Guitar Gear Forum

Would you say manufactured in Indonesia is comparable to what made in Indonesia is today? I had a Korean made Dean ML 79 that I got used about 10 years ago but sold it(regrettably). I was eyeing one of their highest end imports as of now, which is made in Indonesia. Mahogany body, quilted maple cap,ebony fretboard, Duncan pickups etc. The USA line is Gibson prices. These are priced under 1k. Thoughts are welcome before I pull the trigger.

Depends, I’ve been getting either great stuff or junk from everywhere lately just gotta buy it and return if it’s ass

I have zero issue with any of the Indonesian guitars I’ve owned. I’ve had a MII Jackson Pro Soloist, a PRS SE Starla and SE Santana. All were well built, sounded good and played well while being representative of their respective brands. No complaints.

The higher end Indonesian guitars are equal or better then MIK, IMHO.

Every MII guitar I've played/owned so far was excellent.

Obviously the super cheap stuff can have issues. But that has nothing to do with country of origin.

I think the "made in ..." bias is a residual from the 1900s. When I started out back in the day, these Asian guitars were dogs. Even all the way up to the 90s and early 00s. Nowadays, I don't think it matters anymore tbh. I have US and import guitars here and I don't see the imports as lesser guitars. In fact I'm on my way to a gig right now and I'm taking 2 imports with me for tonight.

Thanks guys. Was looking at a used MIK,but no case, and that's an issue.

I’ve had a few MII Jackson’s and they were awesome. Solars are great too. Depends on too many things to worry abound country.

I have a 2000 MIK Spector, its the only MIK instrument I’ve ever played or owned. It’s exceptional and these are kinda sought after today. It’s exactly a NS copy in woods and construction. They just used EMG HZ’s and a generic preamp which I swapped. It was kinda expensive back then but still much less than a US was. I put vintage DC’s and a HAZ pre in it and it sounds incredible. Like a proper Spector should. It has a perfect brass nut, carbon fiber reinforcement bars, threaded inserts / screws in the control cavity and the rare Holoflash finish done perfectly, 3 piece Maple neck and Solid light Maple body. That MIK builder did it right.