When did foreign pricing creep up?

[saabfender]

IMO, Indonesian instruments have been excellent for quite a while now. Basses from South Korea are as good as those made anywhere. I've noticed prices climbing too, but I can't say they are overpriced in terms of quality.

My experience with axes from these countries is they are well-made but the maple they use is way too soft.

 

[ddezz]

Just wait until the Tariffs kick in and we will all cry!

 

[B-Lo]

I don't have a ton of experience with MIA vs imports, but I have a Fender jazz, Schecter Riot 4, G&L L2500 Tribute, Ibby SR655, LTD B1005SE, and the 30th Anniversary EBMM Stingray 5.

Of those, the Schecter and the LTD are what I currently prefer. I may have gotten the luck of the draw off the assembly line, but those two are top notch basses.

 

[Daniel Piper]

I play Reverend basses- beautiful instruments.

Their prices have increased a bit over the years- but so has the quality of hardware etc. they now use roasted necks as well.

So, while prices have gone up, so has quality- another example is Ibanez, who use Nordstrand pickups in lots of basses now.

I live in New Zealand - so ALL basses are 'foreign' to me.

The single biggest price increase that has caught my attention recently has been on EBMM USA instruments.

 

[dtripoli]

Fender Squier basses are about the same in price as last year.
Great thing about Squier basses they have a really low resale value, So If you look around you'll usually find a really nice sounding and feeling Squier bass. Over the past 3 years I've pick up from various sources, 4 really nice, Squiers.
2 - Squier Precisions

$100 black w/soft case and both were Affinity's the 2nd one also $100 but had Sea Blue color​

1 - Squier Jazz Standard black (The precursor to the Vintage modified models)

they are very hard to find no matter what shape they're in,
$130 and worth every penny​

1 - Squier P-Bass Special, black It's an older bass with the serial # and Made in China on the neck plate.

Not on the back of the headstock like most Squiers with the "Crafted in Indonesia" and the serial number;
Bought As-is for $90, Simple fix It just needed a nut and a bridge found both on line for less than $20

4 basses ($440.00) + $20 for nut and bridge. Any of these basses are gig worthy and I've use them a time a 2 for shows​

 

[mikewalker]

... Was stoked for a Gibson Explorer that was on closeout at my local ScamAsh but couldnt get down with it going out of tune every song and the fact that the paint was checking on an instrument that hadn't even been sold yet.
...

Honestly, "going out of tune" is generally pretty straightforward and inexpensive to fix. And "pre-vintaged patina"? I'm surprised they aren't tryna charge extra for that... Anyway - for me, neither of those would be a deal-breaker on a smokin explorer deal. I have a 2013 SG that I got dirt cheap new cause the finish and hardware were iffy... CLEANED UP REAL GOOD...

 

[MattZilla]

The dollar isn’t worth crap these days

$1USD=~0.43 turds

Buy used after shopping around

The price of wood that is even remotely suitable keeps skyrocketing and the labor force in south Asia are getting paid better now.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Honestly, "going out of tune" is generally pretty straightforward and inexpensive to fix. And "pre-vintaged patina"? I'm surprised they aren't tryna charge extra for that... Anyway - for me, neither of those would be a deal-breaker on a smokin explorer deal. I have a 2013 SG that I got dirt cheap new cause the finish and hardware were iffy... CLEANED UP REAL GOOD...

Gibson guitars actually have a an issue with tuning/intonation because of their scale length. It’s not the tuners. The high b and e strings cannot be tuned/intonated very well across the entire neck. You basically have to compromise based on how you play. You can either set it up so it’s very close on the first few frets which works for rythm Guitar players or you can set them up to be in tune playing lead high up the neck. But none of them have great intonation on the high b and e strings across the entire fretboard. They won’t fix it because they don’t want to retool everything

 

[Basstigator]

Regardless of the quality and wow factor, too bad you don't know the markup on these guitars. Knowing the cost to construct is the only way to see clearly what's going on and costs are lower in Asia across the board.

