A POLL - Where do you draw the line purchasing a bass made in the Far East?

I support small luthiers here in the US. I'd rather have a few good instruments made by people I can talk to on the phone or in person than a collection of instruments made on an assembly line somewhere else. Thankfully I'm in a position where I can afford to do that and don't begrudge others who are on tight budgets. But given a choice of one $5K small luthier bass or 10 $500 overseas instruments, I'd take the single instrument assuming it did what I needed it to do. So ymmv.

 

I voted based on my past track record. I have only purchased basses sold in the US. I have basses made in the US, Canada, Korea, China and Indonesia. I don't really have an issue with buying directly from a foreign vendor; I just have never done it.

Where do I draw the line? Counterfeiting. IMO, it is one thing to buy a bass that looks just like a jazz bass and says "ACME" on the non-Fender-shaped headstock. If that same bass was a non-Fender but had a Fender headstock and Fender logo...well, for me, that is the line. If a company has a copyright, trademark, or patent on something, then the rule of law should be respected.

 

I wouldn't buy direct from someone overseas because if I had any problems (like my "top quality" guitar turned out to be junk) I'd have no recourse. But if I can play it and if it sounds good and seems well made, I don't care where it's made.

 

Four simple rules cover my bass habits...

1). I won't buy direct from any company outside the 48 contiguous states - too much hassle if things go wrong.
2). I won't spend more than $1000 on a bass made in the Far East - this is the global home for almost every brands bargain bass, if I'm gonna spend more it will be on the USA or European version.
3). I won't spend more than $5000 on any bass regardless of where its made - I have better things to spend my money on.
4). I will never pay full or non discounted prices for a new bass - I will typically go out of my way to find a mint condition used one instead. My goal is to buy it for about what I can sell it for.

These 4 rules have served me well and not limited my bass habits in any way.

 

Since nearly everything produced in China is a direct knockoff of American or European design to a greater or lesser extent, the distinction between "copy" and "counterfeit " is a murky matter of degree at best. Is it just the fake label that should irk us, or the systematic gutting of the American blue collar middle class we have all participated in by our pursuit of the cheapest possible consumer goods? Look around your house or apartment at the number and variety of cheaply imported goods, including the clothing you wear, and spare a thought for the legions of displaced American garment and manufacturing workers who used to make them. Fake bass guitars are a miniscule drop in the bucket in this ocean of merchandise. That seems to leave us purely to the dictates of our own conscience, and NOBODY on this forum should slam anybody else for making a different decision about buying a particular consumer item while giving themselves a pass on all the rest.

 

My sentiments, exactly.

M. M.

 

If it says "Made in China" or wherever it is made on it, it's not trying to pass itself off as something it isn't, and it's for sale in a legitimate retail shop, then it's fair game. Ibanez, Epiphone, Fender, Squier and probably others are like that. I wouldn't buy a fake Ric, for example, and I wouldn't buy anything direct from the far east.

 

My first go around with bass was in the 80's. In those days, the opinion was that the American stuff was the best there was and the Japanese stuff was CLEARLY inferior...but still really good. Boy, were were wrong about that idea. Today, my number one bass is another Charvel 4B, which is as close to the 2B I had then as I could find. That thing is a beast and is a better crafted instruments than most of the American made stuff today, and quite a lot better than the lower tier stuff made today, even though their prices tend to be depressed versus their quality.

Today all my basses are imported. I have a couple Chinese made Thunderbirds and an Indonesian Sterling SUB SB4. There are American basses made now I'd like to own, but there are several overseas made ones that I want, too....and I'm always on the lookout for Japanese made stuff from the 80's.

 

None of the above. I only own German-made instruments, and I didn't buy any of them in America.

However, I have no patriotism - the only reason to buy an American/European-made instrument over one from China/Indonesia/Japan/Malaysia/North Korea is that the American/European models are generally the top range of instruments.

 

@Gilmourisgod: You make good points here, even if IMO you presented them with more Fox-News style spin than is necessary. I think there is a pretty clear line between "copy" and "counterfeit." A copy looks very similar but has clearly visible differences that it doesn't take an expert to see. A "counterfeit" identifies itself as a brand it isn't and might even say "Made in the USA" on it when it isn't. But, to make matters worse, there are "legal copies" and "illegal copies," which is a distinction made by governments and lawyers. Whether the distinction between "counterfeit," "legal copy," and "illegal copy" is important is a matter that is between an individual, governments, and lawyers - your priorities and values aren't really my concern, so long as they don't affect me. And vice-versa. I really do think you should believe what you believe. My best friend has some really horrible and outdated (never should have been) values and opinions. It hasn't affected our friendship; I just ignore the stupid $#[email protected] that comes out of his mouth. From his point of view, I'm sure he does the same with me.

@GBassNorth: Those are good, simple rules. Give me the other four rules so that I can date you teenage daughter. Your rules point towards priorities that are different than mine. Resale value isn't a consideration for me, as I rarely sell. My absolute top price is far lower than yours, because I would rather have more basses than more expensive basses (even though I have some nice stuff), and I don't value the difference between a $1500 bass and a $5000 bass. My top price for an import is higher than yours - a nice bass is a nice bass. I appreciate your viewpoint though; given your purchasing goals, I'm sure those rules work well.

 

This is a forum with members from many countries - I would think the answer would vary a lot depending on your nationality; non-US citizens may not put the same value on "Made in USA".

 

Since that looks like a Cayman in your profile pic, I know where some of your money is going

 

International date line?

 

The surface area of the earth is 197 million square miles. The surface area of North America is 9.5 million square miles (4.8%).
The population of the earth is 7.1 billion. The population of North America is about 350 million (4.9%).

Outside of the USA is a really big place... The options for this poll are biased towards the minority.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I fail a lot of the time too.

 

Few good luthiers from Europe and Far East:

Jerzy Drozd
Marleux
Shuker
Warwick
Paul Lariat
JCR


Bachuss
STR
Aria
Moon

Personally I owned an STR, JCR and an ARIA basses all of them amazing instruments. Amazing luthiers, even a Marcus Miller 4 string made in Japan has a neck that is comparable with the custom shops. Where to draw the line is a difficult question, even in the same continent we have EL basses from a luthier from Brazil that are comparable with Fodera's so for me it is not really relevant where the bass is made as long as there is a good luthier that knows how to create a piece of art it does not matter the price or country.

 

Agreed, but I believe TalkBass is an American institution sitting somewhat in "international waters." The poll being biased doesn't mean you can't have valid input. How does country-of-origin affect your bass purchases?