Paid In Full wrote:guitars are just not part of their culture the way they are to us western folks
I'm sure they are using the same assembly line, computer designed and controlled manufacturing process that Fender uses in their U.S., Mexican, and Japanese factories.
I don't see what cultural relativity has to do with building a musical instrument or any other mass produced product.
To continue my previous analogy, I make very good stir fry in my chinese wok, with my chinese cleaver and eat it in my china (from china).
But anyone raised cooking chinese can doubtless cook circles around me.
Guitars are not just another "mass produced product". Doubtless some of you have experienced playing two different guitars of the exact same model and vintage and found them to sound quite different?
I also have to note that in traditional chinese music there is no pitched bass instrument! Its just drums, metalophones and some reeds, strings and flutes.
The good builders like Musicman that use CNC lathes still hand select woods and do rigorous QC at several stages of production.
The guitar mills of Korea and China are pretty well known for not doing either of these.
Japan I find to be an exception because they have very deep traditions of fine woodworking/metalsmithing and have been emulating western music for quite some time now. They know what a guitar is supposed to do, and they know how to sand wood and dress frets.
But hey thats just me. I'm a gear snob.