Chinese Epi's

[bluesman345]

I brought up this topic in another thread a couple of weeks ago but did not get any feedback, so I'll try it again:

 

A local music store owner recently told me that Epiphone guitars are produced in China by Cort, the world's largest guitar manufacturer. I replied that Epi's used to be made by other companies, such as Samick, but they now are produced solely at a dedicated Epiphone plant in QingDao by Gibson-trained workers. The store owner sells a lot of Cort products and he insists that Epi's are indeed made by Cort, and Gibson is misleading consumers.

 

Can anyone factually prove or disprove the claim that Epi's are made by Cort? It doesn't really matter either way to me, because both of my Epi's were made in Korea, by Unsung ('56 Goldtop) and Premier (Zephyr Blues Deluxe). I also used to own a Korean EmperorII Joe Pass (Samick). All three guitars are of excellent quality and have a real "Gibson" vibe.

[28v6r]

So is this another way of saying:

 

 

Cort vs Epiphone vs Gibson Thread???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

> I'll get my coat....

[Whitmore Willy]

Bluesman,

 

New one on me.

Some mornings I can't factually "prove" that I am alive....but....a few months back someone did post a link on this forum that had pictures of a factory tour of the QuingDao plant. If I get time today I will see if I can find it. If not, maybe someone else will. It was posted sometime around the Olympics.

[Ricochet]

http://www.epiphone.com/FactoryTour/qdtour.html

[AyushPresley]

IMO the seller is trying to mislead you, cause as far as I know Gibson closed several factories and then started the china Qingdao. It is also called the Gibson/Epiphone Qingdao Factory. There's no Cort there. It's the seller who doesn't know it or it's us. In this case I'd say the seller. !!

[Whitmore Willy]

Ricochet,

 

Thank you, I am running a little short on time today.

[Ricochet]

Hmm, did Lee Harvey Oswald work alone? I don't know but I can speculate...

Fact is you can't just open a factory in China. You have to be very well-connected. It could very well be this "connection" was tied in with the Cort people, but it doesn't imply the Epiphones are made by Cort.

[antwhi2001]

From an old Epi news release :

 

EPI: I understand Epiphone has even opened its own factory in China. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

 

JIM: Sure. And I think it's a great follow-up to the topic of quality. Ten to fifteen years ago, many Epiphone guitars were made at the same factories where many other guitars were and are currently made. In this case, it's difficult, if not impossible, to have a substantially better instrument than your competition when the parts, process and people to make them are the same. Therefore, in order to produce a superior instrument, we needed to open our own factory. So in October 2002, we opened Qingdao Gibson - our own factory near Qingdao, China dedicated to making Epiphone and only Epiphone guitars. To my knowledge, we are the only U.S. guitar company with their own factory in Asia. That's a significant difference.

 

EPI: I thought all Epiphones were made by Samick. (smiling)

 

JIM: I think that's what a lot of people still think. But that never was the case. Fifteen years ago, a lot of, but certainly not all, Epiphone guitars as well as other brands, were made at the Samick factory in Korea. Today, they don't make any guitars for us. In fact, they closed the Samick guitar factory in Korea a few years ago.

 

EPI: I understand you just returned from China. How's the new factory doing?

 

JIM: Great! Even though it's less than 2 years old, the guitars look fantastic. I mean it. It's amazing what can be done when you invest in the right equipment, use quality materials, establish the right processes and have the best people in place.

 

EPI: Speaking of people, were many people from Epiphone or Gibson involved in setting up the factory?

 

JIM: Oh absolutely! For example, Mike Voltz who has worked at Gibson for over 18 years as a luthier, moved over to the Epiphone Division a couple years ago. He was intimately involved in facility layout, equipment design, training and the establishment of quality control. He practically lived at the factory for 2 years and the results are apparent. He's just one example of the effectiveness of combining Epiphone and Gibson expertise and experience with Asian production efficiencies to make great instruments at price points the average working musician can afford.

[Stevie Nazarenie]

they have a very pretty part of town from those pics!

[RobinTheHood]

What about other Gibson-owned guitar companies, such as Kramer and Steinberger? Are those made in China now too? All of my Epis and my Kramer were made at the Samick factory. I'm a little hesitant about the Chinese counterparts.

[TWANG]

my lp studio is chinese. and I like every inch of it.

well, every inch I didn't spend money on upgrading.

but I see that as complimentary, too.

 

TWANG

[davidg3333]

Unlike some, I have no basis of comparison. I have only owned one Epi and it is of Chinese manufacture. I am happy with my purchase. With CNC machining I would think overall quality for most newer guitars should be pretty good. What is lacking is attention to finish detail and the quality of components.

[Emetry]

My LP is a Samick and my sg400 is Quingdao.

The only real comparison I have is in tone, and that's due to the guitars themselves. They're pretty comprable as far as the actual build of the guitar.

The quality that I've seen in playing around with other pieces made at the China plant has been sturdy and certainly better than other manufacturers there (i.e. Cort, which my brother has as an intro guitar).

[bluesman345]

I spoke with a wholesale distributor of Cort guitars today. He confirmed that Cort does NOT manufacture any Epiphone products, although they do OEM other major brands. Apparently, the retailer (for some unknown reason) has got his facts wrong :)

[bluesman345]

"So is this another way of saying:

 

 

Cort vs Epiphone vs Gibson Thread???"

 

 

 

How about, "CORT and SPARK???" :)

[Dave]

A Google search turned up lots of CORT links, bujt nothing that said anything about Epiphone. Guitar dealers hear a lot of things. One told me that Epi sells their rejects to a wholesaler that distributes them to dealers to sell as seconds. Some have obvious flaws and others are not apparent at all. I don't know if that's true, but I've heard talk about seconds and never seen one with second stamped on the headstock.

[kevin134]

I know some of the online retailers like music 123 and muscians friend sell "factory b-stocks" and/or "2nds" but I do not know if they are stamped or not.