L
Little Pigbacon
Guest
Re: Does Made in America matter?
I used to do the benchmark thing, but many companies shifted their production "down one", if you will -- every series went to the next cheaper country on the totem pole. I think this has happened two or three times in some cases. Now I care a lot more about the humanitarian aspects; I'd kinda like it if the people building my guitars had safe working conditions and fair pay. I feel like I have enough experience over twenty years to know a good guitar when I have one in my hands.
On the guitar as guitar side, an American-made guitar usually means two things to me:
1.) Domestic jobs. This could be reason for anyone in a guitar-producing country to take pride in and support their country's manufacturing. If I were Japanese, I'd be proud as hell of the guitars made there. Spain, Canada, Czech Republic, doesn't matter.
2.) For a U.S. company, it's usually the company's prime-time lineup -- an American Series Fender, a Gibson U.S.A., a Jackson USA Select, a "real" Martin, PRS, etc. We've had the discussion about American guitar quality a billion times; I'm not about to say there's anything magical about U.S. guitar making that guarantees it's any better than what's going on anywhere else. But when I bought my USA Jackson, I wanted the real, grown-up, fully-baked version. That meant American-made. It's not like Jackson builds better Soloists in France or Japan or Russia. The JEM I used to have was also a fantastic guitar; a full-on Ibanez JEM made in Japan is not a cheaper version of something made elsewhere. It is the real thing. That's a lot more important to me, the "authentic excellence".
I used to do the benchmark thing, but many companies shifted their production "down one", if you will -- every series went to the next cheaper country on the totem pole. I think this has happened two or three times in some cases. Now I care a lot more about the humanitarian aspects; I'd kinda like it if the people building my guitars had safe working conditions and fair pay. I feel like I have enough experience over twenty years to know a good guitar when I have one in my hands.
On the guitar as guitar side, an American-made guitar usually means two things to me:
1.) Domestic jobs. This could be reason for anyone in a guitar-producing country to take pride in and support their country's manufacturing. If I were Japanese, I'd be proud as hell of the guitars made there. Spain, Canada, Czech Republic, doesn't matter.
2.) For a U.S. company, it's usually the company's prime-time lineup -- an American Series Fender, a Gibson U.S.A., a Jackson USA Select, a "real" Martin, PRS, etc. We've had the discussion about American guitar quality a billion times; I'm not about to say there's anything magical about U.S. guitar making that guarantees it's any better than what's going on anywhere else. But when I bought my USA Jackson, I wanted the real, grown-up, fully-baked version. That meant American-made. It's not like Jackson builds better Soloists in France or Japan or Russia. The JEM I used to have was also a fantastic guitar; a full-on Ibanez JEM made in Japan is not a cheaper version of something made elsewhere. It is the real thing. That's a lot more important to me, the "authentic excellence".
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. The concensus over here pretty much is, you try get the best stuff for the lowest price. We don't have major guitar brands here, just some luthiers who do small amounts and customs (check out Rikkers gitaar).