That's a neat way to sum it up. I also like to think of it as bringing our Chinese brethren into the fold. Sooner or later, discerning Chinese guitarists may want to sample some of our US-made wares. For all I know, that might already be happening-- like with Buicks being very popular over there.
Thanks Cocoa. Even though I considered myself our resident Sinophile for a while there, I was still a made-in-USA purist when it came to guitars.
NOW?
Well, when I think about my original non-negotiable requirement for a guitar that was worth re-fretting or repairing, I'm still a made-in-USA-purist.
Why?
I can't deny the bang-for-buck value of the MIC's but we're still seeing the same old conundrum:
When it comes time to re-fret it costs about as much as the guitar's worth (if not more), so why not just get another guitar?
It used to irk my sense of conservation of craftsmanship back then, and it still irks me now.
I spend money on shoes that are worth re-soling too.
Doesn't make sense to me to save $50.00 on a pair of shoes that are dead when the soles wear out and can't be replaced.
Over the long run you'll wind up buying 3 times as many shoes.
Another issue coming to light is parts availability for repair.
When there were warranty claims, Fender typically exchanged those guitars as it was considered cheaper than trying to repair them, except in some cases like re-gluing a brace.
NOW I'm beginning to suspect they never even
carried repair parts here, and this seems to be confirmed by a couple of recent reports from owners that Cordoba sent out replacement parts that didn't fit their MIC guitars (a bridge, an endpin) even though they said they did.
Not being able to get a replacement bridge is a pretty big hurdle, $-wise.
Not sure what the deal is there, but maybe Cordoba's Westerly series guitars do use interchangeable-with-US-made parts but they don't retrofit into the GAD designs?
Before Cordoba bought Guild all that "warranty repair" stuff was handled by Fender even though the Guild name was on the guitars.
None of the US Guild factories were involved in servicing or parts manufacture for the MIC product.
Point being, any repair parts Cordoba acquired from New Hartford were made for strictly for
US guitars.
Anyway, it's great folks are happy with 'em but I'm beginning to suspect this may be an underlying reason the market never really values imports in this bracket the same way as US-built "heirloom quality" guitars.
It ain't necessarily "snobbism", but the sheer impracticality of maintaining the instrument.
The same principle applies in the generic used car market.
AS for our Chinese brethren developing a taste for the US-built stuff, let's just hope they aren't reduced to having to buy it from all those high-priced Japanese outfits who list 'em on eABy all the time..... :glee: