Made in the USA

[Nev375]

Why? Do people outside the US not need money to eat and pay rent too?

I buy whatever fits my needs best from whoever built it at a price I can afford.

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

There's one country that has zero respect for our patents and trademarks, a practice which amounts to downright theft. I won't buy instruments made in that country until and unless that changes.

Understandable and commendable but it must be tough to live without appliances, shoes, cell phones, TV, electronics, any plastic object of some sort...Good for you if you can do that.

 

[bobalu]

Do you ever feel any pangs of guilt when you buy a bass (or amp) that was not made in the United States?

There aren't a whole lot of basses or amps that are actually made in the United States (even by "American" Companies such as Ampeg, Hartke, Peavy, Fender, Sadowsky (some), Epiphone, GK etc.). So no, I buy the bass gear I like best for me regardless of where it's made, which is usually off shore.

 

[40Hz]

In a word? No.

 

[diegom]

The OP's question is provocative and designed to create political debate which it sadly has.

Personally, I tend to avoid political labels and discussions, since they are based more on rhetoric than facts... Having said that, maybe that's why I didn't consider the post "provocative".

TL;DR In the end, it doesn't really matter! (IMHO!)

I fully understand. At some point, like someone mentioned above, if you saw the "Made in Japan" seal you knew you were buying a lower-priced, poorly-made, budget product. That has changed dramatically. Not just for Japan, but for most manufacturing. There is less "mystery" about manufacturing, due to trade deals, industrial espionage, and, as was also discussed earlier, IP theft (Under its many monikers).
Now we have standard manufacturing methods, with CNC and such, so the real difference come to fit-and-finish and quality of the raw materials. Again, since the world has changed so much, very few raw materials are sourced locally (wherever that locality is!). So, in the case of Fender, just as an example, FOR THE MOST PART, they use better woods, better hardware, better electronics and probably spend more time in the final set up. For that reason, they can demand a higher price (Chicken and egg??!??).

Similar argument can be made about mom-and-pop stores vs GC/MF corporate behemoths. What is better for the economy? Accept fewer choices because your cash goes directly back into your community? Or get exactly the instrument you want, recognizing this could be one more nail in the coffin of local retail???
I know, I just presented more questions while answering none!
Thank you for reading this far...

Diego

 

[James Collins]

Are you sure your basses are REALLY German???
My opinion is that the only thing we can (kinda) be sure of the the place of assembly!

I'm sure a good chunk of my basses are African by weight.

 

[nightchef]

I like to buy as locally as possible.

This is how I feel about it. Where possible, I will buy US-made, and furthermore, where possible I will buy New England-made, and Massachusetts-made, and Boston-made. It's not about nationality per se, it's about supporting the economic well-being of the community I have the closest connection to. If you could buy instruments from Mars I'd prefer Chinese instruments to them, on the same grounds.

"Where possible" means, when the locally-made option meets my needs at least equally well, and I can afford it, and I don't think I'm being asked to pay an unreasonable premium for it. When any of these things is not true (which is often), I don't feel even slightly guilty about buying something made in another country.

 

[pappabass]

As I elaborated on in post #128 I can't (won't) afford the cost of buying a NON American made Fender. It's irrelevant whether one can or can't "tell them apart" from MIM, a new non-US Fender or other brand knock off of a P or J purchase is actually a poor choice in the big picture.

Well, Fender is a US company, buying a MIM Fender still benefits a US company.
I guess that applies with cars, appliances, cell phones, etc also.

 

[Jehos]

I'm sure a good chunk of my basses are African by weight.

Bingo. I'm not sure where Panga Panga comes from, but it doesn't sound all that American to me.

I prefer Ibanez basses, so "Made in America" isn't even an option for me to overpay for.

 

[TolerancEJ]

My two favorite amps were made in Canada and England. Traynor and Marshall. At least I think the Marshall was British.

The only guilt I have was selling the Marshall. The Traynor is here to stay.

Cool, I learned something today. I didn't know Traynor was Canadian. I had an old P.A. that we used for band practice.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

They? Who are "they"? Can you see them? Can we see them? Are they from this planet?

They're HERE!!!!

 

[FrenchBassQC]

Made in USA is a weird phrase anyway. Suppose your Fender is all made in American shop. If the wood comes from Canada, is it made in America? If the pots are made of metal imported from England or China, are they made in America? Does it matter to you where the wire comes from? What if everything is actually made in America but they slap made in Mexico strings on the bass?

Almost all of my basses are German. I find them to be superior to my American basses.

You're wright, I bought a Fodera last year, it has a Pau Ferro fret board (Brazil or Bolivia) and the tone wood on it is Black Limba (West Africa), is there more American than Brooklyn?

