reevesr1 Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Didn't want to hijack SD's thread, but his discussion of the Korean made Hardy got me thinking. Why would there be a fear of a foreign made product, particularly a Korean made product? Could it be a holdout from when old guys like me were kids when "Made in Japan" signified cheap? That really hasn't been the case in so, so long. Now Made in Japan signifies quality, and the Korean's are on their way to replicating that. If I were to be afraid of anything, "Made in England" would not instill confidence in me right now. Think Made in America- like 50 yrs from now if the USA continues on it's downward slide. They have had half a century head start on a crumbling manufacturing industy. Now I know for classic brands like Hardy (the thought of a Harley being made in China makes me shudder), we would prefer our traditions to remain being made where they started. And I think it is a legitimate question to ask if a Korean made Hardy is still a Hardy-but I certainly wouldn't worry about the quality. Western society has lost the right to assume their products are better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dube Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Consider Fender guitars. American made and a source of pride for many guitar players internationally. They have factories in a few other countries but you can't compare the sound of an American to the cheaper outsourced versions. Automobiles.....whole different story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhurt Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Consider Fender guitars. American made and a source of pride for many guitar players internationally. They have factories in a few other countries but you can't compare the sound of an American to the cheaper outsourced versions. Automobiles.....whole different story. How come? If you use the same matreial, the same machine, then all it really comes down to is craftsmenship....... And with molds and comupters craftsmenship isn;t really a factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reevesr1 Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Consider Fender guitars. American made and a source of pride for many guitar players internationally. They have factories in a few other countries but you can't compare the sound of an American to the cheaper outsourced versions. Automobiles.....whole different story. Hmmm. I would say that outsourced doesn't necessarily imply cheaper. So how many guitars are we talking about? (I have this line from Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage in my head "It was a Stratocaster with a Whammy Bar") Smaller manufacturing operations with an emphasis on hands on assembling/crafting certainly could be an exception to the rule. Particularly one's that have been able to retain pride in what they make. Actually, there are lots of exceptions. I don't think that everything made in the west is crap, far from it. But not everything outsourced is just cheap crap either. Far from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weedy1 Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Say no more: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 420FLYFISHIN Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 i think when your dealing with something that is made on a CNC machine it really doesn't matter who hits the play button, the Queen of England or a Korean hobo it comes out the same. P.S. What is that? It sorta looks like an old skyline but sort of like an old challenger! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick0Danger Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 is that not and AMC gremlin? Buddy still drives his AMC ambassador and it has balls. That said there is no gap in the quality of a ford vs nissain, vs gm, vs toyota, they all have very good quality ratings, However look at the new VW's assembled in Mexico and have lots of problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weedy1 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 It's a 1970 Celica. A lot of people thought Toyota's were crap when they started appearing everywhere. Look at how far they came in the American market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayjjones11 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 i think when your dealing with something that is made on a CNC machine it really doesn't matter who hits the play button, the Queen of England or a Korean hobo it comes out the same. All about quality control! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 The critical point that many people miss is the design and engineering parameters that a parent company dictates to the off-shore manufacturer. Korean, Chinese, Malay, Indian factories will manufacture anything you want, at whatever price level you want to pay. When a parent company orders half a million gizmos, they set specific parameters, such as metal composition, hardness, % of chrome in the stainless, yada yada. The manufacturing entity will, in turn, quote it's best price for the gizmo. Now, if parent wants it cheaper, it will get it cheaper, but it will not be as good as the initial "best price" gizmo. And that is what parent companies have to be extremely careful of and what consumers should be aware of. It's not Korean or Chinese junk, it's the junk that the parent company asked for, so they could make better margins. j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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