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Who REALLY makes your bass?

#104
bholder said:
(Ahhhh, but which Balrog? By the Third Age, the one called Durin's Bane may have been the sole survivor, but back in the First age, there were a whole bunch of them, let by Gothmog, Captain of Morgoth's Armies. Read up on how the Siege of Gondolin was broken - Balrogs riding Dragons over the Mountains! BALROGS RIDING DRAGONS OVER THE MOUNTAINS!!!!!!)) :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::woot::woot::woot::woot::woot::woot::smug::smug::smug::smug::smug::smug:
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Could be worse. Somebody might have called in the flying monkees, let loose the furmious Bandersnatch, Boojum, or a Jabberwock, or (gasp!!!) invoked Cthulhu. ;)
 
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#106
mbell75 said:
This was posted in another thread here but thought it deserved its own. Very informative video that had me thinking and just reinforcing my belief that you are mostly paying for the name on the headstock. Some of you may know this but there are a lot here who don't. Thoughts?

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I’ll try lol
60281ABC-9823-4D52-959C-94916A107E3B.jpeg



My guess is my fender jazz was build at fenders Mexico plant in Ensenada, Mexico. I know there has been some crossover for parts on some models where fender has used American parts on MIM models but I’m not sure anything on mine was made in America.

My fender acoustic was made in China. I’m thinking some parts like the fishman electronics and hardware came from japan, Taiwan, or possibly Korea or Indonesia .

My dingwall is the really crazy one. But being my baby I bet I know a little more details about it.

Designed in Saskatoon Canada by Sheldon Dingwall with some tweaks that came out of input from Nolly Getgood, Main production/build is in the same factory in china that fender uses to build Squier. I know that from seeing Sheldon say it at a dingwall clinic video. Hipshot hardware from Interlaken New York, the Darkglass tone capsule I’m not totally sure about because Darkglass is based out of Helsinki Finland but they have made some products in the states. The pickups if I remember correctly were the result of a collaboration between Dingwall and Nordstrand with the pickups being made in Canada. Once the bass was assembled in China they sent to back to Dingwall HQ in Canada where they removed the neck, did all the QC, fret filing , nut filing, and set up.

Aside from basses my Mesa amp I believe was made California. My ampeg cabs were made in China and the eminence speakers I have in them now were made in America.
 
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#107
GregC said:
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.
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I am so shocked! That a supplier would outsource manufacturing just like his own customers were outsourcing to him! Where will it end? I am getting rid of all my basses and now will only play instruments I have built from scratch. That will have to wait until I have finished stocking up my machine shop and learned the necessary woodworking and metal working skills (I already have the elctronics thing covered). Should I buy US made tools, US branded but Chinese made tools or Chinese made tools? :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

mbell75 said:
Why does a US made Fender cost $2k while the same Chinese made Squier cost $200? Its made in a plant with machines right? How much difference does it make where the plant is, who owns the plant, or what people are operating the machines right? Its mainly machines making the instruments right? As long as they come out the way they're supposed to, why would it matter?
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Because if the $2000 instrument was made in China it would probably cost over $1000. The $200 instrument could be made in the US but would sell for $400 or more. The $200 bass is not built using components of the same quality as the $2000 bass.
 
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#112
ajkula66 said:
In a global(ist) economy where stuff is made literally all over the map, it goes way beyond basses/headstocks. Look up the manufacturer of your jeans, sneakers, A/C unit and run that name against the actual country where the goods were produced.

Some people are happy about this and some are not. We all have our decisions to make and are free to vote with our wallet(s). I make every attempt to do so according to my own beliefs, but YMMV.
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My Harley Davidson was built from parts from every country on earth, I think!
 
#114
hi petrus61 :)

petrus61 said:
Phil McKnight...the same guy who put the head of Fender Custom shop on the spot by asking him to review and pick a favorite from three different Squier guitars. Naturally, he found all three flawless
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Don' t be too snarky! :D Give those poor guys a chance.

I think they had already enough trouble to find not one, not two, but three playable guitars in the same GC!

All of them Squiers! That's enough testing for one week! :laugh:

petrus61 said:
Maybe try asking someone whose job doesn’t depend on a glowing review next time...
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Mark Agnesi? :roflmao:


greetings

Wise(b)ass
 
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#116
TL;DW

I didn't know Kojak had a grandson.

We are all aware that Fender, Gibson, Ampeg, SWR and on and on it goes have changed hands several times since the beginning and are no longer the same companies. And we are all well aware that most manufactured stuff is never 100% USA or 100% anywhere.

A long time ago, I bought a brand new Mesa Boogie 400+ bass amp and the very first thing that I saw was that the cooling fan said Made in China and the tubes were made in Russia.

I think that at this point in time..............nobody cares.
 
#118
I am for honesty in sales, which includes stating country of origin. This has been the case for many years now.

There is often a layer of dishonesty in selling a product with an established reputation for high quality, and bait and switching that for one made by a low quality company with the good label on it.

But all that does in the end is cheapen the brand that had the high reputation. That is their choice. Caveat Emptor and all that. Toyota was once known as a crappy brand, by the 1980's they became one of the best car makers, and now if they have Kia make their stuff they will be known as Kias with Toyota hood ornaments.

This does fool a lot of customers, however, and I am not a fan of dishonest selling. But further regulation will only open new avenues of abuse. The proof is in the pudding.
 
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#120
GregC said:
3. Back to the lack of detail--is it really damning when he says that Fender and Gibson use OEM-outsourced parts for "some" instruments? I mean, which ones? If it's something that's purported to be MIA and costs maybe $1500 or more, then yes, that's not cool. OTOH, if it's only on $600 MIM instruments, no big deal especially if the quality is there. Similar thought when it comes to the mention of Conklin and Elrick--those companies have high-dollar models, but is he saying specifically that those models have cheap bridges and tuners on them? No idea.
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I tried to do some research on this a while back and didn't get anywhere, but I have a strong suspicion that Fender and Gibson never made the metal parts on any of their guitars. It's not like either company has a foundry on premises. Maybe he's making the distinction between USA and Import hardware, but bottom line is that they've always been sourcing from somewhere.
 
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