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Made in... Crafted in...


Bass_Guardian
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I'll leave Fenders to the Fender experts, but the Lakland Skyline series comprises basses designed in the USA, with most of the physical construction (body, neck, bridge, tuners, etc.) carried out in the Far East, and the part-finished basses then shipped to the USA for completion, usually including all the electrics.

The theory is that you get cheap Far Eastern build costs married to American QC standards. I've had three Lakland Skyline basses and, IME, the theory works pretty damn well.

The one thing I'd love to try now is a full-on US-made Lakland, to see whether it's really worth (to me) three times the price of a Skyline.

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Made in Japan - built by Fujigen Gakki.

Crafted In Japan - built by Dyna Gakki or Tokai Gakki.

I have read that basses from Tokai are domestic-market only but don't know if this is the case for certain. Either way, quality standards from Japanese factories are uniformly high so neither's "better" than the other.

Jon.

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[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1166749' date='Mar 18 2011, 09:49 AM']I'll leave Fenders to the Fender experts, but the Lakland Skyline series comprises basses designed in the USA, with most of the physical construction (body, neck, bridge, tuners, etc.) carried out in the Far East, and the part-finished basses then shipped to the USA for completion, usually including all the electrics.

The theory is that you get cheap Far Eastern build costs married to American QC standards. I've had three Lakland Skyline basses and, IME, the theory works pretty damn well.

The one thing I'd love to try now is a full-on US-made Lakland, to see whether it's really worth (to me) three times the price of a Skyline.[/quote]


I think that with the Fenders, it was a change in production factories that motivated the change from 'made' to 'crafted'.

As for the Lakland example that HJ refers to, this is also a similiar princicple that we are seeing with the Overwater by Tanglewood basses - lower cost and higher volume production combined with local QC and brand protection.

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[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1166747' date='Mar 18 2011, 09:46 AM']According to the sticker on the back, one of my basses was "Forged in the Fires of Ecstasy by Virgins.... in the UK" :)[/quote]

The back of my Status says "built in Essex by a geezer innit so alright m8 whatever luuurvly" :) :lol:

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[quote name='MB1' post='1166902' date='Mar 18 2011, 11:48 AM']MB1. :)
Sticker on one bass i purchased read....
"From the Tea rooms of Mars to the hell holes of Uranus"
i later found out it had been made in neither!, and was in fact an album by Landscape?[/quote]

And that is a really awful track, a true waste of 4 minutes or so of my life sometime during the eighties.

Edited by martthebass
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[quote name='Bass_Guardian' post='1166715' date='Mar 18 2011, 09:26 AM']Ive noticed a few different basses have Made in Japan but also Crafted in japan ( not on the same bass )[/quote]
Just to confuse you further, Fender had a crossover period where you can buy basses that were both made [b]and[/b] crafted :)

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[quote name='Ian Savage' post='1166815' date='Mar 18 2011, 10:55 AM']If it's 'Crafted in...', it's been lovingly assembled by a specialist team of highly skilled luthiers. If it's 'Made in...', it was thrown together by a cluster of drunken monkeys.[/quote]

Really? I thought it was the other way round... anyways my '89 MIJ Jazz looks sounds and plays far better than the 70s US one I used to have. Although I will admit it sounds better the more I drink.

What is really bugging me is the strings... I have tried everything on it and keep coming back to the set it came with 5 years ago as they still sound the best. No idea what they are, probably .45 to .105, black binding at both ends, brass ball-ends...

ficelles

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