But Carlo, the basses that bear your name on the headstock have a much more expensive neck. Compare what you pay wholesale for one neck to the price of the whole SX bass.
Some years ago a store owner pointed out to me that most parts of a guitar are made from materials that are commodities on the world market. A factory in China or Indonesia will have much lower labor costs but they can't buy, say, copper wire or swamp ash for less than a US manufacturer. In talking about a Chinese Strat copy (can't remember the brand), he said that when the importer's landed cost for the whole guitar is about the same as the raw cost of the magnet wire and 18 alnico magnets in a real Strat pickup set, you know what you aren't getting.
I'm happy for all of you who have had good experiences with Rondo. But I've seen what I've seen, and I'm not changing my opinion.
There are bargains to be had out there. I've been lucky enough to find a number of them. But still, you get what you pay for.
The UNFINISHED necks I buy have a "retail" price twice what a Rondo Precision costs. Most of that is middleman profit. Rondo's buying from the factory and selling direct. I'm guessing Kurt is making a decent profit, even with having to eat some of the price increases due to rising Chinese labor costs- 500% in the last 10 years. Unlike here, management is making less and the workers more resulting in better product.
I don't know when you last saw Rondo product but from the time I started buying them until I stopped the improvement was impressive. Mainly in setup, indicative of people paying attention. The value for price was always there. You can now buy Rondo guitars with Grovers, Duncan pickups, licensed Floyds, Bigsbys, etc.
Yeah, you get what you pay for but a lot of it depends where you shop. Those Jags are made in Indonesia, much cheaper labor and far more favorable exchange rate than China. When I first to China it was 8.4 Yuan to the dollar, now it's 6.1 whereas the Indo Rupiah is way down.
My "wholesale" necks are costing me at least twice what they would if I were buying them from the factory. They used to be stickered "Made in Japan". They don't have that sticker now, must have moved production to Korea. No drop off in quality though.