Korea's WMI vs. FujiGen

[Silence2-38554]

Well, as I've listed one of my beloved Japanese made FujiGen Ibanez 7 strings for sale to fund the purchase of a Korean made WMI Strandberg, I have to ask myself : Has Korea caught up with Japan in the guitar manufacturing game? Because.......it sorta seems like it. I'm posting this in the Luthier section because ultimately, this question pertains to the builders in those countries and how good of a job they're doing. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

 

[moikey]

Well, as I've listed one of my beloved Japanese made FujiGen Ibanez 7 strings for sale to fund the purchase of a Korean made WMI Strandberg, I have to ask myself : Has Korea caught up with Japan in the guitar manufacturing game? Because.......it sorta seems like it. I'm posting this in the Luthier section because ultimately, this question pertains to the builders in those countries and how good of a job they're doing. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

There are probably guys in here which are more qualified to weigh in, but I have 2 Korean made guitars, a PRS SE and recently got a Chapman ML-7S. Both are great guitars, but don't compare to my Team J RG1527 prestige. It feels better to play, and the materials feel a bit better to the hand. The SE has a little bit of rough shaping on the upper horn, which is probably from stamping the veneer and the binding isn't the cleanest. The chapman had some scratches, the neck was rougher near the top, the fretboard was worn/had some glue on it between 17-22 on the low B and had some paint marks on the maple back of the headstock. The Ibanez doesn't have a single thing wrong with it, apart from having an Edge trem lol.

 

[vilk]

Not a builder, but the majority of guitars I've owned were/are Korean or Japanese.

I have owned a few wmi guitars and only one fujigen (though I have played a lot or them).

Of the wmi guitars, only Agile had finish flaws. Sharp frets and some unsanded fretboard area. Though the other two were BC Richs. The BCR are on par with MiJ guitars, even my cheaper platinum series warlock had absolutely 0 finish flaws-- the only thing sucky about it is cheap materials/hardware. My MiK Gunslinger is flawless though.. if you'd have told me it was MiA I'd believe it... but that was kind of a different price bracket?
Oh yeah, I've also owned a MiK Schecter that I thought was totally on point aside from that I personally hated the shit out of it.

Ibanez Prestige are fujigen? My RG2228A had several very, very tiny finish flaws. But I did notice them straight away. But honestly it probably had the best feeling neck finish of any guitar I've ever played. I wonder if they can make a neck feel like that over in Korea...

My other MiJ guitar is an Edwards... but I'm pretty sure that's not fujigen? Even so, it wasn't perfect when I bought it. I made the guy at the shop buff out this sort of paint? lacquer? buildup spot on the back of the neck before I bought it.


Wait a minute... MiK BCRich is/was WMI right?

idk why I'm posting here because I'm really not the most expert guy, but my opinion/experience is that:
MiK and MiJ guitars have similar probabilities for finish flaws. However, the finish flaws in Korean guitars are more severe than in any MiJ guitars.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Well, as I've listed one of my beloved Japanese made FujiGen Ibanez 7 strings for sale to fund the purchase of a Korean made WMI Strandberg, I have to ask myself : Has Korea caught up with Japan in the guitar manufacturing game? Because.......it sorta seems like it. I'm posting this in the Luthier section because ultimately, this question pertains to the builders in those countries and how good of a job they're doing. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

It's not as simple as South Korea "catching up", the factories over there (remember, it's factories making these guitars, not small shops with individual "builders") are using the same tools and techniques as those in other countries.

What determines quality at the player level is the amount the company that commissions these OEMs to build the guitars is willing to invest in Quality Assurance and Control. That is going to determine the rate in which guitars pass and fail and what determines what is acceptable to be released.

In manufacturing of any goods there is a set "fail rate" built in. Big guitar factories know that a certain amount of guitars will not make it to the end of the QAC train. They build this into the pricing.

That's why certain guitars from different companies are better even though they're from the same factory.

South Korea has always been capable of making great guitars, it's just now people are investing the money needed for them to be made more consistently.

Of the wmi guitars, only Agile had finish flaws.

Agile are not made by World, but Saein. The same folks who make the Shine brand of guitars.

My other MiJ guitar is an Edwards... but I'm pretty sure that's not fujigen? Even so, it wasn't perfect when I bought it. I made the guy at the shop buff out this sort of paint? lacquer? buildup spot on the back of the neck before I bought it.

A lot of Edwards models are actually built in South Korea or China and then have final finish and assembly in Japan. That's how ESP keeps the price down.

Wait a minute... MiK BCRich is/was WMI right?

Depends on year and model.

 

[vilk]

^I thought Agile were built in the same factory as Schecter? Schecter isn't WMI either? or I'm mistaken with the former.

And as long as we've got an expert in the thread, because I am curious, the BCRs are 04 platinum series Warlock and a Retro Gunslinger--as far as I know the only MiK retro gunslinger that BC Rich as ever done, and it was only for 1 year. But I dunno what year that is.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

^I thought Agile were built in the same factory as Schecter? Schecter isn't WMI either?

And as long as we've got an expert in the thread, because I am curious, the BCRs are 04 platinum series Warlock and a Retro Gunslinger--as far as I know the only MiK retro gunslinger that BC Rich as ever done, and it was only for 1 year.

To my knowledge Schecter has only ever used World and Cortek, and Agile has always used Saein. So they would never have been made at the same factory. Where did you get that info?

