It's more the work conditions, such as Steve Jobs having the Chinese Apple Factory wake up all the workers just to change the iPad's screen (or whatever) from plastic to glass. Whenever you buy an Apple product, it's normally well built and clean. There are many quality Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean products, which include guitars, that are well built. The quality is not the debate (There are some American companies that put out crap too); it's the practice of making human beings work to the bone for pennies.
The nationality has nothing to do with the quality, either, so whether it's Italian or from purple people, it's going to be as well made as the American distributors want it to be.
Sorry to get off track.
Chinese workers are in dire straits when it comes to labor rights and the lack of unions. I also make purchases based on 'made in USA' and especially union-made in USA, when I can. And environmental concerns. A lot of people do.
Then I know I won't see you boys at Wal-Mart, will I?
I hope not. They don't take care of people here or in the countries where their goods are manufactured. And so as not to get any more OT I'm going to stop here.
No one would think that buying an Italian suit or a British-made Vox or Marshall amplifier would have those issues.
So, how do you feel about all those Vox and Ampeg amps that are now being made in Vietnam?
I don't really have any feeling about them, to be honest, most certainly because of my ignorance of those products. I know this approaches blasphemy here, but I am one of the few on here who doesn't have much of a desire to couple my Rick with a Vox (but I still understand why it's such a great pairing, and I'm not knocking it), so I'm not really ever keeping up with the Vox market. I also tend to buy older, used amps in the vintage market, that is - when I'm amp shopping, which is rare (I bought one last year, and before that, it was 20-plus years ago - but I've also gotten lucky in that 3 amps have been given to me within the last 4 years), so Vietnam-made amps are not really a part of the equation. Thus, I'm kind of out of the loop. If I had to have a gut reaction, I guess I'd prefer a British-made Vox and an American-made Ampeg, Mr. Hall; however, I can't give you an educated basis for that gut reaction - just a consumer-centric country-of-origin bias, I suppose.
What happened to Vox and to Ampeg are classic examples of businesspeople who don't comprehend or value what they are producing and selling. Vox is a classic British brand that has been jerked around for 40 or so years and should be made in England. Ampeg should still be made in the US.
That's what I loved about the PBS program, in that they featured American businesspeople who were not bowing and scraping to the shareholders, and not just trying to squeeze as much profit as possible out until the well is dry. I've seen this happen over the last 35 years to a lot of guitar and amp makers.
The people featured really care about the product or service they are offering. I really value Rickenbacker and Mesa as well as the small builders like Bray and Naylor, and I appreciate their devotion to quality. Having been in the workforce since 1978 I also recognize the importance of supporting American jobs.
Rickenbacker is a wonderful company. American products which I cherish even more knowing how the company uses Americans to build its guitars. I find it interesting how very few really were concerned about American jobs going over seas till it got to epidemic proportions. Lets face it, Americans like cheap goods and don't really care if they are produced in sub par working conditions using children and paying pennies to its workers.
A truth, the jobs and products built overseas will not return. Americans will not accept the near slave wages and working conditions and companies will not bring the jobs back even if you did accept those conditions. They don't have too since you will buy their products where ever its made.
Rickenbacker is the example of what it truly is to be an American Company. I am proud to buy from Ric..
Steve Jobs also said the jobs wouldn't return. As long as greed exists, I understand that logic.
...but it is noteworthy that China basically runs on American jobs. If we pulled them all out and gave them to Americans again, who knows what would happen to China's economy. In a sense, we control them, I guess.
Anyway, that's all I need to say. This thread has drifted enough.