Made in USA, or not

[the mojo hobo]

I just got some genuine Fender parts for a Precision. The knobs are made in USA, so are the pickups, but the CTS pots are made in Taiwan.

[Dave W]

CTS haven't been made in the US for quite a while.

[Freuds_Cat]

Just bought a pair of CTS pots for the Pearl Export. Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan....... as Con the fuitirer says   "Daaaas'n  Mattaaah Mate"  Quality is quality.

[Basvarken]

American Made usually means Superior Quality,generally!

Terr you're priceless!

[lowend1]

My Whirlpool dishwasher is made in the USA, but the motor/pump is made in China. Guess which component took a dump after less than three years...

[Pilgrim]

Maybe I've succumbed to the concept of global economy.  I just figure that a good sounding bass is worth having at the right price, regardless of where it was made.

[lowend1]

Maybe I've succumbed to the concept of global economy.  I just figure that a good sounding bass is worth having at the right price, regardless of where it was made.

Strangely, I agree - with regard to musical instruments. They are tools after all, and not everyone can afford a full set of "Snap-On" wrenches/screwdrivers. If it meets your requirements in terms of aesthetics, playability and sound, the country of origin shouldn't matter.
Cars, however, are another matter entirely - that's way too much of a religion for me to buy anything but American iron.

[Dave W]

Cars, however, are another matter entirely - that's way too much of a religion for me to buy anything but American iron.

Well, thank goodness for Fiat then. 

The new Chrysler: let's see, with Fiat's legendary reliability, 55% ownership by the UAW, questionable financing and an army of pissed-off soon-to-be-ex-dealerships, what could possibly go wrong? 

[Lightyear]

Agreed!  The UAW have said that they would divest themselves of the stock ASAP.  So it could be an American company again if averyone here invested a couple of hundred dollars to buy up the stock.  If the UAW dumps the stock all at once it should be about $0.05 per share!

It's a shame really, I've been though about 20 company cars in the last 25 years and the Chryslers have always been the best - including my current 07 Caravan.

[Highlander]

The only time I have been in the USofA we left with 2 cases and came back with 5 (3 made in China) - seriously raided Walmart - Wranglers (made in Honduras) a Kentucky Wildcats official shirt (made in Pakistan), bought a pair of Levis (made in Mexico), brought home an American flag (yep Chinese too) need I go on... ok, I will... pre KY we took in Disney in FL - nothing but nothing made in USA, except a reasonable percantage of the staff, and the idea... we took home a beautiful BIG bauble (an Xmas shop 365 days!) for the tree classically shaped 3 balls, Mickey style, with a USA flag motif (made in China) - I did manage to find 3 tee's made in USA, at Canaveral (my treat - "Failure is not an option", "The Eagle has landed" and an exceptionally garish shuttle shirt that I may wear for our next confirmed gig - July 4th)...

I am not knocking America, you are much like the rest of us... I try not to think about the sweat-shops that produced the £3 jeans I wear a lot of the time for rough work, as they last just as long as quality wear... there is virtually no such thing as Made In GB...

Lowend - most of your Whirlpool (electrically) was almost certainly made in the far-east (worked in the commercial end of that trade for 21 years)... most PCB work is from the far-east, most solenoids, many motors/generators...

Boeing wings for 747's are made in Korea and specially coverted (in China) 747's fly them over to Seattle - they have over 10,000 suppliers in over 60 countires - is that made in America...? Airbus is no different - Bae make the wings and the aircraft are assembled in France...

In many quality instruments - where is the wood grown...?

The day of "Made in X" are over... the future is international... the international language is English... tyerrorism is the global threat we all have to face... that is what I fear most...

[Freuds_Cat]

It is interesting to read threads like this when you come from a place that is farther East than the "Far East".
I know Americans are famous for holidaying in Mexico. Beaches, cheap costs etc.
The Poms seem to do the same with Spain (Mallorca)
For Australians the equivalent is to go to the largest Muslim country in the world. Indonesia.

With Malaysia, Thailand, Phillipines, Laos and Vietnam just north of Indonesia and all cheap by our standards we tend to travel a lot to these countries for our holidays.
Also a lot of the South East Asian people live in Australia.

We have never really had the manufacturing base that the UK once had or that the US is trying hold on to.
Japan for more than 20 years has been our largest trading partner followed by the soon to be 1st China.

When you grow up in a country with this as normal, your perspective is quite different to those of someone in the US or the UK.

I struggle sometimes with what the attachment to certain brands and country of manufacture is all about.

Levi's used to be manufactured about 2 Kms from the Holden car plant in Elizabeth. Now they come from the Phillipines or Fiji. I knew a few people who worked in the Levi factory and while they were nice people they had the attitude that they were never paid enough and this showed in their work. Kinda like 80's Fenders I would suggest. Gimmee the Japanese one thanks 

[Highlander]

There's a lot of Oz vets that would want to take you to task over that one. Bret...     

"What do you mean; you started it, and you ate my uncle..." 

[Freuds_Cat]

Ya lost me on that one Ken sorry.

[Lightyear]

Japan has been setting up manufacturing for years offshore - cheaper labor cost.  It's cheaper to build Toyotas and Hondas in America now than in Japan.  VW has been building in Mexico for years on end.

[Dave W]

Ya lost me on that one Ken sorry.

I think it has something to do with eating kangaroo.