All of them. Europeans don't name guitars made outside their countries "imports".
Dimebag and Dean are done - lawsuit follows
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All of them. Europeans don't name guitars made outside their countries "imports".
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soul_lip_mike
Contributor
I pulled the trigger on a cheap Korean dime just in case. I still have my USA blue stealth on order but I always wanted a slime. Plays just like my Korean Washburn stealth I had 15 years ago.
Esp Griffyn
Play more music
Yes they do, if the item was manufactured outside of their country and imported in across the customs border.
Nah, they don't. I have never heard one single person do it. But feel free to argue about it (with someone else).
Andromalia
Pardon my french
"Import" is a term I have only seen used by americans or people trying to fit in in american forums. In europe we usually call guitars by their brands and country of origin. "indo Ibanez", "Mexican Fender" etc. In my days the big french brands (ie, Lag and Vigier) didn't have asian factories so there was no need to differentiate.
manu80
Well-Known Member
Exact. We say the brand of the guitar and add Jap/Mex/indo at the end when we wanna be specific. No import term in France
StevenC
Needs a hobby
To me, import is a relative term. Schecter is a US brand so their Diamond series are imports. ESP are a Japanese brand, so their USA series are imports. Eastman are a Chinese brand, so they only have a domestic line.
I’m happy to refer to a PRS Private Stock, or a Master Built Fender Custom Shop guitar as an ‘import’. And, of course, a USA Gibson, ‘play import’...
Americans should therefore refer to the highly coveted British guitars, things like Daemonesses and Blackmachines as ‘imports’...
Americans should therefore refer to the highly coveted British guitars, things like Daemonesses and Blackmachines as ‘imports’...
They are imports if importing to America. Everything is an import that's brought from one country to another. They're also exports.
aesthyrian
Well-Known Member
Probably has much to do with the many bordering countries in close proximity in comparison to the U.S.? When something is from a couple hundred miles away and didn't have to cross any oceans it most likely seems a bit less "imported".
soul_lip_mike
Contributor
We should agree on our lexicon. We all know what it means: guitars built by cheap labor in ______ countries. You fill the blank 
We should agree on our lexicon. We all know what it means: guitars built by cheap labor in ______ countries. You fill the blank
You're not wrong.
That's what the euphemism of "import" was replacing: "cheap".
Back in the 90's when legacy American brands started doing more globally sourced guitars the reps used to stress using the term "import" vs. "cheaper". It was a term more associated with higher end European goods.
Before that folks used to just say "Japanese", as that's where most cheaper guitars came from.
soul_lip_mike
Contributor
Funny thing on that Korean dime I got. Carlino guitars had it in stock as well as music zoo. I asked both if they’d do 1199….Carlino responded like I should be grateful he has one in stock and how rare they are because of the shipping bottlenecks and wouldn’t budge on price. Music zoo just said sure we’ll do 1199 shipped.
Who's offended? We're just talking about the minutiae of it and how it's referred to differently in some regions.
Just interesting to think about.
mmr007
(anti)Social Influencer
It was just a joke that didn’t stick the landing earlier in the thread they were arguing about whether or not guitars can be called imports because in europe they dont have imports.Who's offended? We're just talking about the minutiae of it and how it's referred to differently in some regions.
Just interesting to think about.
But we don't covet them all that much. 99/100 American musicians have no idea that those are even brand names. This changes to 92/100 is we are talking about American metal musicians.
38.8% of all stats are made up on the spot.
works0fheart
Tike Myson
Said it before and I'll say it again. I don't really care where my guitar is made or whatever, as long as it plays well. I've played just as many American-made instruments that have felt like trash as I have ones that played well. Same with most other countries. I'll take my Japanese made Jacksons and ESPs over most other guitars out there though.
I know this is all subjective, but there's a lot of snobbery now days when it comes to where guitars are made, and it more often than not feels misplaced.
I know this is all subjective, but there's a lot of snobbery now days when it comes to where guitars are made, and it more often than not feels misplaced.
Huh? I'd say that there is a lot less snobbery about it now than there was in the 2000's, or even less so than the 1990's, and less still than the 1980's. And it's been earned. My first guitar was a mid-1980's Hondo that was made in Korea and was basically a piece of firewood. Harmonys and Magnums from the same time period were more or less equally shitty. I feel like Korean guitars by the mid-1990's were pretty good as a general rule, and now they are actually really good, as the cheaper stuff is now coming from two waves of developing industrial nations behind them... next up Ibanez's Zinc label guitars, made in Somalia or Congo... or wherever it's cheapest to exploit workers.
