Well I appreciate everyone's input. I play Markbass exclusively, so I certainly am not bashing them. Not sure if or how anyone interpreted my words that way.
I'm an engineer, and I prototype and manufacture many things, own and run a business for more than 20 years, am a retired consumer affairs investigator for the government, and I'm paid by the government to teach civic responsibility and economics to labor unions, so that their members understand how shopping effects their family and community.
I posted here, on this topic, because I see far too many friends, family, and consumers, misunderstanding manufacturing, economics, and what "Made in America" really means. As the saying goes, knowing is half the battle. Heck if you really want the truth, every time a customer argues price with a merchant, they're contributing to things being made over seas. After all, if we just paid whatever it costs to make things, then everything would still be made here. Our quest for low prices has forced manufacturers to seek cheaper alternatives.
I'm not trying to sway anyone on anything. I'm trying to enlighten my brethren on topics for which I'm qualified to to discuss. If you go back to my opening line, there is fact and there is opinion. I never confused the two here. Until every amp manufacturer on Earth starts to put the same center frequencies on all of their amps, or God gives us all the the same ears, then... we'll disagree on opinions.
Although we can all agree that guitar players suck.
I believe in one single thing in life when it comes to government and manufacturing, and that's transparency. That is what my post is about. When the things that we believe in are changed without our knowledge, we feel deceived, and that's why people got upset with Markbass. I'm not one of them... because I knew better and I was informed.
People would flip if they found out that Burger King started making woppers out of ostrich. There'd be nothing illegal about it, many would actually prefer it, it's healthier... none the less it'd be construed as sneaky and they'd lose a ton of biz.
So in closing, after 20 years of wanting an Ampeg stack, I saved my money and could finally afford one. A month prior to buying one, Ampeg switched to overseas manufacturing and their quality suffered terribly. TB and the web exploded with angry customers who were stuck with $3000 boat anchors, and even if Ampeg fixed their stuff, they all lost time, money, gigs... I was so upset. All of my idols played Ampeg, and now what to do?
Money doesn't come easy to me, and that was too much of a risk. Why did this happen? You tell me. I wasn't there and I don't work for Ampeg, nor did I get screwed. They only facts that I have are; that the toughest most famous amps in the history of bass, moved overseas and then started blowing up, according to their customers.
Now if you ask my opinion, Ampeg amps suck butt's!! But, I also hate crab meat, so let's hear all of your arguments about that now too! Lol... thank you all for the respect and contributions. I appreciate the fact that you all saw me as trying to help. I've sacrificed the better part of my life trying to make the world a better place. Where better to do that than here?
When I need advice on playing... Jimmy M and B-line will be the first to pop into my heads... and when you want to know how an American made car is made in Mexico, you can count on me!
(Okay some do 
