I can never substantiate paying 4500-5000 on a guitar nor do I have the money to pay anyway. I would like to buy an American Gretsch.the problem is they are double the price of a proline from Japan.
In this particular case Tavo, I think we want the same thing. I bought my speaker cabinet from a local shop when I lived in Austin, because I liked their shop and wanted to support them. Gretsch Billy Zoom custom shop signature model is made in the US! So far, the best guitars I've ever played have come from Japan. As it stands, I'll buy the guitar that I want, doesn't matter to me where it's made. If they were made by somebody I know or something then I'd be more inclined to buy American, but I don't feel any more connected to a factory worker in California than I do to one in Japan (no offense to Californians, or Japanese). Sad that Fred Gretsch can't make that happen beyond custom shop choices. The true Chinese craftsmen and craftswomen are fully capable of building the highest quality guitars if they are allowed to. Any previous bias I ever had with Chinese made products has been redirected to the guidelines the various companies impose on their employees to make inexpensive junk. I know my Terada made Gretsch Duo Jet and my Quingdao made Epiphone Casino 1961 Reissue are both amazing sounding, playing and well built guitars. I believe the reason many are cheap is because the various companies are trying to increase profits with cheaper parts. Have you seen the various works of art from Asian countries over the last few millennia? They have the great craftsmen to make guitars properly. They just need good wood, good electronics and great craftsmen. I think a great guitar can be built anywhere in the world. If you think about it electric guitar technology is around 70 years old now. Quality control seems to be very comparable and of a uniformly high-standard though, so both Japanese and Korean made Gretsches can be superbly satisfying instruments - just with different intentions behind them.
If you're talking about Gretsches in particular, yes there is a big difference, because the pro line models are made in Japan while Korea and China make Electromatics and Streamliners, which are built to very different specifications. Those individual model specs have more to do with the quality of a particular guitar than which factory made it.
Terada and Fuji-Gen, as well as high-end Matsumomku guitars from the 80's and 90's, can be every bit as good as US-made guitars, and certainly better than lower end models from second or third tier factories in Korea.īoth Japanese and Korean factories usually build guitars to spec for other companies. High-end guitars made in Korea's Samick or Peerless factories, for example - regardless of the name on the headstock - can be as good or better than individual guitars from Japanese factories. Japanese guitars from the 70's were generally not so great, but by the 80's, Tokai and Matsumoku were making guitars that were often better than the Gibsons and Fenders they emulated. If you're talking generally, there isn't necessarily a big difference, depending on which factories, when made, specs of the guitar, etc.