There is so much mis-information in this thread it's not even funny.
#1. SEYMOUR DUNCAN DOES NOT OUTSOURCE THEIR PICKUPS TO CHINA. True, their "Duncan designed" line (which is made for cheaper import guitars) is outsourced. They never tried to hide that. Everything else is made in California, USA. And their Custom Shop pickups are not wound in China, that's just absurd. Why would a company take a one-off order, and have ONE of them produced over in a Chinese factory? Silly. False. Check your facts.
#2. ANALOGMAN DOES NOT OUTSOURCE HIS WORK TO CHINA. he offers some particular pedals that are chinese made analog delays that HE TWEAKS AND MODS in AMERICA, and improves upon them.
And lastly, contrary to popular belief
#3. ALL GIBSONS ARE NOT "OVERPRICED GARBAGE". I've read the arguments over, and over, and over again that "Gibson quality is down the tubes!!!" The main problem is that people are confusing PLAYABILITY with QUALITY. You can go to Guitar Center, and pick up a $2K Gibson Les Paul that's setup like garbage, and a $300 Chinese Epiphone that just so happens to be set up well, and of course, the Epi will *play* better. Does that make it a better guitar? F*ck no. It means that by pure luck, the Epiphone's nut slots were cut properly and the frets were leveled properly.
Take a $2000 Gibson, and a $500 (insert Asian made LP Copy here) to a great tech. Have him set both guitars up IDENTICALLY. Play both. Unplugged. Listen to the resonance of the wood, the way it vibrates in your hands, the tone and sustain of it. If you STILL think that the Asian made, drenched-in-poly finished copy is a "better" guitar, then I will argue that you really don't know what you're listening for in the first place. And if you think the "fit and finish" of a $300 Chinese guitar is better than a $3000 USA guitar, you need glasses.
DISCLAIMER: I'll admit: I've played a bunch of Epiphones that DID impress me. A lot. And for the money, they're an absolute STEAL. The problem is that for every great one, there's 10 duds. But there ARE great ones out there. But to say that they're *better* than a $3000-4000 Custom Shop USA made instrument is absolutely ludicrous.
"Gibson is ripping everyone off!!!" I find this statement hilarious. People think it's absurd to charge $2000 for a guitar with a glued in neck, carved maple top, binding on neck and body, inlays, etc... but will drop $3000 on a relic'd Partsocaster from the hot boutique Tele-builder of the moment. Do you realize how much more time, skill, and labor is involved with making a LP over a Tele? It's craziness. In my mind, the REAL guys who are ripping people off are the Fender custom shop. $6000 dollars for a bolt-on tele? Come on. Ridiculous.
I apologize for the heated tone, but threads like this make my blood boil sometimes because people just get on the "Overpriced USA Guitars" bandwagon. When in reality, they're just trying to make themselves feel better about the fact that they can't afford the guitar that they really want.
I call a spade a spade: SOME Asian made guitars are excellent values FOR THE MONEY. They're nice instruments that can be well made, and a nice alternative to higher priced USA counterparts. Are there SOME examples out there that, by chance, MAY be better than a USA guitar? Perhaps. But to blindy say "Gibsons are overpriced junk, my asian copy is just as good" is ignorant.