Another inexpensive Chinese 7-string archtop - Has anyone dealt with DHgate?

[DawgBone]

I have a pair of luccheses. My wife has a couple dozen pair and has sold a dozen more. Fryes, the now popular and pricey old gringos, ariats. She even had a pair of luccheses she got Randy Travis to sign at a gig here in TX before his medical issues. You wind up owning a pair of shitkickers in Texas by default. I don't wear them much as I'm tall enough already and too high of a heel at a gig makes me feel like I'm going to tip over.

You wind up owning some sort of hat too but I was already a biltmore beaver felt homburg enjoyer before I went to TX. A few hundred bucks for a hat or boots is pretty much chump change especially considering they last decades with good care. Look at some of the 100x 250x 500x 1000x times stetson. Hats for rich oil men. Crazy money. Like a nice guitar....

Of course you gotta have a belt. I have a mernickle gun belt which just means it's double thick leather that won't roll over if you have a gun on it. Makes a pretty durable belt but takes a while to break in. I've worn it all but a handful of days since 2008 and it's just now reaching the end of its usable life. I think I paid 120 bucks. Well worth the couple extra bucks...

[RJVB]

I don't wear them much as I'm tall enough already and too high of a heel at a gig makes me feel like I'm going to tip over.

Plus the drummer might accuse you of unjust competition?

I've worn it all but a handful of days since 2008 and it's just now reaching the end of its usable life. I think I paid 120 bucks. Well worth the couple extra bucks...

I bought a Nocona belt recently as a gift, supposedly hand-tooled, for I think 50€ on sale. I was quite disappointed to see it was made in China and most likely just stamped.
My own belt was bought in 2016 or 2017, on a medieval fair in San Marino when we passed there on a road trip through Italy. Probably 2mm thick, truly hand-tooled and dyed, goes marvelously with a bronze buckle I bought in Canada as an 18yo, and I think the maker wanted all of 25€ for it... That one I do expect to last me the rest of my life. I didn't think to ask if it was designed to hold a broadsword though

[DawgBone]

Plus the drummer might accuse you of unjust competition?




I bought a Nocona belt recently as a gift, supposedly hand-tooled, for I think 50€ on sale. I was quite disappointed to see it was made in China and most likely just stamped.
My own belt was bought in 2016 or 2017, on a medieval fair in San Marino when we passed there on a road trip through Italy. Probably 2mm thick, truly hand-tooled and dyed, goes marvelously with a bronze buckle I bought in Canada as an 18yo, and I think the maker wanted all of 25€ for it... That one I do expect to last me the rest of my life. I didn't think to ask if it was designed to hold a broadsword though

LOL!

There is a lot of nice handmade goods sold st the Ren fairs no doubt. I'm just not much of a Renaissance fair guy tho.

Mernickle, gun belt guy, and several others in the USA build very nice, thick belts if you need to tote your broadsword and require that level of support for another piece of equipment. There is some guy I forget the company name but he's in or around Hollywood who has built fancy cowboy rigs like youd see in a Roy Roger's or Gene autry movie. Basically works of artistry. Some people's skill with carving leather is right up there with any other high art.

[RJVB]

There is a lot of nice handmade goods sold st the Ren fairs no doubt. I'm just not much of a Renaissance fair guy tho.

I guess it makes sense that the US has Renaissance fairs and no Medieval ones. I would probably prefer the former over the latter, but I have yet to run into one. The fair in San Marino just happened to be taking place when we decided to swing by there (on our way to or from Urbino, a true Renaissance capital, as chance has it), and it was a good, serious one. The ones we get around here, even in my home village are more Phantasy affairs where adult-sized kids can play trolls and elfs (and swing blunt broadswords at each other's pothelms).

The only things I need my belts to carry besides the buckle and my pants are a phone pouch and a vintage KeySafe belt clip (not loaded with hand-wrought dungeon keys )

[RJVB]

Did we stray a little off-topic here?

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Did we stray a little off-topic here?

At least I connected it to guitars and luthiers

But seriously, American (or French or Spanish or whatever) branded goods made in Asia and sold in the home market are a conundrum whether it’s guitars, boots, electronics or toys. You can still get fine stuff from your home country, but it’s more expensive than the same brand’s stuff that’s made in Asia and sold for less. There are great French shoes like Paraboot and great French clothes like Seraphin. There’s something a bit off about Noconas and Ariats made in China.

And many brands still do their own repairs and recrafting on their old school products, e.g. Ariat, Red Wing, and Allen Edmunds. But most such services exclude their own offshore-made items. When they made everything in Kalamazoo, Gibson used to do everything for their guitars forever - and their prices were very fair. I don’t know if they even take in their high end guitars any more. I suspect that finding a luthier up to the task of a major repair on a fine carved archtop is very difficult in many areas - it’s no different from having hand made boots recrafted.

It’s probably correct that the benefits of buying expensive high quality hand made goods that should last many years with proper maintenance are lost if there’s no one to take care of them for you. They become disposables, which is a real tragedy.

[RJVB]

There are great French shoes like Paraboot

FWIW, my experience with Paraboot isn't one of "great shoes"; based on that I consider them an old-school fashionable, more expensive and less supportive alternative to Timberlands.

[RJVB]

On a slightly more eco-positive Chinese note, I just saw this:

China's groene muur krijgt vorm, oprukken woestijn halt toegeroepen