Wait, what do Chinese sweatshops have to do with Korean-made Lakin basses? Oh, never mind...
Yeah. Sad, innit?
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NBD: Dan Lakin JO
- Thread starter ModuMan
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Yeah. Sad, innit?
I KNEW it! I'll wait myself for the US Made 'GREAT LEADER" Basses.
And it's ok too if they are built in Japan Asia!
And thank YOU! for your joy-inspiring posts throughout! innit!
(I hope you don't have a pet!
)
This bass is as unappealing as can be. At that price with the bad attention to details, I don't understand the commercial logic.
And thank YOU! for your joy-inspiring posts throughout! innit!
(I hope you don't have a pet!
A way with words, I have.
Well, thank you for helping derail a thread about a specific brand of basses into a broad discussion about import basses vs. US ones. The first million of those simply weren't enough.
Totally agreed.
And I'll add what many are thinking but probably fear too many slings to write. He failed at running Lakland despite the huge advantages from his wealthy family making it all possible to begin with, and he'll most likely fail at this too once the goodwill of the name is exhausted which, if details in this thread are any indication, should not take long.
I write this as a HUGE fan of my Lakland bass.
I'm curious why he failed at Lakland to begin with. But I suppose that shows that outward success doesn't indicate success.
You're welcome, although it does seem a bit odd that I've enjoyed good back and forth with several other posters about a myriad of tangential subjects, as a good forum should be; enjoyable, with others whose knickers are less wadded than yours seem to be about it...
Innit?We done?
Ah, I disagree with the generalizations and piling on, so it's ad hominem time. Have fun with that.You're welcome, although it does seem a bit odd that I've enjoyed good back and forth with several other posters about a myriad of tangential subjects, as a good forum should be; enjoyable, with others whose knickers are less wadded than yours seem to be about it...
We done?
Ah, I disagree with the generalizations and piling on, so it's ad hominem time. Have fun with that.
...Coulda SWORN we were done!
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,348
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
The only bass that I've regularly played since 2008 (Dingwall Voodoo-Zebra) has sustained exactly one injury, a chip to the headstock. I did that at home and ended up regluing the chip to make it not noticeable from about 5 feet away. Other than that, I've had that bass in my hands every day and gigged a fairly active schedule in several bands without any other damage. I've played it enough to wear the finish off the back of the neck, but the body is 100% clean. My 2005 Dingwall AB-1 was sold this year and for all intents and purposes looked to be a 98 out of 100 condition-wise after 3 years of being gigged regularly and sometimes heavily.
It's weird to me that Dan knew that bass 001 was a 'deal', maybe moreso than any of the others and that the first bass would be a bit of a 'fanfare' kind of instrument and this happened. But then, its been commented in the past that he's a business man, not a bass player/musician or collector.
davec
Supporting Member
- May 4, 2006
- 1,891
- 878
- Disclosures
- Owner; Cody Electric Basses ( Now Closed) sales @ Sweetwater
So let me see If I got this right, #001 which was most likely checked out by several folks waiting to see what these new basses were about got put in the wrong box and shipped without a bag.
It sounds like this was shipped in error. Is Dan going to make it right?
Can someone please explain to me how Lakland Failed? Dan ran Lakland for several years very successfully, after which he sold the business to John and Bo. The business never declared Bankruptcy.... how is that failure?
It sounds like this was shipped in error. Is Dan going to make it right?
Can someone please explain to me how Lakland Failed? Dan ran Lakland for several years very successfully, after which he sold the business to John and Bo. The business never declared Bankruptcy.... how is that failure?
The pic posted with all the pink uniforms was actually a mean processing plant. Not exactly apples to oranges, but it sure looks clean to me.
As someone who has traveled overseas and been into factories in several parts of China and Korea, there is a wide range of standards depending on city, industry, size of company, etc... There are tons of businesses in Canada or the US that operate like sweatshops... try visiting a powder coating plant or foundry some time.
I can't speak to which factories others have been to, but by and large they do have all the latest equipment AND the employees have whatever uniforms and safety gear they need. I'm in electronics so anti-static uniforms, gloves, hats, masks... you name it they are all used and in the plants where they do injection molding, extruding, painting, etc... the factories ranged from small operations behind someone's house to those with hundreds of thousands of square feet.
