Ibanez JEM Forum banner
53K views 136 replies 70 participants last post by  manlopsan2 
#1 ·
Here is the first of the Korean Prestige Models

The SZ2020FMTKF

Duncan Pickups and Gibraltar custom bridge

 
See less See more
1
#77 ·
I'm positive most people here could never tell a MIK from a MIJ as far as quality and playability goes. The only indicator being models/serialstamps, IMO it's way out of line to judge guitars - you've never even played - based on what equally "blind" fellow humans say, and land of origin. :roll:
 
#78 ·
The Euphor said:
I'm positive most people here could never tell a MIK from a MIJ as far as quality and playability goes. The only indicator being models/serialstamps, IMO it's way out of line to judge guitars - you've never even played - based on what equally "blind" fellow humans say, and land of origin. :roll:
You're positive about that huh :lol: :eek: :x

Now, to be realistic, if you're talking untuned, poorly setup guitar in a crowded superstore.... i'd say at least half here would still immediately notice a difference in blind A/B comparison (ibanaz MIJ vs MIK) just from the fit/finish of the neck/fretboard (not even getting into the trem).

From across the room most wouldn't be able to guess the country of origin of any guitar, but you said "quality and playability"... glen
 
#81 ·
I've been really impressed with the quality level of alot of various MIK axes I've run across. The Prestiege name is supposed to mean something, as is J Craft. Shure a guy in the US can build just as good a guitar as someone in Japan, Korean, Mexico, China, Europe, anywhere... But They are only making guitars as well as they are being paid to. They can also only build instruments as well as the materials that they are given to work with. I have yet to see a Korean guitar made of pro quality wood. There are some MIK guitars that are starting to show real top notch hardware like the upper end LTD and Schecter stuff, but that's all set up and installed in the US. It seems to me that the Koreans are learning to build decent guitars, but they do not rival USA or Jap craftsmanship by any means. What's worse is that the Koreans have probably spend 50 years figuring out how to make a decent instrument. I would say that within the next 5 years we'll start to see some real show-stoppers out of Korea, but the R&D for shure isn't happening on my dime. Now that the Koreans are asking more $ for their improving services makers are moving production to indochina where they are making things far worse than any Korean guitar I have ever encountered. How long will it take to see playable things out of China? I don't think I'm gonna wait around long enough to find out.
 
#86 ·
Hell, the Koreans can't even MAKE peace with each other 8O

I got an Indonesian JetKing1 - its actually ok but I had to upgrade alot; grover 18:1 pairdrop machine heads, chrome pickup surrounds, metal chrome knobs, and locking tunamatic bridge. Only cost £180 and its so cool as a different retro 70s-look and looks bright yellow on stage. Its pickups are actually pretty good for what its worth with 2 coil taps too. I'd like to change the chrome looking plastic pickguard to a solid metal chrome as the 90HAM has.
 
#95 ·
I see a lot of you guys lumping Korea in with China. I live in Jeju Do, South Korea and have been to China twice in the last two years. South Korea is as different from China as Mexico is from the United States. The per capita in China is around $6,000 a year. The per capita in South Korea is about $30,000 a year. So you are comparing a relatively rich nation, by world standards, to a quite poor one.

It is also worth noting that South Korea leads the world in flat screen TV's (LG/ Samsung)
and they are a big player in cell phones. China is not in the same league as Korea in terms of manufacturing quality.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top