What Reviewing 100s Of Made In China Guitars Taught Me

I've owned a guitar repair & custom shop for almost 40 years. As for major USA brands that don't give the customer what they say they're giving them, I've had personal experience with an inadvertent revelation to me of what you're talking about by one of the biggest names in the business. I was at a sub-contractor's finishing facility overseeing a project for another independent mfr when I came across multi (at least four)-piece guitar bodies that were laminated front & back with either one-piece or book matched veneers and then sunbursted so you couldn't tell. I've also seen guitars made in China for major brands get noticeably better, while non-brands and outright counterfeits LOOK better, but are often way off. Example: a customer brought in a LP Custom-style guitar that he knew was fake, because he wanted us to install a Floyd trem and didn't want to do that to a real Gibson. Leaving aside the fact that many actual Gibsons we've seen over time have been disastrously flawed, this guitar LOOKED absolutely stunning in an eggshell white with gold hardware. Upon opening it up we found the cavities had been cut with - I shit you not - a chisel, and the bridge was 1/4" off from where it should have been! On the other hand, some newer-brand deluxe upmarket Chinese imports have impressed with the quality of execution and attention to detail. PS even though I've been in & around this business a lot longer than you, as a new viewer I'm seriously impressed with what you do/have done. Keep it up!

I worked in china for 30 years in furniture manufacturing. There is no traceability of wood in china. Chinese versions of timber can be very different to ours eg Chinese oak vs us oak. What you need to know also is that there are 30 different types of Mahogany worldwide all with different density etc. So saying mahogany or any other timber is pretty useless anyway even if Fender say it

Hey Phil, love your contents that you put out. Good to see the 2nd channel pumping out highlights from the pod. Please, do keep up:)

This is exactly the kind of video I want to see. You provided extremely Valuable information to people like me who don’t have the ability to measure, test and inspect multiple brands. Your knowledge base is invaluable to tons of viewers who can’t possibly know that information. Thank you for sharing your data and your opinion in your videos.

I appreciate your hard work and information you share on your channel. I have been a musician all my life. I’ve owned all brands, models, and types of guitars. I also restore, repair, buy and sell instruments. I think at this time , irregardless of price, the best quality instruments are produced in Indonesia. Cheers!

“Specifications are subject to change without notice”

Thank you for doing some short videos. It really helps

Thanks for your honesty, Phil!

Dude, hats-off you. Your insightful video was packed with superlative information. I echo comments by @apofire . Jerry took the words right outta my piehole. You're a one-man guitar-recon unit. Thanks for taking the shrapnel in the guitar commerce trenches - so we don't hafta go to such great trouble and expense. Having watched this video will likely save me significant dough in the long-run... Much Gratitude to you, brother Phillip.

This is exactly why I always check your reviews before buying new or used gear. Thanks for bringing the truth! Integrity 🤜🤛

Regardless of country of origin, when you get stuff that is badly off spec it’s because you’re not dealing with a musical instrument company, just someone who is shipping a commodity to make money today. They’ll do it while they’re making money but 3 years from now that factory will be producing flat pack furniture or whatever is more profitable at the time. There’s people who hate brands like Gibson, but for all of their faults, you’re at least buying from someone who is interested in music and making musical instruments

I recently picked up a D'Angelico Tour mini DC from sweetwater. Excellent guitar (willing to compromise on big round tone for small body), it's a Korean beauty that is well made and sounds very good acoustically as well as amplified. My one complaint is the guitar arrived 'set up',, it had a string distance from the frets of 1.8 to 2.3 mm. This was documented in the tag I received. Upon examination, de-tuning strings, I discovered the truss rod had never been initially tightened from the factory. No problem for me, after 6 months of micro-adjusting it is perfect. Word to the wise, if you try to adjust that truss rod with string tension on, and its never been tightened; that's a good way to strip that truss rod right from day one.

Living in the UK I'm not hampered by the 'America is best' mentality. For me most guitars are imports and i like to think I can be impartial but I have to say I'm finding many of the comments to this video amusing if unsurprising. I recognise that your comments were measured and factual towards a certain sector of Chinese manufacturing (it certainly wouldn't apply to companies like Eastman) but all a worrying percentage of your viewers are going to take from it is "see I was right all along, even Phil says Chinese guitars are crap' (note I also recognise you wasn't saying they are crap, just not to spec).What I find really amusing though is that you are honest enough to say that American guitars are the second worst, a fact that a lot of commentators chose to ignore. I'm fortunate that I don't have to feel guilty about not supporting the US economy so I can get fantastic quality guitars from Korea, Indonesia and Japan knowing I've saved a load of money and got a better product. 😂

The Eastmans I’ve played have been absolutely exemplary - & I own an SB59v and a T49D/V. But granted not an example of a typical Chinese guitar

