Yamaha Factory Tour in China. You gotta see this!

[vindibona1]

Yamaha has become a juggernaut in the music industry. Pianos, woodwinds, brass, percussion. They have become this force of nature, for good reason: Quality and value.

While I don't own a Yamaha acoustic, I've played several. But I did pick up Yamaha 5 string bass earlier in the year and am blown away by the sheer quality, over and above one would expect in most basses- without even considering price. Fit and finish were simply perfect. Sound was excellent, playing and sounding far better than it's price points.

I also have a 20+ year old Yamaha DX7 keyboard. And while technology has already lapped it, it can still hold it's own in any band when needed. Some day I'll have to replace the on-board battery .

[DesertTwang]

Is it the camera angle or is the presenter like 3 feet taller than any of the employees who appear in this video? [emoji1]

[DesertTwang]

I have never been to a guitar factory, so I'm curious: do factories like Martin, Taylor or Gibson look any different from what we see in this video, or is this how things are done in the US as well?

[volvo765ti]

Played around with an FG830 the other night at GC. Outside the acoustic room, just out in the store. The thing just booms. Deep fat tone for days. One will probably replace my FG-441S soon. The 441 was made in Taiwan and is still like new, except for the typical-of-the-era fogging on the back and sides, and a small handful of battle scars I gave it in my younger days (33 and have had it for 21 of those 33 years).

I thought about an LL16-12 but 1-3/4" is too tight on the nut for a 12 string, say my fat fingertips - so that's a no-go.

I do wish they would offer wider necks, on both 6s and 12s. I wish they'd make a 12 string version of the LL16RD *and* the FG850. In any event, I do love their guitars.

[JBCROTTY]

My Yamaha LL16RD is the best guitar I own, period. Just plays and sounds amazing. I compare everything I play or try to that guitar and, no exaggeration, I have not heard many guitars that sound better.

I also really dig my FG700S - that was my first decent guitar after decades of lugging around a terrible beater. It plays and sounds great. I have a Yamaha brand preference, no question.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by JBCROTTY

My Yamaha LL16RD is the best guitar I own, period. Just plays and sounds amazing. I compare everything I play or try to that guitar and, no exaggeration, I have not heard many guitars that sound better.

I also really dig my FG700S - that was my first decent guitar after decades of lugging around a terrible beater. It plays and sounds great. I have a Yamaha brand preference, no question.

You can buy a used Yamaha dread for $150-200 which is a great campfire/beater guitar. And they are built STRONG.

scott memmer

[cuthbert]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Hi all you Yammie fans, and others.

I haven't posted this in a long time. If you love Yamaha as much as I do, you will enjoy this. As a company that worships quality as much, or more, than anyone in the industry, I am so grateful to have them in our world.

In this one plant in China, they produce over half a million (!) guitars a year.



From what I understand -- someone please correct me if I'm wrong -- what separates them from so many other Asian guitar makers is that they typically don't sub or farm out their work to other sub-vendors. So I believe this is all Yamaha employees in this vid.

Very impressive.

What a truly amazing company.

Enjoy!

Scott

Quite interesting video, the factory looks a clean working environment and after playing a FG180 anniversary I was impressed.

I would be curious to know how much the workers earn there.

Originally Posted by DesertTwang

I have never been to a guitar factory, so I'm curious: do factories like Martin, Taylor or Gibson look any different from what we see in this video, or is this how things are done in the US as well?

For what I've seen on youtube and my (limited) esperience in guitar making some things are similar, other are different, in particular Martin uses a lot of CNC, Gibson has (had? The Montana video is old) just one CNC machine to make neck profiles. In this video it appears they make a neck in three pieces while more expensive guitars traditionally got in from big log of mahogany or cedar. I didn't understand if they mask the top under the bridge or if they remove the varnish after like Gibson...usually necks are assembled with the fingerboard on but they do the opposite, the finish is definitely different and then there are many other things you can't see from a short video, for instance in the dovetail assembly I couldn't see if they measure the neck angle like in Gibson, but the procedure appears to be the same.

