Interesting article (warning: you must be literate, no pics!;)

Ancient1

U.S. guitar makers rock Japan market

By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business

The hand-aged Gibson Les Paul Special is a replica of the 1960 original, but an American master craftsman made it exactly the way the guitar would look today, complete with aging cracked paint and tiny dents from scuffs and scratches.

What's more unique, the instrument isn't sold anywhere else but in guitar-loving Japan, where the entire limited edition of the electric guitars are sold out, underlining this nation's never-ending affair with American guitars.

Never mind that Japan has its own respected guitar brands, including Yamaha and Ibanez. No Japan-made guitar has the ring of an American icon, and Gibson Guitar Corp.'s biggest competitor here may be another American company famous for electric guitars, Fender Musical Instruments Corp.

Nobuaki Suzuki, an editor at Guitar Magazine, a major Japanese publication, says more Gibson and Fender electric guitars sell here in numbers — not just in revenue — than Japan-made guitars.

"The Americans dominate in numbers," he said. "Then come the domestic-made guitars."

Although Gibson is making marketing pushes elsewhere where demand is expected to grow, such as China, Japan is still Gibson's biggest market outside the United States and twice as large as its biggest European market, Great Britain, although the Nashville-based producer of electric and acoustic guitars isn't disclosing numbers.

Gibson makes a range of guitars solely for the Japanese market, including rocker Tak Matsumoto's signature Les Paul in special guitar shades like canary yellow and sunburst.

"It is so cool," says Yuki Yamaguchi, a 19-year-old student who bought a $5,400 Tak Matsumoto Gibson on three-month credit. "I open the case and look at in and go: 'It is so cool.' "

Amateur musicians like Yamaguchi, who acknowledges he hardly has time to play his guitar and spends more time admiring it, may be just buying a dream.

But they make for serious business.

Gibson is among the huge successes among American exports, which have over the years met mixed results in the finicky Japanese market. U.S.-made cars and rice have failed miserably while Levi's jeans, Disneyland and iPods are hits.

In fact, Gibson does better in Japan against Japanese brands than it fares against those same competitors in the U.S., says Gibson Chief Executive Henry Juszkiewicz.

"The guitar itself is an art form very strongly associated with the U.S. The music that's played on the guitar is very strongly associated with the U.S.," he said in a telephone interview from Beijing, where he was on a recent business trip.

"Foreign markets tend to revere our brand much more so than the domestic market where we might be considered just another guitar. We're very successful in the U.S., but there's less reverence," Juszkiewicz said.

Some of the biggest fans of Gibson guitars are the Boomer generation who grew up on 1970s music and now have the money to splurge on guitars, says Thom Fowle, a Gibson sales executive.

"Some of these consumers own five, 10, 20 guitars because they're collecting. They're collecting for the love of collecting," he said during a recent visit in Tokyo.

Fowle says Gibson's biggest rivals are its own older models on secondhand and collectors markets, where they command eye-popping prices.

The Japan-only Les Paul with the beat-up look costs about $3,000, but all 40 that Gibson made were shipped to retail stores earlier this year. Fowle says the price is still relatively affordable at a fraction of what a vintage Gibson would command, as high as $300,000.

Gibson has built its fame on custom-made guitars, replicas like the one of Jimi Hendrix's V-shaped guitar decorated with psychedelic paint, and so-called signature guitars tailored for musicians, which get snatched up by their fans.

The real musicians who have yet to strike fame have more problems coming up with the money to buy expensive guitars.

Yosuke Onuma, a jazz musician who often plays Gibson guitars, won his first Gibson in a guitar contest. Onuma, 31, believes the Gibson image among Japanese has reached legendary status. After all, guitarists he respects, including Wes Montgomery, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, all played Gibson guitars at some point.

"Gibson guitars deliver a sweet, deep sound. You're playing steel strings, but there's that sound of wood — something that only Gibson has," said Onuma. "It's an earthy sound, very organic."

