hi brad,

some good ideas named here. i go with the sound files for guitar and bass models.
gernold linke could feature his cs creations on the cs site and fende.de per video.

cheers

You helped me Brad now I hope I can help you. most of these have already been posted.

1. More pics of the product. The studio shots are nice, but I also like to see real world pics.

2. As stated earlier the ability to compare would be good. but how about one step further. Where you can click on features or price and equipment that fits that criteria is compared. So what can I buy with the $1,000 burning a hole in my pocket? Or which guitars have humbucker style pups? Side by side MIM to an American?

3. Links to reviews of the product.

4. I like the "build a guitar" concept suggested. Gives you total price and weight overall and by components.

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2015 Epiphone Casino Goldtop
2011 Taylor 814ce
2009 EC Custom Shop Merc Blue
2008 Schecter ATX
1964 Epi Granada E444T
Fender Super Champ XD

Ha! That's the one I was going for!

Hi Brad:

Folks are setting you A LOT of challenges here!! (3D rotatable model of each guitar? Man...!) I want to echo those saying the products pages look pretty fine already; thank you very much.

However, when a product is discontinued it shouldn't be so hard to just reassign that page in toto to an archive section? And I presume you still have the pages for things like the VG Strat, Lite Ash Strat and Tele, and pre-upgrade Standard and Am Standard in a hard drive somewhere? So perhaps they could be used to start up this archive. All part of the Company's rich heritage, after all.

(I'm sure it would be useful to the less geeky out there if it said "discontinued model" somewhere very clearly on each page...)

One more suggestion: more photos have been requested several times (though in fact many of the product pages have been gaining extra pix over the months). On a few models - such as '60s Reissue guitars - it would be nice if that included rear views of guitars, so's we can see the presence or not of skunk stripe, type of back plate, tuners and such. Deeply nurdy, I know.

Lastly: could the Am Std M/N in Sienna Sunburst page be updated with a picture that is not made of a 21 fret neck Photoshopped onto a Sienna body, please?

http://www.fender.com/products//search. ... 0110402747

What - did you think we wouldn't notice?

Cheers - C

It's official, Ceri. You've raised nerdiness to a new level.

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

Hey Brad:

on the issue of discontinued products, you guys really need a comprehensive history somewhere. Fender should have the best records of its history, yet people need to go to other resources like provide.net to find anything out about anything more than about 10 years old.

A big part of Fender is the sense of history, yet your site does nearly nothing to document it. Fender buffs can tend toward being guitar geeks, and having some info come from the horses mouth would be great.
sorry for going off topic a bit,

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

[Takes a bow]

But like the man said: you ain't seen nothin' yet!

- C

Fender has been Nerd-friendly from day one!!

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

It would be nice if each product was clearly labeled with it's point of manufacture. Made in U.S.A., Made in Mexico, etc...
I know it has come up from time to time in the forums for various amps.

Now heres what I'd like to see and yes I'm asking for the earth, nearly.

How about if the option to locate the nearest stockist of the guitar you want. Fender must keep a close watch on who's got what already. So why not computerize that at the shop till. Sold 15 highway1's this week, the shop manager doesnt even have to send a order for more. Fender would be notified automaticaly. The purchaser could simply put their postcode/zipcode into a stock locater box on the page of whatever guitar they want. The nearest shop with one in stock comes up on a popup window. Everyones a winner. The shop manager has less work to do. Fender know exactly who's selling what, in realtime. The customer doesnt have to trawl through endless internet ad's till their at the point of giving up on the idea.

I think that could work all ways round. Then again if I could do it, I wouldnt work in construction so what do I know.

Other than that I think the products section is pretty much bang on. Easy to navigate and clear. I wouldnt mind seeing some exploded photo's of the guitars, but I know thats not going to happen.

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No no and no

Some people here want some really specific, "pie in the sky" things on the site.

I however would like to see the product section simply be a little more functional.