[patrickgm60]

Originally Posted by merlin666

Why, the point of doing this in China is the cheap labour, they work for pennies a day there. If one worker is ill or quits they are easily replaced, but if there's an issue with fickle machines production can be stopped for a long time.

China's minimum wage, depending on the city/county, is roughly equivalent to US $1.30 to $3.00/hour. There are abuses and trade-offs, such as longer hours and company-provided housing, but the "pennies a day" cliche is ridiculous.

[Beakybird]

Originally Posted by patrickgm60

China's minimum wage, depending on the city/county, is roughly equivalent to US $1.30 to $3.00/hour. There are abuses and trade-offs, such as longer hours and company-provided housing, but the "pennies a day" cliche is ridiculous.

And I would imagine that the skilled labor to help build a guitar would pay more than minimum wage.
It's still troublesome how little people are paid in developing countries.

[Photojeep]

Originally Posted by Beakybird

And I would imagine that the skilled labor to help build a guitar would pay more than minimum wage.
It's still troublesome how little people are paid in developing countries.

I'm not trying to start anything nor trying to start a political discussion, but by way of comparison, does anyone know how much Martin/Gibson/Taylor guitar factory workers earn? I mean ACTUALLY know? (Not a guesstimate.)

Obviously employee wages are only a part of the cost of any manufactured item, I'm just wondering the relative percentages and how they may compare to the cost of the instruments we buy.

I'm all for making a living wage no matter the location or industry so please don't mistake my question and comments for trolling.

I also wonder what is considered a 'living wage' in various parts of the country. It seems many westerners, myself included, oftentimes hear about people making $2 per hour and are horrified at the low amount without knowing if that is actually horribly low in their part of the world or puts them in their region's middle class. Again, I'm NOT saying they don't deserve more, I'm just wanting information.

Best,
PJ

[zhunter]

Originally Posted by Photojeep

I also wonder what is considered a 'living wage' in various parts of the country. It seems many westerners, myself included, oftentimes hear about people making $2 per hour and are horrified at the low amount without knowing if that is actually horribly low in their part of the world or puts them in their region's middle class. Again, I'm NOT saying they don't deserve more, I'm just wanting information.

Best,
PJ

I found this informative in the past.

http://livingwage.mit.edu/

hunter

[merlin666]

Originally Posted by Beakybird

And I would imagine that the skilled labor to help build a guitar would pay more than minimum wage.
It's still troublesome how little people are paid in developing countries.

Skilled workers tend to have received years of training through apprenticeships or other post-secondary education. The tasks that I see executed in the video require a few hours of training at most.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Beakybird

And I would imagine that the skilled labor to help build a guitar would pay more than minimum wage.
It's still troublesome how little people are paid in developing countries.

I think an over-riding concern, for me at least, would also be the lack of environmental controls in China and other developing nations. The smog in major cities is, as many know, so bad that people routinely wear masks and take other protective measures. Go forward 50 years and imagine the millions of cases they will have of various respiratory diseases -- cancer, emphasema (sp?), CPD. It's frightening to consider.

And that's just the air. Think of the water.

There are trade-offs all up and down the line.

scott memmer

[zhunter]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

I think an over-riding concern, for me at least, would also be the lack of environmental controls in China and other developing nations. The smog in major cities is, as many know, so bad that people routinely wear masks and take other protective measures. Go forward 50 years and imagine the millions of cases they will have of various respiratory diseases -- cancer, emphasema (sp?), CPD. It's frightening to consider.

And that's just the air. Think of the water.

There are trade-offs all up and down the line.

scott memmer

Kind of like the US in the first 2/3s of the last century. Of course the population of the US was much lower so the impact of that bad behavior was less. We are watching China's industrial revolution 100 years after the US version. Fortunately they are compressing their awareness timeline, taking advantage of current tech, and are already taking some steps to curb the effects of environmental abuse.

Things are changing so fast that even information from 5 years ago is dated. Read up on China 2025. Avoid the us/them politics and think about how it might change the world...quickly.

hunter

[Charmed Life Picks]

In case you hadn't seen this.... It's cooler than cool. What a company.

sm