Major Brand's Chinese Made Guitars: Which Would You Buy???

[megatonic]

OK, so let's say you were going to buy a "Big Brand Name" guitar that was manufactured in China. What would you buy, and why?

Please don't post your screeds about why you wouldn't buy a Chinese made axe, or that you would just save your money and buy an American whatever.

I just want to look at a more positive aspect of the issue, as opposed to just writing them all off as crap.

So, What would you buy?

[poseido]

Squier Classic Vibe!

[willyboy]

Rasmus Guthrie Govan by Suhr. Knowing the process they took to get a consistent well made Chinese manufactured guitar, and that the instrument is sent to the Suhr factory and given a once over before it goes to the retailer, there's no question about build quality, fit, finish or playability. Besides that the GG is a very versatile axe.

[dazco]

The CV and vintage modified squiers. Some are outstanding, owned 2 of the teles. Pickup up a 70's style VM squier today and i kid you not, it was more resonant than most every USA fender in the store. One of the most resonant guitars i've ever felt. Then went to sam ash and picked up up 2 more. One was so-so, the other was another incredibly resonant guitar. They were $250. It's ridiculous.

I own a chinese acoustic, not a major brand but better than anything i've owned to date, which is 40 years of playing. That includes gibsons, martins, guilds, and larrivee to name a few. The chinese are making insanely good stuff. I have an Indonesian epi that may well be the best electric i've ever owned. By the way, every guitar i just mentioned is IMO anywhere from notably better to far better than the AM standard strat i just returned to GC under thier return policy. Theres not a crumb of exaggeration in that statement either.

[DustyRhodesJr]

Epiphone Qingdao.

[SNick]

Epiphone Qingdao.

+1:rimshot

[Jdstrat]

I just bought a Chinese-made Fender Modern Player Plus Tele, and I love it. Bought it after playing it for about 20 minutes. Beautiful finish, plays so nice. "Fender" on the headstock. ;)

[magicaxeman]

Squier CV or VM series without hesitation, Blueridge acoustics, especially the historic's are fantastic guitars

[CadillacRed]

Fender's new Jaguar is sex. What's wrong with China again?:dunno

[brice]

I own a Epiphone G-400 that is one of my favorite guitars. I also own a Hagstrom Viking that is a very nice guitar. Both play great - both were made in China. I also have a G&L Legacy Tribute that is made in Indonesia. - All are excellent quality.
The PRS SE line is made in Korea and are excellent quality.

[Jagman327]

I like my Danelectro Singlecut but I will replace the tuners at some point.

[StanG]

Definitely squier cv and epi. The good ones are really nice for the price.

[Sidmore]

Ibanez Artcore AS73 & CV 50's Tele - bought 'em both and have no complaints

[megatonic]

I have a Hagstrom Swede reissue that is really unbelievable for the price. I'm keeping it.

[teleman1]

Eastman Acoustics!

[texasdw]

Eastman Acoustics!

Yup. Eastman archtops are hard to beat. Haven't bought one yet but they are really nice sounding guitars.

[Citizen_Insane]

Definitely an Eastman.

[bismark]

I've not played an Eastman before. But Ibanez Artcores are great guitars for the money.

[Stardrake]

The new Fender Modern Player Jaguar is very tempting...

[Improbable Joe]

Squier Classic Vibe!

Absolutely... if you get the right one, and it feels and sounds like a really good backup for your American model. Not quite there, and none of the mojo of the real deal, but I messed around with a few CV 50s Strats and one of them was better than any of the Mexican Strats I tried.

[Funkwire]

Already have an Epi Qingdao, so I'd go for a Squier CV.

[stevieboy]

The one I did buy is an Epiphone Casino 1961 50th Anniversary model.

[chucke99]

Hands down, the Artcore series by Ibanez. Especially the 90 and 100-level models. They are top quality guitars. Also the 300 and 500-level models of their ARC, ART and ARX models.

