does it matter where (bass) guitars are made?

[mikewalker]

I like to buy from certain countries for purely sentimental reasons - so in that sense, yes it does matter to me a little.

But as far as bass guitars go, if we're talking about anything produced in the last decade or so, probably the "street price" is going to be your best indicator of quality. There are still a lot of brands that rely on hype to inflate their list prices, so I wouldn't judge a bass by its MSRP...

 

[J-Bassomatic]

Yes, but what constitutes a "good job"?
Having to get a person to relieve you for a pee break might disqualify it from being a good job.

However, it's better than working in the fields for $3/day.

It takes all types, just like here at home, but I've found that the lower the pay-rate the more "good enough" attitudes you see. You know, "it's good enough to pass & get me paid".
A good way to counter this is with incentives. For instance, we'd throw a little Friday night party for the production line with the least amount of rework.

When the workers can't afford to have a booze cruise on their own dime, it means more & they almost all turn up.
Sure there's the few that don't want the party bit, but they are clever enough to toe the line & not ruin the numbers for the rest of their team.

Keeping everyone in check at the parties & not sleeping with each other is a different story

That's what I'm looking for, I have one-dimensional view based on MY experiences.

 

[jaybones]

Not much.

I try to buy American as much as possible, but as long as the quality is there (tone, comfort, materials) it doesn't matter to me.

I mean, pretty sure my Squier MIC and vintage Epiphone MIJ weren't made by children in sweatshops or political prisoners for slave wages.

 

[smtp4me]

The only thing it really indicates is that there are probably some differences in the equipment use. A Korean or Mexican built bass is almost never 100% identical to the US version as far as specs. They will use cheaper hardware, pickups, woods, paint, etc.

I agree with this in principle. I work in the IT field for a large company, and we regularly work with people from other large IT companies. All of them, including the one I work for, use "offshore" resources, and the primary reason is cheap labor costs, not necessarily cheap parts. For example, Lenovo has manufacturing facilities all over the globe, but when you buy servers from them, regardless of where they are manufactured, they all have the exact same components. Granted, I'm talking about IT hardware and you are talking about musical instruments, but I would imagine both are similar.

 

[TN WOODMAN]

How an instrument is played is more important than where it's made.
But...
It seems like guitars and Harleys are the last 2 things that people perceive to be better American made . American cars have made major quality improvements from their terrible years but still not thought to be as good as foreign cars by most .

The world has become such a global market now that raw materials , individual components and assembly countries of origin is so blurred it's hard to say Made With Pride In The USA.

When I bought my 2003 100th Anniversary HD literally every accessory I put on was MIA. Last time I was looking at chrome stuff at the dealer , many were tagged Made In China. I sold GM cars a few years ago and ordered a Chevy bow tie for a customer's Silverado-you guessed it Made In China. Lastly, same dealership flew American flags out front. Last flags we ordered -Made In China.

 

[Jeff Scott]

AFAIK, most "Made In The USA" stickers (that are seen an all kinds of products) are made in China..........................

 

[funkymonk13]

I didnt read the whole thread, but something a lot of people are probably missing is that difference in quality will have to do with different price points, not necessarily country of manufacture.

I think with cheaper instruments theres more of a chance that they'll be some issues on quality, electronics, playability, materials etc....Not necessarily, just theres more of a chance. More expensive instruments can still suck, but from my experience quality tends to be better as a whole.

But this is all because of price point. If you were buying a $2,000 guitar from USA, Germany, Japan, China, Indonesia...Quality would probably be good across the board.

 

[Sunset Shalom]

I think when it comes to buying anything in general there are 2 main choices, local or not. Supporting local businesses is always good, but a lot of small time local goods are very expensive.

So if you aren't buying locally then it doesn't really matter too much where it's from. The farther away the more resources shipping will take but with huge freighters moving goods anyways a few instruments aren't going to make any difference.

I have had stuff ship from Asia quicker then domestic goods, and the deals you can find overseas blow away most MIA goods IMO. People need to realize there are low and high quality goods from all over the world.

Something isn't inherently nicer because it was made in America or Europe just like things aren't necessarily lower quality just because they come from Asia. One thing to consider are standards though as different countries have their own.

Places like China have notoriously bad standards for some things, but that doesn't mean all their goods are bad. Just like some US stuff is very nice and some is overpriced crap. I think shopping by location is pointless aside from local goods.

 

[Sunset Shalom]

I didnt read the whole thread, but something a lot of people are probably missing is that difference in quality will have to do with different price points, not necessarily country of manufacture.

I think with cheaper instruments theres more of a chance that they'll be some issues on quality, electronics, playability, materials etc....Not necessarily, just theres more of a chance. More expensive instruments can still suck, but from my experience quality tends to be better as a whole.

