It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:05 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 

Do you think Fender is upping their prices without upping the quality of their products?
YES 56%  56%  [ 9 ]
NO 44%  44%  [ 7 ]
Total votes : 16
Author Message
Post subject: Has Fender gone totally nuts?!?!?
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:12 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:46 am
Posts: 13
Please do not get me wrong i love the fender sound and am a loyal customer, but I am VERY disappointed with their drastic price increases in recent years. One of the greatest things about this company was that one could get a great sounding, well-made bass or guitar for a reasonable price... now (just as is the case with many if not all other businesses) quality has gone down while prices have skyrocketed. 2 short years ago a fender american deluxe jazz bass was somewhere around 1200 now they cost about 1700! My bass (victor bailey jazz 5 string) went from 1600 to 2000! this is terrible and detrimental to the FORMER fundamental stance of the company to provide a great instrument for a fair price.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 11:46 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:37 pm
Posts: 278
Location: Delray Beach, FL
I don't know why you are making an issue of this. Everything has gone up, been to the gas pump lately??

Bottom line, Fender is a company. They are in business to make money. They have margins they need to make in order to turn a profit. With the economy going to crap, the cost of goods and manufacturing have increased. Quality plays no issue in this discussion. Simply put, if it costs more to make something today then it did yesterday, you need to raise your prices.

You mention the Victor Bailey (which I have a fretless version). Have you done any looking into why they went up in price??

Well, I am surprised they have not gone up sooner. The cost of Koa has skyrocketed due to availability on the market. Hawaii has put limitations to the amount of Koa that can be harvested. ALL instruments made with Koa have gone up. Some manufacturers have even stopped offering Koa due to its cost.

So it is not Fender. If you need to complain, don't point your finger at Fender. Point to all the greedy execs on Wall Street and our government that are screwing things up.

_________________
1972 Fender Jazz
Fodera Monarch Standard Special Madrone
Roscoe Century Custom 5
Bacchus Craft Series 5 String Jazz
Crews Maniac Sound Jackson 5 Fretless
Delray Bass Co. Custom P-Bass
NS Design Omnibass Electric Upright
Breedlove Solo Acoustic Fretless


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 1:26 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:46 am
Posts: 13
I expect the prices to go up but these increases are ridiculous... ernie ball has increased pries but they have also upped quality standards and the increases are not nearly as drastic.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 1:50 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:37 pm
Posts: 278
Location: Delray Beach, FL
ESSENCEbassman33024 wrote:
I expect the prices to go up but these increases are ridiculous... ernie ball has increased pries but they have also upped quality standards and the increases are not nearly as drastic.


1. Fender has not raised its prices in quite awhile. So they were due.

2. What is wrong with Fender's quality standards??

In the past 4 years I've owned a number of Fenders, American, Mexican, Japanese and Korean. I have had 0 issues with them. Even the cheapo Standard Series basses I had (a fretted and fretless) were great basses. I hear people talk about Fender's so called "Quality Issues". Sorry, but I just don't see it!

9 times out of 10, these so called Quality Issues is either a bad setup or improper storage of a instrument. In both cases, not Fender's fault.

_________________
1972 Fender Jazz
Fodera Monarch Standard Special Madrone
Roscoe Century Custom 5
Bacchus Craft Series 5 String Jazz
Crews Maniac Sound Jackson 5 Fretless
Delray Bass Co. Custom P-Bass
NS Design Omnibass Electric Upright
Breedlove Solo Acoustic Fretless


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 2:14 pm
Offline
Amateur
Amateur
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:29 am
Posts: 174
Location: Calstock, Cornwall, UK
I would say that Fender's QA has gone steadily up over the last 5 years, and none more so than the offshore models. Until the new American Standards, that is. That was a big step UP IMHO. Fenders are still OK, pricewise. And that's over here, where the prices are much, much higher.

_________________
1996 Fender Precision '51 RI, Blond
2004 Fender Precision Std, Black-as-yer-'at
2007 Squier VM Precision TB, sunburst
Markbass CMD121H and ext cab


Top
Profile
Post subject: Q & $
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 4:35 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:20 am
Posts: 805
The quality has not gone down that I have experienced.

The prices rising will be heavily influenced by inflation and the cost of the materials to manufacture the products.

Eventually the consumer will have to brunt the cost. Though if the consumers source of income didn't keep pace, it does seem the prices become unfair.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:26 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:56 am
Posts: 34
The prices here in Europe have dropped a little, due to the Dollar-Euro rate... :D


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 4:44 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 11:44 am
Posts: 74
bassclef wrote:
ESSENCEbassman33024 wrote:
I expect the prices to go up but these increases are ridiculous... ernie ball has increased pries but they have also upped quality standards and the increases are not nearly as drastic.


1. Fender has not raised its prices in quite awhile. So they were due.

2. What is wrong with Fender's quality standards??

In the past 4 years I've owned a number of Fenders, American, Mexican, Japanese and Korean. I have had 0 issues with them. Even the cheapo Standard Series basses I had (a fretted and fretless) were great basses. I hear people talk about Fender's so called "Quality Issues". Sorry, but I just don't see it!

9 times out of 10, these so called Quality Issues is either a bad setup or improper storage of a instrument. In both cases, not Fender's fault.
I agree


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 6:03 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:33 pm
Posts: 1084
Location: NoHo in SoCal
I've been pleasantly surprised by the increase in quality of Fenders over the past few years. I was never much of a Fender person until maybe 2000 ... but I haven't looked back since.

As for prices, they've sky rocketed here in SoCal where Corona is located. Materials cost aside, the labor and physical cost of doing business here is through the roof. Since Fender (that I know of) hasn't hacked wages or benefits or outsourced all that much more than they already did, their costs have gone way up over the past 5 years. I know this for fact because I live here!

As for MusicMan -- any I've ever seen have been more money to begin with than roughly comparable Fender models. That may be due to quality but it may also in part be a higher margin. In the latter case, they could raise prices somewhat less in the face of seriously increasing costs by compromising to a degree on accepting a lower margin.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: