Country of Origin

Foreward: What you are about to read is a rant.  It is in no way meant to indicate that your fill-in-the-blank item from fill-in-the-blank country is garbage.  If you love it, then I am very happy for you! 

I have tried to keep this as organized as possible, but it bounces back and forth between guitars, firearms, and tools.  If it doesn't make sense, I apologize.  If you need clarification or think I am out of line, please let me know.  I appreciate all constructive feedback. 

<Rant>
Perhaps it is American arrogance or being egocentric, but I have a strong preference for American made products.

I guess I should elaborate on this post more since this blog deals with firearms as well as guitars and both have been made all over the world.

When it comes to guitars, the sad fact is, American guitars just aren't what they used to be.  But then again, import guitars aren't really what American guitars used to be either.  Due to many regulations, the finishes on guitars have changed, the woods used have changed, etc.

Many of the companies that supply components to guitar makers no longer make their products in the same ways.  This can be good or bad.  For example, guitar necks used to be uniquely shaped by the builder where now CNC machines can produce near identical replicas time and time again meaning that (love it or hate it) each guitar will be more similar than previously possible.

In contrast, I've seen a few "clever" schemes to save money such as pickups with reduced amounts of copper in them.  Copper is expensive and the prices are constantly on the rise.  Anybody who shoots can attest to the rising cost of ammunition.  One such scheme was a pickup that contained neodymium magnets.  The idea was that the stronger magnet could compensate for less copper and thus create a strong output.  What they failed to take into account when making this pickup is that the strings are also magnetic and they will be pulled down toward the fingerboard causing buzzing, sharp notes, and ghost tones. 

Another thing that is very different about guitars is the quality of the wood used.  Some woods aren't even legal to import anymore (Brazilian rosewood comes to mind) and a lot of guitar bodies are just made with 4 or 5 pieces of scrap glued together.  Then, because shortcuts were taken in the finishing stage, the finish sinks over the years and you can see distinct lines in the finish where the wood was glued together. 

Some finishes are just littered with junk on them as well.  White finishes usually show this best.  But finishing takes time and time is money so it is acceptable to have a poor quality finish in the name of profit.  Profit is ultimately what is driving these negative changes. 

White metal, or pot metal as it is sometimes called, has also replaced parts which used to be steel.  A good example is the block used on nearly every Strat style bridge.  They are almost entirely zinc alloy.  The first time I played a guitar with a steel block, it was like taking the blanket off of the guitar and letting it really ring.  It was bright with so much more clarity.  Personally, I'd rather have a bright sound that I can darken.  It is much more difficult to brighten a dark sound. 

Sometimes there are surprises though.  I remember the first time I received a transistor from South Korea.  I was mortified.  I was also uneducated on the matter.  Turns out South Korea was then the third largest exporter of transistors and integrated circuits.  Their quality was top notch as well. 

It also turns out that Korean guitars are extremely nice!  I'd range them right along side of American and Japanese quality.  The Korean stuff used to be a great deal but the costs have gone up on all of it making it not much cheaper than any other guitar on the market.  I have the same complaint with Japanese guitars.  Well that and I find the electronics to be questionable.  The pickups on my Japanese guitars just seem to be more microphonic than any other guitars I own.  They also use miniature pots (sometimes of wrong values) in places where I'd like to see a full size pot.  I'm sure cost and availability drive this.  But larger pots have a longer life expectancy than miniature models (it helps to review the specs from the various manufacturers from time to time).   



One term I see used is "Old World".  Usually it is in reference to how something is built.  I'm sure if you've ever used an old tool versus the modern equivalent, this term makes perfect sense.  My grandfather had a shed full of tools meant to last a lifetime and be passed on to sons and son's sons.  Now with stores like Harbor Freight, tools are able to be purchased for a fraction of the price that they previously cost.  If the tool gets the job done and breaks, it is no great loss.

Don't take this as me bashing Harbor Freight.  I am a member of their discount club and buy many tools there every year.  With the export of most tool manufacturing to china, the quality of a Harbor Freight tool versus a "name brand" tool isn't much different while the cost is.

Another sad fact is that a lot of name brands are just names now.  The quality which built their reputation is no longer in the products. Think of all of the Harmony and Kay guitars which are now being exploited in name and being manufactured in China.

