Where is my guitar/amp/pedal/whatsit made?

We have all seen a variety of positions taken by people that any of the above made in one place are better than those made in another place. We have also seen arguments made that some folks will only buy products manufactured in their country of residence or citizenship. Ok, you all be yourselves.

But the pertinent question comes down to, does your whatever work for YOU? Yes or No? It’s a simple question.

I have been playing and collecting going on fifty years. I have instruments, amps, pedals and other stuff made from countries all over the world. Moreover most of the things that I own that howl “Made in FillInTheBlank” actually use components from other places. Rosewood fingerboards anyone? How about screws? Phil McKnight recently did an excellent, solely facts based piece answering a similar question about Made in the USA Fender products. He wasn’t slagging Fender and neither would I, but I do not believe for an instant that any Fender branded product is guaranteed to be better for my use if made in the United States over elsewhere. I have multiple Fenders, made in Japan that are superlative. I own several Squiers that are better to me, than a USA “made” guitar that cost six times the retail price of the one that I own and play regularly. So does it matter to me where the product is assembled?

Not to me it doesn’t. And when I look to what I call regular folks who buy these products, in the long run, they don’t care either. Look at Apple as an example. They don’t really “make” anything. In fact they say “Designed by Apple in California” and that’s it. The products are made predominantly in China, but no Apple buyer cares about that. Apple does a pretty good job of ensuring that when one of their very expensive products reaches a customer that it is going to be well built, perform to expectations and not be questionable in quality.

I cannot say it as consistently true for musical product makers. Perhaps instead of “made in”, the more accurate description would be “assembled in”, or like Apple, “designed in”. It is a sad reality that here in North America we actually “make”very little anymore, and it has been that way for a very long time.

Do I care if a screw is made in China, or a potentiometer is made in Indonesia? Not at all. All I care is that it delivers on its promise of quality. Are there crap parts made around the world? Absolutely, but that is less of a “made in” problem than the brand looking to use the cheapest possible components to increase margins than anything else. I get it. A business that is not profitable is a dead business all the socialist rhetoric spewed on the Internet notwithstanding. As the great author Robert A. Heinlein once stated, TANSTAFFL, “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”. Sadly logic and reason are not ubiquitous.

So in the end does it really matter where a product is made, or is it more important that it delivers on your expectations in a fair exchange of values, ie you paid your money to own it? This is a question that each person answers for himself or herself.

Take care everyone.