 

[40Hz]

I get what youre saying but believe you're missing my point. Its not that I want something cheaper... its that I'm shocked that the instruments are farmed out to korea or indonesia at that pricepoint. I had a Jackson Kv2 and SL2H that were purchased used, in mint condition for about the same as schecter is currently wanting for a korean made guitar. For a Schecter or Jackson made in korea, i would expect to pay about $700 tops but it seems I am wrong

It doesn’t shock me at all. People seem to assume that any manufacturing cost savings have to translate out to a lower price for the consumer. But there’s no rule it does. With decreasing sales volumes, manufacturers are now looking to maintain their bottom line by increasing their profit margin. So don’t expect their cost savings to be automatically passed on to their buyers.

With this destined for economic disaster trade war the US has touched off (and recently doubled down on plus has promised more to come) you can expect to see prices go up very shortly on a wide variety of consumer goods - if they haven’t already. Tariffs translate out to higer prices for the consumer. That’s what tariffs are designed to do. Force price increases to discourage customers from buying a product.

The full impact of this won’t be felt until sometime around the middle of next year. But it’s definitely coming. And please note this isn’t politics, it’s basic economics.

 

[40Hz]

Gibson guitars actually have a an issue with tuning/intonation because of their scale length. It’s not the tuners. The high b and e strings cannot be tuned/intonated very well across the entire neck. You basically have to compromise based on how you play. You can either set it up so it’s very close on the first few frets which works for rythm Guitar players or you can set them up to be in tune playing lead high up the neck. But none of them have great intonation on the high b and e strings across the entire fretboard. They won’t fix it because they don’t want to retool everything

That’s interesting. Never heard of that before. Intonation has nothing to do with scale length to the best of my knowledge. I know other things like the setup or fret positioning or a too high nut could. But not the scale length itself. So can you explain how that works? I’m always interested in learning something new.

 

[AaronVonRock]

Some basses that were selling for $400-500 in 2013 are now in the $800-900 range.

 

[reddog]

"The dollar's strength increased 28 percent between 2014 and 2016. But it has fallen 14 percent since then."

Why the Dollar Is Worth So Much Less Than It Used to Be

 

[todd0864]

I think you see the same thing with most brands really, even MIA instruments. Look at the Les Paul for example. The nicer ones went up in price, then the Studio line started creeping up to 1k, then they basically put the Faded line where the Studio used to be. The imports started making their products look more fancy, and the prices went up and up. It's been happening for a while now and will most likely continue into the future. I have a couple of LTD guitars and a PRS SE guitar, all 3 are pretty nice guitars. Buying them used is still a pretty good value. But yeah, it's been getting out of hand for about 10 years now.

 

[Warpeg]

Any time one of these price-related threads pop up, I feel I have to remind everyone of a basic Economics concept: Supply vs. Demand. (Smart) companies price their products and services based on customer demand at the most efficient supply point. Applied here, these instruments are priced based market research and supply curves. The bottom line is that the companies are pricing at the higher price point because customers are paying the higher price point. If demand for instruments at any certain price point changes, then smart companies will begin putting more effort into selling instruments that match the new demand.

 

[klejst]

Just about everything is going up in price it seems...

 

[74hc]

Stop whinning and buy a Kiesel is my remedy.

 

[Whippet]

don't forget the quality of cheap and cheaper guitars have gone up so I think it kinda breaks even.

 

[LoTone]

In 2010, I bought a Fender MIM Standard Precision for $549 CAD. Now, the same thing goes for $749 CAD. Manufacturers are mass producing like crazy and the prices are going up across the board. At the same time, different people are stating that the number of musicians, actually playing an instrument, is going down due to the rise of Electronic Dance Music (EDM).

So, is it like the few of us that are actually buying instruments have to pay more because instruments are a new rarity?

The whole thing does not make much sense.

 

[drummer5359]

The price of brand new imported guitars and basses have climbed a good bit over the past eight to ten years, maybe a bit more than the American made instruments. The other observation that I'll offer is that it seems to me that the gap between new and used imported instruments has actually widened.

I've played some really nice Schecter and LTD basses and guitars. The quality is good, but I do think that resale values is still not comparable with the imported instruments.

These are my opinions, your mileage may vary.