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If a JEM Acoustic/Electric guitar is not made in Japan, does it effect your final purchasing plans?

23K views 116 replies 72 participants last post by  Drow Swordsman 
#1 · (Edited)
There has been alot of discussion on the issue of Korean made Ibanez guitars (and signature models) with the 555, other Ibanez guitars and certainly this will continue with the new EP7 "Acoustic JEM" being produced in Korea (not Japan like the JEMs & Prestige guitars).

Please answer the poll below asking if your purchasing plans are effected by where a guitar is made.



PS - this poll has nothing to do with "nationalism" or culture or either country. It has STRICTLY to do with the differences of output quality of guitars that are produced at each factory. It also takes into account the Korean made Ibanez guitars are made typically by Cort, who makes many other "brand guitars" to Ibanez specs.
 
#2 ·
The place its made would have no real bareing over it for me.
But even saying that i would be duvious as to why an axe made there in the suposidly lower quality factory camands such a price tag. Other than the name Vai of course.

I will try one out when i can but i dout i will like it anyhow to be honest for various reasons.

But the real point here is that the place its made wouldnt sway my decision if i liked it.

so i cant realy go with any of the decisions on the poll
 
#5 ·
I agree with disocciative1.

As long as the instrument's quality is in line with its price, where it's made is irrelevant to me, and does not factor into the decision-making process at all.

I won't outright dismiss (or praise) any guitar just because it was manufactured in Korea, China, Indonesia, Croatia, England, Japan, Canada or the USA. It's either a good guitar for the money, or it isn't.

In fact, i've been very impressed lately by some Squiers and Ibanez Artcores that just happened to be made in China.

The above choices only reflect a narrow range of viewpoints. You assume that 1) Steve's signature is all that matters; 2) country of origin factors into everyone's buying process; or 3) people are guitar snobs and won't consider a non-Japanese Ibanez.

Not everyone fits into those three stereotypical "buckets."
 
#6 ·
What if the VWH was made in Korea and still retained it's $2400 price tag? A price tag which can reach $3500 to those overseas? Would you still buy it? What if the DNA had been made in Korea with it's $5000 price tag, how many buyers would still have found it appealing?

Is there a price point in which Korean/Chineese made is acceptible, and at what point does it become unacceptible? ;)
 
#7 ·
darren wilson said:
I agree with disocciative1.

As long as the instrument's quality is in line with its price, where it's made is irrelevant to me, and does not factor into the decision-making process at all.

I won't outright dismiss (or praise) any guitar just because it was manufactured in Korea, China, Indonesia, Croatia, England, Japan, Canada or the USA. It's either a good guitar for the money, or it isn't.

In fact, i've been very impressed lately by some Squiers and Ibanez Artcores that just happened to be made in China.

The above choices only reflect a narrow range of viewpoints. You assume that 1) Steve's signature is all that matters; 2) country of origin factors into everyone's buying process; or 3) people are guitar snobs and won't consider a non-Japanese Ibanez.

Not everyone fits into those three stereotypical "buckets."
Very good discussion, but not for this thread :)

i'm asking in simple terms IF the manufacturing country EFFECTS your buying decision making process only. There are only 3 answers that i can logically conclude for this question and they're above 8) ... glen
 
#8 ·
20 years ago, people asked the same questions about Ibanez guitars when they were made in Japan.

Of course, the price is "what the market will bear" and obviously, the concept of a $1200 guitar that's made in Korea is something that's starting to become an acceptable thing to some people. But a lot of those high-end Korean guitars are using genuine Duncan or DiMarzio pickups, top-notch hardware, and woods imported from around the world. It's only the labour and assembly that's truly Korean, and that's been very steadily improving over the last decade.

If they shifted VWH production to Korea, and maintained the same wood, hardware and electronics, and production quality didn't change, i think it would be justified in asking the same price, because the product didn't change.
 
