I came across this fascinating video of a guitar factory in China.
Some interesting data points. One such factory, the Pearl River Guitar Factory, employs 600 workers and they produce over 60,000 acoustic guitars and several thousand electric guitars each month.
Aofa Factory is another of what appears to be hundreds of guitar factories located in China.
Why are there so many guitar factories in China?
George Gruhn of Gruhn Guitars offered this perspective:
The really important player on the scene today in the low end and intermediate price bracket is Mainland China. Whereas Yamaha and other makers have produced guitars in Taiwan for quite some time, Mainland Chinese guitars were always noted as being of extremely low quality.
In the past few years, however, that situation has changed dramatically. In the past ten years, China has moved rapidly toward entrepreneurial private ownership of business. The new leadership has pushed this process quickly. China now permits foreign ownership of factories and businesses as well as encouraging Chinese citizens both from Mainland China and Taiwan to set up their own ventures. Just as the Koreans were able to progress from very low-end student models with crude workmanship to remarkably sophisticated guitars more quickly than the Japanese had, the Chinese now have all the advantages of the prior experience of Americans, Japanese, Korean and Indonesian ventures.
In addition it should be noted that while Chinese labor is remarkably inexpensive, with an average annual income in China today of under $1,000, Chinese labor is by no means unskilled. China has a very high literacy rate and its workers are skilled and motivated.
In the past the world has had areas with cheap labor and other areas with skilled labor. China is a major force to reckon with because it offers cheap skilled labor. The Chinese today are producing instruments in many different settings, ranging from small workshops specializing in handcrafted instruments on up to huge industrial complexes with the latest automated technology.
Cheap skilled labor.
The pictures below are from the Taylor Guitar Factory. I guess I will have to travel a bit further if they move their factory to China.
i would like to see more about guitar factories in america and canada. i came to this page expecting to see about a factory closer to home, as i am searching for a job in this field. i hope you will start to look at our own half of the world more closely.
Yes. And perhaps you might want to start looking for a job in their half of the world more closely
I saw a chinese made hollow body bass electric at our music store and forgot the name. it looked awesome but want to research more about chinese basses. can you direct me to some “Brand Name” chinese manufacturers and help with suggestions, reviews, etc.?
thanks a lot. i want a semi hollow body bass for the sixties rock i am playing now.
I would rather buy an older used guitar perhaps made in Japan than something shiny and new made in China. A Chinese made solid body guitar might look great but is the body real wood, a laminate or a fiberboard material that uses chemical resins to hold it together? A real wood body is more expensive but gives better sound that improves over the long run. Think carefully before buying. With the shiny bargain you get what you pay for.
I would like to purchase a Chinese electric guitar.
Can you recommend any quality ligitimate suppliers ?
Has anyone had dealings with Chinese
ursupplier.com.
or
126-music.com
Chinese guitars are really awesome, but if you find the bad supplier, you really will be in trouble. vlaumusic.com, a good guy, honest, and good guitars.
hi
i have been dealing with chinese guitar companies for a couple of years and i must say that generally i have been able to build an e-mail relationship with most of the companies i have used.
i only import on a small scale at the moment (only acoustics), which sometimes puts me down the pecking order at times, but i have recently had a bad experience with a company that at the moment i am not going to name and shame, but i will name them privately if you want to contact me on badchineseguitarcompanies@googlemail.com.
i am building a site where we can name the good one’s and shame the bad one’s. i have had a really naff shipment recently, where the company promised me the earth and sent me firewood. i have been trying to get a partial refund and got to the stage where i was asked for my bank details so that they could transfer some money back., but they are now refusing to answer my e-mails.
if anyone is interested i can send you loads of nasty photo’s of the really horrible quality issues. and hopefully my experieneces will help others to steer clear of the cheats. funny thing is that i found this company on http://www.alibaba.com and the company are a verified gold supplier, which is a bit scarry.
cheers, barry butcher UK
anyone have any experience with 126 music??
email me
super8site at hotmail
thanks
attn : Barry Butcher
I’m interested in you list of bad companies. I will send you a mail for that. Thx in adavance to you.
