GUITARS: The China factor

Hile the economy continues to weaken, acoustic guitarists can take heart. Due to the growth of the import market of instruments from China, there are exceptional buys to be had in these quality instruments, ones so good they are barely discernable from domestic models.

Today one can go to one's local music store and find several nice-looking, good-sounding and very playable acoustic guitars at prices that are half or a third of what a comparable American-made instrument would cost.

This wasn't always the case. In the years before acoustic guitars became the rage (think pre-1970), there were just a handful of companies making instruments at any price. Martin, Gibson and Guild were the top brands. If you were a beginner, then Harmony was about the only maker in the low price range. There were almost no boutique makers and the first imported instruments from Asia came from Japan where the Yamaha brand was emerging.

From 1970 through 1990, many of the imported acoustic guitars continued to be built in Asia with Japan, Korea and Malaysia the leading manufacturers. Some of those instruments were of good quality, starter guitars that would get a learner up to the level of wanting a better, more playable instrument. But, for the most part, these were not professional-grade instruments you would take to a gig, and few professionals would use them.

Kevin Crossett, owner of Guitar Sam music store in Montpelier, agrees that imported guitar quality has changed over the years. "We grew up thinking that made in Japan was a cheap piece of crap but that changed," he explained.

Since the early to mid-1990s, China has become the source of choice for less expensive guitars, banjos and mandolins, having replaced the low-end market from Korea and Japan. (Yamaha now builds instruments in lower-cost Taiwan.) These Chinese instruments, made from solid woods, not composites or laminates, are well-designed to American standards of tone, construction and overall quality. They are favorably priced.

Brand names vary, but in recent years Saga Music, an importer with brands like Blueridge, and Eastman, Guild, Washburn and several other companies have introduced a variety of Chinese models into the American market. These models compete very favorably with American-made instruments from Taylor, Larrivee, Martin, Gibson and Guild.

According to Crossett, over the course of years, these Chinese-made guitars have become "the most excellent value out there."

So good are imports from China and elsewhere that he calls this "the golden age of inexpensive instruments."

One result of intense competition from imports in the guitar market is that the price of imported acoustic and electric instruments has actually declined while quality has gone up. According to Crossett, a guitar that sold for $400 to $500 several years ago now comes with a quality case as well and costs $300.

He attributes this to the competition and says, "Everybody is working harder to make a better product they can sell for less money. With musical instruments, you can spend a lot less and get a lot finer instrument."

Crossett said when Chinese-made Guild guitars first arrived "people thought they were American-made."

Today Chinese-made instruments supplement the lower price categories of American manufacturers. Beginning students usually buy several guitars before they buy a U.S.-made instrument, but U.S. brands, like Taylor and Martin, still have the cachet. The entire world looks to the United States as the example of the best-made instruments, said Crossett.

Even with the current economic downturn, according to Crossett, "Chinese manufacturing has not increased in price as other instruments have … and the quality remains as high as it has."

Crossett believes that Chinese-made guitars won't kill the American-made companies. "If you play the Chinese-made guitar by itself you'd be totally impressed by the sound," notes Crossett. "If you play the American guitar you know why it is the top of the line. The Chinese guitar won't put the American guitar out of business, but it teases up to that next ramp. It offers a good instrument at not a lot of money."