Hey everyone,
I am new to this forum, but it seems to have some pretty cool postings on it, so I will add my two cents for what it is worth.

I used to make guitars for a couple of top of the line guitar companies who also built private label guitars and signature models for several artists.

When an artist would come to the factory with an endorsement for a particular brand, or even their own private label guitars, they would rarely just take one off the shelf. These guitars were custom made for the artist.

As an example: If the off the shelf model came with a *slab cut maple neck, which is usually inferior to a three piece verticle grain neck, (*Depends on the quality of the grain in the slab used)the artist always chose the vertical grain neck. Often, custom pickups were made, and other custom materials were used.

These were not always built exactly the same as the guitars sold in the music stores, but they had the logo. I am not saying that an artist couldn't take an off the shelf guitar and it wouldn't play great, but it depends on the quality of the brand and the materials used. If every guitar is built to the specifications of the guitar the artists uses, then obviously it will not only play well, but it will cost more.

I highly doubt any serious artist will buy a knockoff guitar made in China off Ebay and use it on stage.

A lot of what makes a guitar sound great is the specific pieces of wood used in it's making. All wood is individual, and no two pieces are identical, so even a slab cut neck may have a grain that is tight enough to play as well as a vertical grain neck.

To adress the point regarding Chinese guitars:
You just have to be careful when buying Chinese guitars without authenticating who built them, because the knockoff companies can't be trusted. Many of these guitars sold on ebay are unplayable and look nothing like the photo or description. Some aren't even made wth real wood.

I made the mistake of buying one of these off ebay, after being told it was a Taylor prototype. When I recieved the guitar, it was absolutely unplayable, and definitely not a Taylor.

There are some legit companies like Gibson, making some guitars in China. The problem I have with that is that China also counterfeits Gibson USA guitars (and other USA brands) right down to the logo and packaging. If enough of these flood the market it can destroy the brand as a whole. By buying an American made Gibson directly from Gibson or a reputable dealer I know exactly what I am buying, regardless of the price.

Even when I look at Chinese made Gibson guitars that look and feel just like the USA guitar, I just can't bring myself to jump on that bandwagon.

RE: Japanese guitars.
One of the factories I worked for used to hand build every guitar. It took a lot of work, and we could only make about 1200 guitars each year. When the company decided to have a line built in Japan, we went from 1200 per year to 1000 per month, and couldn't tell the difference in quality.

We were told that Japanese have a sense of pride when they make guitars, and don't like to lose face. They built the guitars to the same standards as we did in the USA, but that does cost a lot more than having the guitar made in China. If given a choice, I would take a Japanese guitar over a Chinese one any day of the week.

China, on the other hand, does not care about losing face. They are currently the highest infringers of U.S. Patent, Trademark, and copyrights in the world. They frequently substitute quality components for poor quality, inferior ones just to save a buck, and ship knock offs out the back door as soon as the USA quality control guy's back is turned. China has absolutely no sense of ethics, even when it comes to manufacturing knockoff prescription drugs, and lead based toys for our kids.

Without jumping on my soap box, it makes me sick to see prices of American made guitars skyrocket because I really want to support American manufacturers. As long as companies like Gibson and Fender continue to manufacture in China, Korea, and Indonesia, U.S. prices will continue to climb, at the expense of their own brands for the sake of profit margins.