People should stop obsessing about guitars being made in USA

A good guitar is a good guitar-- country of origin is less important.

That's what I took from it.

My preference is for guitars to be made in their home countries: Yamaha = Japan, PRS = USA, Sandberg = Germany, etc. Not particularly fond of guitars made outside of the respective countries. It's just an OCD/personality glitch 😉
 
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Got over any USA obsession long ago with cars, cameras & electronics by the '70s.

Got a killer MIJ Squier/Fender superstrat in mid 80's.

Are my Korean SEs as good as the Cores? No, but with their new pickups they're still great guitars and probably better values.
 
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The beauty of first world problems is that within reason we are free to buy what we want, from where we want.

If I’m going to buy a product, I want quality combined with value for money.

Within reason, the country of origin doesn’t matter. I would like to think that the product had been made ethically and those involved in the process received fair payment.
 
It’s true to a point. The quality of workmanship may be there but there are other ethical factors to consider. The workers in foreign factories are making pennies on the dollar compared to American workers, have no benefits, and no legal protections. The overall cost of business is so much lower because there are no labor unions, no protections for workrers, and very lax pollution standards.

It’s easy for someone at the head of a company to say there’s no difference when he is personally benefiting from the huge margins overseas manufacturing enables. The reality is that there is always a cost, just maybe not in dollars.

Personally I would prefer to spend a little more knowing my money is going to people who receive health insurance while working in factories where they’re not getting poisoned and the surrounding communities have drinkable water.
 
I love the guy, but he's trying to sell guitars that are made overseas. What else would he say?

I love the guy too and I bought more PRS than any other brand. However, I would like him to say that the wood is dried to the same amounts as in the US, and that they spend the same number of weeks to make every neck to improve stability. I’d like him to put more US quality components in the SE line… tuners, bridges, pivot screws, wire, switches, pots, jacks. I think some of the parts I mentioned have been upgraded to US versions but I don’t keep track. These upgrades will come at a cost, but the quality will also increase and cut-down on returns and bad reviews from buyers. People buy SE guitars and want a keeper, a tool to do a job. That is why I bought one, and I wish it had been a core. Swamp Ash Specials are not in the catalog though. Just my humble opinions …
 
Idk...there are good builders around the world. For PRS though the highest quality guitars are made in USA. We don't obsess over Made in USA we obsess with quality. If Paul moved to Mexico and started building guitars again himself, you bet peeps would be willing to pay big bucks for them...No one is gunna care he's making them out of a garage in Mexico, and not the USA.
 
I don’t obsess about it, but it has some importance if you support American workers making American products. Quality-wise, I’ve seen craftsmanship every bit as good as what’s made here (or anywhere else) come out of Southeast Asia (Eastman guitars come to mind). But in my mind, the ability to drive an hour north and shake hands with the folks that built my guitar has some value. Clearly, the perspective of an American tho.
 
Thoughts that come to my mind reading the article and comments

- Once again, comparing the QC of US PRSi and SE series is comparing apple to oranges. They are not supposed to be the same so it should be easier to find problems in the Cortek ones (500 vs 4.000$?)
- I cannot imagine a world of Cores (or CE24s or even S2s) being produced outside the US. Heck, they are even using more US hardware on newer S2
- Country of origin does not matter, you can find jewels and lemons everywhere. And not all countries are liable to ethics complains. My Core and my CE24 are among the finest guitars I have ever played, but some of the big G I have tried were 4 figure turds. Fender is not my cup of tea, but some of the mexican ones give some of the US ones a run for the money. And the Prestige and J-Custom from Ibanez are simply stellar guitars, the same as Japanese ESPs or the Polish Mayones guitars (I only wish it had not that funny name: sounds too close to mayonnaise!).

TL;DR: maybe Paul is giving a sales pitch, but he's, IMHO, absolutely right
 
Thoughts that come to my mind reading the article and comments

- Once again, comparing the QC of US PRSi and SE series is comparing apple to oranges. They are not supposed to be the same so it should be easier to find problems in the Cortek ones (500 vs 4.000$?)
Everybody Knows If You Change Some Parts On An SE You Have A Core And If You Change To Wooden Pickup Rings You Are Borderline Private Stock.
 
Do you think its more about the higher quality components on the American made PRS or the workmanship? Obviously, it could be both, but the material may be the bigger difference. I also like supporting American jobs as that is the country I live in. Granted PRS is an American company who is also providing jobs overseas. Without mentioning any countries and not getting too political, I'm glad the country where SE's are made, there is no threat of them going to war with us and they don't control their people with an iron hand.
 
I've chosen to die on this hill:

There is no factory electric guitar made elsewhere that compares with the sheer desirability and detail, tone or playability of USA PRS, Collings, Tom Anderson, Suhr, Martin, Taylor, and others, including (often) Gibson and Fender.

American guitars still rule the roost, and so shall it ever be.

"You planning in dying any time soon, Laz? Because I don't give a rat's ass about guitars and I happen to be sharing your body. I'd appreciate a heads up so I can get out of here."

"You could do me a big favor and leave now."

"Honestly I would, because you're getting awfully decrepit, but I don't know how I got here in the first place. Also, I hate to complain, but your back is killing me."
 
I think if PRS (or any other brand) were to re-create in the US the factories that are currently overseas producing product lines like the PRS SE, the quality would probably be about the same, because those product lines are all about mass production to a certain cost point. The guitars would cost more than they currently do because you'd have to pay US-level working wages to US persons, vs Indonesian working wages to the local workers there (which might be just as livable a wage as what the typical US factory worker gets).

What sets the US-made PRSi from the SEs is not the physical location (the Maryland factory doesn't sit on some fault line in the time/space continuum that produces extra-heavy tachyons), but the level of care put into making them more than just a production-line product, and the quality of the wood (including putting that figured maple cap on top, vs a veneer over plain maple). That adds cost too, which is why it isn't just the wage difference in the price of the final product.

I don't know if the extra cost PRS pays for the electronics side of US-made core guitars vs the import SEs is all that much of a factor, because I just don't know their relative costs (to PRS, not the retail prices - a made-in-US PRS pickup might sell for $200, but for all I know maybe it only costs them $5 to make (I don't know, I'm making this up), vs the $4 to pay for the import version, and they just happily keep the extra margin on the US version). But maybe it does also make a significant difference.
 
I've chosen to die on this hill:

There is no factory electric guitar made elsewhere that compares with the sheer desirability and detail, tone or playability of USA PRS, Collings, Tom Anderson, Suhr, Martin, Taylor, and others, including (often) Gibson and Fender.

American guitars still rule the roost, and so shall it ever be.
Nik Huber Is Waiting For You On That Hill.
 
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