Has anyone else ever stumble across this?

Hadn't seen this myself but I don't sympathise with his point much.

All companies were small once. I love the idea of living in a world where shops are all personalised and home-grown but it's just not realistic. Who is anyone to tell someone they can create a business and NOT grow it? The market is the same in many industries - it's supply and demand, pure and simple.

I bought a guitar amp from a custom amp company based in the UK - it was a fantastic experience; really familiar, personal and informal. The problem is that "custom" means expensive. For a budding drummer/guitarist/whatever who wants a guitar, are they meant to save for 2 years before they can afford one? I wouldn't agree that all custom work is better than the "crap" in superstores either. I'm sure other people would argue that off-the-shelf production guitars/drums are perfectly good quality, too.

It all comes down to choice. It sounds like his business isn't threatened but he doesn't like the idea of "big corporations". Well, fair enough but you're better off trying to grow your own business instead of trying to slander others for using production lines to offer affordable products.

// Counter rant over :)
 
I find it hard to believe that WalMart and Office Depot dominate the musical industry.

It was very poorly written at all and is just an advertisement to guilt people into buying from them. I think it would be more effective if they didn't jump on the Walmart hate bandwagon. They should focus on why people should buy from their store.

I wouldn't buy from a comany that uses scare tactics such as (from the website):
The next time you stop at a McDonalds you will be seriously compromising the eco system that makes our planet tick. Please do not support large corporations. They are all evil and they are all bent on destroying our economy so people will not be able to afford buying something good.

Jeff
 
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I find it hard to believe that WalMart and Office Depot dominate the musical industry.

It was very poorly written at all and is just an advertisement to guilt people into buying from them. I think it would be more effective if they didn't jump on the Walmart hate bandwagon. They should focus on why people should buy from their store.

Jeff

Yeah, how can anybody hate WalMart? lol (sorry, couldn't help but inject a little levity.)
 

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I didn't read all the article but i really don't see where WalMart or Office Depot is hurting anybody musically either. As many times as i've been in an Office Depot i've never seen any music equipment in there. Those cheap guitars and amps that WalMart sells is a joke IMO, you could do better at freaking yard sell.

I do remember reading somewhere no long ago that Guitar Center was on the verge of bankruptcy...or something to that extent. I'm not shure how true that is though.

Funny pic IDDrummer. Somebody must have made that picture down here in Bama! I've seen them down here in a housecoat and flip-flops, some i see wearing no bra ( like anybody isn't going to notice), others about as half naked as this girl...but not quiet as naked as she is. Then there is the door greeter who sometimes has about two or three fingers missing that when he waves at you comeing in it looks like he is giving you the finger. Funny place WalMart..especially in the south. lol
 
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The next time you stop at a McDonalds you will be seriously compromising the eco system that makes our planet tick. Please do not support large corporations. They are all evil and they are all bent on destroying our economy so people will not be able to afford buying something good.

...If you apply this same logic to Pizza Hut, you will put a lot of musicians out of work.

I remember when I was a kid how the British invasion and the explosion of rock and roll changed the soundscape in my sleepy little suburb..

In my community, you could not walk one city block without hearing the newest latest and greatest garage bands perfecting their sound on their way to rock stardom.

I often wonder if musical instruments were as relatively cheap and plentifull back then as they are now, how many CDs would I have featuring people that I grew up with. Back then, there was a lot of interest and passion for music, but not a lot of available gear. It wasn't uncommon to have a guy in a band that couldn't hold a tune in a plastic sack, but was in the band because he had an amp. A lot of the grey ponytails that I play with share similar stories from their childhoods.

If the market is now flooded with cheap off shore knock offs, so what. Getting people into music is what's important. I sold a DW kit to a guy who was upgrading from his mid level kit after upgrading from his entry level kit after upgrading from his first kit. All three of his previous kits are still in circulation, and likely to remain so.

I do not know a lot about guitars, but I do know that I have played with grey ponytailed weekend warrior types who have as much or more money tied up in their rigs as I do in my drums. Also, when I go and visit my favorite music store, it is usually full of parents looking for instruments for their kids, or guys like me with more disposable income than talent or need. We are the guys that keep the high enders afloat. We are also the guys that supply a great deal of top quality lightly used primo gear to the aspiring pros who cannot afford retail.