[scaryfoot]

Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster.

[TimSt.L]

Well, squire has surprised me on more then a couple occasions lately.
And other than brand name guitars, there's a higher end company called Lee guitars that trying to change the stigma about buying Chinese. Apparently even alot of Chinese people don't like to buy Chinese. It has the same reputation there as it does here.

[coldfingaz]

The Squier CV50 is an amazing guitar for the $

[d3nzi0]

Have owned an Artcore and still own a Epi Dot - both seriously good guitars. Want to get a CV Tele sometime in the future..

[davecan]

Not to derail and God help me for posting this, but I've played about 20 CV guitars over the last 3 or 4 years...Believe me, I've wanted to like them, but damn, the necks are almost all covered in so much goop (especially the ones with maple boards), that I could barely play them.

The best Chinese guitar I think I've played was the Hagstrom. But it seems like other parts of Asia are still ahead in the guitar manufacturing market... Love my 2 Reverends, for example. The Asian G&L's are pretty good too!
There are a lot of great guitars coming out of Asia and China's getting better all the time.

[Brian Krashpad]

I have a couple that are both quite nice. Maybe part of that is that each came with USA-made pickups stock.

The one I paid more for, and which is definitely the flashier of the two, is my Ravelle Deluxe. My "Les Paul on drugs." Nice light flame Canuck Maple top, Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB pups, and coil split:

http://static.flickr.com/31/64206604_0561bb9017.jpg

More a workhorse is my Gretsch 'Lectro Special Jet, multipiece mahogany plank body with DeArmond 2000's made here in the Fender plant (Dyna-Sonics on the cheap):

http://static.flickr.com/27/94152145_373b9f3161.jpg

These are both perfectly giggable dead stock. Both are unfortunately out of production. Though I think there's a similar Ravelle now, I don't know that it's MIC.

[rdamato]

Epiphone Qingdao.


How do I know which factory an Epi was made in??

Thanks

[Demioblue]

Edwards Les Pauls

[slpayne]

eastwood airline!!!!!

[jetlag]

The one I did buy is an Epiphone Casino 1961 50th Anniversary model.

Me too. Great guitar.

[stormin1155]

I have a couple XT series Hamers. Both very good guitars... the Echotone gets more play than my 335. I have a Korean Fender Showmaster... nothing second rate about it. Also have a Washburn J-7... very nice jazz box for the money.

[RedTiger]

How do I know which factory an Epi was made in??

Thanks

The serial number, probably. There's info online about what to look for. There's also a website where you can just type in the serial number and find out about it.

[tartanphantom]

My MIC Gretsch Corvette (aka "CVT") is pretty hard to beat.

http://www.gretsch-talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=76&pictureid=2601http://www.gretsch-talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=76&pictureid=2602


But my MIC Squier Tele comes darn close. Both were made at the same FMIC Yako plant.

http://www.gretsch-talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=76&pictureid=1591

[Polyester]

How do I know which factory an Epi was made in??

Thanks

Check the serial. The Epiphone Wikipedia article has surprisingly thorough and accurate info about them.

[gillman royce]

Mainland China and/or Taiwan ? I like my Taiwan Yamaha AEX 502's for stage work

[Selsaral]

My Recording King RD350 and Guild GAD G212 are both spectacular Chinese-made guitars.

[snakestretcher]

I really need to try one of these: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=the+loar+lh+350&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&rlz=1I7ADFA_enGB392&biw=1024&bih=540&tbm=isch&tbnid=O4BuIgGFhxHSNM:&imgrefurl=http://guitar-for-jazz.com/images&docid=qfh4551n5turoM&imgurl=http://guitar-for-jazz.com/data/images/the-loar-lh-650-sb.jpg%253F1306349194&w=700&h=274&ei=l4prT6T5CcHChAfj0-2jBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=515&sig=105677181874582925231&page=2&tbnh=87&tbnw=221&start=10&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:10&tx=62&ty=39