American, European, Japanese, Korean, Chinese

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='fragglefart' post='1361674' date='Sep 4 2011, 12:07 PM']Don't mind where a bass comes from but would have different price expectations based on labour costs.

I would love to have a UK hand-built bass one day, and yeah, an American Fender 'just because'.[/quote]

I have an MIA Fender. It's lovely.
I've had and currently own UK-sourced hand-made basses. They're ok, though I have had issues of one sort or another with both.

The continental European manufacturers are good- look at the quality that's there - Vigier/Warwick/BassLab/Esh/GMR/Ritter and so on (and on)
I have a Japanese Westone and Japanese Yamaha- The latter really is something in terms of fit, finish and build quality.
I've owned 2 Korean Ibanez, and they were fine. Let down more by penny-pinching on the electrics than by manufacturing prowess.
Even my Indonesian Squier is very well made.

Good basses come from all over the place these days. It's finding them that's the hard part.
Even so, it's not the lottery it once was.

[Vibrating G String]

Japanese used to mean crap, now it's ranked amongst the highest quality. No genetics have changed.

China is used for their cheap labor. Compare a Chinese made bass that wholesales for $40 with an American made $40 bass that the Americans simply can't even do and the Chinese is by far the best quality at the price point. To make a fair comparison you really have to compare at the same price point.

Having dealt with manufacturers in both the US and China I prefer to deal with the Chinese. I find them more professional and they lie less. An example would be ordering pickups from Hong Kong that arrive within the week, ordering from Bartolini has taken up to 16 months.

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='Davout' post='1361846' date='Sep 4 2011, 07:41 AM']A lot of the price difference is set by the Marketing departments according to what they think they can get away with in a certain market.[/quote]
That's true but I find very few people are willing to accept prices are set not by construction costs but by what the market will bear. Marketers know very well the ethnicity of the builder weighs heavily on the perception of quality. This is extremely powerful in the US where people will choose a car based on the way the name sounds and ignore where it was actually made. Buying an Asian made Ford versus a US made Honda for example.

[ThomBassmonkey]

The idea is that chinese, korean etc items are made by cheap unskilled labour and things like british, american, german etc items are made by skilled labour.

Fact is that it's not always the case, the machines that make these things are pretty standard and there's some eastern manufacturers that take pride in what they make and some western manufacturers that churn out rubbish. A look at Cort and some US Fenders that are a few years old will show that.

Some places like japan seem to fall into the cheap labour category in most peoples' estimations but they push out consistent instruments. If you get a yammy or an ibanez for example, chances are that they'll be a decent instrument for the notes you spend. Same with the MIJ Fenders, which have been fender's most consistent line in terms of quality from what I've heard.

[krazy_olie]

[quote name='henry norton' post='1361605' date='Sep 4 2011, 10:39 AM']Yeah that's the question though. Fender sold a fair few Highway Ones even though you could probably get a better made, better specced Fender for the same price.

By the way I play a JV Squier which was cheaper and better made than the equivalent US made Precision, yet plenty of people still went out and bought Fenders back then (in the olden days when Fenders were US made by default!).[/quote]

never tried a Highway one, can't say I was drawn to it at all. Some people liked the finish on it apparently but I reckon a bunch of people bought it because it said made in USA. I doubt there was anything wrong with them but better value options probably out there, especially here, I imagine in the States you pay less overheads so was probably better value over there..

[chrismuzz]

My bass was made in Vietnam, and it's good enough for me!

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='henry norton' post='1359576' date='Sep 2 2011, 10:19 AM']I've noticed some Chinese made guita#s are approaching the £1000 mark now. This at the same time as Gibson launching their new Melody Maker US built range at less than £500 (sadly no basses yet). There's no doubt the high end Chinese gear is very nicely made and designed (often by US companies) whereas the pared down Melody Makers leave allot to be desired in terms of equipment and finish. Eventually this will filter through to bass guitars so the question is would anyone here put up with sharp frets and minimal equipment just to have "Made In The USA" stamped on the back of the headstock?[/quote]

A quick trawl of pretty much any US based guitar/bass forum will show you that the (massive) US market is obsessed with the idea that "American = better". I think its hard to say exactly why they think that way (personally I think a lot of it is just racism, conscious or unconscious...) but thats just the way it is.

