You rock dude. +1

Lomitus, you're right about the instruments. I don't have an issue with the quality of guitars made in China - and I'm not pushing the old 'buy American' thing, I'm not American. I have a Korean made Epiphone Casino that I like a lot, and many of the guitars I learnt on were Japanese, and just as good as the US made guitars of the time. I do however think it's been well established that supporting local manufacturing makes good economic and environmental sense, wherever you are.
As for the sweatshops, maybe you don't get much news coverage of this stuff there but we recently discovered that in several instances child workers had been kidnapped, stolen from their families, and were working 12+ hour days. And we're talking hundreds of kids, entire workforces. We've all been on the breadline, but I think the US and other countries are right to have laws against treating children like that. If someone stole your kids - well, you get the picture.
China has also been selling the US among other countries products with tainted milk that have made people dangerously ill, there were health scares in several countries last year due to this. If they had the food manufacturing safety standards that other countries like ours fought hard for we wouldn't have had those problems.

You guys in the US fought long and hard, like us, for the right to get paid fairly, to have enough rest time and time with your family, to be safe at work, to not be sold products that might harm your family. I want to see those excellent standards in place in our trading partners. That's all, OK, off me soap box!

_________________
"...Compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees, I am an Apeman."

To the original poster, if you are just learning how to play, country of origin is quite irrelevant.
The criteria is (1) reputable company, (2) the instrument is correctly set-up and last but not least (3) it feels and sounds good to you, however this last criteria will undoubtedly change as you develop as a player.

As far as Chinese made products, not all are bad, check out Eastman musical instruments, brass woodwind, strings and guitars. Eastman works with reputable luthiers state side ( Matt D'ambrosio ) who builds archtops.
Now as for those pics of a Les paul in an earlier post, the headstock is way too long, so it looks like a fraud, if it is than buying and reselling that guitar will probably get you in legal hot water.

As far as stateside fraud, there are many examples of so called vintaged, artificially aged fender knock offs being passed off as the real McCoy's.
Number 15 Fall 2009 issue of Fretboard Journal did an article on Nash Guitars, I disagree with his business model as it is way too close to the real Fenders, all one would have to do is to strategically place Fender decals and neck plates with serial numbers and pass em off as originals.

Cloning someone else's idea's and products is unethical, illegal and will always be second rate, no matter how many instances exist.
I know vintage guitars are financially out of reach for 99% of players, but that is the reality, creating Van Gogh, Picasso, or an F40 Ferrari down to the last bolt will get you in a lot of trouble, so why does it seem OK to do so with guitars???

I have two strats, a 2001 MIM maple neck ( used to be a deluxe power strat) I swapped to SCN PU's, Sperzel locking tuners and got rid of the push switch, it is a great playing, sounding strat.
The other is a 2001 56 NOS Custom Shop Reissue, tobacco sunburst, maple neck, I can't say enough good things about it.
I used to have a 59-61 Les Paul Custom (fretless wonder 2 PU's) which i sold back in 93, sounded great but weighed so much I never played it I had bought it in 74. So sometimes vintage isn't as great as you'd think.

" Caveat Emptor "should be the rule...

So its not the flat angle I photographed the headstock at then?

BTW where did I mention that I own the guitar or have plans of selling it? The owner is very happy with it.

_________________
No no and no

hi not a fan of chinese and not to hijack a thread but after lookin at my 06 strat.the case candy strap it says made in china kinda odd for an american strat. imo

I dropped in on my tech last week and he mentioned that a customer came in with a Chinese "Gibson" LP. He refused to do any work on it. Nice to know that some techs still have some standards.

+1

I consider myself having very high standards but by the same token, I'm not going to refuse a legitimate customer's request for legitimate service either. Consider for example, how many partscasters there are out there with Fender logos on them. Also consider the fact that the vast majority of guitars out there to begin with aren't Fenders or Gibsons yet they are nonetheless blatant mutations of one and/or the other and without naming names, we all know of a few companies who owe their successes to same. I'll even go as far as saying most of us have owned several at one time or the other. Do I condone bootlegging? Absolutely NOT but for a tech to selectively refuse servicing certain instruments he or she has a 'thing' against? Said tech might as well hang it up and go into another line of work. And don't forget, there's legal ramifications involved when any service facility open to the general public refuses service to a legitimate customer who presents a legitimately obtained and physically safe instrument without having an exceptionally good reason. Refusal based upon a pet peeve is surely not an exceptionally good reason. Obviously, YMMV.