But this is all because of price point. If you were buying a $2,000 guitar from USA, Germany, Japan, China, Indonesia...Quality would probably be good across the board.

There's definitely some truth to the saying "you get what you pay for", but with our modern technology it's become easier to make quality goods at cheaper prices and have better QC.

Likewise a lot of name brands have capitalized on the boutique market to the point where you are paying extra essentially for a brand name in many cases.

One good point for shopping locally is how much easier it is to return stuff for any reason, though ironically I think a lot of overseas sellers have better return policies as they don't want people spreading bad reviews.

While big established brands don't have much to lose with huge loyal customer bases, so they don't need to cater to their customers nearly as much. Some are better then others at least.

 

[GreyBeard]

If it plays and sounds good, it is good.

 

[bdplaid]

In my experience it matters a lot.

IME the wood matters a lot, and that wood is usually locally sourced. IME basses made in Indonesia weigh more, because their lumber is heavier. But they don't sound bad. I recently had a G&L Tribute JB that sounded great, but weighed almost 10 lbs.

One thing that bugs me about Chinese basses - aside from them being Chinese - is that the dimensions for things like pots are nonstandard and out of whack. even on their Fender Squier Affinity's, the parts are just different. Try to get a regular 3/8" pot to fit on a Chinese Jazz and you'll see what I mean. Or if you need a replacement knob. They use the small, cheap stuff. And it's all nonstandard.

The South Koreans seem to do a good job. I've had a Schecter or two made there that were quite nice.

The damning thing about Fender is that, even though one would expect the USA models to knock it out of the park, I much prefer Mexican Fenders to the USA models. The hand work is miles better on the USA basses, but somehow the Mexi Fenders both play and sound better. To me anyway.

It always depends on the individual bass, but IME the more advanced is the country of manufacture, the better the bass.

But then, my best basses are made by me using American parts.

 

[NoiseNinja]

It doesn't.

Tone is in the fingers!

On a more serious note:

I don't think it does anymore for a few reasons.

1. All the parts are machine milled these days. A factory in the US, Japan, German, and the Philippians can all have the same mill running the same program.
2. The rest of the world has caught up to the US. There is little training differences in an assembly line here in the US or in Asia. They read at the same level and have the same technical skills as we do here.
3. The only thing it really indicates is that there are probably some differences in the equipment use. A Korean or Mexican built bass is almost never 100% identical to the US version as far as specs. They will use cheaper hardware, pickups, woods, paint, etc.

Pretty much this!

It always depends on the individual bass, but IME the more advanced is the country of manufacture, the better the bass.

If that was true Japan made basses should be the absolute best.

More technologically advanced, higher educational standards, more strict work ethics.

And just to point out, USA is not really that advanced a country.

USA got a huge illiteracy rate, and their educational system is somewhat behind the standards that are to be found in most European countries, as example.

 

[madmaskbass]

If I am completely honest it does matter to me. I absoltuley love Warwick basses so owning a German one was important to me. Truly stunning.. I previously owned ESP basses and whilst the Korean LTD was great the Japanese ESP was a truly special instrument handcrafted by the best. I own a Korean Spector but I know that by owning it that some point in my life I will own a U.S spector and it will be incredible.

It's not that the second line instruments aren't good they are but honestly the extra attention to detail and craftmenship taken matters to me and that is important. My amazing girl always says that she loves that I am passionate about my instruments and their stories..this transcends wood and metal and is one of the main reasons I love owning special instruments. so in short YES..it matters to me but I am happy to own second level instruments that are good as well.

 

[Kukulkan61]

I prefer USA Fenders made by Mexicans!!

 

[Turnaround]

The climate where the instrument is made can be an important factor. And how it is shipped to market.

As an example, I have been doing repair work for an international distributor that handles a few lines of instruments from Asia and some from Europe. The problems in the instruments from Asia outnumber the problems from the European instruments about 10 to 1. The problems on the Asian instruments are mostly (90%) shrinkage of the wood. I visited the manufacturer to consult on they problems they were having. They had gone to a great deal of expense to install new kilns to dry the wood to optimum moisture content before the wood was manufactured into instruments. The kilns were high quality and were being utilized properly. But the problem was what happened to the wood after it came out of the kiln.

The first problem was that the humidity in the plant was very high most of the time. And the wood was stored in that humidity for quite some time before it was used. In that time, it absorbed moisture from the air and expanded. When the instruments were made from this wood all was well as long as the instruments stayed in the same environment. But when they were shipped they encountered a variety of different environments, most much drier than the manufacturing plant. And that was causing cracks, fractures and some were really bad.

