Buying Epiphone Les Paul Standard: The China vs Korea manufacture.

[CWeeD]

It is obvious by the replies here that you are going to get varying answers to your question. Some say Korea, some say China, some may say hold out for a MIJ on ebay or pawn.

What I say, and you can take it or leave, is that your deciding factor should be how does the guitar sound naturally. What I mean is the natural accoustic resonance of the guitar played unplugged, this is always my determining factor for buying a guitar regardless of where it was made and by whom. I find this is the best way to determine a good guitar, bad wood resonates bad, good wood resonates good, simple as that. If a guitar sounds good unplugged, it is only going to sound better though an amp. I have an Epiphone LP Standard Plain Top (China-DW) that I picked out of about 9 guitars of the same model. I did not get the color I really wanted, but this one had the best natural resonance of all of them as well it had the best feeling neck of the 9. You need to just play as many as you can and find the right one.

I once had an extreme prejudice towards any guitar not made in the USA, but some of my favorite and best playing guitars have been made in Asia or Mexico.

Good luck in your search.