BadTranslate
Tele-Meister
Another good Phillip McKnight video. 
Guitars companies, who makes who?
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Cat MacKinnon
Friend of Leo's
"Squier". Sorry, that misspelling always bugs me (especially when it comes from someone that runs a guitar store.)
Fearnot
Poster Extraordinaire
Yeah, he misspelled 'Silvertone' too.
Still, good info... I thought my Squier was made by Samick, but no, it's made by Cort. No big diff to me, but good to know.
Still, good info... I thought my Squier was made by Samick, but no, it's made by Cort. No big diff to me, but good to know.
Yeah, it was quite interesting. The outsourcing of outsourcing stuff was news to me, beyond the "Duncan Designed" thing, which is pretty clear.
It does show the fundamental absurdity in shopping by brand these days, and the necessity of being able to evaluate something by having it in your hands.
knopflerfan
Friend of Leo's
Big fan of McKnight's videos, also. Lot of good common-sense information.
Quote:
"You felt like you were buying value added products, when what you were really just buying were brands."
Bingo.
"You felt like you were buying value added products, when what you were really just buying were brands."
Bingo.
Gloveberg
Tele-Meister
I've been a subscriber to his channel for a while and I've yet to see a video I didn't like.
No surprises in the video. Welcome to the global economy ... for the last few decades. World manufacturing is pretty corrupt, because it is all about "brand" marketing. And we consumers want those brands for the least amount of money. The consumer shoulders most of the blame for this, by being so easily bamboozled by superfiscial marketing schemes.
JLC78TELE
Tele-Meister
I enjoy Phillips videos, he seems to doing for enjoyment, and he doesn't get bogged down in taking sides in all the drama battles. He doesn't seem like a crazy person (eg scott grove, wills easy guitars) or a self promoting ego maniac (eg chappers, et al). His take on the tonewood debate revival was great!
This video makes a really good case for me, to just build partscasters, if what I'm looking for are Fender-inspired builds - just to be in control of every single piece on the guitar.
I only have one guitar in my entire collection that hasn't been modded. The mods generally make a guitar more expensive to me than the guitar's market value. Most likely, if I were to simply find the exact parts that I wanted (even new "take-off" necks and bodies), and assemble them myself, I would likely be into the guitar for less than buying a fully assembled guitar and replacing parts.
I only have one guitar in my entire collection that hasn't been modded. The mods generally make a guitar more expensive to me than the guitar's market value. Most likely, if I were to simply find the exact parts that I wanted (even new "take-off" necks and bodies), and assemble them myself, I would likely be into the guitar for less than buying a fully assembled guitar and replacing parts.
Guitarzan
Poster Extraordinaire
The number of contract manufacturers for a given product category may be small, but they will build what is requested by their customer. And that varies a lot.
There is a small cluster of conventional fishing reel makers in Korea, and most of the big brands have them made there. But there is a lot of variation from brand to brand and within brand lines. The contract mfr. can and does build great stuff and crap in the same building.
Husqvarna has its own brand of outdoor power equipment, but also contracts to build for others, particularly private label store brands. They may get the Sears contract this year for snow blowers, riding mowers or push mowers, or all of them. Or they may lose out to someone else like MTD for the year because Sears is nickeling and diming looking to make more on the produce and the the competitor comes up with a hare-brained way to do it. But then the retailer customer gets mad about quality and service issues, and they are shopping the contract again. They never seem to be able to inculcate the fact that better materials and construction costs more and is worth more, but their consumer customers don't seem to learn that either. I know people that work for Husky in GA and SC, and all they can do is shake their heads and laugh and roll with the punches. They've given up on trying to make sense with customers about a 5 year plan for construction of high quality equipment labeled and boldly marketed as better because its made in the US and worth more.
Briggs & Stratton makes a lot of small engines, and is capable of making some very good ones. But the specifications are mostly for lower price engines, they build more of those than others, and the reputation has become that B&S makes crappy small engines. And it is largely true.
There is a small cluster of conventional fishing reel makers in Korea, and most of the big brands have them made there. But there is a lot of variation from brand to brand and within brand lines. The contract mfr. can and does build great stuff and crap in the same building.
Husqvarna has its own brand of outdoor power equipment, but also contracts to build for others, particularly private label store brands. They may get the Sears contract this year for snow blowers, riding mowers or push mowers, or all of them. Or they may lose out to someone else like MTD for the year because Sears is nickeling and diming looking to make more on the produce and the the competitor comes up with a hare-brained way to do it. But then the retailer customer gets mad about quality and service issues, and they are shopping the contract again. They never seem to be able to inculcate the fact that better materials and construction costs more and is worth more, but their consumer customers don't seem to learn that either. I know people that work for Husky in GA and SC, and all they can do is shake their heads and laugh and roll with the punches. They've given up on trying to make sense with customers about a 5 year plan for construction of high quality equipment labeled and boldly marketed as better because its made in the US and worth more.
Briggs & Stratton makes a lot of small engines, and is capable of making some very good ones. But the specifications are mostly for lower price engines, they build more of those than others, and the reputation has become that B&S makes crappy small engines. And it is largely true.
Guitarzan
Poster Extraordinaire
One of the more surprising things I've encountered in manufacturing centered legal disputes in recent years stemmed from moving mfg from China to Florida.
A patent holder had equipment made by a Chinese mfr. owned and run by American Asians on the west coast that had American family members living in China and running things. Everything the company made passed testing by a mechanical engineering firm, but they were often fashionably late in meeting production deadlines.
A customer of the patent holder wanted to do something different, a modified version of the climbing scaffold system and have it made in the US. They thought it would have more appeal to the masonry end users. They got a license and had a big batch made in Florida. The equipment failed the engineering tests and had to be destroyed, it never made it to market, and the company lost a lot of money in that little venture.
A patent holder had equipment made by a Chinese mfr. owned and run by American Asians on the west coast that had American family members living in China and running things. Everything the company made passed testing by a mechanical engineering firm, but they were often fashionably late in meeting production deadlines.
A customer of the patent holder wanted to do something different, a modified version of the climbing scaffold system and have it made in the US. They thought it would have more appeal to the masonry end users. They got a license and had a big batch made in Florida. The equipment failed the engineering tests and had to be destroyed, it never made it to market, and the company lost a lot of money in that little venture.
Something my dad said to me in 1991, when I purchased my first Asian manufactured car:
He said, "Germans are good at designing great cars. Asians are good at copying that design. And Americans are good at marketing that design."
He said, "Germans are good at designing great cars. Asians are good at copying that design. And Americans are good at marketing that design."
Deckard
Tele-Afflicted
Anything Cort related is just yuck.
That is a good one and so true. I think I'll use that quote for now on.
