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Just sent an Indonesia Masterbilt Texan back. I believe the thing that matters is the inspected and set up in the USA sticker. My opinion.

I have a Chinese j-45 and I love it. Very resonant en real good sounding. The finish is more satin than semi gloss though but on the plus side the Chinese ones are lighter. Who needs side bracing it seems so over engineered?

It doesn't matter where it's made; If it's here, I would play it to form my own opinion instead of relying on what other people said. Don't forget that the Chinese made is from Epiphone's own factory where they've complete control of the quality while the Indonesia made is from a contractor. I tried the Indonesia made Hummingbird at Guitar Center a while ago, it sounded good but not loud. I remember it was a well built but heavy guitar.

I own a ibg Hummingbird 12str, I bought it 4 (,?) years ago, it was made in Indonesia, It has grover tuners, and a bone nut and bridge piece. It's a lovely instrument, although took 6 months to finally get the action right. I also own a epi masterbilt Zenith f hole archtop, again it was manufactured in Indonesia. Iv had it 8yrs, it's a brilliant instrument.

Dude just play the dang thing and make your decision based on your own experience. I bought an Inspired by Gibson Epiphone ES-335 made in China and it's a dang nice guitar.

Leaving the battery wires hanging in the sound hole would drive me nuts

I purchased an epiphone excellante made in indonesia, and it is one of the nicest playing nicest built guitars I have ever owned. I also recently purchased a dove made in China, and it also is a beautifully made and fantastic sounding guitar. I heard the same information about the indonesian guitars being superior so I ordered the Dove Studio from sweetwater. This Indonesian dove doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the Chinese dove. In fact, it sounds like a parlor guitar instead of a dreadnought in comparison. The build quality is definitely there, but the sound definitely is not.

I have one of the Chinese ones. And it’s fantastic. It’s super lightweight, and there are no flaws that I can see. I had the sales guy help me do a blind test vs the Gibson version and the tone was almost identical, the Gibson had maybe a slight more bass but it was so close. The epiphone really rumbles against your chest just like the Gibson did. I’m very happy with it.

I don't know where you're getting the information on the Chinese built ones being lesser. The fact is Epiphone owns and operates their factory in China, the people managing that factory are not Chinese, but sent to China from Gibson. There's videos on RUclips doing tours of that factory. By owning the factory, they have complete control of the build process and quality assurance checks... When Epiphone builds in Indonesia, they build through Samick. So what happens is, the Samick factory will get the specs Epiphone wants, Samick will setup that assembly line to build a batch of Hummingbirds, they may run that line for a few days or weeks, then they tear it down. Samick quality assurance staff will do the checks on Epiphone's behalf, the entire build is subcontracted to Samick and this is like, all Indonesian built guitars and people rave about them, because Samick has gotten really good... The problem is consistency, when you're building these assembly lines and tearing them down, that entire team has to learn or re-learn how to build that model for each batch... In the Epiphone factory in China, you have a small team focused just on Epiphone acoustics so the consistency goes way up... I love my Indonesian built Epiphone IBG J-45, but man I played one of the newer Chinese built ones and it was lighter and sounded a bit better.

The Indonesian factory code is in the serial number, xxxx23xxxxx.

Epiphone stopped Jobbing out the Epiphone IBG & Masterbilt acoustics to Samick Indonesia in the fall of 2023! All of their previously made Indonesian acoustics are now made in the Epiphone facility in China. Main reason is because Epiphone now have the tooling in China to make these guitars, so its much cheaper for Epiphone to now have those guitars made in China at their own facility. The other reason is you need to remember that Samick in Indonesia is a direct competitor to Epiphone in China so Epiphone do not want to give Samick business if there is no longer a need to do this because they are able to now make those models themselves. Samick sourcing of wood is also different to Epiphone they are after all in Indonesia 1000's of miles from China, the Chinese made versions are on the whole lighter weighted because of this.

I keep hearing mixed feedback from those Chinese IBG. I just ordered a Hummingbird, will keep you guys posted on what I think, should be here in 2 days.

You mentioned the strings were Phosphor Bronze.. then said they were 80/20 Phosphor Bronze.. do you mix match the strings on your guitar.

I got one just like yours not long after they came out, and it is great.

These are excellent guitars, I own a 2020 IBG Epiphone J-45, but in Indonesia and love .I also own a 2001 Gibson J-45. I truthfully play the Epiphone J-45 more, I just love the neck on it. Tone wise they are so close it's splitting hairs to give one the win. To my ears, the IBG Hummingbird is even closer to the Gibson Hummingbird model than the Epiphone J-45 is to the Gibson J-45. But I want to comment on the newer Chinese built models, I've played a few of them. The ones made in China are typically better and here's why, Epiphone owns and operates a factory in China. That means they control the build process start to finish, they send employees from Epiphone's USA headquarters and line managers trained in the Gibson factory to China and they can leave those assembly lines up as long as they want... If you have any Epiphone from Indonesia, it may be a great guitar but it was built by Samick or Cort for Epiphone. The way this works, Epiphone puts an order in to one of these factories, they will give them a time slot to build out an assembly line, Cort or Samick employees run those assembly lines, run the quality checks, etc.. and then Epiphone gets a giant shipment of guitars fingers crossed they are to the spec they ordered. You can go fact check that all you want, that's how it works and although Cort and Samick have built a good reputation, these assembly lines they setup and tear down also impact consistency in quality. The Chinese workforce building these Epiphones in Qingdao, China are actually employeed by Gibson/Epiphone and everything they do checked by Epiphone line managers... The spec has not changed on these all-solid acoustics, you will find a bad apple from time to time, because of the speed which they have to build more slips through QA, although it seems quite a bit slips through QA for Gibson USA these days too. When their new CEO came in right after the bankruptcy, a key part of his strategy to help Gibson come back was to build up the Epiphone brand very quickly. The Chinese Epiphone factory did not have the capacity to do that right away, so they subbed out this work to other factories for the first few years of the acoustic IBG models, but the plan was always to build them in the plant they own and operate in China. Here's a link to a factory tour of Epiphone's Chinese factory. ruclips.net/video/LRczd_ZEf4E/видео.html

Great job on this with a great guitar, brother man 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Agree, the made in China Epiphone Guitars are complete Trash. I have had two Casinos, sold them both on. I never got lucky. So i bought a USA Epiphone Casino in the end! I will not make the same mistake again.

