[quote name='Bassnut62' timestamp='1398767311' post='2437323']
The best advice I got was to hunt down a Korean Dot made in the Peerless factory, which if I remember right means that the serial number will start with an R or a P.
Everyone says get a Korean one, not a Chinese one; but within the Korean ones, quality is not always consistent either and that the factory with highest quality and consistency of work was the Peerless factory.
[/quote]
Mines an EE serial, which Wikipedia tells me mine was born out of China/QingDao. I know there's a lot of conjecture over far-eastern factories, but to be honest, I don't really buy into it. Decide what you want, play a few of them and haggle if possible. These aren't luthier built products, they're made on a production line like fridges. You're bound to get the odd hooky one, maybe I've just been fortunate.