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Has anyone seen this article?
If this were to feed new business, that would be fine - but I fear it will mostly displace existing manufacturers.
Will it affect custom and boutique shops? I'm interested in others' feedback.


Top Chinese Guitar Maker Targets U.S. Market

One-Million-Unit Plant To Build G.Great Brand For Delivery Later In 2013

One of China’s top producers, Kapok Guitar Company, has simultaneously announced plans to launch a new brand of guitars in the U.S. and build a modern one-million-square-foot factory in Heyuan, Guangdong, China. The new factory, which is currentlyunder construction, will have an annual capacity to produce one million guitars and 150,000 violin sets when it is completed later in 2013.

The company’s new G.Great line of guitars will debut at NAMM this year in Booth 1524. The new instruments have been created by a prominent team of designers based in the United States. “The inspiration for G.Great guitars comes from the spirit of Western music and Western musical instruments,” said Joe Zheng, general manager. “G.Great guitars will have both traditional and innovative models. The Traditional series line will include traditional steel and classical string guitars. The Innovation series will have our patented bracing system and a textured top that results in amazing sound for the solid top guitar.”

NAMM Booth 1524
joezheng@kapokguitars.com.cn
www.kapokguitars.com.cn

not a fan of china manufacturing , they are not as careful to the environment , they are sending in CF Martin guitar copies a direct violation of Trademark law . Yes they can make a million a year but I will never buy one.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I have a feeling they will just find a spot in with all the other low end Chinese guitars. It will take many years or them to gain a reputation to compete with the large us manufacturers and boutique builders. You can't just start a company that pops out 1,000,000 guitars a year and compete with high end guitars. I feel the only people effected by this will be those who make cheapo guitars.

Buy your guitar tonewood NOW while it is still available.........!!!
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Saw an ad for some of their solidbody electrics in a music trades mag - didn't impress me all that much.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I hope you're right.
When I visited a couple of Guitar shops over in China a couple years ago, I saw a huge difference in production and quality. One shop I visited impressed me - but it was all hand-made guitars - the only major power tool they had was a bandsaw. They claimed to use 20-year aged wood from Italy.
It was fascinating watching them carve archtops by hand. I gave them a few tips (woodworking, not lutherie), and hope that they will be able to develop a name for themselves... they were hardworking and dedicated folk.

I visited several different kinds of factories (steel, plastic, etc) and the difference in quality was staggering. But those companies that understand that Europe and North America really do require quality, are making huge strides in their products. The bottom line is that they have low cost labor (at least for another decade or so) and the time to develop good craftsmen, so eventually they can be a serious contender. We were getting involved in the surfboard manufacturing industry a few years back, and when we saw some of the junk coming in from China, we laughed at their feeble attempts. But within two years, they were putting out decent boards that you can buy at Costco for under $200 (and though the carving of the foam is done by CNC - both here an there - the fiberglassing is still done by hand, and is where the craftsmanship shows up). Needless to say, we decided to get out of the business.

I'm pretty certain China can duplicate a Martin or Taylor factory - including their quality and QC - in less than a decade.
That is what concerns me.

I wouldn't worry too much. They probably already have plenty of stock since they are starting production soon. And I assume they will be laminating back and sides so it will require a lot less "good" tone wood

which could lead to issues down the road, but IMO not for many many years. Just because they have the price and quality it will take many years to gain a reputation to be acceptable. Look at Yamaha they make pretty decent little guitars but were not a guitar you would really think about buying until just recently, and still they can't compete with taylor\martin. How long was Honda/toyota producing automobiles before they really took off in the US? And it wasn't for a lack of QC. It's about building a reputation which can be the hardest part of getting a company off the ground.

But look at how existing name brands are re-labeling instruments from other countries... Fender, Gibson... shoot, I think even companies like Breedlove and others are doing it? Frankly, I thought about importing some of the nice ones myself - which is how I ended up deciding to start building my own (because I'm doing it for the fun of it).

Those Archtops (I added photos to my previous post) were selling for $700 - and they were nice!

But I agree that it will take a while for them to do it on their own... the smart ones will partner with reputable companies already with a presence here in the US.

Here in Indonesia almost all you use everyday from China, clothing, gadget, (from hair to toe ) also the Guitar... classical or acoustic under $100 maybe $60 or less with some brand, I saw top, back and side from laminated wood (multiplex) but finishing is good quality I feel.. but here I didn't see high end guitar like archtop.. (China brand)...

