Fender whoa!s

[Reeltarded]

Yeah we were talking about Fender lately and today i got a message from a friend said that Christmas production of 250,000 guitar/amp packages were not going to be contracted because Fender just went OMG we are really out of money broke, not chapter 3000 restructuring who we'll screw and get a cheaper vendor with the money we already owe.

Uhh.. btw, so goes the gubmint. ^^^ juss like 'at.

[Firestorm]

Whoa indeed! Leo_Gnardo said he thought the same thing was coming, but I had read that they successfully refinanced. I wonder how bad it is.

[Bob S]

Prolly like the gubmint - we'll never know.

[Firestorm]

Prolly like the gubmint - we'll never know.

As long as you're not a vendor. If they file Chapter Eleventy-Two, everyone they paid recently is subject to having those payments taken back by the Receiver.

I sure hope they're not done. Lot of history, legacy, blah, blah, etc.

[ampmike]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/busin ... d=all&_r=0
This sheds some light,Mikey

[martin manning]

Good article, Mikey, thanks for the link. Bill Mendello sounds like his heart is in the right place, and it must seem like deja vu for him since he was instrumental in getting the company out from under CBS. I hope he has learned from that experience. From the NYT article:

"Fender gradually clawed its way back up in the ’80s and ’90s, beefing up quality, training and oversight, and, for the first time, starting to manufacture guitars internationally, especially in Japan and South Korea. Restoring quality was crucial, Mr. Mendello says."

I don't think the guitar quality is too bad right now, is it? I don't care for the relic'ed instruments, or "Pawn Shop" stuff, which is nothing but marketing BS. The old ones don't play well and sound good because they're beat-up... it's the other way around. In my experience the reissue guitars are pretty good. Reissue amps, on the other hand are a bit shaky. There is no way I'd go that route. It's much better to build a replica or have one built for you, and there should be a message in that for Fender.

[vibratoking]

Fender's like a ma and pa restaurant with 6 million items on the menu...and 3 of them are good. They make too much shit. Have you looked at their offerings lately? There is so much confusion and built-in deception regarding what is what...they diluted themselves and the market.

[briane]

I don't think the guitar quality is too bad right now, is it?

depend what you walk out with - low end models - yahhh - crap -but I also seen great ones - cost a tad more so everyone seem to stay away - but I got an awesome mahogany/snakebark neck tele just a few years ago for 675 -I thought it was a great deal - but yahh - reliced aint for me - I can do that myself.

It seems to be a piece by piece thing - depends who made it - I think mine just sat around so long they wanted it gone - and it cost just a few bucks more than the junky ones. but it is a sweet tone & action great. hardly done anything but pots and caps.

[Firestorm]

The beauty of these guitars was that they could be mass produced, slapped together and all would be playable. (yeah some turned out special). But how do you screw up that model?

[DonMoose]

I don't get it either - good units from Asia for $125 and slightly better from Mexico for $300 and slightly better than than from the US for $1200. How many 'lines' of strat are there across Squier and Fender? Ten? I could see three, maybe four.

Then there's the relics and the signature models and so forth for 5 digits.

I ain't paying $1k for a new bolt-on, I don't care where it was built or by whom.

[Firestorm]

I don't get it either - good units from Asia for $125 and slightly better from Mexico for $300 and slightly better than than from the US for $1200. How many 'lines' of strat are there across Squier and Fender? Ten? I could see three, maybe four.

Then there's the relics and the signature models and so forth for 5 digits.

I ain't paying $1k for a new bolt-on, I don't care where it was built or by whom.

Fender Japan (Tokai I think) made brilliant copies. So stop there; why Mexico, why US? They had to build those factories, for goodness sake!

But it's the acquisitions that killed them. Business school teaches you to be stupid (unless all the stars are aligned; then you're brilliant).

[Reeltarded]

Fender's like a ma and pa restaurant with 6 million items on the menu...and 3 of them are good. They make too much shit. Have you looked at their offerings lately? There is so much confusion and built-in deception regarding what is what...they diluted themselves and the market.

Aha

[DonMoose]

Business school teaches you to be stupid (unless all the stars are aligned; then you're brilliant).

Being publicly traded (are they these days?) means you have to show growth quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year or you get sued by your stockholders. The only thign wall street cares about is THIS quarter's numbers. That's what drives the stupid, short-sighted drive for quick 'profitability'. Be sure to note that 'profitability' is not profits, it's a salesmonkey's estimate of future potential.

[randalp3000]

I am a dealer and have/had some issues with them. I guess this would explain how pushy they have become in the last five years. I used to take a lot of pride in being a Fender dealer and now it's just hard work. Seems they are feeling the pinch from the 2005/6 downturn but they expect me to still be doing the same amount of business as pre 06.
I get e-mails for new product every other week. Some of it long after I read about it on the Gear Page or see it in a Sweetwater catalog.
Product gets replaced with new models before I can turn my inventory way too often.
My best selling acoustic models just started coming in from a new builder with lower quality and higher prices.
They are still trying to sell all those Starcasters that flooded every big box store a few years ago that forced me to stop selling Strat/Bass packs.

In response to some earlier threads.
Mex guitars now start at $500 map not 300
The Road Worn guitars of which I HAD to stock 5 skews of a few years ago. Actually feel and sound great, they did a good job with them.
Believe it or not, the Squire Vintage Vibe guitars are somewhat better than some of the mex stuff. Most of the ones I've seen have almost quarter sawn necks and alnico pups.

Pimpin aint easy and pimps don't cry.

[Gaz]

Vintage Vibe stuff is better than most Mexico stuff for sure, at least feel and looks-wise. I have a J Mascis signature Squier Jazzmaster and it is SCARY how nice it is. Sure I changed the pickups and pots, but everything else in on par with my friend's new Thurston Moore Jazzy, that's 5 times expensive.