Only American is good enough

lasermonkey

Most of my guitars are American or made by a subsidiary of an American company. The styles of guitar I favour generally aren't made elsewhere. I'm not aware of anyone on the UK who builds Fender-style offsets, yet in the US there's obviously Fender, but there's also Bilt, DiPinto, Danocaster, Fano, Novo, etc.

 If you like Rickenbackers (which I do) there really isn't anywhere else you can go.

 Pretty much all the British-made stuff I've seen is either Gibson-inspired or Strat/Tele-derived, and that's just not my thing, man! 

Hoof

I've got 2 American Gibsons, a Mexican Fender, a Brit Gordon Smith and a Korean Fret King.

Guess which one is the best made? 

(Clue: they no speak Engrish)

usedtobe

The fender?

bacchanalian

Hoof said:

I've got 2 American Gibsons, a Mexican Fender, a Brit Gordon Smith and a Korean Fret King.

Guess which one is the best made? 

(Clue: they no speak Engrish)

That could be any of them except the Gordon Smith

mbe

I use American strings. Does that count?

dazzajl

It's a completely laughable notion. 

Sure good guitars can come from the US but the odds of getting a spot on one are far lower than almost any other point of origin. 

There is a complacancey about US built instruments that I personally find distasteful. Pick it up, play it, if it feels right and does the job, buy it. Then if you're really bothered or curious, see where it was made. 

slacker

fretmeister said:

slacker said:

Was that in the bass gallery a while ago? If it was it  is one of the best basses I have played. 

Don't tink so

I've had it for about 6 years and I got it from the original owner.

There is another with a very similar top that is on the Marleaux website. Maybe that one

It looked close. Killer bases.

Bellycaster

My prize possession was made in Finland. I'd recommend anyone who can afford a custom build to enjoy the fruits of Juha Ruokangas' Luthiers. They don't go over schedule in a silly way either.


http://ruokangas.com

TTony

guitars4you said:

The perception of 'USA is best'  has its roots in the birth of  popular music, 

the Marketing departments of large American corporations.

Sassafras

I think waiting over 5 years for an American custom build is a very good reason for NOT getting one made in America.

mike_l

I've mostly heard Americans say "American made is best, anything else is second class".
 I think this reflects across America generally, the car guys all want American Muscle not "imports". Guitar guys all want American made not made anywhere else.
When I was looking for a Strat I tried loads right upto American Fenders. I got a Korean made Koa model. My Dave Murray Strat is Mexican made.
From 8 guitars I have 1 American (Charvel model 4), while a great guitar it's not "better" than my Japanese* (or otherwise) made guitars.
*I have 4 Japanese made guitars.

UnclePsychosis

The US domestic market believes "US is best about pretty much everything, and seeing as the US is almost unarguably the biggest source of popular electric guitar music that's kind of amplified that sentiment everywhere. 

Plus it doesn't help that China/Japan/Asia were pretty much turned to originally to make cheap gear - and so now lots of people (wrongly) think that the Chinese guitar factories are only capable of making cheap gear when the reality is they'll make what they're asked to make. 

I also tend to think that the US market is dubious of Asian gear for mildly racist reasons but that's a whole new kettle of fish that I don't want really want to open. 

Chalky

Having owned over 100 guitars (so far), I am convinced if you find a truly excellent guitar then it is more likely to have been made America. Not guaranteed, but far more likely.

I get the "Japanese quality is superb", but having owned very good Japanese-built Gretches and Tokais (and a Fender), I still think the best US guitars pip them to the post.

Bucket

I think anyone who says "only American is good enough" needs a quick spin on this UK-built monster.

http://i.imgur.com/NdzgXOH.jpg

dindude

Here's my spin:

For America also read U.K., Germany etc. I don't think anyone would look at a Feline or a Huber and think it's any kind of inferior. There is also no real price advantage though over high end American stuff, quality costs, just depends what you're looking for.

As for Indonesia, China, Korea - yes all capable of making decent guitars but almost always they are built to a price, so hardware is average, finish is shiny and thick, build lacks the finer finer detail. It's not a level playing field with a lot of the American or higher end instruments because of this.
When they do try to compete a la Eastman people complain that you can get a Gibson for that money.
So basically the market doesn't reasonably tolerate "high-end" far eastern instruments and thus the circle goes on.

My three electrics happen to be American made, I'm not precious about where they are made but I've never played a far eastern guitar that competes with them. 
The UK / European guitar market lacks midrange market guitars IMO (I.e. Quality guitars costing £1500 - £2000), yet the Americans manage to get guitars into our hands for this cash. I would buy U.K. If there more options in this price range.

crunchman

@dindude there are European made acoustics in that £1500 price range.  If I had to buy an acoustic at that price, I'd go Furch any day over a £1500 US made guitar.

They do have the advantage that wages in the Czech Republic are lower than here or the US.  That might even up over time.

Fundamentally, Furch are building on a bigger scale than most other European manufacturers.  The history section on their website says they had 40 employees by 2011.  Most of the other British and European makers I know of are building on a much smaller scale so they don't have the economies of scale.  Duesenberg are reasonably big, but a lot of their manufacture is done in the Far East even if final assembly and checks are done in Germany.

For electrics, all the big mainstream brands will be using CNC routing on those £1500 guitars.  That would take a huge amount of capital so the small builders don't have that option of automating to keep the costs lower.  To make a living with the extra labour of genuine hand building means that the £1500 price range isn't doable on any scale.

If you have the capital and you want to break into the market on a larger scale, it would be very difficult given how conservative guitarists are about the guitars they use.  Blackstar have kind of done it with amps, but a lot the manufacturing is done overseas as far as I know.  That Blackstar/Duesenberg model would probably give the best chance of success.

To make it work at all at a scale above small hand building, you would need to be good at marketing and get some high profile players using your stuff.

Chalky

Anyone noticed the Youtube marketing campaign on B&G guitars, a new brand? Think I'm bored of them already and I've only seen the ads.  Lots of spiel but only vague facts.

Sassafras

Chalky said:

Anyone noticed the Youtube marketing campaign on B&G guitars, a new brand? Think I'm bored of them already and I've only seen the ads.  Lots of spiel but only vague facts.

In their marketing hype they say their guitars are made with 'secret sauce'.
For that alone, they deserve to fail.

ICBM

I have… electric - one American, one Japanese, one Chinese; acoustic - two American, one Japanese; bass - one American, one Mexican. I don't really know which is the best-made, they're all about the same in many ways.

But - one thing puzzles me (enough that I've upgraded the parts in question on the other guitars)… why is it that no-one other than the Americans can make a decent quality jack socket, or a really good switch? It's surely not rocket science, but even the Japanese with their world-class mass-production methods don't seem to be able to. Switchcraft and CRL are just objectively better than anything else made anywhere - better-machined, stronger, and more reliable. Even Neutrik - who make the best plugs - don't seem to be able to do sockets that are as good as Switchcraft. Why??!!!

musteatbrain

I have 4 top end us guitars and 1 top end uk guitar.
I've recently been having a revolving spot for a 6th guitar. Criteria is 2nd hand, mid priced and a bit of fun.
consequently I've been playing a lot of guitars made in the east. I've been very impressed with the quality