Evolution of Japanese made guitars
History has the tendency to repeat itself. Same goes for builders of electric guitars.
When asking any guitarist who knows a couple of things, the brands most commonly known are Fender and Gibson. Both being American builders and pioneers is commercializing electric guitars.
In the 1980's Fender gave live - or call it rebirth - to its Squier by Fender, introducing a more budget friendly alternative to its regular offering. Originally building different type guitars outside of their most famous Stratocaster and Telecaster models in the U.S., they realized that the competition from Japan became bigger due to lower labour cost.
That's why the production of the Squier guitars was soon to be done in Japan and were quality guitars from a wood craftsmanship point of view. The electronics were however not near as great as the American or Mexican made Fender models.
Later on, the production of Squier was even further dispersed to China, Korea, ... .
Epiphone was an American company and rival of Gibson. To keep a story short, Gibson took over the company in the late 1950s. At that time, Epiphone wasn't the budget brand of Gibson, but the brand more specialized in archtop guitars.
Early 1970s, however, the Epiphone manufacturing in the U.S. stopped and was replaced by production facilities in Japan, building the budget friendlier Epiphone models with the traditional Gibson resign.
Might be interesting to know that production and distribution was managed by Aria - at that time also a brand, now known as Aria Pro II.
Know that later on, production of Epiphone was further replaced to Korea as well.
The Japanese guitar building story is one that fits perfectly the typical industrial revolution scenario. Nowadays, the building quality and skills of Japanese build guitars are - In my humble opinion - as good as American, Mexican or European build guitars.
When asking any guitarist who knows a couple of things, the brands most commonly known are Fender and Gibson. Both being American builders and pioneers is commercializing electric guitars.
The early days
When production of electric guitars started in Japan, they were producing low grade products with the goal to sell many at low prices. A lot of guitars build in Japan in the 60s and 70s were built of plywood with a thin slice of veneer. Most of the models produced were imaged after American original models (even with logo's and everything). They were originally intended for the Asian market only. The ones that weren't copies were - well lets be frank - were ugly as hell.
However, in the 70s a second evolvement of their craftsmanship arose: the building of quality guitars: full wood, nice pickups and electrics, ... the works! Moreover, they started even shipping them to America.
This resulted in a lawsuit and as from 1977, they were obliged to use different headstocks, names and logo's than Fender and Gibson. Pre-lawsuit models are still on the market, but although they are cheaper than the original ones, they go for a lot of money.
Ironically, the company that imported those guitars from Japan - from the Ibanez brand builder by the way - was bought before this lawsuit by the Ibanez guitar builder.
Squier
In the 1980's Fender gave live - or call it rebirth - to its Squier by Fender, introducing a more budget friendly alternative to its regular offering. Originally building different type guitars outside of their most famous Stratocaster and Telecaster models in the U.S., they realized that the competition from Japan became bigger due to lower labour cost.
That's why the production of the Squier guitars was soon to be done in Japan and were quality guitars from a wood craftsmanship point of view. The electronics were however not near as great as the American or Mexican made Fender models.
Later on, the production of Squier was even further dispersed to China, Korea, ... .
Epiphone
Epiphone was an American company and rival of Gibson. To keep a story short, Gibson took over the company in the late 1950s. At that time, Epiphone wasn't the budget brand of Gibson, but the brand more specialized in archtop guitars.
Early 1970s, however, the Epiphone manufacturing in the U.S. stopped and was replaced by production facilities in Japan, building the budget friendlier Epiphone models with the traditional Gibson resign.
Might be interesting to know that production and distribution was managed by Aria - at that time also a brand, now known as Aria Pro II.
Know that later on, production of Epiphone was further replaced to Korea as well.
Baseline
The Japanese guitar building story is one that fits perfectly the typical industrial revolution scenario. Nowadays, the building quality and skills of Japanese build guitars are - In my humble opinion - as good as American, Mexican or European build guitars.
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