all kinds of shady stuff there from knock·offs to fake reviews
I’ve spoken to manufacturers (not related to music gear) who’ve told me they make a separate line of products for amazon and walmart. Lower quality components and shorter warranty along with the lower prices.
besides all that, >50% of online sales are through one platform. Most shopping is done online. How is thst good for anyone else? One of the biggest companies in the solar system. Don’t feed the rich, eat the rich! Lol.
Hurts small businesses. Monopoly. Worker exploitation. I could go on all day about this.
I’m sure it’s convenient but, it’s best to get things from a local, independent, reputable shoppe or order direct. Though, I’ve seen online stores specifically selling music stuff that claim to be authorized retailers. Those are probably alright.
I said they’re a platform. I never said amazon itself acts on behalf of other companies. Though, people rend to just say “i bought Product P from amazon” rather than “I bought Product P from X Co. via amazon” when most of the time I’m pretty sure they mean the latter.
Another take away is that the system is build by “wealthy” land owning white christian men for people like themselves.
It doesn’t matter if something is legal when it’s corporations hiring lawyers to write regulations and then lobby it to the politicians. That just means the power has been taken from The People by a small group of self-serving companies and people.
I also didn’t say that nothing sold there is legimate. I said as a whole that it’s untrustworthy. There has to be some authentic stuff.
According to one study, 20 out of 47 products were counterfeit. Lol…
Also, to put a name out there. Several years ago I spent a solid hour on the phone with a woman from Vitamix. She told me they have a separate line of products for i.e. walmart, that are made entirely in china out of cheaper components because all parties want lower sticker prices.
Buying directly from Vitamix or from a small retailer gets the better product. The big deal is that they make the motors for the blenders in the US and have a, I think it was five or ten year minimum, warranty on them.
In some cases, one really does get what one pays for. I wouldn’t be surprized if they weren’t the only ones doing this.
Another example of mixed manufacturering is RAM Mounts. I just checked their website again and now it says “assembled in USA”. A few years ago they made everything in Seattle, WA. Later on when I placed an order through them, I got a little cars stating that some items are made in China and they’re looking to expand they’re domestic capabilities.
So after owning a couple of basses for years, I guess I should show them some love. I’m going to grab the F-One oil and fret rocker from MN (based on this thread), but I hate paying shipping, so I need to add something else to my order - anything else I should grab while I’m at it?
I’ll grab the nail buffer files that @howard mentioned for fret polishing, but I’d like to protect my fretboard. Is tape OK? What kind? Or can I really just use the same file on the wood to buff out scratches?
are the fret guards in that package the ones that @howard said scratched his fretboard, or was that something different? And yes @JerryP - yours came out nice! Your post was the one that got me thinking that it’s really time for me to do something
Finally got the new bass VI on the bench today. The strings I ordered ended up in the aether somewhere… so no new strings today. I’ve got a set of Fender rounds coming tomorrow morning. I did detune and oil the fretboard, I’ll throw another coat on tomorrow when I restring. Put a quarter turn on the truss rod, action was good (3mm), and those floating bridges are a PITA to intonate. I’ll be going from .84s on the low E to 1.00, so I bet I’ll be taking that tension right off again. I’m hoping I won’t need to file the nut. It’s not hard, I just don’t like doing it.
I usually set it closer to 2MM but I’m finding lately on my 734 that the pickups keep getting in my way while I’m picking. I’m going to try this one at 3MM since it’s exclusively played with a pick and maybe bump my BB up if I like it. I started today with the VI at 5MM which is just cray cray.
