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Who REALLY makes your bass?
- Thread starter mbell75
- Start date
This has been going on forever . Danelectros and Harmonys being sold under the Silvertone badge back in the late 50's . I know my Longhorn reissue was made in the Shinko factory in Korea . I have a couple of Epis that originated in the Unsung factory in Korea . They are fine instruments . And then the usual American made instruments . I am fascinated by the Japanese and Korean instruments though , and the factories that made them . This site has a nice run down of who made what in Japan . Invalid Link Removed . I wish there was a site with the Korean factories . And the Chinese and Indonesian ones too .
Well, because most people are under the impression that their Squier instrument was actually MADE by Squier, not by Cort who sells similar guitars and basses for half the price. Many people find that shady business. Thats like paying $30k for a Toyota that was actually made by Kia while Kia sells that same vehicle for $15k. You are paying a premium for the name on the headstock (or badge on the car) while that company really had little to do with the production of your bass or vehicle. Get it?
My basses are made in the usa by alembic and i have travelled there from the UK to collect one of them from their workshop in Santa Rosa and seen their operation first hand. So i know absolutely where they are made.
No I don't get it. if those people are paying more for the X brand because it says X on the headstock, rather than actually playing it and deciding if they like it or not, then I have nothing to say. I don't care who makes the instrument, or what it says on the headstock. An instrument is a tool.
Unless you know they are the exact same parts, you don't really have a basis for saying these things, do you? Again, as I said and as I think the guy in the video said, not everything that comes out of a Cort or Samick factory is made with the exact same parts or attention to detail.
Yeah, you would definitely have to see the video to know what I was referring to. He said that companies such as Fender, Gibson, etc. would use Grover-branded tuners, for example, that Grover had outsourced the manufacturing of to someone overseas for a lower cost and quality. Similar deal for Duncan pickups, although as I said and others have as well, those say Duncan Designed when they're not actually made by SD so there's no deception there. I'm not sure how the Grover tuners made by others are labeled.
Where are you getting this half price idea?
wintremute
mediocrity at its finest
- Oct 16, 2014
- 6,942
- 29,551
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Langstrom Carrot Farms
You did say "same" with your Kia example. I really think you're stuck on a false premise that clones are being shipped out under different labels at different prices.
Ibanez designs everything, sends the instructions to a factory, and they build it according to those specs. Ibanez then has to market and sell those instruments, and try to make a profit on it. They're not doing anything shady. If you don't like it, then don't buy it. But I'm at a loss as to why you're trying to convince others that we're being hoodwinked when we're not.
I don't think it matters where it's made however mostly you get what you pay for, sometimes less. I own a MTD Z6 made in Indonesia and it's a nice bass, not as nice as a USA MTD but well made. It was not however a cheap bass to buy so the price reflects the quality in this respect. Sometimes the same wood types but different quality make a difference. I have a Squier JB (China) and a USA Fender JB, alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, I installed the same pickups in both. Are they different? yes! The USA sounds better and I put it down to the quality of the woods and the build but not the country of origin.
Companies actually used to build things. Now, they just outsource everything and are just meaningless brand names that go on headstocks to allow them to charge a premium. Most people assume when they buy a Squier or an Ibanez or an Epiphone, that those companies actually made the guitar, not the same company (Cort) making all 3 on the same cookie cutter assembly line. This video is a great endorsement for buying US made instruments.
That's my point. If it ain't the same, how can you claim it should cost the same?
Tuesday Afternoon - The Moody Blues 
Wrong thread, sort of.
I know four (five if the Carvin was) of my basses were made in California. Two Rics. That's cuz John Hall'd sic the baying hounds on anybody who'd dare copy it. Two Fenders old enough that there were no other places making them. A Gibson from Michigan. A Fender from Japan. A Hohner from Japan, too. A Prestige Hofner copy proudly touting its Japanese heritage, and some mutts from around the globe.
Wrong thread, sort of.I know four (five if the Carvin was) of my basses were made in California. Two Rics. That's cuz John Hall'd sic the baying hounds on anybody who'd dare copy it. Two Fenders old enough that there were no other places making them. A Gibson from Michigan. A Fender from Japan. A Hohner from Japan, too. A Prestige Hofner copy proudly touting its Japanese heritage, and some mutts from around the globe.
