Vox Hand Wired AC-15

[jingle_jangle]

Were Chinese goods universally bad in terms of quality, I would tend to agree, Hank. My experiences over the past 20 years with Chinese manufactured goods lead me to believe that they were very good and are now excellent and getting better all the time.

I recently purchased two VOX amp heads ( a solid state 100-watter and a tube 50-watter), and assembly quality is superb. Long-term will tell if the early teething problems of the CC VOXs have been solved. The Chinese certainly have the capability to produce manufactured goods of excellent quality, and I won't do any "solo boycotts", except of Wal-Mart, who actually buy 10% of all of China's industrial output.

BTW, it is my belief that the Chinese lead-in-toy-paint issue is directly related to Wal-Mart's take no prisoners attitude to price-cutting, and cutthroat merchandising and employment policies.

[tamborineman]

Paul, I'm sure you are correct regarding quality. I would have bought the vox if I hadn't found the marshall used. I recently bought my first made in Japan guitar,a Gretsch, and it's outstanding. What can I say, I'm from michigan... ie, Ford Dearborn or Gibson Kalamazoo.
Very 20th century... but now I drive a Honda and own a Gretsch and british amp

[johnallg]

BTW, it is my belief that the Chinese lead-in-toy-paint issue is directly related to Wal-Mart's take no prisoners attitude to price-cutting, and cutthroat merchandising and employment policies.

I think it has nothing to do with Wal-Mart but with import buyers just not doing their job as they should. Too much real work, not enough glory.

[jingle_jangle]

Not so, John...Wal-Mart's control over the toy market in the USA is stifling. Back in the early '90s, after Mattel jumped through hoops in order to land such a huge customer, it began with Wal-Mart's buyers cherry-picking Mattel's line.

It eventually got to a place where, if Wal-Mart didn't pick the toy, it didn't get produced. Then Wal-Mart started asking for previews, before all other customers saw the line. Mattel was already afraid of losing their business, so they agreed. This seriously compromised Toy Fair, usually held the second week of February in NYC. Now Toy Fair is mostly for Mom-and-Pop stores and manufacturers; the big guys like Mattel and Hasbro have already written their own business for the year, and only show up to pick up whatever small business they can write. In short, Wal-Mart, because of their huge volume and thus clout in the marketplace, literally drives the retail toy business in this country, virtually single-handedly.

The last eight to ten years, Wal-Mart's buyers not only tell Mattel's (as well as Hasbro's and many others') marketing department which types and lines of toys they will look at each season, but also tell Mattel (and other manufacturers) what they are willing to pay for each item--with no wiggle-room. The toy is either produced at Wal-Mart's price. within a penny, with no negotiation, or it gets shelved, sometimes after full development is done on it or a whole line--a pricey proposition which has led to a lot of Mattel talent being let go.

Latest is Mattel putting pressure on Chinese contract factories to cut prices to impossible levels. To remain competitive, the Chinese pressure their suppliers for cheaper materials and tooling. Add in reduced oversight and you get the lead problem we were bound to see sooner or later, as it is one of a very few areas to cut toy costs that is invisible to visual inspection and seldom (until now) chemically-tested for.

When my old company (not Mattel) was producing toys in China, we were very, very careful to contract only the best testing labs, and each day's production was tested for toxic materials, as well as mechanically so we knew it would maintain its designed durability. We were proud of our record at the time. That was a decade ago, though, and we did not deal with (nor did we need) the likes of Wal-Mart. We were too small to compete on their scale for business, anyway, and a lot of kids had safer toys as a result.

[johneek]

Paul's comments are right on IMHO. There is a great summary of Wal-Mart's strategies in a wonderful book by Thomas L. Friedman, "The World is Flat." It's a great read.

However, it does seem that we've drifted off topic.....

[janglerocker]

Back on topic, I scored a slightly used AC15H1VT on ebay that should be here by week's end. Keeping my fingers crossed as the shipping gods wreak havoc on my nerves. New York to Massachusetts isn't too far but I've been amazed in the past how quickly "something" can happen.