Where do off-brand basses come from?

[Jean Rodriguez]

In my eight years of playing both guitar and bass, I've noticed that the small music stores here in Puerto Rico mostly have some really weird branded guitars and basses. I'm talking about brands such as "London", "Firebrand" and even my own main bass which is an "AXL Player Deluxe". These are just the brands that I remember, I see so many weird branded copies at the mom and pop shops that I tend to forget the names. I've always asked myself "where do these instruments come from?". I know that they are all made in China, but I can never find a website or simple webpage about these weird off-brand copies. Also, how do these shop owners get these instruments in their shops in the first place? Again, I always see these in the small mom and pop shops. The big stores (we don't have Guitar Center or anything like that, but we do have big stores that carry all of the expensive name brands that we are used to) though having the good brands, they never seem to drive the smaller stores out of business. Oh my, I'm getting off topic. So yeah, the basic question is; where do these weird off-brand instruments come from and how do the owners of the small stores get them if there isn't even a webpage dedicated to them (as far as I know, at least).

 

[elgecko]

Distributors? I'm guessing most small shops don't get their merchandise direct from manufacturers.

 

[anavar]

i would like to know this as well. the local music "shop" down from my house has some super funky brands

Legend
aspire
AXL pro
Oynx series
EXP (thats a pretty obvious rippoff of ESP
spirit

all are the same super strat maple neck/board set up with an action higher than snoop dog. Or they're an acoustic guitar with thick matt paint in blue or green.

where the hell to they come from and how to shop owners find them?

 

[Jazz Ad]

It is very easy to buy a batch of instruments from OEM manufacturers and have it branded at your name. That's what they do.

 

[Jean Rodriguez]

It is very easy to buy a batch of instruments from OEM manufacturers and have it branded at your name. That's what they do.

But, who do you contact to get said instruments?

 

[Jazz Ad]

Instrument manufacturers of course. They used to be strictly BtoB but nowadays they even advertise on platforms like Alibaba. You can order 100 guitars with your own sticker on it.
Note that these factories typically also build instruments for well known name brands. Their job is to build instruments, not to distribute them.

 

[Jean Rodriguez]

Instrument manufacturers of course. They used to be strictly BtoB but nowadays they even advertise on platforms like Alibaba. You can order 100 guitars with your own sticker on it.
Note that these factories typically also build instruments for well known name brands. Their job is to build instruments, not to distribute them.

So, they basically go on the internet and order them? I still wonder about the brands. I mean, even though their weird, I have seen at least one of the same brand across different shops around the island. I'm guessing that they look at "X's" brand on guitar on a website like Alibaba and order a batch of those instruments.

 

[elgecko]

Wholesale Musical Instruments Distributor

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Jean Rodriguez]

Wholesale Musical Instruments Distributor

Invalid Link Removed

This explains quite a lot. Thank you

 

[MrMerrey]

There is a factory in South Korea that make the bulk of these copy guitars. A friend of mine's Dad used to run a music shop (before running a music became uneconomical) and he own branded a range of starter guitar kits himself. They are sold direct from the factory as unbranded guitars, he just did a logo and they stuck it on the headstock and shipped it out.

This is where all the guitar starter packs sold by department store mostly come from though I think the larger store go through a distributor.

 

[brianrost]

Asian mfrs building guitars under contract to the spec of an importer has been common since at least the 1960s. When living in South Korea in the 1970s I actually bought instruments with no names on the headstock, the factory would just slap decals with the importer's logo on before shipping. When I got back to the USA I saw similar instruments branded Hondo, Cobra, Memphis in stores.

 

[Dug2]

Foreign lands

 

[buldog5151bass]

These manufacturers probably contact the stores first. An example - I have a side business making custom baseball bats. I get contacted all the time from overseas manufacturers of equipment, such as batting gloves, offering to sell me their wares wholesale with my name on it.

Ah, the 'net and marketing.

 

[gln1955]

These manufacturers probably contact the stores first. An example - I have a side business making custom baseball bats. I get contacted all the time from overseas manufacturers of equipment, such as batting gloves, offering to sell me their wares wholesale with my name on it.

Ah, the 'net and marketing.

I'll bet you could get batting gloves with a Fender logo on them if you wanted

 

[BassUrges]

Well, son, when a double bass and a cello really love one another...

Seriously, you can get anything online. I source custom (non-music) products built to my specs, and it's easier than becoming a Fender Authorized Dealer. Barely harder than using eBay.

 

[DirkP]

One big retailer in Germany is selling Rondo instruments under their own label "Jack & Danny" for example.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

But, who do you contact to get said instruments?

I believe one of them is called KHM. Look into "Wolf" basses on TB and you should fin out the manufacturer, they make a basses for a handful of companies. Another couple more expensive options would be Cort or Samick.

 

[arbiterusa]

So yeah, the basic question is; where do these weird off-brand instruments come from and how do the owners of the small stores get them if there isn't even a webpage dedicated to them (as far as I know, at least).

Distributors. I used to work for/with the guys who eventually went and founded The Music Link, which are the people who import and distribute your AXL bass. They do have websites. They're hard to find. They don't list prices and usually don't list all the stuff they carry. Usual method of distribution is that these companies run a boiler room of telemarketers, who do nothing but call music stores all day to sell their stuff. Sometimes they're big places, like Musician's Friend. Frequently, it's the small music store downtown (if you're lucky enough to still have one of those). They also still send out print catalogs, if you can believe that. No online ordering.

That's the US end.

The distributors contract with factories in Asia with a set of specs, a test instrument is sent and approved, then assembly of a large order is done. I don't know how things are now, but back in my day (late 1990s) what you got in the shipping container might be a LOT different than the test article you received.

I was the product guy, going over to the factories and trying to beat some sense into them, while working in the Bay Area and making about 30% of what a secretary at a dot com company would have made. Couldn't take both the salary situation and the sociopath who ran the company I was working for, so I left.

There's a lot more to this than what I've laid out here, but these are the basics.

 

[Slevage]

Mostly from companies who used to make mosquito repellent.

 

[Watchootognbout]

I believe one of them is called KHM. Look into "Wolf" basses on TB and you should fin out the manufacturer, they make a basses for a handful of companies. Another couple more expensive options would be Cort or Samick.

That would be KHL.Co.
They made the bass in my avatar.
A Wolf WTHB-7W
Among others.Wolf,Woodo,HK and Raven West (KHL.Co.)Basses.