SE's now made in 3 factories in 2 different countries depending on where you live.

[Mozzi]

I was watching a video of Chappers being interviewed about his new pedals. He stated that his guitar manufacturing was also moving to Indonesia for more consistent and better quality reasons. Of course he isn't going to say that they were moving because Indonesia can churn out guitars more cheaply. I don't know why there is an exodus away from Korea at the moment but the Korean factory can't have too many customers now.

 

[Lister]

I was watching a video of Chappers being interviewed about his new pedals. He stated that his guitar manufacturing was also moving to Indonesia for more consistent and better quality reasons. Of course he isn't going to say that they were moving because Indonesia can churn out guitars more cheaply. I don't know why there is an exodus away from Korea at the moment but the Korean factory can't have too many customers now.

It looks like there was a double digit hike in the minimum wage for Korean manufacturing for 2018/19.
http://www.oecd.org/economy/korea-economic-forecast-summary.htm
Not saying that's the only cause of guitar related manufacturing being moved, but it could very well be a contributing factor.

 

[CSurieux]

I am in Europe and I bought in 2017 and 2018 2 SEs (245 and 22 semi-hollow) and they where marked as built in Korea by WMI.
Very nice instruments and great pleasure to learn and play with them.
I also own 2 Cort guitars, an old G290 (kind of better low cost strato offered by my children when I was in the black hole) and a Cort Manson M-Jet recently acquired on its specs.
I would say that the body wood part of the Corts are not same level of work as the SEs, no unplugged vibrations
But the necks are quite perfect (especially the M-Jet with its compound radius) and the EMG and Manson pickups are very respectable when plugged and rising level, and they have locking tuners, but no bags.
I prefer my Korean SEs...
But I am not surprised that PRS goes for Cort for its SEs, the strange thing is that Cort (Kor-Tech) is producing in Indonesia ??? May be due to the large conflict they created with their employees in Korea 10 years ago ???
Recently I bought my first S2, a Studio model, no more on PRS catalog 2019 (??), and it is a very fantastic guitar.
Pickups very special, fretboard rosewood layer quite double thickness than on SEs and Corts, very classy look.
I would be interested to compare a S2 singlecut with my SE 245 from 2017 ?
Paul and its team are marketing gurus playing with our money and 'désirs'

 

[littlebadboy]

I used to have a used Korean Singlecut SE. It was my first PRS. I wasn't impressed, couldn't gel with it, I returned it. I didn't look into PRS guitars again. I couldn't afford the US ones anyway.

Jump to 2:18

Then, I recently noticed the S2 Standards, found a 22 in charcoal satin on-line, took a leap of faith, and fell in love with it! It's not fully American, but it changed my mind about PRS.

Oh sorry... this is an SE thread...

 

[jvin248]

... I don't know why there is an exodus away from Korea at the moment...

Costs. A factory adds overhead and more expense as time goes on. Local and national governments add more taxes. These costs get passed from the factory to the brand who looks around and sees all the other products they are competing with staying the same or going down in cost. So they move to a new location. The cycle starts again.

Of course, the factories left behind have all the skills, tools, and desire to produce very nice guitars. Some make clones some make their own brands or private label models for retailers and some just close up shop.

Any of the guitars I've seen from Indonesia for various brands have actually seemed higher quality than outgoing locations. The down point on the Indonesian guitars is they are sometimes too slavish to the brand spec designs, like the Indonesian Squiers have just too skinny of necks where some of the China-built ones had more (acceptable to me) chunky MIM-MIA sized carves.

Interesting that the just launched "Pauls Guitar" which would seem to be the pinnacle SE model, is built in Indonesia. A clever ploy by PRS to push that model there rather than get it from the Korean factory -- validating the new location.

Most of the global guitar brands are made by Samick, then Cort, then a handful of other builders. Samick was something like 80% of the import guitar market. Then players spend all day in flame war arguments about their Brand A guitar is better than the other player's Brand B guitar and the two guitars came out of the same physical factory with the same set of workers shaping, finishing, and stringing them.

.

 

[Victek]

Well, this thread has been all over the place Note that no one has answered the OPs question which was:

"Does this mean that all USA bound SE's both Standard and maple capped are now purely going to come from Indonesia, while we in UK & Europe still get the 2 factory tier system?"

I don't know the answer to that either unfortunately. I will say that I think it's a mistake to focus on where the guitars are manufactured; it's better to focus on individual guitars. If you're playing them in a store then you can assess them to your heart's content. It's when you order on the internet that there's a potential for problems. It's a drag to receive a guitar that has issues, but as long as there's a good return/exchange policy it's not really a problem. Looked at that way it's more important who you buy the guitar from than where it was made.

 

[pauloqs]

For 2018 in the US, I’ve seen a most of the SE Custom 24s with maple top made in Indonesia, while most SE Custom 22s I’ve seen were made in Korea.

Regarding the quality, one thing that I really disliked on the SE models in general were the poorly slotted nuts with sharp edges around it. I know it’s an easy fix, but I really disliked it because at that same price range I could get an LTD with Seymour Duncan pickups that didn’t require me to touch one thing on the guitar. However, all the 2018 SE models I played, regardless of the country where the guitars were manufactured, had addressed the nut issues from previous years. No sharp edges and no pinching. No reason to change those. In 2018 PRS addressed the only real complaint I had about the SE models. Just my $0.02

 

[swazifiction]

I was watching a video of Chappers being interviewed about his new pedals. He stated that his guitar manufacturing was also moving to Indonesia for more consistent and better quality reasons. Of course he isn't going to say that they were moving because Indonesia can churn out guitars more cheaply. I don't know why there is an exodus away from Korea at the moment but the Korean factory can't have too many customers now.

