Made in Japan!!! Guitars...

[oldE]

Originally Posted by yazhound

Do you have to do any humidifying up there in the Great White North?

Yaz,

I've had a Framus 12 string acoustic for 41 years and the old Yamaha for half that but have not had problems with either. I have seen guitars (and mandolins) with split tops, but I suspect they were exposed to forced air central heating. Also I suspect since I am in Nova Scotia almost surrounded by the sea, the air does not get as dry as it would inland.

Best
Les

[diverdan]

Got a couple of as new Fernandez guitars and a cool Riverhead from the early 80s. Very well made.

[esample]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

Modern Gibsons and Fenders arent anywhere near the quality of Japanese ESP or Ibanez.

Can you cite data to back up this statement? Or at least the criteria used in making the judgement? Just curious.

-e.

[yazhound]

Very cool! Met him briefly before seeing him at the Fox. 2nd row center--- just a great show.

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by esample

Can you cite data to back up this statement? Or at least the criteria used in making the judgement? Just curious.

-e.

Playing and looking at the guitars. A $3500 Gibson shouldnt have craze marks from removing the lacquer off the binding, orange peel in the finish, a paper, Oh wait, Richlite fretboard, etc..

btw, I had a friend who worked at the Fender Corona plant. He told me that the only real USA Fenders were the Custom Shop ones. He said all the parts for Mexico and USA Fenders were all made in Mexico..

Wolfe also makes pickups that are vastly superior to what the majors are using.

[Rick Lee]

Fender's made in Mexico guitars are every bit as good as their made in USA ones and cost far less. Gibson has some real issues, but they're mainly their 2015 Les Pauls (bad logo and ridiculous auto-tune feature), their pricing and reputation as a horrible place to work.

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Fender's made in Mexico guitars are every bit as good as their made in USA ones and cost far less. Gibson has some real issues, but they're mainly their 2015 Les Pauls (bad logo and ridiculous auto-tune feature), their pricing and reputation as a horrible place to work.

Very true. My Strat is a MIM. I just changed it to locking tuners and called it a day.

[esample]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

Playing and looking at the guitars. A $3500 Gibson shouldnt have craze marks from removing the lacquer off the binding, orange peel in the finish, a paper, Oh wait, Richlite fretboard, etc..

btw, I had a friend who worked at the Fender Corona plant. He told me that the only real USA Fenders were the Custom Shop ones. He said all the parts for Mexico and USA Fenders were all made in Mexico..

Wolfe also makes pickups that are vastly superior to what the majors are using.

This sounds more like opinion to me. I have four LPs and none of them exhibit the issues you mention. I'd love to have you over to check them out. And as for Fender, you're now comparing USA to Mexican, not Japanese. I've never been able to tell much difference in MIM, except maybe paint. Wolfe pickups are very nice, but I don't think they're Japanese either. I thought that was the topic.

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by esample

This sounds more like opinion to me. I have four LPs and none of them exhibit the issues you mention. I'd love to have you over to check them out. And as for Fender, you're now comparing USA to Mexican, not Japanese. I've never been able to tell much difference in MIM, except maybe paint. Wolfe pickups are very nice, but I don't think they're Japanese either. I thought that was the topic.

Whatever. Enjoy your Les Pauls.

[Rick Lee]

I have four LPs and none of them exhibit the issues you mention.

Totally depends on the year.

[stuartj]

Originally Posted by LWJ

My 84 62 reissue MIJ strat was perfection. Long gone and missed.

Larry

Im a huge fan of JPN guitars. The golden era of the JPN Fenders was mid 80s to early 90s. Ive owned quite a few strats of all flavors and my mainstay is a '90 62 reissue. They weren't perfect- their biggest fault was the 5mm thick poly finish. They were 'cheap' so they got inferior innards, pups and significantly, pot metal trem blocks. If you could be bothered to fix all that- they can be brilliant.

Orville by Gibsons of the same era (90s-2000) were also brilliant, the upper end of these was equal to the Gibson Custom Shop stuff, and this now reflected in their prices.

Acoustic chaps- K.Yairi and Son. Sold in the USA as 'Alverez Yairi' and found in the hands of Derek Trucks, Warren Haines, Monte Montgomery....I have two, they are quite a well kept secret.

JPN guitars rule, IMHO.

[Nostril Cheese]

Even the first gen JPN Squiers were awesome guitars. I wish I had kept mine..

I remember the Burny LPs being really nice as well.

[stuartj]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

Even the first gen JPN Squiers were awesome guitars. I wish I had kept mine..

I remember the Burny LPs being really nice as well.

The original "JV" Squiers are quite the prize.

[hardflex]

I have Yamaha and Ibanez electrics and 2 Yamaha Acoustics. How would I find out when they were made? Serial Numbers?

[yazhound]

A good friend of mine and very well respected musician has toured the Fender factories including the one in Mexico. He was most impressed with that set up. He has probably about 50 guitars including some really nice vintage stuff and his favorite Tele to play is an inexpensive made in Mex version.

1+ on the A-Ys. A lot of care in those.

I have two Gib acoustics. A J-30 Rosewood and 2006 AJ. I played a number of AJs before the purchase of that one and many sounded mmm.... "flat" in comparison.

[kwstantino]

X\33'33

[yel911]

I returned the guitar that I started the thread with and ended up with an Ibanez R1XXV "Premium". They only came in 3 colors for 1 year, I passed on the Flo pink and flo green wasn't available.

[yel911]

Picked up another "old school" Ibanez guitar. A 1991 RG570 from Craigslist score. These were the guitars Steve Vai modified using the "Edge" tremolo. This guitar has 2 nicks in the paint, but otherwise stock. God, I love the feel of these guitars!!

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I picked up a new Gretsch 5422 (see pic) yesterday. Made in Korea.

HOLY COW. This instrument is every bit as good as my Japan-made G6120 Hot Rod. A quick adjustment and the action is lower than anything else I've ever owned. Fretwork is perfect, finish is perfect, and it sounds great (a little less twang than the Hot Rod but the pickups are designed to be that way).

I hereby proclaim Korea the New Japan ... and Japan just an overpriced Korea.

[Cajundaddy]

Guitars run full spectrum today and you can get a great guitar made in USA, Japan,Korea, Canada, China, Germany, Mexico, or essentially anywhere. You can also find junk guitars from all of those places as well. Trust your hands and your ears, not the label or country of origin.