From a logic point.. who do you think would make it better - the guys that designed it, from scratch or the guys that are making one that looks like it. The reality is most of the chinese knock offs are not made by machine builder, so they don't even understand what they are making and why or how it should work.

I'm not saying all knock offs are garbage, but in most cases there is a reason why they like a cheaply made version of they are supposed to be. When you make something from scratch - whether its a tattoo machine (coil or rotary) you understand more about it. Making my own tattoo machines always gave me a better understanding of what did what and why it did it.

That experience and ability to make the tool means you grasp what you using. Go Bot or Transformer, one was a knock off and is now just a joke, one is still being produced and people know and identify with it. I know that's a fucked up analogy but if you look at it this way. Seth C started by taking machines apart and moving stuff and trying stuff and making it work and learning what makes it work. His machines can actually increase in value because, they are made by a dude that GETS what he is making. Not to mention the customer service and quality that comes with it.

You get what you pay for, and a knock off is usually just an uneducated copy of the original. The dude in China make be able to make a machine that looks like the original but simply put it doesn't work as well because he just doesn't understand the hows and whys of it being made. He doesn't tattoo and he doesn't test the machines because he has no idea what it supposed to do.