We will just have to see where they stand in a couple years. It's all about being in the right place at the right time. If try get their timing right and gain widespread acceptance then they could be a real contender in the guitar market. Hard work only gets you so far. You gotta be lucky enough to catch the market at the right time where they are looking for something new.

Ain't that the truth?

I caught a lucky break in the wireless telecom industry about fifteen years back, and am hoping to in the aviation business too.
I would love for the guitar building to do the same - for my son. He would love a career in the music industry (already involved a bit) and loves working with his hands. He went to China with me.

I saw some old numbers that said that the total sales figures of guitars throughout the world was around 3 million units - so doing 1M out of a single factory is a big chunk...

http://dinosaurrockguitar.com/forum/ind ... pic=8890.0

... and marketing. Are they really going to call them "G. Great Guitars"? I can't think there are many people who would choose a $100 G. Great over a $150 Yamaha. Or a $300 G. Great over a $450 Taylor.

G. Great? Really?

I think they need to work on their brand name. I could be wrong but my guess is that most Americans will identify that as a very cheesy handle.

I've been racing bikes now for over ten years and I have seen the bike industry go from laughed at cheap Chinese (Taiwan) bikes in the 90's to perfectible acceptable and best quality. Taiwan is now where the high end bike manufacturing industry is. But of course what they did is buy up a lot of classic old brand names from Italy and France and sell them under those names. So it's a different and very successful model.

Being in manufacturing I see a lot of that. People get grand ideas, they soon realise they have overestimated the market. It's pretty common for someone to come and say they need me to make a part and they are going to sell 100,000 units a year. Within that first year the realization of about 20,000 units comes to pass. So I seriously doubt they take 1/3 of the market. I'd say they may sell around 1/10th of their estimations.

I know, I thought the same thing - sometimes the translation thing doesn't work well, especially on the word play.
I once saw a Chinese Restaurant named "Lucky Thong"... needless to say, I didn't eat there.

I was hoping to use my last name for our moniker, but I see that a fairly large company in Taiwan is using the 'Ayers Guitars' name, and their premium series looks pretty good.

But surely a company that intends to manufacture one million guitars a year for the US can afford to hire an American consultant to help them develop a better brand name... who knows, maybe he's actually looking out for us small folk?

A million soulless guitars..

I wouldn't buy a Taylor (or a new Martin, Larrivee, etc) for the same reason.. I'm sure a Taylor will be head and shoulders above the Chinese junk headed our way.

Handmade in the America!

Yeah, I see the same thing (though not on that scale).

But I'll latch on to your percentage.
Press Release: 'Ayers & Sons' guitars is setting up a factory (in their garage) to manufacture 1000 guitars annually!

(if we could get up to 10% of that, we'd be in hog heaven!)

Good luck with that. Obama is poormouthing the aircraft business every time he gets a chance, and we are feeling that pretty badly here in Wichita.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Since I started this thread, I'll hijack it for a bit.

Here is my answer to jump starting the aviation industry. A light sport airplane that can be purchased - ready to fly - for as low as $26,000 (30k nicely equiped, 40k as a hotrod)
www.ayerscraft.com
We put the project on hold during the bad economy, but are tooling back up again this year.
Here is the proof of concept "wood" plane that it was based on.
http://www.sreyaaviation.com/ts1/header.html

BTW, even Cessna is building their new planes in China... I assume they believe they can do things right over there!

A good friend of mine works for a large music retailer. He spends a lot of time in China managing their private label accessory brands.

He said that quality guitars can come out of China (he's seen some) but nobody wants them, they want cheap commodity guitars. He also said that the party may be coming to an end because the Chinese economy is growing so fast & the government is mandating huge increases in wages over the next few years.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I want one of your planes!

That is inevitable.
I can hire an experienced civil engineer over there for under $1k/mo, and an animator for about the same (both about 10-15% of here). But they want the good life too - whatever that is supposed to mean.
Their industry is growing so fast, it's scary! Have you seen the news about the smog in Beijing? Visibility less than 100 YARDS this week... no thanks!

So do I (and my kids) that's why we're building them.
With 50,000 Americans spending almost that much on high end motorcycles each year, I'm hoping that a percentage of them can be enticed into flying. I would love to be the Henry Ford of aviation.

But when it comes to guitars, Taylor has done a pretty good job of that. I just want to build something that is out of my comfort range (meaning build them myself, not hire smarter and more talented people to do the heavy lifting like I do in my day job).

You need to include a pilot license package with the plane. Buy the plane and included is a course to get your pilot license. That would make it appeal to those of us who want one but can't fly!