_________________
You dig?

I don't know about anyone else, but how would you feel if you thought
that you were getting a good deal on a MIA (which many of these are marked as, with all the correct markings) and find out that say cost you $700, was only worth $351 new, shipped to your house.
There are alot of dirtbags out there doing just that, buying these and passing them off as the real deal.
I myself found a Gilmour Custom Shop, with all the goodies and the custom shop case for around $500 delivered, but decided against it and bought a 57 hot rod instead. Sure I spent $1000 more, but if it says USA
on it I want it to be so.
I guess what I'm saying, is if you know its a China knock-off fine, its your money, but if someone thinks there getting a great deal, remember, if it sounds too good, it most likely is. Buyer beware.

thats the case with a lot of autographed stuff to..... thankfully my AC/DC signed sg has "paper work" (several certificates of authenticity)

_________________
Favorite bands:

Melvins
The Jesus Lizard
Cows
Big Business
R***man
Minutemen
Flight
Minor Threat
Big Black
Shellac
Karp
Scratch Acid
Wipers
Pixies

Being a world person, I find lot's of issues about off shore guitars. Also I think I understand why some one would buy an offshore box. I happened to have bough two Les Paul knock off's. Nice. The first thing I did was to take them apart. GUESS what, all epiphone part's, pup's grover tuners, cheap epi. bridge. But guess what they play great. I'M sorry these guy's can rip off gibson, Fender,PRS, everybody. I got mine on a lark they will NEVER be for sale. All you guy's out there google myeglobal.com and see for your selves. I also wonder were these offshore maker's get all their supplies , do they make their own or steal them off ligit lisenced builder's. I think the door has been opened wide for all and anyone to run roughshod over all of us. Consumer beware. Was that strat really MIA.

Great post, Martian. I'll tell my tech to quit his job on Monday. I'm sure that you have much higher standards than my luthier. Great argument, too. I am sure that he could get into deep legal sh*t for refusing to service an illegal counterfeit item. If your that desperate for business, maybe you should hang it up.

When I have the choice, if it is economically feasible, then I will buy USA made products for a very complex reason rather than out of mere National pride and keeping our money on our soil.

There are $100.00 Chinese made guitars and there are $1,000.00 Chinese made guitars. Totally different beasts because even the Chinese have pride and offers you what you want to pay for. Just because something is "Made in China" doesn't make it automatically junk or nobody would be using Iphones or any majority of high tech gadgets that's in your pocket or purse. Even electronic products that are "Made in USA" contain components such as, ICs, transistors, resistors and even whole circuit boards that were made in China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

I consider MIM and MIJ Strats to be of better quality over all than similarly priced options by Epiphone, Ibanez, LTD and Deans coming out of the Southeast Asian countries. One thing that Asian made guitars have to their advantage is that they still have large forest reserves full of old tone woods for dirt cheap. Companies such as Gibson have been "chambering" their latest Les Paul guitars because the better and lighter tone woods have been running low here in the west. In Southeast Asia, exotic woods are cheap and human labor even cheaper.

I buy MIA products, not just guitars, but effects and accessories to insure as much as possible that my music is not standing on the suffering backs of others. I buy products made by American factories and craftsmen not 3rd and 2nd world sweat shops. I buy products that buys homes and feeds families rather than products that feeds corporate profit margins by trapping their laborers in a day to day struggle for survival.

_________________
"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

Which legal authority in this country would confiscate this guitar and prosecute the owner? Further, on what charge(s)? Don't get me wrong, I completely agree that these Chinese "Gibsons" are totally deceptive and indeed, I do agree that the whole practice is surely underhanded but this is taking it out on a legitimate customer, not the manufacturer. And believe me, I am FAR, FAR from desperate for business.

_________________
You dig?

Something good to watch about this subject is this DVD entitled: Illicit: The Dark Trade which is a documentary on what is going on in China and how out of control it is.

Guess it is not too good too mix politics and guitars, but I could tell you a lot about what has happened in China over the last 20 years, even to out-sourcing some of the components for strategic weapons for our military, especially under Clinton. Guitars our are least concern.

These Chinese knockoff's, if worked with, as I posted earlier, can play pretty good. Howbeit, we have lost a lot of jobs to China, and at one point, the GOV was paying companies to shut down and move there, putting Americans out of work. Anyhow, i have said enough...on to having fun with guitars!!!!

_________________
Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com