Epiphone Casino Natural - handcrafted in China vs Korea.

[archie1709]

I recently purchased from Guitar Center an Epiphone Casino Natural that has a published country of origin as "South Korea". When it arrived at the local Guitar Center here in Maryland, it was nicely calibrated by their luthier free of charge.

When I got home, I noticed the back of the headstock reads "Handcrafted in China".

I called Guitar Center about it and, to make this short, they refunded me some additional money because according to them there is a price difference between the two guitars from the perspective of cost of production. That was very nice of them.

My question is, I am not a connoisseur of Epiphone Casinos so am unfamiliar with any noticeable difference between a Chinese made vs Korean made Epiphone Casino. All I know is that the Epiphone I bought sounds great and feels great. It keeps in tune, and the electricals seem to function properly thus far.

Does anyone know of any significant difference between the two from an intermediate guitar player's perspective?

 

[miczap]

I recently purchased from Guitar Center an Epiphone Casino Natural that has a published country of origin as "South Korea". When it arrived at the local Guitar Center here in Maryland, it was nicely calibrated by their luthier free of charge.

When I got home, I noticed the back of the headstock reads "Handcrafted in China".

I called Guitar Center about it and, to make this short, they refunded me some additional money because according to them there is a price difference between the two guitars from the perspective of cost of production. That was very nice of them.

My question is, I am not a connoisseur of Epiphone Casinos so am unfamiliar with any noticeable difference between a Chinese made vs Korean made Epiphone Casino. All I know is that the Epiphone I bought sounds great and feels great. It keeps in tune, and the electricals seem to function properly thus far.

Does anyone know of any significant difference between the two from an intermediate guitar player's perspective?

From a guitar player's perspective- if it sounds great and feels great, what more do you need to know? :dude:

 

[wmachine]

If it makes you feel any better, EPI has their own factory in China. So they can and do control the quality pretty well there. It is not the typical Chinese crap shoot. You can find at least one YouTube video tour.

 

[Don]

I had an Epiphone ES-335 Pro made in the China factory and it was a very nice guitar- better than any Korean made Epiphone I've played.

 

[Musicman]

Some people believe a Korean made guitar is better quality. Whether that's true or not is up to you. Enjoy your new guitar!:salude

 

[Telechamp]

I've got an '07 MIC Casino and love it. Plays and sounds great - So congrats!

 

[garywright]

deleted

 

[LG King]

I just picked up a second-hand MIC Epi 'Dot', and I am very impressed with the build quality. I had a Korean Epi Sheraton for a while, but it was a crude boat anchor at best. I do not miss it.

I also last year stumbled upon a 1983 Epiphone Casino (Matsumoku), and it is on a whole another level above any other Asian builds. However, Gibson has really done a fine job with upgrading the Epi products brand via China.