[quote name='Leon Transaxle' timestamp='1327871630' post='1518111']
The lower the price point the poorer those manufacturing the instrument will have been paid and possibly the poorer they will have been treated. You need to look no further than the cost stratification of Fender products to demonstrate this. From Custom shop to MIA to MIM to the latest China made Modern Players.
Although not specifically talking about basses I read an article today in a gutiar magazine that Guild acoustic requires 30 man hours in actual manufacture alone. This is on top of drying time etc. So lets say a skilled worker gets paid ten quid an hour. That's £300 in labour costs alone. Now the wood used is aged on site for two years so that means significant square footage dedicated to a huge pile of wood alone. The time taken is reduced to 30 hours by utilising highly specialist and very expensive equipment like CNC machines, laser cutters etc. There is a balance here. You could dispense with the expensive equipment and spend more time making the instrument. One way or another it is money going out either in wages or paying of the loan to buy or lease the equipment.
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Paying people less, in a country where the cost of living is less, does not always have to mean they are being treated poorly. In terms of quality - one man with a CNC in the USA, one man with a CNC machine in China, if the wood is the same the only difference is location.
Jens Ritter has said in interviews people think he is raking it in, whereas in reality he sometimes still has trouble paying the rent.