Question re: headstock heritage stamp

[John_Fletcher]

re: headstock heritage stamp

A friend of mine in the US recently bought a Monarchy(royal red) and sent me some pictures. One thing I noticed right away is that it doesn't have the standard "Made in San Luis Obispo" logo that we're all familiar with. I've heard that at some point they started using "Crafted in" with the California bear logo on some of their guitars; I don't know if they ever did that on the Monarchy, however. This one in particular, though, has the bear logo, along with "California Heritage Since 1974" and the serial number below it.

When did they start using this logo? And is there a technical or legal reason why they aren't using Made in America stamp? I'm assuming the guitar is still being made in their California factory.

Just a personal curiosity on my part for anyone in-the-know who may have an answer.

 

[John C]

A friend of mine in the US recently bought a Monarchy(royal red) and sent me some pictures. One thing I noticed right away is that it doesn't have the standard "Made in San Luis Obispo" logo that we're all familiar with. I've heard that at some point they started using "Crafted in" with the California bear logo on some of their guitars; I don't know if they ever did that on the Monarchy, however. This one in particular, though, has the bear logo, along with "California Heritage Since 1974" and the serial number below it.

When did they start using this logo? And is there a technical or legal reason why they aren't using Made in America stamp? I'm assuming the guitar is still being made in their California factory.

Just a personal curiosity on my part for anyone in-the-know who may have an answer.

Not an official word, but it isn't only EBMM. Fender and G&L also no longer have the "Made in USA" on their models actually made in the USA.

California introduced stronger product labeling laws in 2016. From what I was reading back at the start of 2016 (and admittedly I'm not an attorney and I haven't been following this for changes) the California law changed so that for a product to be labeled "Made in the USA" 95% of the wholesale value of the product had to come from the USA - unless you could prove that there were no comparable USA components, then you could drop down to 90% of the wholesale value of the product being USA content. Guitars are made with tone woods not grown in the USA, and use components not necessarily made in the USA; it's almost impossible (particularly due to the cost of the the tone woods) for a guitar hit that 90% USA content level (much less the 95% USA content level).

All the California guitar manufacturers are in this same boat - they probably have 15-20% non-USA content, but they can't hit that 90%-95% USA content threshold.

 

[John_Fletcher]

Thanks for the reply. That was pretty informative.

I wonder what this means as far as NAFTA exemptions are concerned, and whether there will be any trouble for Canadian dealers/importers.

 

[DrKev]

IIRC, BP mentioned that the issue was the Schaller locking tuners - made in Germany and that kills the "Made in..." thing under California law.

 

[kestrou]

IIRC, BP mentioned that the issue was the Schaller locking tuners - made in Germany and that kills the "Made in..." thing under California law.

That’s my recollection as well - those crafty Germans (and their flinty Teutonic hearts) make the best tuners, and that’s what EBMM is sticking with. Good on them!

Kevin

 

[spychocyco]

Yeah, there was a thread not too long ago, maybe on the bass side, where BP said it was mainly the tuners. I did a quick search, but didn't turn it up. It's out there to find, though.

 

[Beerandbeards]

I like the heritage logo. The bear is cool even though there aren't any grizzly's in California anymore