My Toyota was made in Freemont, California!

Return it, they used the blue prints for the Ford Pinto 1972, SHE'S GONE A BLOW....

 

[MD Stingray]

I've owned over 100 basses and the made in USA basses are the easiest to sell, with the UK close 2nd, and Japan 3rd.

Not sure what that means.

 

[equill]

A basic economic point that seems to have been missed so far...

If you buy 'local' the money stays in your local economy and eventually back to you in one form or another - in principle. Hense, supporting "Made in <anywhere>" is a long term move that prioritizes supporting your community/region/state/country above just making a transactional decision based on what's good for you in the immediate transaction. Many corporate executives and many politicians would prefer that you don't connect the dots when they outsource internationally.

It hasn't been missed at all; many people in this thread subscribe to the same short-sighted view.

A corresponding basic economic point for you: if you trade with others, and others trade with you, the money stays in your larger (in both senses) economy and eventually comes back to you in one form or another. You forget that if I buy something made in the USA, that _also_ benefits your economy, and vice-versa - we make each other stronger. If you close your borders, whether explicitly or implicitly, this benefit fades away.

The USA is not independent and self-sustaining, nor is any other country. We all depend on trading with each other, and are the richer for it.

Even out sourcing can be a net benefit, if done with a long-term view of leveraging each other's strengths, like NS Design drawing on Czech expertise in bass-building. Where it tends to weaken us all is where it's done with a short-term view of cutting costs without regard to the impact on quality.

 

[smcd]

Bingo. I'm not sure where Panga Panga comes from, but it doesn't sound all that American to me.

I prefer Ibanez basses, so "Made in America" isn't even an option for me to overpay for.

Wellll….. technically that isn't true.


Made in the USA -

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Inventor of Alternating Current, the basis of magnetic pickups, speaker cones, transformers, etc : Serbian Nikola Tesla!!

Source of the 2nd gen Fender headstock:
A Croatian family of musical instrument makers.

Inventors of Resonator guitars (Dobros):
The Dopyera Bros of Slovakia.

Developer of treble-clef and bass-clef musical notation, and melody + harmony musical style: 17th century Western Europe.

Inventor of the Spanish style guitar: well...some dude in Spain.

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

I really don't get this fetish for "made in <my country>."
Even the "buy local" thing - everywhere is local to somewhere. Why penalise people for the sin of not living closely enough to you?

Patriotism can be useful in small amounts, but mostly it comes down to "my country at the expense of all the others" - and that just doesn't work out well in the long term. We're all people, wherever we are - if we all play well with each other, we all win.

I agree with your assessment of nationalism, but for the "buy local" thing, I take that to mean that you should buy local produce, local products, mostly from makers or farmers or producers who don't have the scale of production to compete in a global market.
Like, go to the local farmers market for your grocery basics, then hit your chain grocery store for whatever's left on your list.
Need band shirts and have a buddy with a t-shirt press? Hit him up, get a quote, and see what he can do for you.
It's about sewing back into your local economy, your neighborhood.
It's not about "penalizing people", it's about caring for your neighbors.
And don't chastise anyone about where they buy their goods. Of my basses, one is MIM, one is Indonesian, one is a mutt whose body I built in my dad's garage, and one is from a local luthier. I built my cab with baltic burch, chinese speakers (sorry, Eminence), and American elbow grease.
I like my produce and eggs local, my bread I make at home, and good beer, no matter the country of origin.
And I HATE nationalism.



p.s. eating local vegetables actually helps to decrease local allergies, like cedar and such.

 

[FishDub]

Do you ever feel any pangs of guilt when you buy a bass (or amp) that was not made in the United States?

Nah...Some of the MIJ/Czech made basses I have owned have smoked some of the USA basses I have owned. BUT, the same is true for the opposite. I really and truly believe that all basses, regardless of where they are made, have their share of lemons and some killers..Weird huh? Also, don't forget that some of the famous players have used and recorded with non-USA made instruments--Nathan East, Duff, Patitucci and the list goes on and on

 

[fishdreams]

I do feel a pang of guilt when I purchase something picked, killed or (dis-)assembled in a big agrarian field, abattoir, factory or whatever operation that puts its owners/investors over its workforce by underpaying, contract-hiring, and union-depriving its employees, whether that is in the USA, China or elsewhere.

I'm happy that my next bass is being built from scratch by a local builder in upstate NY. I'm not American and patriotism has nothing to do with it.

 

[gazzatriumph]

I've never given a second thought to where my gear was made, if I like it, where it is made is irrelevant.