Re: Chinese made mandolins (Northfield?)
Originally Posted by
bigskygirl
This is an international forum and people from all over the world are buying instruments from places other than the USA.
I come from another country, the USA's biggest trading partner, that buys billions of dollars worth of goods and services from the US. The US in turn buys billions worth of goods and services from us. As long as this Forum discussion is about the quality of Chinese instruments, I have no problem with it, but when hints of protectionism come into the discussion ("why are instruments off-shored like this?"), the discussion is getting political, and offensive to those of us in many other countries, whose consumer habits and trade agreements provide jobs for a great many Americans, and whose businesses often have partnerships with American businesses. I offer no opinion as to whether the present international economic system is good or bad. Let's keep focussed on the topic.
By the way, I too held a bias against Chinese instruments, because, in the 1980's, a lot of cheap -- in both senses -- instruments were coming into Canada from China (I bought my kids Chinese beginner violins). When I mentioned this on the Forum,I was politely corrected by good folks at the Cafe, who let me know that my view was out of date. Again, as someone mentioned above, for my generation, "made in Japan" once meant cheap junk, an idea long forgotten.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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