I love this community because I'm learning a lot about where stuff is from. Case in point, I was going to suggest Ibanez and found out it's Japanese lol
This is exactly what we should do for now - post every single post both here on Lemmy and on Reddit and we should constantly remind people that they have to switch to Lemmy!
Apparently they have brought back some of their production to sweden as of 2020 but don't ask me which models, because i don't know. I know production moved to china 2006 after not having any at all since the 80ies and they probably still make a lot of their new guitars there. Ive only played on a 70-80ies something superswede.
Honestly I can warmly recommend the Thomann house brand, Harley Benton. The dirt cheap, entry level ones are on par with beginner models from known bands, and if you splurge a little more and get one of their nice ones, you'll have a really fine instrument for the price of the beginner model in the known brands.
They're German and the reason it's so cheap is they have 0 layers in the pipeline, they "manufacture" and sell directly. Most of their own brands punch well above their weight, but you should still look at the reviews etc for your specific item of choice.
I can recommend this store/brand too. I've had a few instruments and other stuff shipped to england over the years and I've always had a great experience (and great prices).
Thomann's house brand Harley Benton has some good guitars. Not sure about hollowbody guitars, but I have a semihollow guitar from HB that I play quite a lot and has good build quality.
Also there are several Japanese guitar companies - sure they're not European, but at least they're not American. Examples would be Ibanez, ESP, Yamaha.
Also consider your local luthiers and other manufacturers, they're often in dire need of support, yet get none because their guitars don't have "Fender" or "Gibson" written on them.
I think Gibson has legitimately sunk in quality and is a shell of its former self, I'm not convinced Fender has. It is my understanding that QC slipped a bit during the pandemic and some instruments in rough shape left the factory, but I've seen reports of them honoring their warranty and replacing them with perfect instruments. I personally don't need another Fender, my '96 fat strat is still fit for purpose.
Ah, did not know this! Thanks. I tried to look through their website to find info on where the guitars are made nowadays but couldn't really find anything.
Question from an Ibanez RG series lover - how do the Mayones, M-Tone and Vigier compare? Love me some long neck action and looking to expand my collection.
I never figured out why people think that wood type matters for the tone of an electric guitar.
The vibrating string is not even touching the wood. Just spanned between a ridgid metal bridge and metal pegs. The electricity also does not run through the woods but through wires insulated by rubber. The pickups also don't pick up vibrations or sound from the wood since it contains no metal...
How did anyone even come up with the idea that wood matters for the tone.
probably started by big brands so they can sell their names for more. The same guy also tested amps and pretty much everything anyone has believed about them, tubes etc, for decades is also bull. He used a few effect pedals and switches to make an amp that can mimic the famous brands he used as reference to a degree where I doubt anyone could tell the difference.
you can make an electric guitar and amp out of scraps and get whatever famous sound you want but a lot of people I have meet really don't want to believe this after lining their walls with guitars with price tags I could never afford.
My electric guitar is a Swedish Hagström Ultra Swede, I always wanted to get a genuine Gibson Les Paul but never could afford one. So I ended up with the much cheaper Ultra Swede, have been playing with it for two years and I'm more than happy with it.
I also have two Finnish Landola acoustic guitars from the late 60's - early 70's, a 12-string "Colorado" model and a 6-string "Buffalo". Both sound excellent, especially after I made new bone nuts and saddles to replace the original plastic ones.
I have a Lakewood acoustic, made in Germany, I'm incredibly impressed with. It's a custom shop with a AAAA European Spruce top and Cocobolo back and sides. Lakewood Guitars
Nik Huber has a great reputation. Karl Longbottom also. Oswald is a great choice too. Taran acoustics, Lowden also of course. That's just off the top of my head.