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The Orient Express

So true Craig........

That the Eastman corp was started by buying the book and the vidoes by Benedetto Going to China to a violin making shop who had been there for at least 4 generations taking some of the finest wood in the world.. Spruce and maple from Tibet, and absolutely kicking butt
( and some of this wood and some of these instruments have benn reputed to have come through Eastern Europe and passed of as made their)

Gibson is a very large corp it makes lots of instruments .. they have dogs and failures like anyone else

Eastman makes quite a few instruments most by hand... and like Gibson has some failures and some dogs

But having played and owned lots of Gibsons from 1915 Mandos to first year snake head to a pre war archtop to a 46 J45 and a Heritage and a 25 ball bearing banjo and so on.. the later the worse they got. Gibson is a classic example of a company living on its reputation.. and no Gibson Family member has worked for the Gibson Corp since 1908

It is my opinon Gibsons are grossly overpriced and they are known for being consistently inconsistent
Living on their own legend

I firmly believe that Eastman tries harder.

I won't currently own an Eastman as I have differences of opinon with their American management and management philosophy and some of the technical details of the instruments But would I lay out $8K or more for an L-5 when I could have the best of the Eastmans for around $2500 ?

So what if Eastman or another company with talented builders decided to go for it, accordeon Central
With that absolutely killer maple and spruce and high quality bits and pieces..and skilled instrument making crafstmen and women ...watch out

Read the other discussion group posts about Gibson, their quality or lack of same their abysmal (sp) "customer service' their grandstanding publically on banjo and manadolin forums when they help somebody who was blown out by several dealers and by their own warranty dept..... instead of just shutting up and fixing one of their famous failures without the fanfare .. as in one of their managers who often posts there.. call me direct and I'll get it handled for you.. I have clout.. see me help opyu I am good guy... .. anyone with one of their failures should be able to walk into a dealership or send the instrument to Gibson and have it fixed without the hassle..

It is Gibson ( and other American instrument manufacturers) that are smug and arrogant , greedy and blind...and that is what will be their undoing
( unless of course they continue to buy their competition and close them)


I am not advocating Chinese products.. I'd rather see instruments made in America and fairly priced

And I have an idea......

Re: The Orient Express

When the string instrument companies first started producing in China the results were pretty gastly for a while. They still are for many of the mass production musical instrument companies over there. (Stateside "set up" still means a lot, especially with the fiddles.)
I imagine the name on a company's lable got changed as employees knowledge of the craft improved.

In the end I don't think Eastmen and the other China based companies are going to continue producing inexpensive products in China. At some point their employees are going to demand a healthy work place and a pay check that can afford them their own house, car, health insurance and education for their children through college.
Yeah, the American dream.

And when that happens I imagine Eastman and the rest will pull up stakes and move production to another less expensive developing nation's sweat shops.

Re: Re: The Orient Express

If the Eastman employees wanted their salary doubled this would increase the price by about $200 US by the time every one decided to take their mark up

And India is the next great manufacturing frontier.. in many areas cheaper than China

Spanish guitar makers are now setting up on the south west coast of India...



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