I own two basses. Both made in Indonesia. Both are fantastic.
Edit: and both were £800+
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$1000+ for Indonesian basses?
- Thread starter bigdaddybass12
- Start date
Edit: and both were £800+
The quality of the product has nothing to do with the location of the manufacturer, and everything to do with the spec the buyer specifies and the QC of the manufacturing process and finished product.
If it's well-built where it's made doesn't matter much
Any trip to through Guitar Center, Musician's Friend, Sweetwater, CME, etc., will show that people voting with their wallets buying gear from all over the world to save money makes 'Buy American' a nice slogan not practiced by most people.
Any trip to through Guitar Center, Musician's Friend, Sweetwater, CME, etc., will show that people voting with their wallets buying gear from all over the world to save money makes 'Buy American' a nice slogan not practiced by most people.
Indonesian basses are nice quality, generally good fretwork, great specs for the price.
Only problem I have is they don't have any mojo. Not sure how else to explain it. Every Indonesian bass I've owned or played feels lifeless compared to things made in North America, Japan, Europe. Maybe I'm just picky. Maybe I'm just an idiot who still believes that wood makes a difference.
Only problem I have is they don't have any mojo. Not sure how else to explain it. Every Indonesian bass I've owned or played feels lifeless compared to things made in North America, Japan, Europe. Maybe I'm just picky. Maybe I'm just an idiot who still believes that wood makes a difference.
To this i would say, well yes, and no. Yes, the statement is true, no, quite often local culture affects factory work, both in positive or negative ways. The parent company has to have a really good plan going in if they are going to get good results. Someone had referenced Bacchus earlier in the thread, their consistently good quality, regardless of factory, is very impressive
I have the same feeling. There is something almost clinical about their instruments that i can't pin down either. As an example: I remember when the Peavey Grind NTB's first came out and they were made in Vietnam. They played like butter, excellent necks etc. Of course there is a but. Some of them were poorly finished, especially the body sanding, very handmade feeling, lots of grain and colour variation too. The later series was made in Indonesia and they seemed to have had the life sucked out of them, almost too perfect? I don't know.
Very coincidental timing on this, but the email "deal of the day" at GC is the Indonesian-made Stingray Ray4, which is an upscale model with roasted neck and 3 band EQ, for less than the Sub4? Huh? Normally in the mid $700s now only asking mid $300s, cutting price in half? Have read a few reviews since these came out about cast tuners on these that refuse to turn correctly after first string change, start wearing out super fast, etc. There is even a user review like that on GC's own listing. When I see 50% discount my spider sense goes off, somethings up. On the other hand, at this price, you could just throw the original tuners away, pop on some hipshot, and you might end up with a decent bass for under $500?
I must have missed the memo on Chinese made instruments being shockingly good in the 2000's, but other than that I agree. As far USA made instruments being shockingly good quality in 2030, we'll see. It would help if all the popular makers weren't located in high cost of living areas.
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Correction on this: it's the Ray34 listed for $450, not the Ray4. I had to go back and check. Listed as "deal of the day." It doesn't really pop up, you have to look for it. Seems all the stingrays are discounted significantly (uh, not the USA-made ones though).
In 70 or so years, I suspect that we'll be debating the merits of Mars vs Earth produced basses. And bidding against each other for vintage Cort/Squier basses...
I'm not sure I'd say that I think of USA made as particularly inferior, but I do find the pedestal of 'made in USA' to be particularly odd. As a European, this site is the first place I ever heard about this. 20 years on talkbass and it confuses me just as much now as it ever did but I have learned that the Americans are a particularly patriotic people.
This has always been the case. Less than stellar quality from factories in Asia, Mexico or the US is ultimately a business decision.
My Indonesian Nordstrand Acinonyx is one of my regular gigging basses. Outstanding quality except for the bridge, which is a bespoke Hipshot item.
I have had a lot of basses over the years, and still have. American, Mexican, German, Czech, Japanese, Indonesian, Korean and Chinese. Most of them have been very good and a fair few have been rather excellent. The Indonesian instruments certainly seems to be good and punch above their weight. I have no doubt at all that they can make basses well worth $1000+
They are not automating in those countries. Process automation requires large capital investment, and it doesn’t pay itself back when the labor is inexpensive. Automation is more appropriate for expensive countries like the US, Japan, and Western Europe.
