midiman56 Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 I worked for a few hours at the store today. We got in a delivery of new stock and I’m always anxious to see what is coming in. There was nothing all that exciting, mostly just replenishment for what we had sold over the last week, but there, in all its gold and ebony splendor was an Epiphone Les Paul Custom! I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for these tuxedos … ever since I owned one many years ago. I went over and picked her up to give her a tuning and a quick test drive. Something was wrong … this guitar felt way too light. The fretboard was terrible … scratchy and … well … I gotta say it felt cheap! In fact, the entire guitar, while looking pretty good at first glance, just felt wrong! Then I noticed that the tag that had been printed for it read “Clearance: $529.99”! That is WAY lower than I have ever seen a Custom LP sold for. Finally I had a look at the back of the headstock … INDONESIA!!! When the hell did this start? Is the labor in China getting too expensive? WTF??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewartB Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 In my town the local store has a Wilshire Reissue - Factory Code (23) = Indonesia. It didn't look like a total "crock" but it wasn't pretty - wood was ok but fretboard and hardware was shoddy. I guess that Indonesia is the next cheap labour manufacturing base. We get a lot of Indonesian products in Australia, being so close, and mostly they are fairly poor quality. I think it will take a long time before Indonesia can compete. Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AS90 Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 This is very frustrating! Just as China was getting the quality sorted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GibsonWarrior Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 The tribute series '59, '60 and 2010 LP's and the Inspired by Casinos are also Indonesian made....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefferySmith Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 I know virtually nothing about Indonesia other than that nobody on flea-bay will sell anything to them. That's never a good sign. Sort of like putting your money in a Nigerian bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disaster Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Yes, business is always looking for the next source of cheap labor without labor laws & labor unions. No one cares where it as long as the government is not too oppressive & is semi-cooperative with foreign business. So just as one nation develops proficiency & quality the rug gets pulled out from under it as the next nation gets started. The semiconductor industry has this down to a fine art. Nice to know someone's paying attention. I played a few new Epi LPs over the last year or so & was disappointed with the quality. Maybe this is why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 The tribute series '59' date=' '60 and 2010 LP's and the Inspired by Casinos are also Indonesian made.......[/quote']I don't think that's correct for the IBJLs. The one I bought in December says "Hand Crafted in China" and has a sticker indicating it was inspected in the US by No. 7. I guess China is the new Korea. Which used to be the new Japan. The good news is that if the economy gets any worse, the USA will be the new Indonesia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Man, thats too bad Jim. My Ocean bass is Indonesian, and its top notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest icantbuyafender Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 well this just sucks. I'll stick with my korean LP's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxHart85231281734137 Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 yea i think all those new worn 66 wilshires are Indonesia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonzo-lee Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 The tribute series '59' date=' '60 and 2010 LP's and the Inspired by Casinos are also Indonesian made.......[/quote'] Sorry, that's wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EpiEric Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Man' date=' thats too bad Jim. My Ocean bass is Indonesian, and its top notch.[/quote'] I have an indonesian made Squier '51 and it's surprisingly good considering the price point. The hardware is cheap, obviously, but all the finishing and fretwork is very nice. So they seem to at least have some craftsmen over there that know what they are doing. I think both your nice bass and my cheapie guitar were made by Cort. Not sure if that's who Epiphone is using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 I have an indonesian made Squier '51 and it's surprisingly good considering the price point. The hardware is cheap' date=' obviously, but all the finishing and fretwork is very nice. So they seem to at least have some craftsmen over there that know what they are doing. I think both your nice bass and my cheapie guitar were made by Cort. Not sure if that's who Epiphone is using?[/quote'] Yep! Made by Cort. The original price point kind of killed the brand, but I got it on closeout for a third of the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflepfan Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 well this just sucks. +1 Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyg Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 In my town the local store has a Wilshire Reissue - Factory Code (23) = Indonesia. It didn't look like a total "crock" but it wasn't pretty - wood was ok but fretboard and hardware was shoddy. I guess that Indonesia is the next cheap labour manufacturing base. We get a lot of Indonesian products in Australia' date=' being so close, and mostly they are fairly poor quality. I think it will take a long time before Indonesia can compete. Stewart[/quote'] That's quite surprising as I have one of the Indonesian Wilshire's and it's at least as good as anything I've seen coming out of China or Korea. I'd think that perhaps I've been lucky except that it seems to be the opinion of several other Wilshire owners who have posted here, in fact most of us wondered how they did it for the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadedepi Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 :- I never heard of this - and I don't believe it. BTW the following models are made in Indonesia now....... Swingster Wilshires Emperor II SST Studio J-160E the ones of them I've seen aren't better or worse than MiC ones Peter My Epi J-160E is made in Indonesia. I consider the workmanship excellent and very playable right out of the box. Faded... