Chinese Botiques?

[Hapa]

Are you kidding? It seems as though you're defining efficiency as producing the item for the lowest cost to the manufacturer. How they accomplish that is the whole question. So let's see ... how do the Chinese accomplish that "efficiency"? (Hint: think about the highest cost to virtually all employers.)

I know what you are saying Munji...I just didn't want to derail from the OP...too much.

The efficiencies are largely human, this is obvious. For sake of argument, the 24 hour a day factories are filled with people that want to work, are happy to work, and generally speaking in good conditions. I know they can be precise when asked, they make a lot of our optics for camera's, rifle scopes, etc

I have many colleagues that regularly visit the Asian factory's. China for better or worse doesn't have to deal with the liability and insurance complications. Like the US factory's the people that are attracted to working at a musical instrument factory are the same kind of people. The environment is better than walking through the city and because they have to remain competitive, dust control is top notch.

 

[Hapa]

The answer is No. The reason: Because they are in business to make a profit.

Why would they not make a profit on a bass like that? Because the reason the boutiques can sell basses at the prices they do is, in part, precisely because they are so hard to get.

After you get to somewhere around $2000 - 2500 in price for a bass, the differences that justify higher prices are so minute that only a fraction of even the people who buy them can REALLY tell a difference. The rest of the people who buy them are really just buying the name and the knowledge that true experts agree on the superiority of their instruments. If somebody goes and mass produces basses to offer for sale at $3600, they're just not going to sell that many of them. The majority of people who would spend $3600 on a bass are only going to do so when they know they are getting a certain level of quality AND they're getting a boutique name. And there's not that many people that would spend $3600 on a bass in the first place!

It's the same reason mass-produced Corvette Z06s totally match the performance of cars that are made in much smaller numbers and sell for $200 - 300K, and the Z06 still sells for $75K. If Chevrolet said "the Z06 is just as good, in every way, as this Ferrarri xxx, and so we are offering it for $200,000" and they made enough to put one at every dealership, they would lose their butts!

Oh I know it would likely never happen. Just for the same reason that small builders don't do it for the money...

If a wealthy so and so wanted to make a splash in the bass world while there is still a market, market to the entire world with an undeniably rock solid distribution system. The one problem would be selling them, I know but that can change quickly. 10,000 basses world wide isn't that much and it would have the potential to really hurt the boutiques market. If that so and so was aiming for market penetration and getting rid of competition to gain market share...

 

[Hapa]

In theory, a Chinese boutique bass wouldn't be sent by the container load.

Yea kinda mentioned in my first reply, and a mix of others. Finding a person in china that builds boutiques would be the first trick. Then getting it out of the country and paying for it. If it was say $2000 export costs would make it upwards of 80%. Im pretty sure that it would be considered a luxury item since it is so specialized and a $2000 price tag in china is not afforded by 99% of the billion people. This is not to say that if you found the dude to build it and had the money to pay for it. I have no doubt it would be off the hook.

Do a google search for chinese puzzle boxes. The Chinese have been kings of wood working and inlay for centuries. Don't let the fact that the majority of the stuff we tell china to make for us is cheap crap made to bring down the bottom line.

 

[schwartzbass]

There's a good video on youtube on how the overwater basses
made in China are all made to the specs of the uk basses. I've been debating it but with all this support of Chinese craftsmanship, I think i may get one.