Rhoads Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Hi all, I am new to the group and have a questions and hopefully some feedback. I am looking at a used Zakk Wylde EPI. It is a 2006 Korean model, sold new in 2008. Am I better off getting the Korean one and update the pick ups to EMG actives or try to locate a newer Chinese version with the actives already installed. I have heard the Korean made are a better built guitar. Please send your feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dReit1 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 My vote would be Korean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 My vote would be Korean. My vote would be on the individual guitar itself. I have played many Epi MIK guitars that were horrible guitars. This myth about "Korean guitars are better" is...............A MYTH!!!!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burchster Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 If you can play both do. I have both Chinese and Korean Epis and both are good guitars. The whole Korean is better is a myth basically created by people that don't like Chinese goods. China has really stepped up there production quality in the last few years. If you bond with the Korean buy it if not try a Chinese. Good luck they are pretty sweet looking guitars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoads Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 My vote would be Korean. . Thanks for the feedback. I have heard great things about the Korean made ones. But also a lot of people saying their isn't a big difference. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoads Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 My vote would be on the individual guitar itself. I have played many Epi MIK guitars that were horrible guitars. This myth about "Korean guitars are better" is...............A MYTH!!!!! :) The MIK one is a 2006, bought new in 2008. Bought and traded back in at the same guitar shop which makes me feel more comfortable. Has some belt buckle indents on the back but just adds character to the guitar..lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoads Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 If you can play both do. I have both Chinese and Korean Epis and both are good guitars. The whole Korean is better is a myth basically created by people that don't like Chinese goods. China has really stepped up there production quality in the last few years. If you bond with the Korean buy it if not try a Chinese. Good luck they are pretty sweet looking guitars! I have to admit, Im not really a fan of the "Made In China" transition. I myself lost a job when they moved production to China. I am going back to have a look next week. Thanks for your feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesusonline Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 What you really want to look it is if it came from the Epiphone factory or an OEM manufacturer. Either way a lot of the problems you see in a guitar on the sales floor are from shipping. A guitar is made in an Asian climate (hot/humid) and shipped through a few different climates, to arrive in a climate that is possibly an opposite of the one it was originally made/setup in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingfrets Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I believe I've posted my experiences before but in nutshell, I'd owned at least 6 (and believe as many as 8) Korean built Epiphones. None were lower end models (Special or Special II).Every one of the Korean guitars I owned were built at the Saein factory and were exemplary instruments all the way around. Around mid to late 2009, I had the chance to try one of the Chinese "transition" SG (G400) guitars from the DaeWon factory. The tolerances were unbelievably poor. The guitar was unplayable off the rack. Pickups were microphonic (supposed humbuckers). I've played a couple of Chinese fakes that were head & shoulders above this "official" release. Poorly cut nut, cheapest electronics I'd ever seen in an off-shore guitar. It was beyond bad. I realized that there were bound to be growing pains, but I refused to buy anything that I was able to identify as a Chinese built Epiphone after that. In May of 2014, I came to the realization it was time to retire my Gibson Les Paul ("Iced Tea" burst finish). Heavy wear and about played out after 11 years of being heavily used for all my musical endeavors. Pricing the newer equivalent Gibsons quickly drove home that they were not a financially viable option. I located an Epiphone Les Paul Plus Top Pro with an "Ice Tea" burst finish for $400 from Lightspeed Music online. I spoke with Fran the owner several times & he assured me I wouldn't regret the purchase, so I took the chance knowing I could return it for a full refund if it didn't meet my expectations. I have to tell you, the guitar was everything I could've asked for. The coil-split option is a handy addition to the tonal pallet, the Probucker pickups are first rate and I was very happy with the guitar. Never gave a thought to its origin until I was asked on this forum a few months later. Turned out to be an Indonesian built guitar. Makes no difference to me. The guitar delivers and the brand snobbery holds no quarter with me. I've heard that the Chinese guitars are now more accurate to their Gibson counterparts than the Korean guitars could have ever hoped to be. That may in fact be true, but I was always pleased with my Saein guitars regardless. My best advice would be to play both if at all possible and evaluate each on their own merits. If that isn't possible, then I'd say it comes down to the period of manufacture. The Korean guitars' quality was peaking between 2006 & 2008. The initial or "transition" Chinese guitars 2008 - 2012 are best avoided. Chinese guitars manufactured after that are very likey to be at least on a par with the later Korean guitars, and based on what I've heard of the accuracy and my own experience with the Indonesian Les Paul, in many ways, superior to the revered Korean guitars. It's up to you as the player to sort the wheat from the chaff, decide which feels better in your hands, which sounds better to you, which delivers the options you feel best suit your playing style, and lastly, to evaluate the overall build quality. If you can't A/B the guitars in person, you'll have to make an educated best guess based on the knowledge you posses and order/buy accordingly. If it comes down to that, make sure the seller has a solid return policy if the guitar isn't what you expect. Best of luck on the hunt... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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