Don't be mean, please. Name calling only degenerates this place into being no better than the other nasty guitar sites out there.
Let's try to let our views be known without attacking someone personally.

Please?

Thank you.

_________________

Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

sigh.....sad but inevitable.
the buying public will speak w/it's wallet, and because of the economy everywhere now, the outsourcing will continually go where the least expensive labor & parts exist.
it's all about profit margin.

I think there will always be top quality guitars made in the country of company origin, and people(myself included) will continue to buy them, even at the premium prices they bring.
People will also continue to buy the budget guitars(myself included there too)because with todays improved mfg. technologies, even cheap guitars can be highly playable and sound decent, and there's always the modding aspect......
I too have guitars from all over....because I hand pick over about $500 i've never had a BAD MIA guitar.
I've not had a bad Mexican guitar either......m.o.f. i'm quite fond of my 2(handpicked again, for resonance).
Not had a bad guitar from Korea either.....i have a MIK Agile LP Prestige Series that was $400 and plays+sounds as good as my 30th Ann.LP Plaintop....and I have several others of good to fine quality.
China on the other hand....i've had terrible , almost tolerable,and most recently quite good guitars from.

i'd like to "test drive" one of these new MIC Strats, just to see which category it actually falls into.........

sigh.....sad, but inevitable.

_________________
You won't hurt its feelings boy, play it like you stole it!
ASPCA We Are Their Voice !
Speaking up for those that can't speak for theirself.....
Proud member of the ASPCA "Guardian Angel" program.

Sure, I can say that and a lot of other things but then again, so can my four your old. whats your point? As I understand it, these aren't political forums. If you cant understand that, please go read the forum rules.

Whether anyone likes it or not, we're living in a global economy wherein goods and services, can and will be delivered from wherever they can best and most cheaply be sourced. It's also obvious to some of us, that America isn't the only place in the world where people play guitar and that Us workers aren't the only factory hands who can build and finish, high quality goods. You can accept that fact or not. Thats a personal decision, so if you need the Fender USA flag pasted on your pickguard, simply pay up and enjoy your new guitar. No ones gonna care but you.

Heres my $300 Brawley "Attack" (Made in Korea in about 2001) next to my $2000 EJ Strat. I love them both and happily paid full list price for for each of them but when I compare the build quality and playability of the two instruments, theres no way for me to avoid my questioning my sanity for for even thinking about buying another expensive Fender. The Brawley is just as well or better made than the Fender, the materials and hardware used in it's construction are far superior and with a pick-up swap, it'll sound just as good as the Fender for 1/4 the price.

Oh... American owned Brawley Guitars, was purchased by Guitar Center, renamed "Laguna Guitars" and that US owned and staffed corporation is still having those guitars manufactured overseas and for sale in the US. Meanwhile Keith Brawley went from Fender, to owning his own company, to a management spot at GC, then to MF and is now a top level exec at Gibson. Looks like an American thing to me!





Yeah Bender 4 Life, I hear you.

But then again, along with some nice ones, I've owned a couple of poorly built, expensive Martin guitars. When my local dealer handed me that Epi Masterbuilt, I played it and was stunned by it's great sound, easy playing and it's beautiful construction and finish. Truthfully, after spending thousands of dollars over the years, my RA500VS is the best, prettiest acoustic I've ever owned, and the price was right. It's overall acceptance is reflected in the difficulty that dealers have in keeping them in their shops. Leave out politics and racism and what you have is a great guitar, at a reasonable cost.



We'll soon get to see what Fender has to deliver but if the quality and pricing is as good as that of Epi's China division and the top level Squiers from Asia (The ones that we can't buy here!), these new Fenders are going to surprise a lot of people and they'll literally be purchased here by the boatload.

PS: Have any of you checked out the new Epi SGs that are coming in this month? The competition is heating up!

I think one of these would be a great first guitar or a first guitar intended for modding.

_________________
1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

No need to worry about people trying to pass off the neck as an American neck like someone said earlier. Anyone with any sort of an eye for detail will be able to tell that that neck is not even close to an American made neck.

Yup they're making them in China now. No worse than making them in any other country than the USA.

_________________
"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"