As for the musical instrument business over there - we have access to plenty of pictures and videos from factory tours and such. They're pretty respectable looking places, though there can obviously be shortcut operations too. China, Korea, Japan... Indonesia, Vietnam... it all comes down to what you pay for and demand as a buyer. They can make goods that meet or exceed the quality here if they are paid for it, but will still cost less because you can have 6-8 workers there for every one you have here and because of this, they certain CAN afford to same attention to detail if it's demanded.
That said - I don't know who Dan Lakin is dealing with or what their factories are like, but you can bet that when big companies like Cor-tek pull up stakes and head to Indonesia that there are many skilled instrument builders left looking for opportunities. Many specialty and artisan type operations have opened up and some of them even outsource to Indonesia and China now.
Only Dan can answer for why his pricing is what it is, but if he's using his initial releases of Ps and Js to build up a following with a more healthy bottom line before branching out into more innovative designs, then all the power to him. He did it the other way around last time and didn't do as well, but that could also be influence by how many kids or mortgages or cars someone has and not just if the business itself is sustainable. He's free to ask what he wants and buyers are free to vote with their wallets.
As someone who has traveled overseas and been into factories in several parts of China and Korea, there is a wide range of standards depending on city, industry, size of company, etc... There are tons of businesses in Canada or the US that operate like sweatshops... try visiting a powder coating plant or foundry some time.
I can't speak to which factories others have been to, but by and large they do have all the latest equipment AND the employees have whatever uniforms and safety gear they need. I'm in electronics so anti-static uniforms, gloves, hats, masks... you name it they are all used and in the plants where they do injection molding, extruding, painting, etc... the factories ranged from small operations behind someone's house to those with hundreds of thousands of square feet.
As for the musical instrument business over there - we have access to plenty of pictures and videos from factory tours and such. They're pretty respectable looking places, though there can obviously be shortcut operations too. China, Korea, Japan... Indonesia, Vietnam... it all comes down to what you pay for and demand as a buyer. They can make goods that meet or exceed the quality here if they are paid for it, but will still cost less because you can have 6-8 workers there for every one you have here and because of this, they certain CAN afford to same attention to detail if it's demanded.
That said - I don't know who Dan Lakin is dealing with or what their factories are like, but you can bet that when big companies like Cor-tek pull up stakes and head to Indonesia that there are many skilled instrument builders left looking for opportunities. Many specialty and artisan type operations have opened up and some of them even outsource to Indonesia and China now.
Only Dan can answer for why his pricing is what it is, but if he's using his initial releases of Ps and Js to build up a following with a more healthy bottom line before branching out into more innovative designs, then all the power to him. He did it the other way around last time and didn't do as well, but that could also be influence by how many kids or mortgages or cars someone has and not just if the business itself is sustainable. He's free to ask what he wants and buyers are free to vote with their wallets.
You're reading too much into this. It wasn't a loaded comment.
I simply meant that if the first few had been inspected with extra care - which would be sensible for a new product launch - this wouldn't have happened. I'm not suggesting the first few are packaged in the same way.
Good post.
As I mentioned, the "pink uniform" pic was googled. The Shenzhen Province plant I went to was as neat as a pin. It was organized, shifts went on break to the tune of recorded Chinese trumpets, and there were monitors everywhere, for the machinery, for the workers, for...US!.
It was so regimented as to be scary, and I can guarantee you the workers have more fun at G&L, Rickenbacker, and I KNOW EBMM; I've been there!
I don't know much about Korean production, only that the automakers have gained much respect lately. I have no doubt they have modern facilities in which to make a very good bass guitar, which is probably what D Lakin has done. Good on him, and may he find his market among TB'ers and others.
Actually it was a loaded comment. All I did was read your exact words. If you're now saying that you don't say what you mean, and don't mean what you say...then fair enough.
Yet again...
"I simply meant that if the first few had been inspected with extra care - which would be sensible for a new product launch - this wouldn't have happened."
How does anyone know how much "extra care" was given to these basses? We don't know anything of the sort, only that the foam bag was mistakenly left out on Bass #1. Is there something else? I fail to see the massive neglect that is being implied by many posters in this thread.
If the Lakin basses continue to have issues, then we can all jump on the band wagon and assume that Dan Lakin has mysteriously morphed from his former competent self, into a thoughtless boob. But for now, we're looking at a sample of one.
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If I recall correctly, the OP stated that per his subsequent exchange with Mr. Lakin that the omission of internal packing materials to protect the bass was not a mistake but rather something he didn't feel was important. The OP has also stated that there are other issues, and either alluded to or flat-out stated that issues include some that were not mentioned here.
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