except that the Cadillacs and the Chevys are built in the same manufacturing facility to the same standards , by the same people, during the same shift.
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except that the Cadillacs and the Chevys are built in the same manufacturing facility to the same standards , by the same people, during the same shift.
This reminds me of when Long and McQuade opened in Ottawa in the late 90s and they carried German Warwicks. Now you never see them, only the Rockbass line.
I think the import lines are a good thing overall but you do have to be more vigilant when buying, especially used.
Wrong store?
My GC has maybe 120 to 140 basses, usually a few Stingrays.
Some of the import models, like the sterling ray4 are actually good. I do have one. I can not afford a Musicman. Ray4 is stable, couple of pickup adjustments, I play it on the neck side of the pickup and it sounds pretty good. Played it at every gig for over 3 years! I I wish I had a real musicman? Yes, could I charge one ? I just can’t justify. I could sell my other basses and buy a musicman, but I like having a couple different styles. Plus one of our gigs used to be at a part open mic at a rough joint. Would not want to bring something nice there. !
They certainly did when Fenders were being made in Japan, which is why Fender discontinued that practice.
Yep, varies. The GC nearest me has 43 basses in stock, only three over $1000, all Fenders.
Every GC I've ever been in has more basses than I do (sometimes quite a few more). But I've never been in a GC where they had more basses that I wanted to play than I do.
I think if the “real thing” wasn’t so over priced right out of the gate, the import models wouldn’t be nearly as popular.
Because most people who go to music stores don’t go there to purchase premium basses. So only a store aiming to file bankruptcy would stock the wall with domestic and boutique basses. It’s a numbers game.
And clarify I said “basses”. Because your store definitely has USA Strats, Les Pauls, Cutlass, Tele and others. Because for every 1 imported $500 bass they’re going to sell around 20 Les Pauls or Strats.
And
(And)
AND
When they do finally break down and order that L2500 because the handful of local bassists keep pestering them, it will end up on Reverb in 3 years because people will play it all day but buy it online.
As a lifelong bassist and guitarist but mostly a bassist, if you held a gun to my head and made me open a music store under threat of death, the only bass you’d see in that store would be mine. From home. So I could noodle during slow times.
Then substitute import for “bargain line”.
At the end of the day, a pair of jeans from Walmart is not the same as the same brand being sold at a higher end store.
Shoot, with all the brands that have major outlet presence, it has totally devalued their brand. When I see Ralph Lauren, I think of their outlet stores selling the cheap versions of their stuff…can’t imagine someone paying full price for their regular stuff just so they can look like they shop at factory outlets.
Opening different price points for people to buy your products at gives you more customers spending money.
Right on the money.
When I was in instrument sales, it was the mid to late 90's and I was there just as the internet was becoming an important factor. It quickly became apparent that we could not compete with online sellers; the profit margins we needed to purchase and warehouse inventory and employ a staff and keep a showroom open were significantly higher than someone drop-shipping merchandise through an online portal would need. That 20% profit margin on big sales that we needed wasn't sustainable- to the chagrin of my managers I found my self more and more often price matching to 15% and even 10% over cost, and that is why many of our favorite stores no longer exist today- they couldn't pay the bills.
The store where I worked had a reputation for catering to the working pro, so we did make a habit of ordering in a few premium pieces here and there but, as I mentioned, it was not unusual for those things to hang on the wall for many years.
What people don't think about is the fact that those things have been bought and paid for and, in most cases, can't be returned to the manufacturer. When you see something in a store, there's already money sunk into it by the store that can only be recovered if the thing sells. Therefore, store buyers aren't in the habit of taking lots of chances on things they aren't certain can be quickly moved out of inventory.
Yes, if you only look at Business/Marketing side of thing's their out for Sales and Profit and will use Manipulation, Deception and whatever means are at their disposal with a smile[sorta Human Nature for use all when we want something]
But, that does not mean engineering, design and assembly personnel don't give their best effort to produce value [with given constraints] at any price range and some may be better than others as in anything and everything around the Globe.
But, that does not mean engineering, design and assembly personnel don't give their best effort to produce value [with given constraints] at any price range and some may be better than others as in anything and everything around the Globe.
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Yea nothing good in the stores these days at all, for basses anyway. YOu may get 1 or 2 American Pro Precisions or an Ultra Jazz, but that's about it.
For guitars I see lots of high-end models at the GCs in LA. I don't get it. I HATE all the basses they have at guitar center.
For guitars I see lots of high-end models at the GCs in LA. I don't get it. I HATE all the basses they have at guitar center.
A good study in just this kind of thing would be Kramer. Admittedly, they didn't make as many basses as guitars, but they were not in the position to mass-produce much of anything, when their guitars first became popular and Japan manufacturing (I'm not sure which company) saved their bacon.
In a more anecdotal way, I have played a couple of my imports against their American "cousins".
I frequently tell the story of my Ibanez Roadstar II ousting my Fender P-Bass as my primary instrument.
I brought one of my (better) Epiphone Les Pauls to a national "big box" music store and selected a similarly appointed Gibson (In one major {to me} way, the Epiphone had a better feature).
If there was a difference, it was infinitesimal, at best and certainly the Gibson was not worth $3,600 more.
In a more anecdotal way, I have played a couple of my imports against their American "cousins".
I frequently tell the story of my Ibanez Roadstar II ousting my Fender P-Bass as my primary instrument.
I brought one of my (better) Epiphone Les Pauls to a national "big box" music store and selected a similarly appointed Gibson (In one major {to me} way, the Epiphone had a better feature).
If there was a difference, it was infinitesimal, at best and certainly the Gibson was not worth $3,600 more.
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Imagine a world where people spent as much time learning the answers to their questions in an economics class as they attempt to do while speculating on the internet....
If it's offshoring, then it would be hard to argue otherwise.
That's not always the case. Mustn't generalise
Used. Much like the automobile market. Some insist on new only . Others prefer letting the original owner enjoy the perks of newness & are happy to let them take the depreciation hit & enjoy the savings over new prices.
I’ve done both. I have instruments I bought new & others I found awesome deals on preowned, many modded with mods I approved of.
I gather British Leyland lost the plot towards the end of their tenure. They would develop different indicator stalks, requiring specific manufacturing, for the economy models of their cars. The cheap option would get to simply not drill out or cut out switch holes on a generic stalk, but instead they developed bespoke 'economy' parts for downmarket models. Lunacy.