Reading between the lines, I thought that the combination of the worker unrest & the wage hike had persuaded Cor-Tek to move most of their operation overseas (ie, Indonesia and China). So you essentially have a Korean company working in China producing US guitars to be sold in Europe, Africa, etc...

 

[Beery Swine]

I know the US president thinks we're a 3rd world country but seriously we're not quite there yet

*urge to say "key word being "quite"" intensifies*
NO, BAD BEERY, don't be so rude in this new forum! Naughty!

 

[Paul Letteri]

I own a Se22 semi hollows at Guitar center from .Korea bought in 2020
I even seen a se hollow body saying China which I would never buy
Considering they have not morals for human rights ,and knowing let their viruses spread to other countries.i buy -0 from China .
I will get a US model next , excellent product , just changed to locking tuners Tom tremolo next . Personally pots being so inexpensive they should have all CT’s pots and quality input jack and bone nut , add $50 alpha pots ok as stock.

 

[Paul Letteri]

I asked Art. He says the whole notion that somehow Indonesians aren’t somehow as competent as Koreans in manufacturing is ridiculous.

First it was bias against Japanese goods. That went by the wayside quickly. Then the bias against Korean goods. That, too, went bye-bye, and Korean manufacture became desirable. Then it was China’s turn. Well, the market is flooded with Chinese goods Americans line up to buy. Now it’s Malaysia that’s the object of subtle prejudice.

People really need to get over this sh!t.

You want the best, buy the Maryland product. Be prepared to pay for it.

You want to assign a pecking order to Asian-made goods, that’s proven to be pretty asinine.

A lot of China goods are No longer welcome especially knowing they have no regard for human life ,knowingly not telling anyone but their own about this now Pandemic,when in Nov it could have been contained. I personally don’t buy Anything- 0 from China .Anywhere else is fine . Made In U.S.A is music to my ears !!

 

[Mozzi]

I don't let politics determine what I buy and I doubt that the 'workers' are responsible for their governments actions. If I was that way inclined, I would never buy anything because ALL nations have had a 'sordid' history with questionable morals and breaches of human rights - maybe not ALWAYS to their 'own' people but not one country can hold their hand up and say they have never treated their people or people from other nations with the same morals and human rights that they would wish to be treated if the circumstances were reversed.

I certainly have NO intention of bringing up examples from ANY country - including my own - and whilst things maybe 'better' for its people than it was, than it is in places like China, I don't believe it is 'perfect' and could not be improved. For me, a PRS is an 'import' as I am not a US citizen but I also wouldn't hold PRS accountable for any human rights issues (regardless of whether they are towards its own people or not). If I thought PRS were not an equal opportunities employer regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation etc), not resourcing its materials as ecologically as possible etc, then maybe I wouldn't buy a PRS.

I do not know what conditions the Chinese factory workers are having to tolerate but for all I know, they could be no different to the workers in Korea or Indonesia. They are built by the same 'company' as those made in Indonesia and I wouldn't be surprised if a LOT of products have parts made in or materials sourced from China even if the final product is made in other places. Even if you don't buy clothing made in China, the Cotton itself could have come from there. How do you know where the Raw Copper comes from in the wiring of a US made guitar for example - that could come from China and do you know exactly where some of the parts on the S2 and CE lines are made...

I am NOT saying I support the Chinese government or their actions at all but I will not hold EVERY Chinese person, factory etc responsible for their governments actions either. I am fortunate enough to own several US made PRS guitars - inc a Hollowbody so not likely to buy an SE hollowbody but I can totally understand why many would.

 

[Paul Letteri]

I don’t hold anything against the people of any country ,
I am just speaking for myself. After seeing how Anti America China is ,and their agenda I Will Not, nor many friends & family will purchase anything from China. If at all possible Buy made in USA
Nothing more to be said.

 

[jxe]

ai weiwei or the hai wei?

 

[Wakester]

My SE A55e was made in China. I really dont care. Paul chose a factory to produce top quality guitars, and they have delivered. There was no political decision into how the guitar is made or where. It is purely economics. Pail is getting the best bang for his buck by producing the SE line overseas. Korea, China, Indonesia just happend to be the places he found to do what he wanted them to do.

 

[Ovibos]

New account dredges up 18 month old thread to be political and racist. This ain’t the vibe here. Don’t feed the troll, report it.

 

[jxe]

New account dredges up 18 month old thread to be political and racist. This ain’t the vibe here. Don’t feed the troll, report it.

sure, but people say this kind of thing all the time in current threads so nothing especially trollish about it.

 

[shimmilou]

New account dredges up 18 month old thread to be political and racist. This ain’t the vibe here. Don’t feed the troll, report it.

It is not racist at all to point out the fact of human rights violations in China, and not wanting to support them. He is certainly entitled to his opinion. Why would you say something so inciteful as wrongfully accusing someone of racism? Nothing trollish IMO.

 

[Warmart]

Agreed, not liking things about the Chinese regime isn't racism.