Are Guitars Made in China Any Good?

Are guitars made in China good instruments? How’s the build quality of Chinese guitars? Are they quality products or overpriced junk?

I’ve owned two – a Hofner HCT 500/1 “Beatle bass” and an Epiphone Casino – and I’ve tried several others. I’m torn but leaning towards the “never again” camp.

I’m not going to touch on any political, ethical or human rights issues in this article. China is what it presently is. I’ll confine myself simply to the quality of the Chinese made guitars I’ve owned or tried.

In my life I’ve owned guitars from five different countries. From North America I’ve had Rickenbackers made in the USA, a Canadian made Godin and Mexican made Fenders. From Asia I’ve had Korean made Epiphones, Gretsch Electromatics and Danelectros and my old Sigma DR-7 acoustic (when it was a Martin line) and Proline Gretsch LTD Penguin are from Japan.

And, of course, the Chinese made Hofner and Epiphone I already mentioned.

I no longer have either of the Made in China (MIC) instruments and, to be honest, I don’t see myself ever buying another. Never say never but the MIC guitars I’ve had (or tried) aren’t anywhere close to the quality of Korean or Japanese made instruments.

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Chinese made Hofner HCT 500/1 Build Quality

The first Chinese made instrument I owned was the HCT “Contemporary” Hofner. I used to have a German made V’63 but I foolishly sold it (and a Rickenbacker 12-string) to cover tuition for going back to school to get my HR certification – stupid, stupid, stupid me! I don’t miss the Ric much but damn, do I miss that Hofner.

When I started getting back into music I needed another bass. I’m a mainly a guitarist but a bit of a one-man band when it comes to writing and recording. I prefer a short-scale bass because it’s an easier transition from guitar to bass and back.

While I’m a Beatles fan I’m not really a McCartney fan. Still, I love Hofners – that warm, woody thunk you get with a Hofner 500/1 and a set of flats is beautiful. And lucky for me Hofner had come out with the Contemporary series as a mid-range instrument since I’d sold my V’63. The reviews were all extremely positive so I bought one, put a set of La Bella 760FHB2 flat wounds on it and I really liked the results.

One of the first things I noticed, and it made me laugh, was that Hofner doesn’t put “Made in China” on the instrument. Instead it says “Designed in Germany”. The only indication of the country of origin was an easily removed tiny little sticker. I’ll chalk that up to national pride.

Hofner has its own dedicated plant in China. From what I can find, essentially, while the employees are Chinese, management is largely German. There’s also an exchange where Chinese employees are, or at least were, partly trained in Germany.

The resulting HCT line is definitely a hybrid between the quality of the German made models and the entry level Ignition models.

It uses the same pickups as the German models but the control panel and tailpiece are the cheaper, Asian versions. The HCT also isn’t fully hollow either. It has a center block for added sustain for a more modern tone and ships with round wound strings instead of flats. Still, it was a quality bass that played and sounded beautifully with a proper setup and those La Bella flats.

I was actually impressed with the instrument’s quality although it wasn’t prefect. What I thought at first to be a scratch on the plastic mount on the neck pickup turned out to be a crack which soon split completely. When you have to replace a part within a couple of months of purchase, it’s not a positive.

Still, I loved that bass and that cheap plastic pickup ring was its only issue. Sadly, it was killed by an incompetent tech *cough* Long & McQuade *cough* and I have to replace it.

I could buy another HCT and mod it. A lot of Hofner players do. They’ll swap out the Chinese control panel and tailpiece for German versions and, even with the parts and labour, it’s cheaper than buying a German model.

And quality wise the Chinese parts are indeed inferior. For example, a German tailpiece is $110.00 CDN while a replacement Chinese tailpiece is $50.00 CDN. To me that says “inferior alloy and casting processes”. Fortunately my wife told me to treat myself so I’m going back to a German made model.

Overall though, there’s nothing wrong with a well made, properly setup HCT model. It’s gig worthy and tracks great in a studio.

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Chinese Made Epiphone Casino Build Quality

Where do I start? Is it a Gibson issue? An Epiphone issue? Because, to be fair, it may not actually be a Chinese issue at all when a “Made in the USA” Gibson that costs a few thousand dollars often has the same piss poor QC issues as a Chinese made Epiphone that costs a few hundred.

I picked up an Epiphone Casino (in a sunburst finish) because I wanted that P90 sound.

I bought it from Long & McQuade, Canada’s answer to the USA’s Guitar Center.

What a disappointment.

L&M had previously posted on social media that all Gibson and Epiphone guitars were quality checked by their Yorkville techs before being shipped to stores. Ha! Yeah, sure.

In classic Gibson/Epiphone fashion the nut on my Casino was improperly cut. The guitar was unplayable unless you like being out of tune with both chords and lead work. The bridge saddles weren’t filed properly either. Really, Long & McQuade, especially in light of their bold PR proclamation on social media, should have made sure I purchased a playable guitar.

Instead, I had to buy my own Tusq XL nut and take it to my trusted luthier of 20+ years for the stock nut to be replaced with one that was properly cut and filed and for the saddles to be properly filed too.

After that was done the guitar played like a dream and intonation was spot on but it sounded terrible. The stock pickups were really dark and a little muddy.

