ibanez guitars

I have been looking at the Ibanez artcore guitars the catalogue from Ibanez says their guitars are made in Japan but the guitar I just looked at in the store said made in China.I have also seen made in Indonsia on a guitar labeled Ibanez are these fakes or is the name produced in more than one country.

Originally Posted by: charlief7I have been looking at the Ibanez artcore guitars the catalogue from Ibanez says their guitars are made in Japan but the guitar I just looked at in the store said made in China.I have also seen made in Indonsia on a guitar labeled Ibanez are these fakes or is the name produced in more than one country.

I would start with Ibanez and make sure the catalogue claim is accurate. I'd say they are produced legally in different countries. Most fakes will fake the country stamp, too ;)

I guess what I,am asking is, is the quality the same.I ve just read a review for a Gretsh which was made in China. Is a Hofner really made in Germany or is production carried out anywhere in the world thats cheap.

They have factories in a few Asian countries including china, usually the japan factories make the highest quality, then Korea. China and indonesia are known for their lower quality models with a few exceptions. I'm no expert, this is to the best of my knowledge due to some recent research while shopping for one. I ended up with a Korean made rgt which is supposedly the best they make without stepping into the prestige lineup.

A good friend of mine who has for years been working in the guitar-industry told me that actually about 90% of all guitars worldwide are produced in only a handful of factories in china and korea.
So when you are looking in any musicstore you are quite likely to see a cheap 100 bucks no-name guitar hanging right next to a 2000 bucks well known brand guitar that have actually been produced in the same factory somewhere in the P.R.C.
The quality between the 100 and the 2000 bucks guitars DO differ nontheless. Especially for the very cheap models the amount of crap-guitars is quite high and quite a percentage of the guitars imported have to be returned for poor quality. One of the more common reasons is that they quick-dry their wood for the cheap guitars or they just take wood that has not been properly dried at all. So while the guitar looks good when they produce it, it might have twisted itself into a pretzel when it arrives a few weeks later in europe or america (or elsewhere).

I can say that when I had a Squier I read the same models were produced in 3 different Chinese plants. Cort being one of them and I forget the other two. Supposedly the difference in Quality between the plants was significant.

I would imagine a higher end guitar would not have as great a problem (better QC & specs), but then you get lemons even from the same factories. Epiphone or even Gibson guitars, for example can have some duds in the bunch.

So even at the top of the line it seems prudent to try and examine a few before deciding. Of course, this is hearsay, but everyone I hear says it! :)

Thanks for the posts, and it has confirmed for me that Iam only going to buy one Ive tried and that Iam happy with that particular guitar.