I was reading about Nicholson files exporting their production to Mexico, China, Brazil, etc... and I saw a well put argument against this preference for American made goods being an argument of arrogance.  The basics of the argument were that it was experience, not pride, which has lead to the conclusion that some things were simply better when they were manufactured in America.  In this case, Nicholson files from Mexico were tested to be considerably softer than they should be which means a much shorter life for the file. 


Like those who discovered this a few years ago when the changeover initially happened, I was fortunate enough to find USA made files mixed in with the Mexican files (at the same price no less) hiding in the back of the display.  While I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Fender guitar made in Mexico, I will not be buying Mexican Nicholson files.  For that matter, what is up with Martin moving production to Mexico on all but their top end guitars?

Again, maybe it is arrogant to think that Mexico cannot produce the same guitars that were once made in my home state of Pennsylvania, but how can Martin put their name on a guitar that is made outside of the Martin factory by people without the same years of experience that Martin has enjoyed?  I grant that it is pretty difficult to screw up a solidbody guitar but an acoustic guitar is a different beast. 


Despite all of this, most of the guitars in the stores are at the very least somewhat playable or capable of being played.  They lack the "fit and finish" of better quality (read more expensive) guitars, but what do you expect when you get a complete electric guitar and amplifier for 99$!?  It isn't entirely the manufacturer's fault.

The consumer has demanded more affordable goods and most consumers probably wouldn't notice the difference between an Indonesian and Korean made guitar if they were just the casual player.  But it is this catering to the budget minded that has cheapened the entire experience of buying a tool or a guitar. 

Strictly my opinion here.  The worst guitars I have ever played came from India and China.  From best to worst, I'd rank: America, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Indonesia, China, India.  Yes I know there are other countries making guitars.  For example, I have a Canadian made Seagull guitar.  It is great but I haven't played enough of them to comment. 

I'm sure others will note that I put Korea before Japan.  Honestly, I think the quality of American, Korean, and Japanese guitars are all on par with each other.  I'm sure some are better than others of each variety and a Japanese guitar could be better than an American or Korean and every such permutation.  The Japanese stuff probably has a slightly better resale value, but I think that is also part of what makes the Korean stuff a good deal. 

Mexican guitars are a lot like Indonesian guitars.  Some are really great.  Some need a lot of help.  You'll start to notice a lot more finish issues with guitars from either of these countries, but the prices are also generally lower.  If you are less concerned about how the guitar looks, some of these guitars are actually really good deals.  But again, it is completely subjective. 

Guitars made in China are a mixed bag.  I've played everything they have to offer from the lowest end guitars to the "top end".  The quality is all over the map.  The resale sucks all around though.  I also don't appreciate the counterfeit guitars they produce.  One place the cost cutting generally shows is the fret work. 

China also brings us those Hanah Montana guitars and those Daisy Rock guitars which are just awful.  I feel so bad for the little girls who get duped into buying those things.  I have literally seen Hanah Montana guitars with strings so high off of the fretboard there is no way the guitar could or would ever play in any manner other than for slide. 

Daisy rock guitars are interesting.  I bothered to read their mission statement.  It all looked really good and made perfect sense.  Girls are different anatomically (smaller hands and larger breasts - this is not meant to be a sexist remark but more of a matter of fact - I am sure there are some exceptions - I am so concerned with being politically correct sometimes).  The idea was to make smaller guitars that weighed less to be more encouraging for female guitarists.  They come in all kinds of girly designs with lots of sparkle finishes.  I think I even saw one shaped like a flower. 

Ironically every Daisy Rock guitar I have ever picked up (yes I can't help myself - I also really liked the Pink Squier Hello Kitty guitar with the cat shaped pickguard), they are set up terribly (which may be the store goons doing their best with a bad situation or doing their best with their limited abilities) and weigh a ton!  How is that supposed to be encouraging for a woman?  Or for a man?

A poorly set up instrument is the most discouraging thing for a beginner.  If it plays and sounds bad, you probably are not having a fun time which means you will dread practicing instead of look forward to it. 

So in the end, a girl would ironically be better off buying a guitar not marketed for women and dealing with a larger fretboard or uncomfortable curves on the guitar digging in than dealing with a completely unplayable piece of crap that looks really pretty.  Whatever happened to student models?  You know, short scale guitars with 1 pickup. 

