Assembled in the USA vs Made in the USA

victorludorum

Is this just a question of the parts/hardware being made elsewhere? I wonder where the line is drawn.

digitalkettle

Legislation...Suhr avoided the 'assembled' thing:
https://www.suhr.com/headstock-engraving/

aconitethrill

I remember this hitting Grover Jackson’s GJ2 stuff because they had (iirc) German hardware - I seem to recall them moving from ‘made in the USA’ to ‘made on planet Earth’

Whitecat

It’s California that’s super hardcore about origin of parts - very little being put together there can be legally “made in the USA” under state law. It affects Suhr, Fender and Ernie Ball amongst others. 

pluckbuddy

I dont know about definitions and whether they have any legal meaning but I've often thought that US or UK 'made' products like pedals and amps surely have resistors, capacitors and pots in them made in the Far East (unless they are NOS). So what does it mean to be 'made in the UK' these days?

Gotoh tuners on a premium guitar is no bad thing in my opinion... but you'd like to think if it was US made that the body and neck were carved from a timber blank in the country where it says it was made. 

I would check the manufacturer's website for details of exactly what comes from where and if you're not finding the answers you want then take your business elsewhere. 

ICBM

digitalkettle said:

Legislation...Suhr avoided the 'assembled' thing:
https://www.suhr.com/headstock-engraving/

The only problem with that is that it lends more legitimacy to the very misleading labelling of things like 90s Washburns which had neckplates stamped with "Buffalo Grove, Il. USA" (ie the address of the head office) on guitars *made entirely* in the far east.



Personally, I don't have any problem with a guitar, or parts of it, being made in other places than the Good Ol' US Of A, but I think it's wrong to mislabel stuff by implication like that - unless the true origin is also mentioned next to it. If that plate had a small 'Made In Korea' under the USA it would be fine.

Neil

I think if the majority of value in the parts are USA made and they are put together there they are entitled to call them Made in USA. 

Kittyfrisk

^ Schecter do the same on their Korean or Indonesian built  `'Diamond Series'.

TimmyO

Special mention to Blackstar:

Manufactured and assembled in China. Ads with Union Jack logo with text “Engineered in the UK” because ‘engineered’ is a different thing and definitely not designed to deceive. 

Creed_Clicks

Made in Japan v Crafted in Japan?

Dont Edwards assemble some of their models in Japan out of parts made in China?

Whitecat

Creed_Clicks said:

Made in Japan v Crafted in Japan?

Dont Edwards assemble some of their models in Japan out of parts made in China?

Yes and so do Yamaha, but “made” and “crafted” don’t have any legal meaning, was purely marketing and what the suits thought would improve product perception. 

Pete.R

Creed_Clicks said:

Made in Japan v Crafted in Japan?

Dont Edwards assemble some of their models in Japan out of parts made in China?

They did this for a few years, to my knowledge they are now completely made in Japan again

victorludorum

It's the glued neck guitars that got me thinking about this. With a 335, for example, is it assembled in the USA if the body and neck are put together and sprayed in China, then shipped to the USA to have the hardware screwed on?

prowla

I can assemble a guitar from parts, but I've never made one.

lustycourtier

No mention of Duesenberg yet?

OilCityPickups

I have no problem buying anything made anywhere ... apart perhaps Russia or North Korea ... but what bugs the living fuck out of me are advertisements that that feature the Union Flag and thus play on a UK customer's desire to buy British ...when the products are only 'designed' in the UK. and made many thousands of miles away. 
My own feeling is that it's borderline dishonest. 
If you are ashamed that your products are made in china for you (and you shouldn't be) don't say anything rather than jump up and down waving the flag. 
I'm in no way patriotic ... but I don't like the wool being pulled over the eye of folks who are.... for profit. 

Whitecat

lustycourtier said:

No mention of Duesenberg yet?

Pretty sure they don't have "made in..." anywhere in particular on their instruments so it doesn't actually become an issue for them.

elstoof

OilCityPickups said:

I have no problem buying anything made anywhere ... apart perhaps Russia or North Korea ... but what bugs the living fuck out of me are advertisements that that feature the Union Flag and thus play on a UK customer's desire to buy British ...when the products are only 'designed' in the UK. and made many thousands of miles away. 

Triumph motorcycles is awful for this, every bike has a union flag painted on it somewhere while they’re made in Thailand. 

It’s a very common thing in leather goods and shoes, get the things made in China, apart from the linings. Make the linings in Italy etc and stick a “made in Italy” badge on the lining, then simply fit the lining to the actual shoe/bag/purse 

Supportact

What about pedals? If a company have their printed circuit boards made up in China, and then they assemble them over here, can they still claim 'hand made in the UK'? Does it make a difference if some or all of the components are soldered to the circuit board over here? 

I'm not sure if this is legally defined or a bit of a grey area. Does anyone know? Not sure it worries me that much but I do wonder.  

Whitecat

Supportact said:

What about pedals? If a company have their printed circuit boards made up in China, and then they assemble them over here, can they still claim 'hand made in the UK'? Does it make a difference if some or all of the components are soldered to the circuit board over here? 

I'm not sure if this is legally defined or a bit of a grey area. Does anyone know? Not sure it worries me that much but I do wonder.  

I think the point is is that very few jurisdictions have defined it - as I mentioned above, the State of California has… but for loads of other places it’s a very grey area because there are very few rules. 

koss59

lustycourtier said:

No mention of Duesenberg yet?

Duesenberg are now very open about the fact the bodies are made in Croatia and finished in Germany.
Ive no idea if they were ever made elsewhere but for several years they’ve been Croatia.