I think it’s equally important that other countries have as strong an economy as possible, maximize their manufacturing competencies, and that we all get along well with each other. Not a zero sum equation.
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Made in the USA
- Thread starter bulldean
- Start date
I agree with all your points, even if you've carefully avoided answering the question.
I would put it this way. If I were Canadian, I might well be inclined to play a Furlanetto Bass. But, I would not purposely avoid an instrument made in another country. Great instruments are great instruments, irrespective of where they are made.
Of course, others are welcome to their own opinions. But, I tend to think that if we allow ourselves to be divided, we are easily conquered.
Short answer....that's up to them. They are free to make their own purchasing decisions.
I think their economies are their responsibility. I would never sacrifice the health of my own countries economy to bring another's up, because I think empirically, it hasn't benefited us they way I'd like.
If they want to buy US product, or not, that is their choice. If I lived in another country I'd buy stuff made there first.
I buy mainly US made products, but not always. This goes for stuff outside of music too.
Nope. My MIM Road Worn is the best Fender P Bass I've ever owned, and totally smokes the US made American Original that I also own. I don't feel guilty--further, I applaud the quality work of builders on the line wherever good products are produced.
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I travel alot, some states have some kind of staple product or food
when in Wisconsin gotta get some cheese curds , texas its brisket, so on...
What if champagne wasn't made in France because someone figured out how to make it cheaper?
when in Wisconsin gotta get some cheese curds , texas its brisket, so on...
What if champagne wasn't made in France because someone figured out how to make it cheaper?
I don't really get the point you are trying to make here, but Prosecco or plain 'Vino Blanco Frizzante' already exist if you want cheaper Champagne-like products. You can't call them Champagne though, as they aren't manufactured in the Champagne region of France.
Cheese curds and brisket are surely pretty hard to mess up, no? I don't understand this fetishisation of poverty-grade cooking reliant on cheap cuts of meat, low-grade dairy products and heavy seasoning to mask the quality of the raw ingredients. Anybody can fling that stuff together. Maybe the devil is in the detail (like Fender-style instruments).
I am certain France takes wine pretty serous and so does texas take Bbq seriously as does Wisconsin with cheese.
I guess my point is it's a part of peoples culture.
Something Being made somewhere else that's not their culture and just a means for someone's monetary gains .
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I prefer to buy American made instruments. At this point the majority of my instruments are American made.
Wanting to "buy American" is part of this. However, a larger part is the attention and quality you get from a small shop where you can communicate directly with the luthier and easily get service as necessary. To that end I prefer to buy "Chicago" when I can. I definitely like to support local luthiers where possible.
As to the OP's issue, I don't feel any guilt when I buy a non-MIA piece of gear.
Wanting to "buy American" is part of this. However, a larger part is the attention and quality you get from a small shop where you can communicate directly with the luthier and easily get service as necessary. To that end I prefer to buy "Chicago" when I can. I definitely like to support local luthiers where possible.
As to the OP's issue, I don't feel any guilt when I buy a non-MIA piece of gear.
How does that apply to musical instruments though? Are you suggesting that electric bass guitars are intrinsically a facet of American culture, and anybody else making them is only in it for a quick buck? Leo Fender's entire production model was built on making a quick buck!
Wisconsin cheese curds are just wee lumps of cheese battered and deep fried. They eat something similar in Slovakia called vyprazany syr (I ate something similar there made from smoked cheese, braided into twists called korbaciky). Every country across Europe seems to have their variant, and it seems to stretch into the middle East. With all the will in the world the Wisconsinites didn't invent fried cheese, and the recipe isn't that hard to reproduce anyway. This is sort of the inherent problem with ring-fencing anything and trying to pin it down to one people or one culture.
To play fair, the quintessentially British dish of fish and chips borrows heavily from food production techniques brought to the UK by immigrants (mostly Jewish, which probably causes upset). Why is battering and frying food so prevalent across Europe and into the Far East (think Katsu, think schnitzel)?
Plus, British people aren't always that spiritually connected to fish and chips. My local 'chippy' was run for a while by a young guy who did not care. At all. I used to ask him what temperature he cooked different foods at, what sort of fish he used... I asked him once what his batter was made from and he replied 'Snowden', which is some sort of mystery white powder that was delivered in huge sacks. Again, this is an issue with fetishising cucina povera; just because it is traditional doesn't mean that is is lovingly prepared by artisan chefs.
And, to bring it even closer to home, my beloved haggis was not invented in Scotland. For one thing herbs and spices don't grow here in any sort of abundance (we have plenty of sheep though willing to sacrifice their earholes and arseholes for the cause, however).
If we are sticking with this stodgy foody allegory, Gibson Les Paul guitars represent a pinnacle of American guitar culture, right? Yet the main ingredients in the design stem from archtop electric guitars, which share most of their recipe with acoustic guitars, which share cooking elements from all sorts of other instruments from all over the globe.
And I haven't mentioned Leo Fender and basses in the same sentence yet because Talkbass Bingo dictates that we are due a 'WhAt AbOuT pAuL tUtMaRc???' sometime soon.
I buy the best thing for my application. Most times, they are not made in the USA.
My Kitchenaid mixer was made in the US! I was a wee bit disappointed when I saw that the mixing bowl was made in Korea!
I burnt the motor out in a cheaper mixer (and my girlfriend killed another trying to knead bread dough). The Kitchenaid cost more, but it is a future-proof design (you can mix in components from old Kitchenaid mixers, for example). It cost more, but that was about five years ago now so the pain has long since subsided and the mixer still works.
It's a global market that's not going to change, in sense the world is getting smaller that's a good thing .
I collect knives as a hobby and the knife market is awesome in alot of ways ,even makers in China make and design knifes . China makes and design some cool stuff and it's not all cheap by any means.
My point , Its good to see diffrent counties make and import stuff of their own designs.
I collect knives as a hobby and the knife market is awesome in alot of ways ,even makers in China make and design knifes . China makes and design some cool stuff and it's not all cheap by any means.
My point , Its good to see diffrent counties make and import stuff of their own designs.
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also... since this is still going lol.. I prefer to purchase from the country of the manufacturer.
Ibanez? I want MIJ
Jackson? I want the USA one
Warwcick? German please
I dont see much value in buying instruments that are farmed out since youre really just buying a samick or something with a different name on it. I own two.... as beater backups for shows.
Ibanez? I want MIJ
Jackson? I want the USA one
Warwcick? German please
I dont see much value in buying instruments that are farmed out since youre really just buying a samick or something with a different name on it. I own two.... as beater backups for shows.
i want to have stuff that does what i buy it for.
There's hardly any electronics anymore that isn't made in china. So there's that.
My main bass is made in indonesia, for a US company, shipped to the netherlands for all i know on a phillipinian manned vessel under the flag of panama, and sold to my by the worst kind of people in existance: salespeople. I bought it anyway because i liked it. Still do.
Next bass will probably be a mij. As long as it sounds and plays right, i'm good with it. Same goes for my car, my clothes, my motorcycle, etc.
There's hardly any electronics anymore that isn't made in china. So there's that.
My main bass is made in indonesia, for a US company, shipped to the netherlands for all i know on a phillipinian manned vessel under the flag of panama, and sold to my by the worst kind of people in existance: salespeople. I bought it anyway because i liked it. Still do.
Next bass will probably be a mij. As long as it sounds and plays right, i'm good with it. Same goes for my car, my clothes, my motorcycle, etc.
I rather feel pangs of guilt when I buy a bass (or amp) that was made in the evil empire United States.