The second problem was that the instruments were being transported to North America aboard ships. In shipping containers. On the deck of the ships. Under the sun. And exposed to high humidity and heat. A recording thermometer was packed into one of the shipping containers along with the instruments to see what was going on. The internal temperature of the container reached 140F degrees for extended periods. We didn't bother to measure the relative humidity in the container. Not surprising that there ware problems.

In the case of the manufacturer I was dealing with, the main wood of the instruments was of decent (not high) quality wood shipped in from North America. But some of the secondary woods were really inferior local woods. Wherever the finish was opaque, the cheaper inferior wood was used. This is not true of all Asian manufacturers - I can only comment on the one I have had direct involvement with. But the point is, regardless of where the instrument is made, there are quality concerns related to many factors - where the wood is sourced, how it is handled, the manufacturing processes and environment, the shipping environment and so many other factors. So it's short sighted to look just at the materials and the manufacturing processes, including the manufacturer's internal Quality Assurance controls.

This isn't the first time I have told this story on TalkBass - so forgive me if you've seen it before. I just think it's significant enough to bear repeating for those who haven't seen it.

 

[HamOnTheCob]

Of the 50+ basses I've owned, only 3 or 4 were bought new, and of those 50+ basses, I currently own only 5. From this, one could extrapolate that I tend to follow the used market, and that I tend to buy and sell.

Do I care where a bass was made when I'm playing it? Not one ounce. But if you've ever tried to sell a bass, you have perhaps become acutely aware of the importance of where it was manufactured.

I own a Chinese-made Fender Modern Player Jazz and it's a legitimately fantastic bass. Put it up against an MIA Jazz with a blindfold on, and you'll be hard pressed to tell me the difference. But, list both on eBay and tell me what happens. LoL

Whether it matters to you or not is irrelevant if you buy basses knowing you will likely sell them again someday, because it matters to the people who consider buying what you're selling. People want "MIA" Fenders, or sometimes "MIJ" Fenders. People want Warwicks made in Germany. They want USA Spectors. And it's not just a matter of whether you can find someone who "wants" the instruments you have for sale. Everything is desirable to someone. The magic happens when you have something popular to the real masses. That's when the price goes up, and you can make money. Accordingly, if someone offers me an MIM Fender or a comparable MIA Fender for the same price, I'd be a fool to choose the MIM. Not because I care where it was made, but because the next guy probably will, and I want to maximize my return.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Building bass guitars is mostly 1950's technology, well within the capabilities of any industrialized society. We like to mystify it with terms like "Mojo", but its just wood, metal, wire, and paint. Compared to the device you are viewing this thread on, it might as well be a hunk of chipped flint. As others have said, CNC files and machinery are everywhere, so it's down to the QC of any particular factory. Having owned a Steinberger bass, I'd argue that wood isn't even necessarily the best material to make electric instruments out of, sooner or later they will just get 3-d printed. Then we can all argue about which polymer sounds better.

Sir I respectfully disagree. I have a 1981 Ibanez Roadstar and a new Ibanez SR300EL. The SR300EL is half the weight, very modern contours, lightweight, and the combination of the new PowerSpan pickups and beautiful three band EQ and Volume/Blend are light years ahead of my Ibanez 1981 or even the Fender Jazz or P bass I owned in the 70's.

Although it is mostly simple wood construction, with computer aided design, computer aided sound analytics, and manufacturing techniques learned in the last 50 years the industry is producing basses at much less the cost but much more sophisticated than we used in the 70's.

The only way the materials coming from other countries is cheaper than US made is because the musical bass company specifies what materials to use. It's just as possible for the US brand seller to have a Chinese or Indonesian manufacturer use much higher quality materials.

The beauty of computerized manufacturing is you can set up a plant anywhere in the world. The results are the same. What also changes is wood-- what the quality it is, how wet or new it is-- or how long it's been put in a controlled environment to season and harden it. I've actually bought some Ibanez basses that were beautiful in concept but horrible in execution because the wood was green and wet. I believe U.S and European smaller bass builders will be much more picky about this sort of thing and will use very high quality equipment and materials.

 

[nostatic]

I have personally met the people who built 3 out of my 4 current basses, and have met the "big Kahuna" of the other one. I like to support small builders who I can converse with and develop a relationship. That (and the quality of their instruments) is worth the price of admission. Totally YMMV though...

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

I much prefer to buy instruments from countries with a high regard for workplace safety and human rights. That being said, I do not exclusively do so.

Is there any way to know the conditions of each shop where a bass was made? I don't want to buy a sweatshop bass

 

[flojob]

Is all my stuff American?
AmPro P
Fearful
Peavey MiniMega
Mono gigbag
Im not sure about the amp and bass. If I can afford it, I'd like to have USA stuff, since it's my home.