But also, what do you all imagine is actually taking place in these factories?
They are taking components like tuners, bridges, pickups and the like out of a box. They mate parts together. They drive screws. They package the finished product. What makes one think that it’s so difficult that an Indonesian person can’t do it as well as an American or Japanese person? It’s not rocket science. If you need someone with 10 years of experience to bolt a neck on properly, then your necks and bodies are garbage.
The quality is the result of management. The workers will do what they are asked to do, as long as the process is well-designed (ie, it’s doable/ergonomic and repeatable). If a company producing in Indonesia has management that is committed to continuous improvement and making a good product, then you will get a good product. If a company in America is resting on its laurels, phoning in new product designs, and charging for its legendary brand status, then the results will vary. The variation itself is symptomatic of lack of focus on quality. You shouldn’t have to play 5 different basses of the same model to find the good one, they should all be the same.
I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I owned a boat for over 10 years, built in US, pretty large cabin cruiser. It was built in a heavily automated factory, many of the parts computer cut to fit together cookie cutter fashion. We admired the boats built largely by hand over in Taiwan, where they were masters of woodworking. Those boats held up better than our US made boats. The joiner work and cabinetry was in a league above ours. Relative to that, a bass is a very simple construction, but it still involves skill in working wood. First is choice and availability of the wood, second is the precision in which it is cut, then the care taken in fitting the parts, plus of course quality of the components. I think over in Indonesia they do the first and second things well, third and fourth may vary. Already talked about crappy tuners, things like that, but I think care taken in fitting varies the most. Have heard stories about people finding sawdust in neck/body joints, poorly aligned necks, etc. Of course I've also heard somewhat similar stories about MIM Fenders. And they there are stories about Indonesian woods drying out, screws stripping form body, fret sprout, finishes not lasting, etc. I don't know. Hasn't happened to me. My two basses were very well fitted and everything seems extremely well-made, on par with my USA Fender.
"The quality is the result of management" nails it.
I work for a very large manufacturer that was USA only at the very beginning but now worldwide. We have manufacturing plants all over the world in very civilized countries but also in very poor countries and the quality of the product remains the same no matter where it’s made.
People would be shocked if they would know the largest American heavy duty machinery manufacturer is using products from China and India but they all work fine without any failures.
Loving the implication that countries can either be civilised or poor.
Maybe I should have wrote : "industrialized or not" instead !
Again, cheap turner or parts in general are a corporate decision not made on the factory floor. If you get a bass with a cheap or bad turner, that decision was made ‘upstairs’ not by the gal or guy putting them on 
The folk on the floor will put on anything the corporation will supply to them.
As an example, I worked in a manufacturing situation. The headquarters wanted us to use inferrer printing stock because it was cheap. The folks on the floor complained that it was hard to work with and gave poor results in the finished product. The Heads insisted we keep using it, until the customers began complaining.
Of course, their method of dealing with it was to blame the workers first. When that didn't work as we had documented the trouble with the stock being used and letting them understand that their insistence on using the cheap stock was not going to improve it.
Guess what? Thinking being cheap would save them money, instead it cost them more money. The price of the cheap stuff then the replacement price of what they should have used in the first place. Then the spoiled work that needed to be replaced and the damage to their reputation.
Cheap is not always cheap or affordable 
The folk on the floor will put on anything the corporation will supply to them.
As an example, I worked in a manufacturing situation. The headquarters wanted us to use inferrer printing stock because it was cheap. The folks on the floor complained that it was hard to work with and gave poor results in the finished product. The Heads insisted we keep using it, until the customers began complaining.
Of course, their method of dealing with it was to blame the workers first. When that didn't work as we had documented the trouble with the stock being used and letting them understand that their insistence on using the cheap stock was not going to improve it.
Guess what? Thinking being cheap would save them money, instead it cost them more money. The price of the cheap stuff then the replacement price of what they should have used in the first place. Then the spoiled work that needed to be replaced and the damage to their reputation.
Cheap is not always cheap or affordable
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