Not much of a rant but it's all I have.

Barry
 
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The next time you stop at a McDonalds you will be seriously compromising the eco system that makes our planet tick. Please do not support large corporations. They are all evil and they are all bent on destroying our economy so people will not be able to afford buying something good.

My Uncle is an environmental consultant and has written several reports for McDonalds on their sustainability. He actually thinks they're a relatively forward-thinking company that change their practices based on ecological research.

Although I sympathise with some of the views on the post, the original poster hasn't done his research at all.
 
This is a good point for discussion.

Do the rather expensive "Made in the USA" drums really justify the price in today's market?

I mean, in the 1970s and before, one can surmise that most drums were made in the USA and sold at an affordable price. Now in the last decade or two, most affordable drums made in China or Taiwan, and America made drums are now top of the line, expensive, and out of the price range of many of us.

Do you really think a 4 piece shell pack Ludwig American made black oyster Ringo kit is worth the $2,800 price tag? I mean, the same set in 1965 was made from the same materials, more or less, and of the same quality. Suddenly, American maple is highly prized, expensive??

I'm just saying...I'm not sure if American drum makers inflate hte price a little bit and play off drummers desire to 'buy American'. I'm not sure..

But hell I'm not complaining and I'd love a new Ludwig and DW drum kit. But right now I can't afford to.
 
I may be totally wrong here (prolly am), but here's the way I see it. Walmart, McDonald's, Costco, KMart, and all the other big bucks corporations on the stock exhanges exist for a reason. They have a good business model and have sustained themselves for years. People buy their products because they like them or they are easy to get. So what if they sell cheap guitars and amps? What exactly is it hurting? You get what you pay for. Some parent may not want to spend a bunch of money buying their kid's first guitar and they can only afford Walmart's brand. Or want to. At least little Billy or Johnny, or Betsy is getting into music and who knows, they may grow up to be the next Eric Clapton or Joan Jett. Or not. They may put it down for 30 years, only to pick it up and really get going on it in middle age to have fun.

If a parent buys his kid a low end Sound Percussion or First Act drum set, who gives a rip? At least they are interested in music and playing an instrument. That kid may turn out to be tomorrow's Ringo Starr or Danny Seraphine.

As their level of expertise grows and their interest grows, they can always sell the cheap "first" instrument to others who are needing a "first instrument".

Would your parents buy you a new Mercedes or Cadillac or Porsche as your first car? I hope not. They bought used or passsed down to you their old car.

Sorry, but I'm a capitalistic pig here. Let the market determine who survives and who doesn't. If a business doesn't have a good business model and can't adapt and change based on the wants and needs and demands it it's customers, it doesn't deserve to survive. Plain and simple.
 
Quote....Please do not support large corporations. They are all evil and they are all bent on destroying our economy so people will not be able to afford buying something good.

Large Corporations employee a lot of people. There are not enough Ma and Pa stores any longer to support the population of this planet. I understand the frustration but the world now operates on a world economy and will only get bigger. He makes his own guitars but must drive a car, Large corporation. Wears clothes I guess, probably made in China, Singapore, Viet Nam, Sri Lanka, and others. I'm guessing owns a computer, China...a TV, China or Japan....So it's all understandable but just no longer feasible and a bit hypocritical. All of the food he eats is probably owned by a large conglomerate beyond his understanding. Peace to all
 
Although, our friends at Ed Roman were a little behind the eight ball on this one. That horse had well and truely bolted when this article was written.....even the first draft in '99.
 
Count me in with the camp that hates the large corporations. Big Oil, toxic to the earth. Big Tobacco, toxic to your health, Big Pharma, poisoning our bodies with their toxins. Big Alcohol, the biggest hypocrites on the planet. Big banking, who sold this country out. If you got that big, you would be corrupt too. It's just human nature. Yes they employ scads of people. But if Wal-Mart had a strict policy where it would only buy American goods, we would be better off. Look at BP, Exxon. Look what they did to the planet. Corporate responsibility begins and ends with the dollar, profits are the ONLY thing that matters, at the expense of everything else. ALL the largest corporations and the powers that run this planet think of us as cattle, and laugh at us for allowing them to get away with every evil thing there is. They have all the power, we don't use ours. Peace, out.
 
