff that said that was, back in the day? (I never see that tag anymore, however. ) It was night and day different in terms of quality, compared to stuff made in the USA, or Canada, or Europe.

Some of the problems can be alleviated, but top-tier manufacturing countries have production facilities with the best designs, best workers, typically ISO9000 certification, etc. You don't see that nearly as much in say, Korea. (Again, admittedly changing. China I guess is the big stinker nowadays.)

In other words, if a company decides to build a product in a cheaper country, it is with the express purpose of keeping costs down. And since you do get what you pay for, one of the first things to suffer is generally quality. That doesn't mean everything turned out at said facility is bad. Lotsa neat-o guitars recently prove that isn't the case. But there is still a definite qualitative difference between first-world economies and third-world economies, as relates to manufacturing quality.

[Vegetta]

I dont care - I like my indonesian Ibby as well as my Japanese ones

When I first started playing all I used to hear was "Play a Gibson or Fender - what kind of fucking guitar is an ESP? Till I let them play my esp strat and then they shut the hell up.

I dont care where my stuff is made - so long as it is built well and works.

[The Dark Wolf]

Originally Posted by Vegetta

I dont care - I like my indonesian Ibby as well as my Japanese ones

When I first started playing all I used to hear was "Play a Gibson or Fender - what kind of fucking guitar is an ESP? Till I let them play my esp strat and then they shut the hell up.

I dont care where my stuff is made - so long as it is built well and works.

I agree completely. But that isn't the point of the argument. There's nothing that says you aren't gonna get a decent guitar from Korea or Indonesia, especially with the globalized economy nowadays. Manufacturing quailty has improved DRAMATICALLY across the board.

It's just the main industrial economies at this point just simply provide overall, the best quality. Exceptions, however, abound, I'm sure.

[Ken]

I wish I were more intelligent in this area (okay, maybe I don't )

Perception is reality, and ranting about it will not change it. Any manufacturer is going to have pieces that are greater or lesser than the majority of their product.

I believe that Korean guitars are sub-par because they're designed to be. They're made where the cost of doing business is less, the QC isn't as stringent, and the end-user gets a decent guitar for a low price. Does that mean that they suck? No. There are people who swear by their Korean Ibbys (lo-trs and all). Are they as good as models made in Japan? Not in my mind.

[hirah]

the cnc machine will work the same, but the operator will not be the same. the quality of the guitar has a lot to do with the fit and setup. trust me, i've been involved with cnc machines for the past 10+ years.there is still operator error with a cnc. compared to the stuff i make, a guitar body / neck is easy. i've seen a lot of manufacturers pull out and contract to korea etc.. most of them eventually come back. the quality of the work isn't up to par.
you could make a guitar body in under 10 minutes on a cnc. but the finish work is where qualified people come in to play.