I can’t believe I missed this video!! I must have been traveling on business. Great upload and I couldn’t agree more with the analysis, brother man 👍🏻

Really well done, Terrance! You know I love that guitar too, brother man 👍🏻👍🏻

Who the fuck said these are “made in Indonesia” ?

FYI If you slot your bridge string openings I’ve been told to change the bridge pins to unslotted.

nice

That looks like the $499. Not the $899

Where's knocked loose?

Trump rally

Ignorance

I understand they use cheaper wood and steel in China, cost savings

Bought a Epiphone Dove. Its nice but the quality control isnt great. Its put me off a bit.

Gibson opened a factory in China 20 years ago for Epiphone. They are not using the Cort Factory in Indonesia.

Hey you 80s fans😮😊😊😊

So you just base your opinion on that sticker at the back of the headstock to send it back. You didnt even strum the guitar. My Epi Hummingbird can be out there against the ones that cost 4 times as much and there isn't a big difference in sound. I did went to a music store and picked it out against 4 other guitars and came out best. Especially acoustic guitars should be tested and played before buying, there are too many variables

all are made in china the last indonisian samak ones stopped more than a year ago.

I have the China one but I haven’t had any issues at all and my dad has the Indonesia model I will agree the finish is different but the sound quality is equal

Firstly, when you want to buy an instrument of a certain value, you go to a store, you try it, you look, you listen, you make your personal choice. Second, is having the right country of origin more important than the qualities of the instrument itself? Why would a guitar made in China be intrinsically bad compared to a guitar made in Indonesia, if you buy with your eyes closed? Epiphone clearly indicates on its website that the characteristics of each instrument may change at any time without having to expressly notify it. These are the rules of the game. Finally, why not save more and choose a guitar made in the USA, if provenance and authenticity are so important to you? “Play Authentic!” said an enlightened man... Cheers, from Brittany !

Is that what they’re calling masterbilt? And is it all solid wood?

Great that you’re warning folks! I watched a ton of vids after these were released and must have waited too long to order…I received one the the first ones made at the China plant when they made the switch and it was HORRIBLE! Luckily, another RUclipsr had heard this was happening and posted a video on how to identify the factory it was made in. Long story long…Sweetwater was great and took it back, now I’m searching for an Indonesian one in the used market…but no one’s selling them haha!

You must have got a real bad example because I have a Chinese Hummingbird and it is absolutely beautiful and sounds fantastic, in fact mine sounds way better than that one you got there. I can compare it to my Gibson J45 Rosewood and it's not far off, although the J45 will always sound a little smoother in the mids. Maybe you just don't like China but I can tell you that the Chinese Epiphones are top quality instruments. I use D'Addario 12-53 phosphor bronze and they give a better balanced sound than the 11-52, try them and you'll get a richer bottom end. I like the way you buffed the top, it looks very nice. I might have a go at that myself.

I like wha you did to the guitar! Count your blessings you got a good one,i have looked all over for an Indonesian brand but can only find made in China an im not into buying junk! Happy for you buddy i wish i could find a good one id snap it up in a heartbeat! I might have to start looking for a used one i guess if i can even find one of those.Anyway great score on your guitar it sounds great!👍👍👍👍👍

Dude I just bought a china humming bird it's awsome plugged in. Great guitar I'm going to swap to bone pins

How can I get the right guitar when I buy it? I know there’s a label. Are they gonna see me just anything so I’ll be sending it back. How is the best way to do this?

Why does everything have GARBAGE laurel fingerboards? It is so pathetic that we can even get an actual rosewood board at that price. Laurel is cheap AF!

the frontier is not inspired by gibson. its mastebuiilt. the IBG should be made in indonesia

They are inspired by Indonesia.

I to picked up a used Epiphone Hummingbird acoustic guitar made in Indonesia. I've only played it a few times but it feels and sounds good off the hop. Happy to hear / see that you value the Indonesian made model.

You need to get the Malaysian made model It was very good. U must have had a remainder China made one. Too bad. Send back and request the good one. I have a Gibson 68 hummingbird and I have played the epi Malaysia one and I like it too. Especially at that price!

How deep did you cut?

Yeah, I ended up with a Chinese IBG Hummingbird. It's a far cry from the Indonesian made! Epiphone is ripping us off!

I’ve got an Indonesian J45 and it’s my main gigging guitar. Absolutely love it. I did have a couple of issues with saddle at first but it was sorted easily by a tech. Mine has opened up so well recently (had it over six months now). Enjoy your hummingbird, you’ve got a good one there.

Maybe not a technical review but one of the best because I would rather hear it from a guy who is not a tech but is going by feel and giving an honest review on what he has experienced. So far best review I have seen. I have a Zager Guitar and they are also made in Indonesia. Great guitar. Plays and sounds great. The Indonesian guitar factories are a cut above on these lower end guitars under $1500. I am looking at buying one of these and so your video was very helpful. Thanks..

bud if you put 11s on a J45 or Hummingbird your tone will dull off by a lot. Talking from experience It sounds really great though. Such a classic woody yet powerful tone.