Worthiness

I met a nice guy a couple of days ago in one of the guitar stores here. We talked gear a bit & he was in the market for an Ibanez, the AZ series in particular. He was looking at the SLM10 (above) & asked me why an Indonesian guitar is a dollar shy of $2K? It's made in Indonesia after all...

I really didn't know where to start but judging a guitar's worth by where it's made - it's one of the most outdated reference considering the quality development of instruments made in cost-cutting countries like China & Indonesia, lately. Just addressing this case in particular, the SLM10 is a signature model to begin with so it's not gonna be in a very accessible price point despite being made in Indonesia. Ibanez deems this as a Premium grade model & had priced it as such plus a little bit more for the endorser association. It's not about it being made in Indonesia & having to reflect an Indonesian made guitar price. 

On that note, is there such a thing as an Indonesian guitar price? How about a Chinese guitar price? Eastman guitars are made in China & it's way beyond the price points of guitars listed on Ali Express for instance. So why the excessive price tag? It's about quality. Let's not fall for the fallacy that guitars made in America / Japan are the standard to beat when it comes to quality manifestations. We have read one too many accounts of how horrible some Gibsons turned out to be. This skewed perspective of price-to-country it's made in association has to stop. I'm not defending Ibanez squarely on this but regardless of the brand name & country it's made in, the guitar has to be respected for what it's worth. If you deem it unworthy of the price tag then it has to be judged within the quality consideration boundary, that's a fair reference, yes?

Still on matters pertaining to worthiness, this Chinese brand, EART, is on my watch list. I managed to handle one in person (it belongs to someone) & it's certainly up there in terms of quality-to-price considerations. I've mentioned this to some friends & the initial reaction was kinda expected; it's a Chinese guitar & Ali Express listed so it's not really worth the consideration but I feel that's outright snobbery. 

Pics: Ibanez / EART