I look at modern, affordable guitars and it's really hard to reconcile the quality with the price. Brands such as Squier, Fender Mexico, Harley Benton, Cort and Epiphone seem to be churning out astonishing quality guitars at a very low price.
Comparing, pound for pound, to what was available 20 years ago, it makes me wonder where they are made.
I notice a lot of low-cost high-end guitars come from Indonesia - does anyone here know what the factories are like? There are a few guitars that have really caught me eye, but I can't quite reconcile the cost to them, and if it looks too good to be true, maybe it is.
The brands that have caught my eye are ibanez, Jackson, solar, harley benton.
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For context I do own a private stock prs aswell and so it’s not just a good for the money guitar.
So where is the cost? Are the factories paying the workers a fair wage, providing good working conditions etc? I remember some bad press around a factory some years back, I can't remember which...
Bloody love the look of those solar explorer types.
The last two guitars I bought were the Solar at I think £699 and can see they are £799 now https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/181130335560006--solar-guitars-e16frw-white-matte and a Jim Root Strat at £1300 https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/10111009450029--fender-jim-root-stratocaster-black-eb
Both are really well put together and I have no complaints and I’m very happy with my purchases.
But a £500 uplift to get a USA guitar, EMGs, hard case and obviously the added cost of JR sig doesn’t seem a big jump.
So either they are paying the staff well for Indonesia or Fender are paying poorly for America.
So I had a look around and the factory is owned by PT Wildwood as you can see the gate in one of Olas videos from 2017 and google maps shows this is in Banten about 2 hours from Jakarta.
P.T. Wildwood, Serang, Banten, east of Jakarta, West Java. Since 2006.
PT Wildwood manufactures for Schecter, PRS(SE), D’Angelico, Yamaha, Fender, ESP(LTD), Supro, Jackson, and Dean among others.
Jakarta has the highest wages in Indonesia how this translates to outside of it I don’t know.
https://www.gretsch-talk.com/threads/guitars-made-in-indonesia-pt-1.200410/
Its shocking that happens in our country.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-england-leicestershire-53311548
HarrySeven - Intangible Asset Appraiser & Wrecker of Civilisation. Searching for weird guitars - so you don't have to.
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