Made in Korea?

I have an ARIA Pro II PEDLX
It's an amazing guitar.
I have just put two seymour duncans in it ( a jazz in the neck and a custom in the bridge) But other than that I've had it for 10 years and its still amazing.

I know for a fact these are made in korea. If you can find any arias let me know, might be worth a trip coz i haven't seen one in years.

Heres a Pic of an un-modded one

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Thanks- I'll check out the Aria!

Though I doubt very much if it would be "worth the trip" just for that. (Unless you're in a seriously different income bracket than many of us.) FLights to Korea are extortionate. Looks like costing about $4000 from where I live. (Ecuador.)

Flights from the US seem cheaper, but I haven't seen anything under $2500.

You need a serious discount on a guitar to make up for that. ;-)

Best
Ande

PS- OR you need to get sent there for work, so somebody else picks up the tab and you can buy a guitar out of per diem

Thanks- I'll check out the Aria!

Though I doubt very much if it would be "worth the trip" just for that. (Unless you're in a seriously different income bracket than many of us.) FLights to Korea are extortionate. Looks like costing about $4000 from where I live. (Ecuador.)

Flights from the US seem cheaper, but I haven't seen anything under $2500.

You need a serious discount on a guitar to make up for that. ;-)

Best
Ande

PS- OR you need to get sent there for work, so somebody else picks up the tab and you can buy a guitar out of per diem

LOL

I'm a student so my income bracket is practically non existant (~$200 a week)
But i live in Australia which is not very far from korea so airfare would be cheap.

If i went it would be to see some arias, not necessarily to get them cheaper, but to get them at all because i haven't seen anyone stock them since i got mine.

One of those awesomely made guitars that kinda never got any notoriety

I'm a student so my income bracket is practically non existant (~$200 a week)
I'm a teacher, so my finances probably don't outrank yours by too terribly much.

But it seems like there'll be some good midrange guitars to be had.

Best,
Ande

Just a follow-up for you guys who were so helpful-

I am now in Daegu, or however the hell you spell it, South Korea. I'm here for two months, arrived last night, so haven't seen any guitar stores yet. May make it to one this PM, but will be hoping to do some shopping aroung ASAP.

Will keep you all posted.

Ande

Will keep you all posted.
Do that.
And include some pics of the outcome of your shopping.

Still not sure how to post pics, but just spent a lunch break in a small guitar shop near my work. Played a cort G260-

Nice guitar. I've always thought of Cort as low end, but for a cheapish stratothing, it rocked. Nice action, immaculate finish, and a nice variety of rock sounds. (humbucker with a coil tap.)

Price tag said 360,000 won, which would be about $325 US. Less than list, but I'm told the best deals are in the better shops...

Best,
Ande

I've got a 9 year old Martin Sigma dreadnought cutaway acoustic-electric (DM-1STCE) that was made in Korea.It's a solid top and only getting better with age. I'm not sure there even is a Sigma line anymore, but I do remember seeing back in like 2004 that this same model was no longer solidtop. It was same except that and the price was a little higher :roll: .

Guys and gals, how cool is it that Ande is checking in and posting from Korea? Man, the Internet is just awesome.

Thanks for pointing that out- sometimes I take it a little for granted, as I spent most of my life far from where I started. Korea feels...not such a lot further than Ecuador, where I usually live. Just wish I knew the darn language. But you're right- it's neat!

Went guitar shopping today. (It's a national holiday, so I'm not working.)

In Daegu, there's a street near Myeong Deok station (case you ever find yourself in the neighborhood) that I was told is the best neighborhood for guitars. Went on a long walk, and found many, many, many small shops. No big GC style things, which means you have to walk a good ways to see what's up. BUt I learned...

It's a good idea to walk a long ways. Cause some people see you coming as a foreigner, and quote prices in the range of double what others are asking.

It's a good idea to check the price of the same guitar in every shop that has it- you learn which shops are cheaper this way.

Ask about guitars you don't recognise. Some are cool.

So I'm considering- A Cort G260. I saw some lite ash strats and one that I think was a Koa Strat. Frankly, for the money, I didn't like them. The fender is the same ash as the Cort, and is coming from the same factory, but has a flimsier trim and a cheap plastic nut. Don't like. I can get the Cort for around $280 US, the Fender was $480. No brainer.

But I've also seen...it's hard to say. In the cheapest shops, I'm sure I was seeing a bunch of counterfeits. Best prices in town, and when you pick up their guitars, you know why. I saw a USA Fender strat (according to the label) for $125US, and probably worth less. Just plain fake, though it had the visuals about right. Saw a lot of interesting fakes, actually. Sometimes, you can just tell.

