I am often asked this question: Are guitars made in Korea/ China/ Indonesia good? This happens because we look up to American made guitars as the benchmark in quality (& tone), we dismiss the rest of the instruments as compromised in this light. Along the way, Japanese craftsmanship & QC had proven to be on par with the Americans, in fact, it surpassed the western standards on many occasions, all proven, of course, not just hearsay. In search of the more affordable treasures out there, we look towards (South) Korea, China & recently, Indonesia, in the assessment of all things quality related.
Korean Epiphones were the primary QC reference once due to the popularity & availability of the guitars. Many guitar rookies would embrace these instruments which were still not quite up to the mark in terms of consistency & fine details. This was until the PRS SE series debuted, they were virtually the stamp of approval, an embrace of Korean output, so to speak. More importantly, it was a bold statement to look east; it's about the standard of manufacture per se, not about the country's production reputation.
The situation today- UNO! Guitars like the UNO selections (among other brand names out there) serve as a reminder that there is genuine quality from Korea, it's not entirely about a big game player like PRS to have their wares manufactured in this country, we do not need such references as quality approval, we should pay tribute to fine labour.
Chinese products are atrocious- this is perhaps the most unschooled opinion when it comes to Chinese guitars. We might have issues with our Made-in-China hair dryers, rice-cookers & VCD players; it's all understood- hurried production by low-cost labours using compromised components. However, they are not the people handling guitar production & an acute compromise in wood used serves to taint the manufacturer's reputation more than anything else. Proof of Chinese quality? The Ibanez Artcore series are still made in China (I own 3 of them...) & this is about a decade's worth in Chinese trust.
Before Ibanez's Premium series were made available, there were other Made-in-Indonesia guitars in the stores. I've handled & heard them in action & in my opinion, they manifest above-average quality, definitely good value for money purchases. However, people remain skeptical, again, the country's reputation was pegged against the production standards. The Ibanez Premium models (basses included) represent a true mark of quality which was plain for all to see but as it is, the human mind is such that the average individual fails to embrace quality without being too sentimental with the brand name & country of manufacturer.
There we have it, more than enough proof that quality is quite a stand-alone criteria for assessment. In any case, a true embrace of quality lies with the belief of the individual; there can be much education about quality but the individual belief will be the final determinant. So are guitars made in Korea/ China/ Indonesia any good? The real question would be- are you ready to embrace quality? It's about you, really.
