I broke down and did it, because I had to find out for myself, I ordered a GFS Thinline..

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I'm gonna keep it and use it, because it was very reasonably priced, but how do you mess up that one hole?

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Because there is a big difference in a luthier and an unskilled Asian sweatshop worker.

I thought you don't buy new Chinese products?

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Because there is a big difference in a luthier and an unskilled Asian sweatshop worker.

I thought you don't buy new Chinese products?

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The more I look at this body, the packaging certifications, the lack of any customs stickers etc. There is no indication that this body was made outside of The U.S.
The cardboard certifications on all of the boxing is from Uline in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. GFS is located in Sarasota, Florida.
With the exception of the 1 hole being drilled wrong, this body is flawless,
All of the pieces are obviously cut on a CNC mill, well sanded and deburred, then assembled nicely.
As I said, it was reasonably priced, but I can buy nice bodies that I know are U.S. made, for less (about 50 bucks less). I just can't get them completely finished like this.
That 1 hole being drilled wrong is aggravating and weird that it could happen on a simple 4 hole rectangle pattern, but it will only take an hour total work to fix it, it's easy and will be covered by the neck plate. This guitar is gonna be for me anyway.
All in all, the more that I look at this thing, the happier I am with it, and I won't hesitate to buy another finished XGP body. I wouldn't touch their Lido or Xavier products though.

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Break it onstage & burn it as you close the show out

Trick people into thinking they saw something

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If I had your kind of money, I could do fun stuff like that. Maybe crank up a chain saw and cut it up. I'm stuck having to behave like a poor person though. I can't afford gas for chainsaws.
I could have like a mini excavator on stage, and I could just walk it over there and destroy a guitar with the bucket. If you put a grip thumb on there, you could just pick it up and crush it, and that stuff is fun to see.

Almost positive these are manufacturered in China.

Likely shipped here in bulk then stored until being shipped out from their US facility to buyers.

I have no insight into their shipping methods but basically everything else they sell is manufactured in China so there's no reason to believe this line isn't.

Especially with tell tale signs of Chinese manufacturing such as:

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XGP represents the very best quality parts that we can source, at the very lowest prices.

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We suggest you compare these to MUCH more expensive bodies and necks made in Japan and the USA.

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XGP gives you a chance to purchase very high quality parts and below USA Wholesale prices. We sell warehouse direct- no middlemen, no sales reps, no trade shows.

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It's quite possible that they manufacture this one line in Mexico or Indonesia but I find it very doubtful and it seems to be the consensus on various websites and message boards that they are indeed manufactured in China.

Okay, let's try this ... import bills and customs forms are accessible to businesses to not only source product vendors but to research their competitors. Even without a subscription to this company, this sample pulled up immediately when I ran the the parent company's name.
Because of my business and my own dealings with Asian manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, I know EVERY vendor in this list. I knew all this before I ran it, that's why I asked you why the about face on Chinese goods?



You are buying products made in China by unskilled, borderline enslaved, labor.

On the finish "quality" ... the polyester they shoot those bodies requires nice specialized guns but the poly itself is very cheap, it is easy to mix and tint, easy to shoot, needs virtually no wetsanding or buffing. A child can shoot poly. It is also hard as nails, meaning with reasonable delicacy they can survive handling in China, under random examination by Customs officials, and they during repackaging stateside.

The "quality" wood ... they use insanely fast-growing Asian species of ash and alder (if you want to call it that). That's why they are so lightweight, they barely mature. That mixed with use of industrial-grade kilns that dry the wood prematurely to virtually no moisture. The trip on a pallet across the Pacific and then the sit in the port of Long Beach clearing customs will remoisturize them (somewhat).

GF gets them by the pallet in BIG BULK and repackages them all nice and sweet individually to raise consumer perception of value. GF can afford to do that because when it's all said and done because they are in them for so little $$$ wise to begin with.

There are your answers.

If you want to get back on your "I don't buy Chinese" stance, research and run Customs traces and look for Woosong Chorus for the point of origin for bargain Asian acquisitions. They are a Korean supplier who makes everything with the exception of machine heads. I utilize them for bulk humbucker bobbins and for other pickup components that are not huge factors in regard to the end tone result.

But be forewarned ... WSC are a massive distributor who only deals with bulk buyers like GF and myself in the USA. If you are not spending at least $5K and putting a huge dent in the several thousand dollars it costs just to load, ship and unload a container on a huge ship in today's economy, WSC won't return your e-mails. Ask me how I know this :)