Where were your Keyboards made?

[Fake Ghost Pirate]

I’m very curious what countries the various pro Keyboards and audio equipment were made in. My first pro synth was an Ensoniq SQ-1 Plus which I believe was made in America.
Sorry to drag politics and world events into this, but im planning to avoid any major purchases that were made in China for the foreseeable future (nothing against the Chinese people, but their government uses slave labor and I don’t want to support that anymore)

Heres what I know about my own equipment:

Korg Kross 1- China
Roland Ax Edge Keytar- China
Korg Minilogue- Vietnam
Zoom H4N recorder- assembled in China
Alesis Vortex- possibly Germany
Behringer HPS 3000 headphones- China (I’m surprised at this one)

All my other stuff is used...very used.

I’m curious to see what other instruments were made in countries other than China.

 

[Music Bird]

speaking of China, I will support China (despite the fact that they still do use child and Forced labor) and other countries because they make some stuff the US can‘t, there are countries with much more corrupt industries like certain African countries, parts of Asia (Pakistan & Afghanistan to name a few) and Venezuela. But I don’t mind where anything is made usually, but when it comes to handmade stuff by people not factories, US and Fair Trade countries have my back.

Behringer shouldn‘t be a surprise, their main factory is in Zhongshan and they have a few others like in Shenzhen, despite being a German company, it’s much cheaper to make stuff in China then make stuff outside.

Casio CT-X3000, Casio WK-7600, Yamaha MX49: China.
Casio SK-1: South Korea.
Korg Minilogue: Vietnam.
MIDIplus MIDI keyboard, Alesis SR-16: Taiwan.
Non keyboard and drum machine
Melodica: China
Ukulele, Guitar: China.
Percussion: China, Thailand, Taiwan, Israel, Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, US, possibly others.
Pennywhistles: China, US.
Recorders: Indonesia, South Korea.
Slide Whistle: China.
Fife: US.
Harmonicas: China, maybe Germany (Hohner ones).
Cartoon Sound FX And Foley Instruments and Devices for scoring cartoons without needing Cartoon FX libraries (For toys Used for sound FX and some kinds of percussion, winds, and sound makers/animal calls): China, Taiwan, US (only partially), West Germany, post reunified Germany, Italy, Japan, others.

i was looking at the Korg PA stuff, and it’s made in Italy.
Roland stuff is made in Japan or China I think Depending on the product.
Moog synths are made in the US in Asheville, NC.
Roland arrangers used to be made in Italy by the same company that did Siel synths.
Ketron is from Italy.

 

[Biggles]

It is not just China, slave labour is used globally

I do not lay blame solely on China, blame must also lie with the Companies concerned who source their products from Chinese manufacturers and the buyers who want low cost equipment.

Blame your own Countries Government who rushed headlong into China years ago for the Companies based in your Country to make a fast buck for themselves buy using the lower manufacturing costs associated with China.

I remember what it was like when China started to modernise, over here in the UK our businesses were rubbing their hands with glee at the massive potential for sales.

As for slave labour, it exists, we have it here in the UK despite a so called minimum wage, Companies have ways to work around it.

Yamaha DP has Japan label on it

Behringer mixer China

Fender Bass guitar Mexico

Gibson Les Paul guitar USA

Risa Uke either Portugal or what was Czech Rep.

Kala uke. Despite being a California based Company my uke was made in China.

 

[happyrat1]

Kurzweil is owned by Young Chang of South Korea, but they have also moved production to China in the past few years.

Good luck finding stuff that isn't made in China these days.

If China is moving back toward isolationism again then the problem will eventually sort itself out once the conditions become intolerable and companies move production to the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea and other Pacific Rim Nations.

To be honest if I were to boycott every nation whose policies I disliked then I wouldn't have spent a dime in the US in the past 4 years.

Gary

 

[3dc]

Gibson Les Paul guitar USA

Probably the reason why they filled for bankruptcy. Patriotism is expensive.

P.S. The world is heading back to deadly past mistakes many people forgot about. Like pre WWI Germany and Europe for example. Tons of cheap labor, resources everywhere and factories for everything you can imagine yet it all stopped working somehow. These days we are witnessing the same thing but on much bigger scale with much more devastating weaponry then WWI or WWII. Trade wars between "dominating" USA, EU on one side and "rebel" Russia, China on other side. Not to mention the "energy" wars between Turkey, Greece, Israel, Iran. All you need is a good fire starter if you ask me. Something like a virus...

 

[larryj]

to my surprise Bose L1 model 11......made in china

 

[happyrat1]

Have people forgotten the problems of "buying domestic" in the 80's and 90's?

Gary

 

[Music Bird]

I must be the only person on here who actually cares about Chinese and Asian instruments over American or non Asian ones
Other stuff
My USB cable for my keyboard is made in Taiwan and music PC says China on it.
I have a suling from Indonesia too.
I used a Moog in high school and I'm pretty sure the box had in big letters 'Made in Asheville, NC, USA' on it (I'd love to visit the Moog museum/factory).
In that school I used a few Yamaha keyboards made in China or Indonesia and Novation synth (Mininova) made I think in Taiwan or Vietnam.
I also used a Roland keytar in the school and I think it was made in Japan I believe or Taiwan.
My school also had guitars made in Indonesia, Mexico, and Japan and maybe China.
My band has Yamaha stage pianos that I believe are from Indonesia.
I also use FL Studio which of course is made in Germany.
I also had when I was a kid Casio keyboards from Japan and a RadioShack one from Taiwan or Japan.

 

[happyrat1]

The truth is that 95% of people vote with their wallets.

If I have a choice between a $250 TV set made in China or a $2000 TV set made in the "Good ole USA" I'll take the Chinese commodity pricing any time.

Back in the 80's and 90's a Roland Juno would set you back Thou$and$. Cheap, Chinese labour has brought the price down on the current models to less than a thou.

Market forces have spoken up til now and I only see Trump's continued pressure on China for the past 4 years as the instigator of the current failing relations with the largest country on the planet.

Besides. I'm Canadian. American made means nothing to me except overpriced and shoddy quality control.

If you do a quick scan of the forums here you'll find that about 70% of the posts on here come from countries other than the US as well.

Gary

 

[Biggles]

Like Gary, I do not give a damn about USA made products, in fact I actively avoid buying USA made goods and produce.

My next keyboard will be bought for its features and not for where it was made.

Same ethos for other music related kit that I may buy.

 

[Rayblewit]

USA made
UK made
Canada made
German made
Australia made

Whether it be keyboards or motor vehicles or most other things . . they all have components sourced from China. . . None of the above are 100% true statements. Maybe "assembled in ..." would be more appropriate than "made in ..."

Ray

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

Roland JUNO-STAGE: China
CME U-Key 49: China
All my guitars seem to be made in Indonesia save one which had been made in Czechoslovakia 40 years ago. $#!+, even the country does not exist anymore.

 

[Music Bird]

Edit
PSR-GX76: Malaysia
Reface DX: China
Rode NT5: Australia
Scarlett 2i2: Designed in England, Made in Malaysia.

 

[Tahitijack]

Oddly the case for my Roland Juno ds7 was made in Poland.

 

[happyrat1]

Oddly the case for my Roland Juno ds7 was made in Poland.

Obligatory Polish Joke <Insert here...>

Gary

 

[phatsmitty]

Ensoniq ESQ1 - America
Yamaha DX7 - Japan
Crumar Mojo 61 - Italy