This is a bunch of crap. Read the first section and knew it was a big scheme.

I don't trust a lot on the internet these days.
 
Quote...But if Wal-Mart had a strict policy where it would only buy American goods, we would be better off.

If all of the stuff in WalMart was American made, as it was professed to be when they first opened, we would be paying American workers 8 dollars an hour to make things rather than 8 dollars a day, plus the Union dues and we couldn't afford to buy there so I'm not so sure we all would be better off. It bothers me too but it is just a fact of the global economy. I am paying 19.00 for the pants I wear to work from Target, and if they were American made that would cost me 50.00. I don't have a solution but understand the problem and the frustration.
 
Quote...But if Wal-Mart had a strict policy where it would only buy American goods, we would be better off.

If all of the stuff in WalMart was American made, as it was professed to be when they first opened, we would be paying American workers 8 dollars an hour to make things rather than 8 dollars a day, plus the Union dues and we couldn't afford to buy there so I'm not so sure we all would be better off. It bothers me too but it is just a fact of the global economy. I am paying 19.00 for the pants I wear to work from Target, and if they were American made that would cost me 50.00. I don't have a solution but understand the problem and the frustration.

That's the real issue - foreign made goods are cheaper because foreign labor is cheaper. They live at a lower standard than we do in America, generally speaking. Our cheap goods are attained at someone else's expense, in a relative way. If the world ever gets to a point where most of the people in various countries live at a similar standard, we will no longer have the option to buy "cheap" pants. I'm OK with that. I don't have much say in it anyway. I didn't choose where I was born and I'm too poor to move, lol!
 
If all of the stuff in WalMart was American made, as it was professed to be when they first opened...

Could that be...a corporate lie?

If American workers were doing the manufacturing, the adults wouldn't have to apply to Wal Mart for a job. It's a pointless debate, America is circling the drain.
 
Think of it like this. The big corporations aren't so big, and ma and pa stores down the street were selling their own drum heads, that are under par, because they can't buy all that fancy factory equipment. The nearest remo supplier is miles away in a metropolitan area.

But then you wake up a remember you paid $400+ for a paiste signature, musicians will never win.
 
Well...the guy has some valid points on his website yet the bottom line is most of us are like sheep, big corporate stores have cheap products at cheap prices and the majority of people don't have the cash to spend on everything made in the usa or made in japan. They have us like puppets lol....and the negative side to this is that eventually there will be no more mom and pop businesses and I believe the big super size stores will operate with a Monopoly attitude.

Furthermore can you imagine how much tax dollars the US government would lose if everyone stopped buying made in china products? If we were forced to buy all american made products, most of us would not be able to afford a lot of things as we can now so less sales would equal less tax dollars. This world economy hurts the poor and middle class but I believe it's here to stay. We need to stop sending so many kids to college for business and anything else based on making a living at creating nothing and focus more on Math, Science, and Engineering degrees.

Our poorest people live like kings in comparison to poor people in other countries, so I can't see how we can compete with a country like China unless we become less services based and more creative in producing a high volume of products in an automated way.

And yes....I do hate the big corporations! Obviously they do create jobs for people but the pay is terrible and many if not most have no health insurance or benefits.

Health insurance....another EVIL empire, I own and run a chicago style fast food restaurant with my wife and we pay $700.00 per month fro health insurance and it's terrible insurance.

Maybe tis is a stretch but I think we would be better off if big corporations were run by old school mafia lol, at least they took care of their own people.
 
Imagine the number of people that are hired to work just to get the goods from China to the US. All of the people on the ships carrying the containerized freight. All of the people at the ports unloading those ships. The truck drivers hauling the containers away from the ports to the distribution centers. The people working at the distribution centers. The drivers, loaders, and unloaders moving the goods from the dist. centers to the retail stores. The employees at the retail stores. Do you think Ma and Pa can employee all of those people. No way. The world has too many people for Ma and Pa to support and that is just the facts. There aren't enough people in this country to manufacture all of the goods this country uses. There must be 100 or more people involved in the process of making my 19.00 pants.
 
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