By my side, I have had a very bad experience and a tremendous deception with a Korean ofshore factory established in China. I’m in this business since 1975. in the seventies I used to have my own original guitar line made in Japan, this business has continued during 11 years with no one problem of quality or else, everything was very fluid and highly efficient and dynamic.
More than 2 years ago because time has changed and after Japan everything moved to Taiwan and some in India and Indonesia, then to Korea and now to China.I was not trusting China yet, so I contacted a Korean factory, (I’m inclined to mane them but contrary to them I’m a gentleman. This factory has had its time of glory when was building Epiphone guitars and stopped when Gibson opened its own factory in china. I did not know they closed their factory in Korea and just kept their head office there, but anyway they advised me they moved the factory in China and if I agree, I answered that I do not care if the quality is similar to their korean one. So after I asked them if they accept to build my original guitar line, they agree, so then I send to them a prototype, all drawings and specifications sheet, as I’m skilled in this business, of course everything was taking in account all technical problems of manufacturing etc, so I’ve sent all, 2 weeks after no news, of course I’ve sent to them a mail at least to tell me if they received the parcel, their answer was : “YES. Regards” that’s all !! but “Yes” is not not enough as a reply of business, I resent a mail : “Ok, but pls give some opinions about the protos, reply if some points are not clear etc”…….2weeks after : we now checking with our production manager. regards……..3 weeks later : Hi pls give some news, did you progress ? Laconic answer : “Yes”…OK “Yes” but tell me more !!!…2 weeks or more their answer : “Would you pls send specifications sheet”…….???????? “what specifications sheets ????? you got all and you confirmed having eerything, the parcel was sent under tracking” answer : “YES we got all”….I finaly started to scratch my head, asking myself if they were not trying to fu*** me (sorry) I decided to ask a chinese friend having a music trade comp to call them and menace them to visit them…they react (things were during from 8 months ago) : “we have meeting at the factory with production manager to see if we can build your guitars” …….???? what ?? after nearly one year you are not able to say something constructive ??? …so final incredible answer (I still don’t believe it) : “OUR GUYS ARE NOT CAPABLE TO BUILD YOUR GUITARS. REGARDS”…..GOD!! you spend one year to tell me that your guys are unskilled ?? but I do not care about your guys, I asked you if you have a CNC, you said yes, and on another hand, you should at least tell me that you resend back to me my protos, drawings etc!!!!!!! I was forced to call my chinese friend again to visit their factory and collect all my things if they do not send it by express right now to him…under the menace they shipped the parcel immediatly. What’s a bad dream !! they have lost a business of about 10000 guitars a year. pls note that my guitars even they have an original design they nevertheless are in the trend and I personnaly built many in my workshop. I promised myself, at the next opportunity I see them exhibiting in a show, I will agress them publically as a shit of factory, not serious, not professional not even courteous and if they are not capable to build guitars, best thing is to close the factory instead to continue to induce other people in error.
So If somebody here knows a good chinese factory, serious and skilled, I will be pleased to have a source. Thx in advance to all here.
Dear Sir, I am not affiliated with a manufacturer or do I, I am a luthier and a collector mostly old Greco and Ibanez. I have bought new and used Ibanez, the MIJ guitars are great and all of the “middle end” MIC,Ibanez from China seem to be next to flawless on the other hand Epi’s made in
China seem to have very little Quality Control. The answer seems to be that IBANEZ has great QC and others vary. I’m thinking of iporting some “Godman”(brand) Guitars. What do you know if anything about them. Let me know if you do. I don’t know who builds Ibanez but they are nicely built and play great a totaly under rated guitar, Good luck my friend!
Mike
did somebody read this site…It’s unbelievable !!
http://aofaguitar.com/
Somebody know about 126-music.com or ZXCMusic.com ????
Has anyone ever gotten products from “Sunsmile”
thanks…your input would be very helpful..
Jeff
i experience alot of imports, in china i know who can make the best for the least price, and as always you have to tell them what you want to give you what you want..