Author Topic: National Pride? (Read 17429 times)

willo · « **on:** November 23, 2005, 02:27:51 PM »

Hi guys, I have an interesting question. I know that I feel somewhat 'proud' to be using British-made pickups (being a Brit), particularly when you consider the dominance of american made products. I was wondering what other people think about this issue? Do American forumites feel a sense of national pride to play American products, even when they are increasingly common everywhere? And if given the choice between a cheaper, foreign model and a slightly more expensive, but comparable quality, home-made model, where would your preference lie? Pay a little extra for the british model?

All contributions welcome!

Cattivo Ragazzo · « **Reply #1 on:** November 23, 2005, 03:01:08 PM »

Well, lets pretend bkp and dimarzio make the exact same pickups, I would buy the cheaper option. Pickups are so expensive in this country, americans pay less than half the price we pay for dimarzio, duncan, emg, etc. Sucks. It costs less than £50 to buy and have shipped a dimarzio pickup from the us to the uk, and if they were as good, I would use them, cause bkps are nearly £100 a go. I know that they are great quality coupled with great service, but when you see guys making and selling them for £30/£40 each(and are apparently very good), it makes you wonder.

Floyd Pepper · « **Reply #2 on:** November 23, 2005, 03:01:44 PM »

I'm with you on this one. One of the reasons I got a Cornford was because they're British. I ordered my 1st pair of BK's earlier this week because they're British. I've used Dean Markley strings for years but have just ordered my 1st job lot of Rotosounds.

I was always this way inclined but earlier this year my job moved to the Philippines. Since then if I can keep the money in this country that's what I'll do. Don't want other people jobs going off shore too. :)

I had a Gordon Smith GS-2 but didn't like it so sold it...and brought an Epiphone Sheraton. Did I just contradict myself?

The amazing Phil · « **Reply #3 on:** November 23, 2005, 03:09:09 PM »

Though my pickups and amps are British, my main guitars are both American for the most part.

That said, nationality bears no factor on wether I'd buy something. Well, not in the sense of national pride. But "made in the UK" does instill a sense of confidence in a product that you wouldn't get from "made in Korea" or something. If I wasn't in the UK, I'd still consider "made in the UK" to be a good thing.

But at the end of the day, hearing knows no borders.

jt · « **Reply #4 on:** November 23, 2005, 03:59:38 PM »

:D The truth is you buy what you can afford. i`m happy to buy British if it`s what i`m after. The more british companys there are the better the choice & hopfully the better the product will then have to become.

:D 8)

willo · « **Reply #5 on:** November 23, 2005, 04:33:12 PM »

Quote from: The amazing Phil

But at the end of the day, hearing knows no borders.

agreed! my set up is a mish mash of translatlantic and far east stuff.

But I suppose, what I'm trying to say, is does nationatlity influence your decision in any way? If you were dutch, would you rather buy Koch then Mesa? Or any other nationality and brand...you get the drift.

I'm wondering, on a personal level, simply because it saddens me a little when I look at my pedal board...I guess I would like more british pedals on there. But then, there aren't very many british pedal manufacturers around...and part of that may be down to consumers spending money on foreign-made goods. :?

dave_mc · « **Reply #6 on:** November 23, 2005, 04:33:27 PM »

i play a japanese guitar, and i'm going to buy a german amp

what does that tell you?

i want to play the best, where it's built be damned

Bainzy · « **Reply #7 on:** November 23, 2005, 04:38:17 PM »

If there's no trade off in quality I'll buy everything British, yet it just so happens that buying British made BKP's are better quality than anything else on the market - so I win either way!

tewboss · « **Reply #8 on:** November 23, 2005, 04:57:25 PM »

I tend to buy British where I can, but only if I am not getting a bag of sh*t. If I don't buy British then its normally German although I tend to buy the best I can afford with most things. The best components of my HiFi are made in the UK, but I bought them because they are good products first and foremost.

I think the feeling is replicated in the US where they've only recently had a decline in their manufacturing industry, well certainly not to the extent the UK has suffered. From what I understand lots of their industries are moving to Mexico. Unfortunately I think that the UK is best at making luxury goods rather than mass market products - look at the car market for an example where most of the mass market cars are no longer made in the UK. Japanese products were at one time looked upon as cheap goods, but now they are high end goods.

HJM · « **Reply #9 on:** November 23, 2005, 05:37:54 PM »

Not bothered where it comes from - I'll source the best sounding gear from wherever. What bothers me is when you buy something flagged as American or British and half of it is made abroad.....Ashdown, Fender, Gibson to name three I know about....

Skybone · « **Reply #10 on:** November 23, 2005, 05:51:28 PM »

The fact that BKP's are a small firm, making quality products with care & precision, that actually give a toss about the customer, and more importantly, offer their product at a reasonable price makes me a proud user of their products.

The fact that they are a bunch of Tone-Hounds is a credit to them (and a beneftit to us!), and their products allow the rest of us to share in their Tone-Quest.

Now, what else can I put a set of BKP's in? ;)

Searcher · « **Reply #11 on:** November 23, 2005, 05:56:14 PM »

I'm prolly the odd one out here. I'm originally Australian, and I got to a point when living there where I would often be happier avoiding Australian-made products. They were rarely as good as the imports and were much dearer. Plus the government taxed imports enormous amounts so that Australian stuff would be competitive price-wise. Something about that just bugged me.

But being a Canadian of some kind now I'm happy to buy Canadian products if I can find them. Unfortunately, there isn't much that's made here, except snow.

willo · « **Reply #12 on:** November 23, 2005, 07:06:29 PM »

Quote from: Searcher

Unfortunately, there isn't much that's made here, except snow.

Godin? I've been eyeing one of their guitars up for a while now...

Searcher · « **Reply #13 on:** November 23, 2005, 08:00:25 PM »

Quote from: willo

Quote from: Searcher
Unfortunately, there isn't much that's made here, except snow.

Godin? I've been eyeing one of their guitars up for a while now...

Actually, if we talk acoustic guitars there are a few here that are pretty good. I have a Larrivee myself. Plus, on the other side of the country is a little amp building workshop (Kingsley Amps) that makes some awesome stuff that I can't afford. :?

Ratrod · « **Reply #14 on:** November 23, 2005, 08:32:26 PM »

To bad there aren't many Australian cars on the European roads. At least the UK gets the Monaro. I'd like to see more Monaros, Falcon XR8's etc. Big V8 engines, decent handling and a fair price tag.

It's a bit off topic, sorry, I couldn't help myself.