[sdiy] The "actual manufacturer" of things...

[Mike Beauchamp]

On 10/28/21 5:30 AM, Roman Sowa wrote:
> I could say the same about Switchcraft knobs.
> 20 years ago I was lucky to get nice phenolic knobs at very good price 
> from Taiwanknobs company or whatever it was called, probably renamed 
> now. Later I got a few of the same model from legit Switchcraft 
> distributor.
> They looked identical. I mean the scratches and all other sorts of mold 
> erros were identical in both, like they were made in the same mold.
> Same applies to jacks.
> 
> Roman

Interesting to see this coming up.. I had a very similar experience last 
year when looking to buy a decent quantity of rotary switches.

I had previously been using parts from Mouser, made by Alpha. I reached 
out to Alpha's US headquarters by telephone. I got what I call the 
standard "attempting to deal with an american company experience" - The 
person answering the phone sounded disinterested and transferred me to 
someone else who wasn't at their desk so I left a message and never 
received a call back. I also filled out their contact forum on their 
website.

A few days later I reached out to a Chinese manufacturer that made 
switches. I told them exactly what I wanted and requested samples. 
Several weeks later samples arrived and I promptly took them apart to 
compare to the Alpha rotary switch. From everything I could tell the 
parts looked damn close so I ordered a batch. When the lead time passed, 
the parts were shipped and arrived well-packed and on-time.

A few weeks after my new rotary switches arrived, Alpha finally 
responded to my email request with a quote significantly higher than the 
price I had already been paying through Mouser. LOL.

When I call American companies on the phone, I get the impression that 
they are a mere "shell" of what they one were.

As for the Chinese company, I'm not even sure if they were the actual 
manufacturer of the parts I received. There are tons of Chinese 
companies online that all seem to have the exact same parts and 
capabilities to produce pretty much everything. I wonder if they 
themselves just subcontract these things out to the actual factories.


Speaking about switchcraft jacks Roman, I'd love to know who is actually 
manufacturing their vertical enclosed 1/4" jacks ( 
https://www.switchcraft.com/productsummary.aspx?Parent=72 ) I am paying 
way too much for these parts.

Mike