While it is nearly impossible to avoid buying things made in China, it is actually pretty easy to avoid buying a guitar made in China.  As a result, I avoid it.  These guitars often look the part, but play them side by side with the guitar they are trying to be like and see the difference.  If you have a made in China guitar and it is your favorite guitar, please read the disclaimer at the beginning of this rant. 

However, the weirdest and worst experience I have ever had was with an Indian made guitar.  It looked right.  Well sort of.  It was clearly a guitar but there was something about the shape that wasn't quite right.  I picked it up and played it anyway.  And it felt a lot like it looked.  Weird.  Something was just all around wrong with it.  It played in tune and everything, but I couldn't shake the feeling like something was really off.  I had to put it down and I haven't since seen an Indian made guitar.  

Firearms, on the other hand, have enjoyed a different experience.  With the popularity of surplus military firearms on the rise, it is hard to imagine not owning at least one imported firearm.  Even the Chinese Norinco firearms seem to get good reviews.  I just can't personally bring myself to owning one.  As backward as it seems (from the standpoint of nearly every other industry), the Norinco firearms actually command a premium.  This is possibly because of quality and rarity (due to an import ban - for more information on this, read about Operation Dragon Fire in which the Chinese were accused of assisting, what they believed to be, LA street gangs with acquiring fully automatic weapons and more).  But you don't typically read about Norinco firearms having catastrophic failures nor do you read about poor quality. 

For that matter, I've had just as many problems with modern American made firearms as foreign made.  However, I can't complain to Soviet Russia's Izhevsk Arsenal if I have a problem where as Smith and Wesson, Ruger, and Henry have all taken VERY good care of me. 

Maybe firearms are built differently because they have a function that needs to be reliable and also safe.  Legal action against a firearms manufacturer is bad for business and reputation.  And a damaged reputation can be just as bad or worse than making a lousy product.

Some examples, it is not uncommon to hear from people who refuse to buy from Smith and Wesson because they switch to MIM (Metal Injection Molded) parts or because they feel that Smith and Wesson sold out to the government by putting internal keylocks in their revolvers.

1911 enthusiasts will tell you that the Beretta M9/92F's that replaced it as the official sidearm of the military in the 80's is a piece of junk because during testing, a few of the slides cracked and separated from the frames.  This was consequently fixed in the  Beretta 92FS which is an amazingly reliable pistol!

Some reputations cloud the reality.  Many consider the AK-47 to be the ultimate weapon because their favorite video game glorified it or because they saw it on TV.  But the reality is, the round that goes into the gun does not have that great a ballistic performance and when fired rapidly, is difficult to control.  But the AK-47 was never meant to be the ultimate gun.  It was created to arm a military. 

People as consumers want it all.  We want cheap prices, tack driving guns that will shoot out to 1500 yards with no recoil, be lightweight, have enough stopping power to take out an elephant...blah blah blah. 

I don't fault Smith and Wesson.  I don't fault Beretta.  I don't fault the AK-47. 

One thing that I find interesting about firearms is that country of origin seems to matter less than actual product.  For example, some guns from a manufacturer are just riddled with issues while another model from the same maker may be considered to reliable. 

Taurus guns are a good example.  A lot of people rave about the Taurus 1911's while their revolvers are nothing short of a nightmare. 

I've have a friend who has a Beretta Tomcat.  Those models are best known for frame cracks.  Yet Beretta shotguns and the M9/92FS are great!

Walther P22's also had a reputation for cracked slides.  Not sure if that was ever fixed completely.  They look like neat guns and feature a single/double action trigger which I think is unique for a .22 pistol.  Perhaps this isn't quite fair since Smith and Wesson now makes Walther pistols in the US, but even still, Walthers are known for reliability as are Smith and Wesson guns. 

Maybe isn't just firearms.  Maybe everything is subjective?  Afterall, every guitar made in the US isn't good while every guitar made in China isn't unplayable. Maybe.  But I'm still not buying any made in Mexico Nicholson files. 

</Rant>

Epilogue: I returned to the store where I bought my Nicholson files and managed to find a couple more made in USA files and bought a few more for safe keeping and for the future.  I left a few in the store.  Hopefully whoever finds them will enjoy the same internal dialogue that I did or at least some similar such line of thought.  It was those files that inspired this rant.