music in the shed

Off theme...... though music influenced directly here.

Rolling the dice on Aliexpress a few weeks back, had a specials month going, up comes a Muramatsu C flute, one as a 16 hole and the other a 17 hole B foot extension open hole. Obviously a fake, given the asking price. 14 days later, arrived here expecting the Open hole B foot to be an item with little redeeming worth. Very bright silver plating, looks ok, it plays as good or better than the fleet of Yamaha's i have, more so the solid silver 6xx series expensive flute. Plays from top to bottom as good as could be hoped for, easily, the low B low register rivals my USA Alto Flute. $210 delivered... cannot by any stretch see how this item could be made for 3-4-10 times that amount.

Moral, There is a China manufacturing capacity that is scary good, reason i say this as to what will come about in motorcycles and 4 wheel vehicles can only be wondered at. Have many USA and Japanese, instruments. Would public perform with 80-90% of the time on South Korean stringed instruments. Taking the fake Muramatsu to two open mics tonight and tomorrow, expect will play better than prior as it is by my account, a lovely instrument to own and hear. j.
 
Hey John. Well done. Rolling the dice indeed, but it seems to be less of a gamble than it used to be. I reckon the days are gone when you could assume that anything made in China was useless tat that would break the first time you used it. Chinese manufacturing has caught up or surpassed the rest of the world.

Over the last couple of decades, I've also gambled on buying cheap items online from Chinese manufacturers from time to time, but only if the cost is no more than I'd be prepared to write off it turns out to be crap. Mostly, like your flute, I've been pleasantly surprised by better quality and function that I'd dared hope for. On a par with, or better than some well known and respected brands from Japan or Europe. But I've also had the occasional dud, not worth a pinch of shit. Those items go in the bin. On occasions when I've felt out of pocket enough to complain, I've usually got a refund. So the balance sheet overall is definitely positive.
 
This could easily get very political. There are big fines here for bringing in counterfeit goods, not infrequently applied to designer stuff but it applies to everything, some of the items we see are almost indistinguishable in build quality to the original but does not come from that factory. A moot point really as most theft today is dot and dash based.
 
I'm also in the 'I'll get it cos it's cheap enough to toss if it doesn't cut the mustard' brigade. I bought a Hall effect electric bicycle throttle and a MAP sensor as part of my plan to try one of Cape's TPS and MAP modules for Ignitech. They were inexpensive and I've ended up not using either, but for $35 combined and free shipping it's bugger all. Ther TPS I am using is made locally - a potentiometer type - and it was around $180 from memory - nice kit, but you can see the diff.

Then I looked for something on Ali X that I might be able to fashion into some sort of detachable mudflap-mudguard extender for the SFQ - when I ride in the wet the rooster tail sprays all over the seat and my back ... form over function! found something that looked promising, $8 free shipping! Insane - and it really looks like it'll do exactly what i want it to, with a bit of custom design.

So it really surprises me iust how much stuff is out there, great for custom building - you search for something weird that you don't seriously think you'll find, and there it'll be. My tail lights are a chopped up Ali X purchase combined with oher electrical bits from Repco or somewhere.
 
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