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Chinese Botiques?
- Thread starter cfsporn
- Start date
bongomania
Commercial User
A visitor could easily travel to the US and see identical strip malls in every town, and watch our lowest-common-denominator "news" shows, and have business meetings in countless identical rented office buildings, and come away declaring that the US has no artists, no culture other than mindless conformity, no possibility of great luthiers of talent, dedication, originality, etc.
Which ones? Dingwall Combustions are North American parts, Chinese manufacturing (according to their own website). MTD Kingston - mine definitely had 'Made in China' on the headstock, although the older ones were Korean. The 'Overwater by Tanglewood' range... can't confirm but I'm sure I've read they're made in China.
(Didn't know Ibanez had an Indonesian factory - thought most stuff out there was made by Cor-Tek, aka Cort. I have an Indonesian Cort-built Squier I really like.)
Turnaround
Commercial User
I like the 苍韵.
There are high-level builders all over the world. And there are those who make boutique-looking instruments that are junk. One in particular that came for repair was a mandolin built in the Far East. Beautiful inlay work, great finish. But it had no internal bracing. You couldn't even bring the instrument up to pitch without the top collapsing from the pressure.
OTOH, I've seen some really nicely crafted instruments from various parts of Asia. But I also note that at least one high end America guitar maker sells more of his instruments in Japan than anywhere else. You'd think they might buy locally if the quality was there. But I suspect the real answer is that this particular American maker just makes really fine instruments - period. Quality really has no international boundaries.
True. There are many MIJ Fender fans outside Japan. There are probably also many MIA Fender fans in Japan.
I'd imagine most countries have quality luthiers/manufacturers. Some have the advantage of high volumes to offer cheaper prices. Some have the advantage of being local and so there's no import duties or overseas shipping cost.
I say it often but my handbuilt 5-string PJ, with 4-way switching, asymmetric neck, beautiful black limba top, quality hardware etc was cheaper than a standard factory-produced MIA Precision or Jazz. That's purely because I live in the country where ACGs are made but the opposite side of the Atlantic from Fender.
every other video of keng has him throwing down on some wooten, i find it hard to believe that no one in asia is making boutiques . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTZbjWn3yVU
keng is thai
keng is thai
Let's face it. Given the technology, equipment and wealth of information available today, a finely crafted instrument can be made anywhere in the world.
Right now, some of the most expensive furniture brands you can buy are made, assembled, and finished in China. The same can be said of many other high end products we pay dearly for here. Walk in to any Saks 5TH Avenue, or Neiman Marcus store and look at the labels. China has the capabilities to make anything you want with high quality.
Right now, some of the most expensive furniture brands you can buy are made, assembled, and finished in China. The same can be said of many other high end products we pay dearly for here. Walk in to any Saks 5TH Avenue, or Neiman Marcus store and look at the labels. China has the capabilities to make anything you want with high quality.
Chef
In Memoriam
The ultimate bargaining tool for people who make offensive statements but cannot be bothered to back up or defend their views. Lazy bigots seem to always go for this line; "just grow a thicker skin dude".
I'm sometimes surprised by the jingoism and xenophobia on this forum, and sometimes not. Some forum posters regard it as a virtue.
- Sep 4, 2010
- 3,304
- 2,730
- Disclosures
- Endorsing: Martin Keith Guitars
there is a centuries old high grade woodworking tradition in Japan. Techniques such a taking a rowboat out into open water to lacquer your piece, so absolutely zero dust comes into play. In order to make the grade as master woodworking craftsman, you are required to hand build 2 wooden boxes, that slide into each other. You have to be able to exactly match a predesignated slide-in period the first time around in order to pass the exam.
So what was it again about us "teaching them the art"?
Roy Vogt
Supporting Member
- Sep 20, 2000
- 4,433
- 537
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- Endorsing Artist: Kiesel Basses, Ampeg Amplification, Hotone Ampero II effects
Wow... So you want to call me a lazy bigot? And other TBers as jigoistic and xenophobic... talk about offensive. Good thing I have thick skin.
It's tough to compare Asian and Western manufacturing philosophy when it comes to quality.
In the west we have mass producers and one off guys. In asia they have mass producers and one off guys.
The difference between them is in Asia the mass producers are capable of producing the same quality as the one off guys, but only if their customer specifies that level of quality.
In short, it is not so much their lack of ability to produce a quality product in Asia, it is the people buying their products that dictate the quality of that finished product.
I've worked with a group importing bench top lathes and another group importing gasoline powered large scale model aircraft engines and in both cases we had a choice of how well we wanted the finished product to be and it all came down to price of the finished product.
We wound up with 3 different levels of lathe which were all built on the same basic castings but differed in both the quality of casting and the amount of finishing on those parts.
Our best lathe was capable of dead nuts accuracy with little more than a good setup out of the box. Our lowest cost offering required quite a bit of way scraping and final hand work on most of the major components before it was capable of any real accuracy.
I suspect if someone was of a mind to offer a coffee table type bass on a mass scale, and was willing to pay for such an item, it wouldn't be too tough to find an Asian mass producer that would be more than up to the task of delivering such an animal.
Like everything else on this planet, it all comes down to money.
In the west we have mass producers and one off guys. In asia they have mass producers and one off guys.
The difference between them is in Asia the mass producers are capable of producing the same quality as the one off guys, but only if their customer specifies that level of quality.
In short, it is not so much their lack of ability to produce a quality product in Asia, it is the people buying their products that dictate the quality of that finished product.
I've worked with a group importing bench top lathes and another group importing gasoline powered large scale model aircraft engines and in both cases we had a choice of how well we wanted the finished product to be and it all came down to price of the finished product.
We wound up with 3 different levels of lathe which were all built on the same basic castings but differed in both the quality of casting and the amount of finishing on those parts.
Our best lathe was capable of dead nuts accuracy with little more than a good setup out of the box. Our lowest cost offering required quite a bit of way scraping and final hand work on most of the major components before it was capable of any real accuracy.
I suspect if someone was of a mind to offer a coffee table type bass on a mass scale, and was willing to pay for such an item, it wouldn't be too tough to find an Asian mass producer that would be more than up to the task of delivering such an animal.
Like everything else on this planet, it all comes down to money.