So I replaced them with a set of Kent Armstrong Vintage series P90s. While that improved things a bit, the guitar still sounded pretty lousy. It had one use and one use only. It sounded fantastic with a little dirt. On the bridge pickup, with my Keeley 1962X overdrive pedal and my AC30… hot damn! Rock and roll! But clean, on the bridge, neck or both pickups, it just sounded incredibly blah.

The fit and finish was pretty bad too. It was a classic case of “pretty from afar, far from pretty”. It was especially messy around the f-holes. And the poly coating was so thick I felt like I was holding a plastic toy, not a real guitar.

Despite sinking a lot of money into it and it now playing great, it had only one use tonally. That’s not what I look for in a guitar. My only regret in trading it in was that I lost money. All told, that “experiment” cost me $1500 CDN and I got a little less than half of that in trade-in value.

My old 1990’s Epiphone Sheraton II, from those fabled days of the Korean Samick plant knocking out of the park, is a guitar I will never, ever part with. Sadly, the MIC Epiphones just don’t work for me.

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FMIC moves Gretsch Electromatic line to China

I haven’t tried many other Chinese made guitars because there are only a few brands and models interest me. Gretsch is one of the few.

Oh, quick note – Fender does NOT own Gretsch. Gretsch owns Gretsch.

Every time I see someone get that wrong on dem interwebz… well, if I had a nickel for each time I’d be living in luxury on a private island, laughing as I buy Twitter and ban Elon.

There’s an entire article that could be written about whether FMIC is ultimately good for Gretsch. There are pros and cons. I’d say far more pros albeit with a few very big cons, though it seems to balance out so far. This is not that article though…

Gretsch’s entry level line is the Streamliner series and their mid-tier is the Electromatic line. Then there’s the Professional line and the high end beyond that are the Vintage Select, Artist Signature and Custom Shop models.

With the Electromatic line, production was divided. The hollow body models were made in South Korean, the solid body models made in China. The semi-hollow seemed to be either/or.

Most of my 30+ years of playing, from bedroom to basement to professionally, has been on wide body, hollow and semi-hollow models. I’d never really played smaller solid bodies so I wanted to get a feel for them before getting my Gretsch LTD Penguin.

Since a Penguin can be described as a Duo Jet “with bling” I naturally tried the Electromatic Jets to get a feel for the weight and body shape. I only tried a few MIC Jets but they were poorly made.

In general there were fit and finish flaws or rough fretwork but some of the worst examples I saw were misaligned bridges and one neck pickup recessed so far into the body that from the side, in a playing position, it looked like a single pickup guitar. How that hell did that pass QC?

It’s worth noting that this was also pre-pandemic. There were no supply chain issues and no lockdowns where factories in China went into complete shutdown. This was business as usual.

Since then, FMIC has had Gretsch move production of the entire Electromatic line to China. I had two Korean made hollow body Electromatic G5420T models. They were great. Apparently the new Chinese versions aren’t.

While pandemic issues may be a factor most of what I’m reading from people that have tried them is negative, with one guy having to order and return three before finally getting an acceptable one. From cheaper hardware, fit and finish flaws to shoddy wiring… the list goes on.

Maybe Covid restrictions in China are a factor. Maybe it’s “birthing pains” for hollow bodies as a new production line at the Chinese plant… although some of the semi-hollows were already made there.

Oddly, FMIC has removed the country of origin stamp from the pictures of the back of the headstocks on Gretsch’s website. Why? The “Made in China” stamps and serial number are still visible on the models made there previously, but not for the models formerly made in Korean.

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Guitars Made in China – Conclusion

Once upon a time guitarists weren’t impressed with the quality of Japanese made guitars. Then Japanese made guitars were great and Korean made guitars were the problem. Now Korean made guitars are well regarded and Chinese made guitars aren’t. It’s entirely possible in a few years time China will up its game. It also varies from brand to brand. After all, a CNC machine doesn’t care whose soil it sits on.

Some brands are very protective of their product and reputation, regardless of where it’s manufactured.

Hofner is a good example of caring while Gibson/Epiphone is an example of not caring. As for FMIC’s influence on Gretsch… I don’t know how it will play out. I do know that FMIC has done three things with Gretsch in the last year or so that I really, really don’t like.

Gretsch I trust, Fender/FMIC not so much. But again, that’s another story.

Then there’s another factor.

QC on these products, on any mass produced product, is about money and the accepted failure rate. Business is business. These are production line guitars and when the contracts are drawn up, the failure rate is part of the deal. Some brands will accept a 20% failure rate, some 10%, etc, etc. So, out of 100 guitars, 20 are allowed to be crap, or 10 or 5 or whatever the contract stipulates.

I said at the start I wasn’t getting into political, ethical or human rights issues in this piece. For me personally, yes, it’s a factor. But even without that, if I based my decision solely on build quality, I would probably never buy another Chinese made guitar.

The simple fact is, compared to guitars made in Korean, Japan, Mexico, or America, they just won’t be as good. Generally speaking, a company that makes a higher end line elsewhere isn’t sending their best woods, electronic components and hardware to their budget line factory in China.

At the end of the day though, you play what inspires you and what you can afford. If the only guitar that was available or that I could afford was an MIC, I’d play it. I’m not saying all Chinese made guitars are crap. They aren’t. It just takes a lot longer to find a good one.