But I also chatted with a few people (hardly anybody in town speaks English, but the rockier shops tend to a bit more.) who were really dismissive of the standards of the big names manufacturing in Korea. They insist that Corts aren't Korean anyway, but are indonesian made, assembled here. Likewise the LA strats and teles. Indonesian guitars that come here for bolting together and setting up.

I saw a few local brands I hadn't seen before, including "Dame." THey look awfully decent but I only saw the LP copies, and I'm not in the market for an LP at the mo.

Also a brand called "swing" which I had never heard of before. Seems like they're coming from the factories that the Corts and others used to. At the low end, they have some nice looking guitars that seem exactly the same as the Cort G series, higher up, they seem to be knocking off Fender. THe best guitar I played today was a Swing that looked like a deluxe players strat, down to the beautiful finish, expensive feel, kitchy pickguard, terrific action, gold hardware, you name it. Other that the name, the only differences I could detect were: HSS configuration, with Coiltap. I haven't seen that on a Fender, though it may be available for all I know. PIezo electric with three way switch- "full acoustic," which sounds nice, though it won't exactly fool anybody into thinking it's a dreadnought. Sounds good, though. Electric and acoustic at the same time (sounds weird, but there's probably a reason for it.) And plain old strat.

Anybody heard of "swing?"

Best,
Ande

Anybody heard of "swing?"
It just don't mean a thing,
If it ain't got that swing.
Doo-wop, doo-wop, doo-wop, doo-wop, doo-wop, doo-wop.

Do wop do wop do wop...

Yeah, I'd heard of that one too. :D I was thinking of an (apparently, or so they tell me) up and coming company that now seems to be the majority of the Korean domestic guitar sales... Swing Guitar Technology is the label, but aside from the stupid name, it actually looks like a find.

Can be seen here: http://www.swingguitars.com/ENGLISH/about.html

And buy in the US here: http://www.standardvalue.com.sg/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=227

The one I'm falling in love with is the Swing Prism- really gorgeous. Also seriously out of my price range, though well below the prices I've seen for overseas. But I LIKE it a lot.

ANybody ever had one?

Best,
Ande

Wasn't swing big here a few years ago? :)

Not familiar with the company, but all this talk got me curious so I started looking at the Agile line - the AD-2000 Amber Quilt is giving me GAS! This would be a nice alternative to the next guitar in the house, which I had assumed would be a PRS SE.

Apparently one of the guys in my new "local" guitar shop is a pretty well known local player.

YOu can hear him, and my maybe soon to be new guitar here:

mms://swing-guitars.com/movie/prism.wmv

If not that one, maybe looking at another, pretty much the same without the piezo acoustic toys, and with a coiltap on the humbucker. Sweet, and about a hundred cheaper.

Best,
Ande

Okay, THANKS EVERYBODY!

There's been a lot of interesting advice here, and I want to show a little appreciation... I'm preparing a little write-up summary of guitars I've seen in Korea for the forum. But I wanted to let y'all know that the search is off for the moment. I got one! Described in the "ever see one of these?" thread. I don't even know if it was made in Korea, though it seems a good bet.

To let you know what the market is like- I got:

A second hand, sort a strange, neckthru guitar, HSS.

A good quality gig bag.

A small practice/travel amp. (three watts, runs on AC or a nine volt. Nice, but with some quirks.)

extra strings, a strap, a handfull of picks, a tuner, and a cable.

I paid 330,000 South Korean Won. At today's exchange rate, that's about $272US. Probably a fair price for the market here, compared to prices in Ecuador, absolutely a STEAL.

I'll get some clips up so you can hear the amp as soon as I figure out how. It's kind of a silly little bugger. 3 amps, solid state, but would still get me evicted if I didn't have headphones. Because there's a clean and an overdrive channel. BUt there's no separate "gain" control, just the master volume. So even on "overdrive" it doesn't break up till you get to about 3 oclock on the dial. When you crank it, it's like a loudish argument with a spouse in terms of volume. I've been diming the amp, and controlling from the guitar, which gives a pretty good impression of a a tube amp for something the size of a carton of smokes. Guitar dimed, it's low end metal distortion. Guitar at half, it breaks up if you hit it, plays clean if you stroke it. Lower than that, "overdrive" is just an edgy kind of cleanish sound.

So thanks for all the advice! Now I'm off to figure out how to change the strings on this thing...

Ande