# Chinese guitars over 500... are we crazy?



## The Lullaby (Dec 8, 2010)

the quality of many Asian guitars is really nice these days 
(for years my favorite guitar has been an inexpensive Korean Epiphone 335 Dot)
BUT
the prices have gone nuts for many guitars made in Asia.

Example: Eastwood, many of their models are now well over $1000.

I am a fan of many of the models Eastwood make,their pick-ups are always a pleasant surprise
but damn it the pricing is stupid.

$3000 for a Japanese Gretsch? Eff me.

WE SHOULDN'T PAY THE CRAZY PRICES THAT SOME ASIAN GUITARS ARE COSTING.

Sparrow Guitars priced themselves out of business. 
Their "Made in Canada" was bullshit to,made in Asia---assembled/set-up in Canda.

Meanwhile good old Godin brands are really made here/America and usually highest quality in everyway and cost well less than many purely Asian pieces.

I'm all for Asian guitars (they make up the majority of what I own currently,not sure how that happened)
but the prices are getting stupid for them.


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

IMHO, Japan made > USA made


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Once they get you used to the idea, the prices will come up


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

A $1000 guitar is a $1000 guitar. It doesn't matter where it's made.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

I don't believe that Canadian's or Americains's are the only people that can make quality stuff. I haven't played many guitars since I am left handed but if a Gibson Les Paul can command $1200 to $5000 then why couldn't an Eastman be worth a thousand if its built with the same quality materials and skill?


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

dcole said:


> I don't believe that Canadian's or Americains's are the only people that can make quality stuff. I haven't played many guitars since I am left handed but if a Gibson Les Paul can command $1200 to $5000 then why couldn't an Eastman be worth a thousand if its built with the same quality materials and skill?


Well for one thing it does not say Gibson or Fender on the headstock. That accounts for a good 30% right there. Have not tried out any Eastman so can't make an informed opinion on them in comparison


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## Solaceguitars (May 3, 2010)

Asia seems to be fine at constructing and building the guitars themselves. It's the component quality and raw materials that they suffer from. If you have a company that uses well sourced wood and electronics, lets face it the rest is assembly. You can train anyone to do that. The big companies can produce more units over there, and if everyone keeps buying them, well the prices gradually go up. So at the end of the day, you have a very well made instrument, with fingers crossed that it has quality materials, and lets face it it will have a *@&^ fret job but that's what your luthiers are for. I guess what I'm saying is that I can't build a guitar from scratch that would impress anyone for less than $800 at the end of the day. If you think prices above that are too much, then we should lower our standard of living.


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## Accept2 (Jan 1, 2006)

Alot of companies building guitars in the US are selling them at cost, or very little profit. They make all their money on the imported stuff, so they push the imports............


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

blam said:


> IMHO, Japan made > USA made


+1 In fact I would argue that many Japanese products are superior to their American/Canadian counterparts.

Many Korean products too. Why do people speak of Asia with such blanket statements? It's a big place.


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

this thread will shortly become a china vs USA thread...having said that, china makes some very high quality items.

everything from Apple, for example, is made in China and their stuff is top notch. 

it all comes down to the company and how much they want to pay the Chinese to build their product and how strict they want their QC to be. as mentioned above, if a Chinese factory has quality parts and raw material, they can put out a product just as good as the USA.

China has a bad rep because of all the counterfeit goods and companies using them for cheap product.


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

Somehow I have ended up with 3 Godins and a Fender MIM bass. All good instruments but I still wish I had the Ibanez made in China Artcore AF105 NT I had a few years ago. As hard as I inspected every detail, I could find no flaws in the immaculate workmanship and top grade materials. The reason? Quality control. The Japanese company chose the best Chinese artisans and woods to build it and THEN had them inspected and tested to stringent standards before they were exported. And that's the way it should be done.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Yup. We send our work to other countries where the work can be had for cheaper with better accesses to cheaper base materials and cheaper labour and then we pay what we would have paid the guy across the road only we put him out of work and instead of paying him for his labour we are paying him his welfare...


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Chinese built guitars over $500 that are well worth - *Eastman* to start with.


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

keeperofthegood said:


> Yup. We send our work to other countries where the work can be had for cheaper with better accesses to cheaper base materials and cheaper labour and then we pay what we would have paid the guy across the road only we put him out of work and instead of paying him for his labour we are paying him his welfare...


Welcome to capitalism. Unfortunately not many folks are willing to boycott goods produced offshore.


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## Jimi D (Oct 27, 2008)

Robert1950 said:


> Chinese built guitars over $500 that are well worth - *Eastman* to start with.


As a new Eastman owner, I'll second this. You'd pay more than two or three times as much to get a guitar of equal quality if it were made in the US or Japan.

My guitars are a PRS Mira and 25th Anniversary Custom, an American Deluxe Strat, a Japanese ESP Eclipse II and a Chinese Eastman T184MX, and in terms of build quality, the Eastman is the equal to any of them - including the 25th Anni Custom that cost three times as much...


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