For example:

1. Why aren't there images of every product? Several model/color combinations only have the gray silhouette for an image. Seriously?
2. Why do online dealers like Musician's Friend have several photos, all color combos and even several angles and views - all enlargeable, but Fender does not?
3. The "artists using this product" thing is useless. Why not just rename it to "These artists have a Fender endorsement"?
4. The amps section is just a disaster. The whole horizontal scroll thing here: http://www.fender.com/souloftone/ is a confusing mess and makes it difficult to find the product you're looking for. Seriously, it impedes the process of browsing.
5. Accessories... what is this section for? It's like the dead part of the site no one at Fender cares to update. It doesn't have all the bits and pieces so why bother listing just some of them? Just drop it completely or do it right.
6. Navigation of the products pages: The way the guitars are listed - 3 wide by whatever number of rows isn't the most friendly to the eyes. The text and the photos of each model are to small and it's hard to tell what you're looking at.
7. Tell us about each series! What makes each series of product special? What is an "American Standard" or a "Highway One" or a "Deluxe"? A little blurb about the concept or intention behind the series would be great in the navigation so you know what you're looking at and what makes it different. There's like 50 Strats listed - so what makes each series different from the next? I'm not talking about some splashy intro on the front page of the site just for what's the newest thing.
8. DEMOS. Have you seen what ProGuitarShop.com has done? Again, why does a dealer totally eclipse Fender here? You've got the beginnings of that with the reissue series amp videos. Seriously, lock Shane Nicholas in the warehouse with a camera for a week and don't let him out until he's demoed EVERYTHING. Not to mention whoever that dude who did the Champ video here is great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC_Ebs_8OnA&feature=related. Don't just have a bunch of SRV style blues solo demos either. Fender needs to have this kind of stuff ALL OVER the site. There is no good reason why every guitar and amp doesn't have at least one demo video. Those reissue series videos got me wanting a DRRI, a Champ, and even helped convince me to buy a SRRI.

Overall, you're selling instruments - products - but it's also a state of mind. You've got to give the user a reason to WANT the products. Make us drool over those guitars! Stop treating the site like an electronic version of the Fender catalog and calling it 'good enough'. The site needs to be a virtual showroom where you can experience each model.

Edit: And another thing - Why is the "useful" part of the site - you know, the part with the information - only 800 pixels wide? I didn't buy a widescreen 22" monitor to have 2/3rd's of the browser window a background.

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Forgive me if any of these have been mentioned already. I visit this site frequently, most recently to research a recent purchase in the Artist Series. I'd like to see:

► At least six photos of each model, oriented for best PC screen display. Front and back photos for each of the following: full-instrument, body-only, headstock-only.

► An integrated video section featuring embedded, short, how-to videos on routine maintenance from changing strings, to routine set ups, to installation of add-on official accessory kits. Use your sponsored artists to feature how they best use Fender gear and why .... Link these to the product page.

► Better integrate the 'Other Brands'. I own Gretch, Squier, and Takamine products (even though Fender only distributes the latter in the West). Each branded site has a learning curve in learning to use the menu map that is unnecessary. Each ought to have the same enthusiast's discussion forum format at least.

► A 'wish list' feature to bookmark certain products in a list under your signon, so as to easily revisit them.

► When viewing a product's specifications' sheet, it would be nice to be able to easily click 'Send to Printer'.

► A separate page each, better comparing neck profiles, pickup varieties, tuning machine differences, and tremolo varieties amongst the choices across product lines.

Now thats a great idea. Make those sponsored artists work for their freebies.

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No no and no

Ha - that's a good one too! So many first posters on the Forum are asking for advice on the differences between models. The catalog can be rather confusing to newcomers.

Cheers - C

Yowser....some really great suggestions have come in after I basically said if it ain't broke....yada yada yada....

I'm wondering if a hit counter for each product would mutually help both Fender and users to see where the most interest is?

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Fantastic feedback here, guys -- thanks so much and feel free to keep it coming! For the most part I haven't seen many surprises here which is a good thing. Lots of stuff that I strongly agree with, too -- as just one example, I think our Amps section is extremely tough to navigate right now and this will give me some of the ammo needed to correct that situation.

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Director at Fender. Guitarist & guitar collector. All views/opinions expressed here are my own and not Fender’s.

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