[henry norton]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='1363212' date='Sep 5 2011, 06:27 PM']I've had and currently own UK-sourced hand-made basses. They're ok, though I have had issues of one sort or another with both.[/quote]
That's interesting in that some people go for something that has less kudos than a US instrument (Unless it's something like a Wal) yet cost more than something made in the Far East (asides from some high-end stuff), yet your personal experience with these UK custom basses has been less than perfect. I'd imagine that's quite disappointing as you'd think the UK makers would really be setting out to prove themselves.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='henry norton' post='1366336' date='Sep 8 2011, 01:08 PM']That's interesting in that some people go for something that has less kudos than a US instrument (Unless it's something like a Wal) yet cost more than something made in the Far East (asides from some high-end stuff), yet your personal experience with these UK custom basses has been less than perfect. I'd imagine that's quite disappointing as you'd think the UK makers would really be setting out to prove themselves.[/quote]
Most people when they are talking about US-made instruments mean Fenders, Gibsons and Music Men which are all mass-produced. These days that doesn't have any kudos at all.

[Ian Savage]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1365987' date='Sep 8 2011, 02:03 AM']Fact is that it's not always the case, the machines that make these things are pretty standard and there's some eastern manufacturers that take pride in what they make and some western manufacturers that churn out rubbish.[/quote]

There's a very persistent rumour that Stagg cymbals are made using manufacturing machines which Zildjian sold on some years ago, which re-surfaced in China being run by folk on very low wages using cheaper (but still quality) bronze. How true that is I don't know, but Stagg cymbals are DEFINITELY quality these days, if maybe not as consistent as Zildjian/Sabian/Paiste etc. And at about a third of the price, you can see why people go for them (I get 'round my morals by tracking them down secondhand )

[henry norton]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1366371' date='Sep 8 2011, 01:36 PM']Most people when they are talking about US-made instruments mean Fenders, Gibsons and Music Men which are all mass-produced. These days that doesn't have any kudos at all.[/quote]
There are plenty of people (Bill Nash for instance), who believe Fender stopped actually 'making' their own guitars after 1964, meaning that every post-64 Fender, US built or otherwise is essentially just a 'copy'. Make of that what you will

[BigRedX]

[quote name='henry norton' post='1366476' date='Sep 8 2011, 02:55 PM']There are plenty of people (Bill Nash for instance), who believe Fender stopped actually 'making' their own guitars after 1964, meaning that every post-64 Fender, US built or otherwise is essentially just a 'copy'. Make of that what you will [/quote]
Care to expand? Or point me in the direction of a link that does.

[Big_Stu]

I've got or had guitars from all those places. IME the only things I'd be wary about - after taking the price into the "what can you reasonably expect" scenario is that on almost all Chinese and some Korean I'd be half-expecting at least to have to replace the machines with something that could actually hold tune - and probably be looking at putting decent pups into them.
Things may have improved in recent years, and my Korean Bo Diddley hasn't needed anything doing, but in general I've always had to do some tinkering with them.

[henry norton]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1366576' date='Sep 8 2011, 04:07 PM']Care to expand? Or point me in the direction of a link that does.[/quote]
Yeah, here's the [url="http://www.nashguitars.com/IMHO.htm"]Bill Nash[/url] comment for a start. It's under the "I'd rather buy a REAL Fender than some parts-o-caster made by Nash" heading.

This isn't [i]my[/i] opinion by the way - don't flame the messenger.

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='henry norton' post='1366336' date='Sep 8 2011, 01:08 PM']That's interesting in that some people go for something that has less kudos than a US instrument (Unless it's something like a Wal) yet cost more than something made in the Far East (asides from some high-end stuff), yet your personal experience with these UK custom basses has been less than perfect. I'd imagine that's quite disappointing as you'd think the UK makers would really be setting out to prove themselves.[/quote]

And they're both well-respected. One particularly so.
One issue was a neck, which whilst lovely to play, tended to "wander" out of shape, irrespective of the truss-rod. I could NEVER get the intonation right on the thing, either, and I'm not that cack-handed!
The second/third are inexplicable cracks appearing in the finish (and I look after my basses well-no bashing them about) in a very odd place, and a phenolic fretboard that REALLY doesn't like my sweat- it's permanently stained it really oddly. Neither my Vigier (owned from new since '97) nor my Yamaha (owned from new since '03) have this issue. They both have phenolic 'boards. Needless to say, neither of these UK-sourced instruments were exactly "cheap"(And they were bought new direct from the makers concerned..)

[JTUK]

Manufacturing capabilty not withstanding...I wouldn't pay western rates for China, Korea, Mexico and the like.
They don't have the wage or employment costs, IMO, so any parity with the UK or U.S for example, is straight in the makers bin, as it were.

I do make a point of buying U.S made amps..hand-wired pref, and U.K basses. They still have to hit the spot and then I don't mind paying the premium.

Generally...

[4000]

[quote name='neepheid' post='1359582' date='Sep 2 2011, 10:28 AM']The notion that an instrument is somehow automatically better than another because of where it's made is nonsense in my opinion. There are only two types of bass - good basses and bad basses. Good basses can be made anywhere, as can bad basses.[/quote]

Absolutely.