Is 'Made in France' suddenly superior to MIA / MIJ, now that Ola Englund has guitars produced there? I could get a superior ESP (MIA) or Ibanez J. Custom (MIJ) for £3k.
Not but again you are comparing mass produced guitars to a very limited run made in france. Any low volume luthier in america or japan would probably cost the same with similar specs or more as a brand. Don't forget that you are not buying directly from the french luthier but Ola has to factor in advertisement, his own wage, shipping, taxes and more. A comparable guitar from Ran would cost you 1.7k to 2k but they probably build (are they even active any more?) 10 guitars a month.
RAN is dead. They haven't built anything in years
You are paying the renowned Luthier name knowing that his reputation will mean amazing craftsmanship (he is very famous in France due to the quality he provides). You are also paying for extremely Low production runs. Then you are comparing Apples to Oranges by putting Ibanez in the mix.
"Made by expert luthier" is expensive in every country. Just a bit more expensive where cost of living/salaries/materials are higher.
It's the same with "Made in USA", this is not a de facto quality assurance. It's just made in country x, which might have some sentimental motivation for you. Shitty products are made everywhere, great products are also made everywhere. (these days!)
It used to be that Made in Japan was almost guaranteed to be better than Made in China, as quality control was just hit and miss. But those companies that stayed around, are now producing very good guitars, if they are payed properly and not asked to cut corners on every cent possible.
I have a 1995 Ibanez Ghostrider, made in South Korea by Samick. It cost $899 back in the day, and will hold its own against most guitars these days. Especially after a few small tweaks: Bone nut, redid the wiring, and a proper setup and fret leveling by a proper guitar technician - me...
Will there be differences is the solar guitars? Most certainly. But that can swing both ways, depending on who's building and doing quality control. One can assume that the French QC and level of building is above that of the Indonesian ones. But I'd love to compare prime examples of both without knowing which is which and actually judge the finish levels.
Past a certain price point it's more about cosmetics (nice woods and inlays, handselected pieces, checked for all possible defects) than actual improvements in the instrument itself.
I think at the quantities that are being produced, they are aiming at existing Solar owners/fans wanting to treat themselves, or buy an instrument they view as an investment, or buy an instrument that would be a suitable stablemate to a room of similarly priced instruments.
To use the car analogy again, anyone know the Aston Martin Cygnet? It was a 2 seater city car based on the Toyota IQ but cost the same as a 5 series BMW. It was never intended to compete with either. You saw it and it immediately made perfect sense to you, or it didn't.
The 'Made in France' Solars aren't meant to tempt people away from a Skervesen, or an Indonesian Solar. They're made for an entirely new category of user, such as the player a few pages back who ordered one of the first European Xs. They saw, they liked, they purchased. Whilst we all discussed the top and the pricing
I was referring to the "Solar" tuners, rather than the Evertune. I honestly thought the pickups were "Solar" too.
$3200 for an E-II (£2600 in the UK), is less than the £3000 ($3680) that these Solars are listed for.
This!