I'm pretty sure those older ones, around 01' to 05' were not made at World, but Cortek, but I'd have to see the serial. I'm by no means a B.C. Rich expert.

 

[vilk]

I don't know where I got the info... I read this site all day at work every day... sometimes things just occur to me and they turn out to either be accurate or wholly confused. Thanks, man!

 

[Grand Moff Tim]

Perhaps Korea is catching / has caught up with Japan in terms of the quality of their large production run guitars, but Korea definitely lags behind Japan in its number of small and/or boutique builders. Most of the Korean stuff you're going to see is stuff made in their big factories for non-Korean companies, but as for actual Korean brands, they're almost all just clones of popular models, made in the same factories as the stuff they make for Western brands.

Looking at a large Korean online gear dealer, there are 23 Korean brands selling guitars here:

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Look at the top-most block of brand names, marked "국산브랜드" (Korean Brands).
Of those 23 brands, only six of them offer any guitars that cost over $1k, three of those six offer any over $1.5k, and two of those three offer any over $2k. Most of the rest of them just make entry-level Fender clones, because just like anywhere else, that's what puts the food on the table.

Of all of them, the only brand anyone outside of Korea is likely to have heard of as being a high-quality brand is Moollon, and all they do is high-end vintage-spec Fender clones. Even then, they're not exactly a common name people throw around (I've seen a thread or two on Talkbass, and they were brought up once in a thread here on SSO by another person who lived in Korea at the time ).

Moollons do look super nice, and are probably the closest Korea has to a "boutique" builder. Kraken's got some nice looking stuff, and they do have a custom shop, but their bread and butter is still their cheap Fender clones, and even their nice production stuff doesn't really look any better than an E-II or LTD Elite.

Japan, on the other hand, seems to have a pretty decent number of high-end small builders, large builders that make a wide range of quality levels, and the crazy as a shithouse rat ESP Custom Shop. I just don't think Korea's there yet. Maybe someday, if and when people are willing to pay top dollar for Korean small shop guitars, some people here will see that as a profitable business venture to get into, and we'll start seeing more good stuff. Until then, though, Japan's going to have the edge.

 

[Grand Moff Tim]

And I'll throw in that a big step towards Korea becoming a maker of high-end guitars would be if Koreans themselves actually wanted to buy nice Korean guitars. I know guys here with Andersons, masterbuilt Fender Custom Shops, and Gibson Custom reissues series, all of which are even more expensive here than they are in the states, because when Koreans want top-shelf stuff, they tend to go for the prestige brands from outside of Korea. That applies to more than just guitars.

 

[MrTeatime]

Someone on Facebook posted a pice of a Boden OS with a cracked neck...

I'm not a "tonewood guy" but I believe the quality of the wood used help having a stable guitar, which will last for a long time...
How do FujiGen and WMI compare on this?

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Someone on Facebook posted a pice of a Boden OS with a cracked neck...

I'm not a "tonewood guy" but I believe the quality of the wood used help having a stable guitar, which will last for a long time...
How do FujiGen and WMI compare on this?

That's usually where cheaper guitars really cheap out. Newer wood which has been kilned, and usually kilned for a shorter period of time, is cheaper than wood that has been "seasoned" the old fashion way, but sitting in a humidity and temperature controlled room until the moisture content is ideal.

Does that mean the kilned wood is inferior? Not at all. Plenty of kilned wood is great, there's a just a higher possibility that a bad piece might make it through the process as it's more controlled. Poor wood doesn't dry right the old fashion way, it just cracks or warps weird, which weeds it out of selection.

Fujigen in Japan uses great wood, which is kept in a environmentally controlled room in their facility. They do use kilned wood too, especially on OEM stuff, but they are quite selective. As for World in South Korea, I've seen some Prototype and R&D stuff that looked great and had wonderful woods, but I'm pretty sure their average stuff uses kilned wood, maybe not the cheapest, but they make far too many guitars to be super selective and I have played terrible World made guitars.

It's going to come down to pricing. The cheaper the guitar, typically, the cheaper the wood.

I will say, those high prices the Boden OS stuff goes for is going to be on the hardware and licensing and not exactly the wood used. At least from what I gather.

 

[Inceptic]

Someone on Facebook posted a pice of a Boden OS with a cracked neck...

Do you have a link?

 

[Le Jeff]

I think the materials are still a step down, but that's attributable to price. Japanese-made instruments still command a premium where Korean ones don't. As far as craftsmanship goes my Jem is on par with my Schecter. No finish flaws in either and both have been very stable instruments over the time I've owned them.

 

[MrTeatime]

I will say, those high prices the Boden OS stuff goes for is going to be on the hardware and licensing and not exactly the wood used. At least from what I gather.

I'd say it's all about aimed market and percieved value. They won't sell any 3k+ Washbun built guitars if a MIK version with close specs is available for 800$.
The Boden OS is the most expensive MIK guitar I've heard of so far and they can't be much more expensive to build than say a Schecter Keith Merrow.
A luthier friend of mine made a batch of single string titanium bridges inspired by Ola's work, and it cost him something like 300 euros for more than a dozen 6 strings sets (I can't remember exactly how many), so out of factory all the hardware and parts used on the OS shouldn't cost much, like on almost any production guitars.

 

[MrTeatime]

Do you have a link?

The picture was removed within minutes for some reason and I didn't save it, sorry. It was someone from "Music Discussion Guitar Porn blah blah blah" but I can't remember who