#11 ·
jemsite said:
Very good discussion, but not for this thread :)

i'm asking in simple terms IF the manufacturing country EFFECTS your buying decision making process only. There are only 3 answers that i can logically conclude for this question and they're above 8) ... glen
You asked if the country of origin affects your buying decision making process. That's a yes/no question.

The answers you provided have too many conditions attached, they lead the audience, and they show your inherent bias.

Here's how i would have asked it:

If a JEM Acoustic/Electric guitar is not made in Japan, does it effect your final purchasing plans?

[ ] Yes. Country of origin is something i consider in any guitar purchase.
[ ] No. As long as it's a quality guitar priced appropriately for its materials, components and workmanship, where it's made is not important to me.
 
#12 ·
darren wilson said:
jemsite said:
Very good discussion, but not for this thread :)

i'm asking in simple terms IF the manufacturing country EFFECTS your buying decision making process only. There are only 3 answers that i can logically conclude for this question and they're above 8) ... glen
You asked if the country of origin affects your buying decision making process. That's a yes/no question.

The answers you provided have too many conditions attached, they lead the audience, and they show your inherent bias.

Here's how i would have asked it:

If a JEM Acoustic/Electric guitar is not made in Japan, does it effect your final purchasing plans?

[ ] Yes. Country of origin is something i consider in any guitar purchase.
[ ] No. As long as it's a quality guitar priced appropriately, where it's made is not important to me.
That is a different poll. Trust me, i have a background in scientific methodology. Your poll is inadequate just by missing the "don't know" choice. You can be "no" and "maybe" both in your example poll.

You're getting hung up on the wording after Yes, maybe, no for some reason... glen

ps - i just tweaked the wording so as to keep this on track.
 
#14 ·
darren wilson said:
jemsite said:
ps - your vote should be NO obviously.
My vote would be "no" but not with the additional stipulations you provided in the answer you provided. Steve's signature and the Ibanez name don't factor very heavily into the process for me, either.
Recheck the poll. I edited it since my point was missed (people are buying "ibanez" or "jem" not country of origin).
 
#15 ·
Yeah, yeah... we did the scientific method in Grade 8, where we learned the difference between making observations and drawing conclusions.

The way you previously worded your questions put words in people's mouths that reflected your own bias. It was slanted and opinionated, so trying to play the "scientific method" trump card is a joke.

I'm glad that my being "hung up on the wording" prompted you to make the answers less loaded than they were before. ;)
 
#22 ·
If it was made in China or Taiwan, then yeah, I would be skeptical. But Korea's been churning out some nice little axes over the last couple of years. So the actual guitar's construction and country of origin doesn't bother me one bit.

However in the context of a signature guitar it does sort of bother me that they tried to sneak this past the consumer by not making it known at all until one picks up the guitar and peeks into the soundhole. The country of origin doesn't affect my choices, but the high price tag does. When you're paying those extra bucks for a signature model, you'd kind of like to believe you're getting exactly what its namesake plays, and I certainly don't think Steve will be playing Korean guitars on tour when he can get them made in Japan or the USA. I put this in the same category as Ibanez having a special "Jem" neck shape designation, yet Steve's own guitar necks aren't that exact shape. Then what's the point of having a Jem neck shape? Hmph.

But I digress. An interesting sub-poll would be "Would your perception of the EP7 Euphoria be different if you didn't know it had any connection to Steve Vai?"
 
#24 ·
That's an interesting question. I remember seeing the list price and thinking "Wow, that's a pretty good price for a Japanese-made signature acoustic" - not because I expect the quality to be that much greater with a Japanese guitar, but because I know labor costs are more expensive for stuff coming out of Japan. Of course now that I know the truth, my thought is "Wow, that's a pretty bad price for a Korean-made signature guitar. I guess the workers are unionised now." :wink:
 
#26 ·
Excuse me, but what "argument"?

This is simply a poll asking if you the location of where an an Ibanez Signature guitar (such as the JEM Acoustic) is manufactured will effect your decision making and purchase.

I know what Ibanez thinks, now I'm asking what YOU the audience posting here thinks... glen
 
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