For us guitar players dreaming of the next guitar.

This is the largest guitar store here is Shibuya .
One needs to drink a few beers before going into the store.
Within the last year the imports have gone up about $200
The trend now is to move the production from china to Malayasia.
Gibson/Epiphone in my opinion sold its high tech and now ALL (4) guitar manufacturing are using and copyiny their techquich.

I know a little ( yes) about importing guitars from china in the last 15 years. My guitar company was to make them there. I understood about the bank situation that can and will stop the transfer of funds as we now see it happening. [Please don't do business with China.)

Well I hope when I get to heaven ,,, I hope it's a Les Paul.

originally posted by: halfoldman
Well I hope when I get to heaven ,,, I hope it's a Les Paul.

please let it be a " Gold Top".

I bought a Line 6 Shuriken 3 years ago, and so far it has cured me from wanting anything else. I have 13 guitars, but it's the only one that gets attention.

I've been contacted by a few Chinese guitar companies to be a U.S. distributor. One in particular has been rather aggressive. McCartney guitars who have in the past have been the contracted Chinese company who has churned out Epiphone and Kramer for the past few years. Rumor is Gibson/Epiphone/Kramer will be moving production from China to Indonesia and Vietnam.

I currently own 16 guitars. I have built over 50 and have been involved with guitars, music and the industry since 1986. Guitars and music have afforded me a very good life and I am fortunate for this.

Brian May's first "red-string".

Oh my dad and I just built it out of a fireplace.

Legendary, but not necessarily user-freindly,

With a coin as a plectrum.

But.....(don't beat me up too bad for saying this) some of those Chinese made guitars coming out the past few years are pretty decent. Not spectacular, but not crap either. I have a couple of Donner's that sound pretty darn good and hold their tuning suprisingly well.

I mean I'd love to have a nice American Strat or Tele, but I can make a lot of noise for under $300

As for dreaming of my next guitar. That would be a DIY hybrid Tele/resonator of some sort, a "Telenator" if you will