Will Jones, who promotes Epiphone, Gibson's more affordable lineup, says owning a Gibson is an opportunity to be part of the roots of rock because groups like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin played Gibsons. Some even believe rock wouldn't exist without Gibson, given the innovations guitarist Les Paul made for the electric guitar, he said.

Paul designed one of the first solid-body electric guitars and worked with Gibson to bring out the first Les Paul model in 1952. When he'd been injured in a car accident, he had the surgeon set his shattered arm at an angle so he'd still be able to cradle and play the guitar.

"Other brands don't have that kind of history," Jones said. "We are living, breathing rock 'n' roll history."

Forty-year-old Yoshihisa Saito, a Japanese who works for a chemical manufacturer, is so sold on the Gibson he just bought a $2,800 Gibson ES-175.

"Pat Metheny used to play this guitar," he said, referring to the American jazz musician. "I've always wanted it."

The rediscovery of traditional guitars like Gibson has grown into a major trend, says Shigeru Ishida of Ishibashi Music Corp., a major instrument retail chain.

"Japanese guitar brands will never live up to the guitars people grew up idolizing," he said. "They'll always be No. 2 in their hearts and can never hope to become No. 1."

Doctor J

Dumb asses. They make the best guitars.

Ancient1

Exactly, why don't they just price-dump all those nasty MIJ guitars here to Ayerland, I'm sure we'd find some use for them.

Karl Hungus

Doctor J wrote:

Dumb asses. They make the best guitars.

Sitting here with a handcrafted American guitar (My baby!) in my lap, I'm finding it hard to agree with that remark. Similarly, the PRS and Music Man guitars I've played would tend to affirm that a lot of US made guitars are of a very high quality. Mmm, matte finish Custom 24.

Sure, if we're just talking Gibson vs. Japanese made guitars, then I'd be in full agreement. They do make better guitars than Gibson.

But in a US v Japan comparison, I can't see a clear winner.

feylya

Karl Hungus wrote:

Sitting here with a handcrafted American guitar (My baby!) in my lap, I'm finding it hard to agree with that remark.

And that's a fairly stupid comment. Comparing a handmade American guitar to a mass produced Japanese instrument as if they were supposed to be equals...

Karl Hungus

feylya wrote:

And that's a fairly stupid comment. Comparing a handmade American guitar to a mass produced Japanese instrument as if they were supposed to be equals...

Sorry Fey but it's not a stupid comment, and I will compare them because quite honestly my Ibanez J Custom comes fairly close to said handmade guitar.

feylya

But it's still mass produced vs hand made.

Giblet

I like my Les Paul more than any Ibanez, so there

Karl Hungus

feylya wrote:

But it's still mass produced vs hand made.

That's a whole other debate right there. As far as just mass produced goes, the PRS and Ernie Ball Music Man guitars I've played were excellent. That said, I did take the J Custom over the MM.

fish-head

Ah the japs are just obsessed with other peoples cultures..

punchdrunk

i have to say my u.s telesonic and u.s ash tele are definitely of far higher quality than any mij fender i've tried,that said i love my mij strat/jag

Johnny Storm

"literate"? ... doh!

Doctor J

Karl Hungus wrote:

Sitting here with a handcrafted American guitar...

I hear ya man, but let me qualify my statement.

Best, to me, is a combination of quality, consistency, comfort, innovation and value for money. In my experience, Japan wins. Sure, custom guitars are great and I'm sure Japanese, American, Korean, German, English, Polish etc luthiers could battle it out to and make the most wonderful instruments, what I refer to, however, is my experience of overall output of everyday instruments, of which the likes of the Les Pauls referred to in the article are part.

Ancient1

Oh no! I've created a monster! The controversy!

Y'all play nice now and stick to posting pics.

Doctor J

You got us into this mess, now get us out with some GAS pics like this

Ancient1

That shouldn't be too difficult.

Paladin

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0101580852