I had a feeling when Fender welded the "Squier" line-up into the "Fender" brand on their main pages that the lines would be blurred regarding origins of instruments.

To my dismay a buddy told me he bought a new "Modern Player Tele" at his local GC and its not a "Squier" its a "Fender" and its from China.

Personally, this makes me want to puke. I refuse to buy Chinese goods whenever possible because of their economic and human rights policies.

Additionally, it makes me suspect that economics are not going well at Fender, which would not be a suprise given the general economic outlook of the U.S.

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I remember when we were free!

You are certainly right to vote with your wallet regarding Chinese made products. I see you have quite a few 'MIM' guitars, you might want to look into that too

http://www.hrw.org/americas/mexico

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Please subscribe to my Channel!
https://www.youtube.com/user/b7567

I am not sure how you can consider the lines blurred on a guitar's origin since you said yourself it has the country of origin on the guitar.

However, in the modern global economy, it would be more accurate to say a guitar is assembled in Mexico, US, Japan, China etc. These lines have been blurry for a long time. Particularly with regards to Fender, since they started manufacturing in Mexico and the interchange between the Mexican and American factories.

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

+1000!!!

I don't care how the apologists care to spin it, I REFUSE TO BUY ANY GEAR MADE IN MARXIST COUNTRIES.

PERIOD.

END OF STORY.

NOTHING FOLLOWS.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Some of you already know my position on Chinese goods.........


any way you look at it its a corporation and consumers taking advantage of cheap labor.....
I will support this particular corporation's domestically paid labor force but nothing more.
Mexico and Chinese are both cheap labor situations.

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No spin. If you wish to only buy American, that's your business. You have that right, just as others have the right to purchase globally. That kind of freedom is one of the foundations of your country.

I'm curious, though. Do you have any objections to American companies selling into China?

I do, the only reason the Chinese import a product is to Clone it and violate
Patent/ copyright laws

but people from Hong Kong do not fall in this category, they even say they are not Chinese, they are from Hong Kong that is a clue as to how the environment actually is, people from a city in china wont admit they are Chinese. at least all the Hongkongeese I worked with are this way.

It doesn't really have anything to do with foreign trade, its about how unfairly the people producing it are treated. there are some factory's that put on a good show, but in general the population is treated very poorly. It is after all at its core a communist country

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+1, I agree with you myself, but, this forum has many progressives on it and they will turn your $@! into hamburger for saying it out loud, let alone thinking it. So duck!

QUACK!

In the great overall scheme of things, with all that is wrong (or right) in the world today, thinking of all the guitars made, sold and played - who really cares?

Fender has made guitars in the U.S., Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Mexico, China and who knows where else?

Life goes on, regardless.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

Funny how some people love to split hairs when certain imported products are labeled as to their origins......BUT

Does that mean these very same people are going to walk from now on, not drive to work, since that involves buying petroleum from suppliers with less than ideal policies....

Come On...Stop being hypocrites...If you wish to shout about something concerning unjust practices.....We can do that right here at Home....There is plenty to go around....

How about the fact that Women earn about 77 cents less on a per hour basis than their male counterparts in a job that is exactly the same for both and required the exact same education for both sexes....

The World is not fair, but I prefer to fight my battles where (1) I will be heard (2) cleaning up your own house should be the priority, not the neighbor's overseas.....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I will consider any Fender product wherever it's made. Fender at least has a plant in the United States. So many American companies are no more than middle men importing products at elevated prices only because they still have brand recognition and command the price. If a Chinese company can make and sell a product at a better price you better buy it. It's called capitalism. BTW, what ever happened to "Communist China"? We don't say it as it is one word, like we used to when I was young. Could it be because our companies are now making huge profits having them make goods for them? If you want to be patriotic demand our industries be the same.

Ironically if you look back in history, a very clear fact becomes evident.
Corporations have always sought out ways to reduce overhead by lowering costs of manufacturing in relation to maximizing return sales profits...
In US Colonial Days, companies went West ( from the East Coast in search of a less expensive labor force, when that was no longer applicable they headed further out South or over seas..

You would be hard pressed today to find a product of which all of the components were made stateside......Good Luck...

Take Harley Davidson for example, it doesn't get more vociferous loyalty wise than Harley riders and the patriotism wrapped up in the marketing of the brand.....The reality is that many of the parts are made overseas, Harley Davidson would not be in business today if all the parts were made here in the US. The cost of labor reflected in the sales price of the product would mean that either Harley would have to drastically downsize, since the ask price would elevate a Harley to a Boutique brand or they would go out of business for not reaching their sales quota.
As a matter of fact Harley had to be rescued from Bankruptcy not so long ago...

So Yes... I would prefer to buy a product made stateside, but...and this is a big BUT....That particular product has to be not only cost competitive but it also has to be as good or even better than the competition, that is a very difficult agenda for any company to succeed under.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I predict that within 5 years of the Fender IPO ,That with the possible exception of upscale custom shop items, all production will be outside the USA.

I hope not. It seems like all CEO's today say they are beholden to the stockholders. However, I believe all companies are first responsible to society and the good of the countries where they are based.
If not, we should have no use for them and afford them no concessions, only collect stiff taxes from them. If they balk, show them the door.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have read in along time.