
Supposing that we are not all broke and foruming from our vans, $3,000 may be from a 10th to a 20th of one's annual income.Ī life-serving fine instrument is well worth that kind of money. What's the average American income? $50,000? Do you own a car, appliances, mobiles, cameras, computers, whatever? Who knows when the prices will skyrocket, or the quality will sink.Īnd because no thread is complete without a little porn, enjoy!!!Īlso, I am among the ones who never got the whole " guitars have to be cheap" thing. IMO, especially if your a lefty, go grab these axes while you can. The craftsmen will either demand more money for their work, or the quality will drastically decline.Īgree? Disagree? If you disagree, what make a Gibson better? My theory is, as their economies slowly catch up with the US, and word gets out their instruments are fantastic. My point is, how long can these companies continue to pump out $3k guitars for under $1k? George ring a bell? Many of those instruments were dogs. A cheap squire is way better than what many learned on, and for you older folks, St. They are producing true quality instruments.Īlso to be fair, anyone who had the "pleasure" of playing a cheap yamaha acoustic etc in the 80's-90's (which would cause instant arthritis) has to admit that affordable instruments have come a looooonnng way.

They have only relatively recently (at least partly thanks to the internet) branched out with their own names on guitars. Both of these companies have been hand making instruments for decades, many under names were very familiar with. As a lefty, you can't even get a 175 new and used. If these guitars were made in the US, the would be at least 2-3k. They tune and intonate as good (if not better) than any guitar I have ever heard. I have the action absloutely slammed down to the fretboard, they play like butter. I don't see how a Gibson (or any guitar) can be any better than these guitars.

Now I know I am going to catch some flack for this.

In the last couple years I picked up two archtops, a Peerless (traditional floating pickup "archtop") and an Eastman (humbucker 175 style). I even remember my father (who owned every fricken guitar under the sun during his life, professional musician) trading in an American strat for a Jap one that played better. I believe people also speak highly of Japanese Fenders (I should get out of the way that I am a lefty so I don't the luxury of going out and trying 1000 guitars). We all know that companies like Ibanez got their start in the (correct me if I am wrong) late 70's making pretty damn good copies of Gibsons (along with their own designs).