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midiman56 Posted February 25, 2010 Author Share Posted February 25, 2010 Look, here's the thing: I've never been overly sensitive as to where a guitar is made. I am very happy with my Korean and Chinese made Epis, my Mexican Fenders, my Korean Gretsch and my Chinese Dano, etc. In fact, the only American made guitar I own is my 35 year old Ovation acoustic. No, where it's manufactured (besides a nagging wish that I could afford to support American workers) has never been a really important part of my purchasing decisions ... AS LONG AS THE QUALITY IS THERE! I'm telling you guys that this LP Custom was BRUTAL! I've handled enough Korean and Chinese Epiphones to tell that something was up with this thing before I played note one! I haven't played the new Wilshire or any of the other models that Paruwi listed ... so I really can't voice an opinion. I can only hope that this particular guitar was a truly bad example of what we can expect out of this Indonisian facility. I remember a lot of complaints here in the forum about the initial Epi offerings from the Chinese factories. Maybe that is the case with this one ... but it's shoddy build and feel really schocked and disappointed me. I'm a true Epiphone fan ... I own six of them already and have plans for more. I just hope that this isn't an example of things to come ... Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicester35 Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 I'm a true Epiphone fan ... I own six of them already and have plans for more. I just hope that this isn't an example of things to come ... Jim I think the problem is not that this is an example of things to come, but rather that is a symptom of an ongoing problem. Epiphone's consistency has always been all over the place. You can find a great one, a mediocre one, or one that is truly awful. In my time, I've owned examples of all three species... If only they could sort this out (and I thought that was the point about building the plant in China in the first place), I'd be much more confident about buying Epi. At the moment, I would not advise a friend to just order an Epi unseen online. You never know what might turn up. Still begs the question - why build a state of the art factory and persist in contracting work out to 3rd parties? ...as a matter of interest, in your profession, how often do you see a really bad Mexican Fender? Once in a blue moon, I'm guessing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midiman56 Posted February 25, 2010 Author Share Posted February 25, 2010 ...as a matter of interest' date=' in your profession, how often do you see a really bad Mexican Fender? Once in a blue moon, I'm guessing.[/quote'] The MIM Fenders are amazingly consistant ... and I mean that in a good way! I guess about the only issue I've seen with them have been a few pretty jagged fret ends. Since we have a tech in the store that can take care of this, it's really not that much of an issue. Even the Indonesian made Squires ... and we're talking about $100 guitars in many cases, are nicely built and playable guitars for what they are. This isn't an "Bash Epiphone" thread .... I LOVE these flippin' guitars! I just hope that Gibson isn't trying to squeeze more profit out of the brand at the cost of quality. I get to see cost on these things, and this particular Custom I'm complaining about did NOT cost Guitar Center considerably less than the Chinese models ... really only a couple of bucks. That $530 price tag, on the other hand, sure hits ME in the wallet if I happen to sell it, but that happens all the time with "clearance" and sale items. I'm going to keep my eye on this and see what other stock we get in. Again, I just hope this isn't the beginning of some trend. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Why are so many upset with Indonesian made guitars? My 97 SG Jr. was made there, and I don't think it could have been made any better any where else. The only thing that's not stock are the nut and the Gotoh tuners I put on her. The neck, frets, P-90 are great. She looks, sounds, and plays FANTASTIC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Brad! where's ya get tha SG Jr? I'm gassing for one of those.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Hey Brian. I got it off Ebay, about 2 1/2 years ago. At the time I too was experiencing extreme gass for one. And of course I got that way from being on this forum and seeing JRs that other members had. I also wanted a guitar with a P-90. Back then you would see one come up on ebay every now and then. Now, not so often. And at the time I kind of felt that if I didn't get one soon, they would be much harder to find in the future. And it looks like I was right. I rarely ever see one on ebay any more. You know, now that I think about it, it was a member right here on our forum that posted the link for that particular ebay auction. So if it wasn't for this forum, I would not have one right now. My winning bid was $170. At the time it seemed a little steep to me. But now........I think I got a great deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Nice. $170 is a little steep, but considering how hard P90 Jrs are to find now... It's a bolt neck right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Yeah, bolt-on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflepfan Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 http://cgi.ebay.com/Epiphone-SG-Jr-Gibson-Electric-Guitar-Rare-P90_W0QQitemZ180471764511QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item2a04f4961f Hi Brian! I've got this one in my "watching" list on e-bay. Though I'm not big on the SG's I kind of liked it, stained, not painted and a P-90. Then there is the Koran specials at $249. http://cgi.ebay.com/Epiphone-SG-Junior-Guitar-NEW-in-BOX-Worldwide-S-H_W0QQitemZ290373702232QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item439b9f1258 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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