I saw this in the original live stream and glad you've isolated it as it is definitely of interest to many out there (including me) - this matters! I have lived in HK since 1982, recorded in studios in Beijing, Shanghai & Guangzhou and for a few years (1998 - 2005) I set up a subsidiary of my music production house in Shanghai at the request of many ad agency execs who made the move from HK to China in the wake of the 1997 handover - essentially all the multi-nationals (Ogilvy, Burnett, McCanns etc.) moved their 'Greater China Offices' from HK to SHG. So . . . I think it's fair to say I have some insight on how things work up there, for better or worse. China is late to the game when it comes to manufacturing guitars. Back in the late '70s, early '80s 'there was still a 'Made in Japan' stigma held over from the '60s, but companies like SONY, Toyota et all soon put paid to that and to this day 'international brand' instruments from Japan, particularly Fender often outshine their US made and Mexican made peers and 'local' brands like Ibanez, Yamaha and Yairi still live in an isolated and innovative space - I own guitars from all 3. The same can be said for Korea, I believe, although 'local Korean brands' are not really visible, despite some extremely good manufacturing for 'known brands'. Indonesia seems to have caught the ball and run with it altho having tried many (and bought 2) SE PRS guitars I still find that the internal wiring is a serious concern - ofter they come out of the box with one or other pick-up not engaging at all - this is not an isolated thing, it's common, sadly. From what I can see of China currently Eastman is in a different league altogether, although I do wonder how much manufacturing is now done in the US given this recent 'Fenderish' trio they are introducing? Either way the Eastman instruments I have played are, on the whole, superb and this doesn't surprise me given the history of the company making fine orchestral instruments. I will be buying an SB 59/v and the Pomona Blonde Juliet when finances allow - I will stick my neck out and say that I really believe some of the early SB59/v's will, in 20+ years time, become 'mini unicorns' in a similar way to late 50s Gibsons. I believe their decision to partner with the likes of Lollar, Bare Knuckles, Gotoh et al in the areas the company does not have expertise in speaks for itself and shows a commitment to delivering overall quality. Epiphone is, on paper at least, a subsidiary of Gibson USA and kicked off with senior management and decision makers from 'head office' and has steadily built on quality and, to an extent, innovation. I own 4 Epiphones made in the last few years (Casino, 1959 Epi/Gibson 'hybrid', Cantrell 'Wino' and a solid body Double Cutaway. That said, I bought these with the express purpose of 'modding' them. To date I have installed Lollar P90s / Bone Nut / 50s wiring in the Casino and plan Monty's Bethnal Greens, Lollar Imperials and, possible Bare Knuckles + internal wiring options for the other 3. I was a guitar salesman back in the '70s in NZ in the run-up to going pro as a musician (and now Producer / Studio owner) and those 3 years opened my eyes to how Gibson (in particular) was perfectly capable of shipping guitars that when I inspected them at the warehouse before purchase, had to be sent straight back to Kalamazoo. What I also learned, intuitively I suppose, was that as long as a guitar 'had bones' the name on the headstock did not really matter (hence my Epi purchases - all 4 are terrific in terms of build and playability but I'm not impressed with the pick-ups and internals - not 'bad' per se, but not great). Having worked with many musicians, studio owners, creative and fashion people and what have you in the 3 main cities over the last 25 years I believe that China definitely has the opportunity to up its game - some companies may emerge as having the quality to stand shoulder to shoulder with US, Japan, Korea - others will, sadly, do what many companies there do - go for a quick killing then move on to something else if short term profits do not last . . . so it goes all over the world when you think about it, n'est-ce pas? Thanks for your insight and honesty, as always 😃

THis is a really interesting analysis with some good perspectives. It's interesting to know that you don't always get what you pay for. As a side note, I've dabbled in guitar for a long time, but last year I decided to learn viola. I was short on cash so I started with a $100 unit from a basically unknown Chinese brand, and I have been astounded by how happy I am with it for the price. It sounds good enough to keep me excited about playing, and it even stays in tune in the case most of the time.

Love seeing these podcast clips on the 2nd channel!

Even fender can miss represent their products. About six months ago I researched and purchased a Mustang bass. Through that process I noticed that it said it had 20 frets like my precision bass. Every Mustang Bass said 20 frets. I sent off an email to Fender, and I just checked again and the squire is the only one I believe that shows 20 frets now.

I have to say good things about Gear4Music; the approach of 'British quality control on Chinese instruments' really works. The last two Knoxville Tele-style guitars have no fret sprout, and beautiful finishes. The only caveat is that custom hardware from retailers like Guitar Fetish have to be fitted with small changes to the body.

I have two Chinese Gretsch made about 10 years apart. They are virtually the same from a build quality perspective, both being surprisingly good. I've never compared the specs to what Gretsch (Fender) says they are. But I have also found as reported here that some of the specifics you can't find. Even when talking with Fender over the phone, they just don't know specifics (or won't tell you).