Squier was in answer to if you can't beat them, either absorb them or partner up.
There was sound reasoning behind the Squier move as well as economic profitability.
The markets proved that Japan was outperforming and the only answer was to find out why and what solution to take.....

Fender moving their line from CIJ/MIJ to MIM would just reestablish the original problem which would result in another round of unprofitability....

Look up Squier and see the history of what it is, it is not an open and shut case....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Indeed. Musical instruments are in and of themselves works of art, sculptures, that allow sonic artists to in turn create new art.

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2012 Lefty American Standard Jazz
2017 Lefty American Professional Precision
2018 Rumble Studio 40 Combo
2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD

Mainly, there are several generations of young people who are not as interested in learning how to play musical instruments as there once was. It’s too easy now to have a computer and some basic software and create “beats” and remixes and rap over them or even buy karaoke disc and simply sing (with the aid of auto tuners, of course).

We’re all guitar people here, but the day of the Guitar God is no longer, as far as the popular culture is concerned. It’s more about being a celebrity or a performer. Hell, rock ‘n roll is no longer king of the mountain, it’s more about hip hop/pop music right now. Until a large enough collection of a youth culture comes along that is really fed up with this prefabricated schlock and decides to kick it in the nuts, don’t expect things to change.

...okay, climbing down off my soap boxes now...

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Visit my ReverbNation page @ http://www.reverbnation.com/mcampbell
Thank you!

Thanks for posting tdanb2003 , interesting read

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Is there a correlation between budget cuts to and the elimination of music programs in public schools to all of this???

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"The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a Conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst." J. Edgar Hoover

PREACH IT, BRUTHA!



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Thanks for posting tdan!

I heard somewhere that economists,
they spend the first half of the year saying what will happen,
and the second half, explaining why it did not happen.

I´m sure we all wish things were not as complicated.
There are basic equity concepts that I do not yet understand.

In any case, Fender enjoys more than a loyal customer base.
Fender is a Philosophy!

Every day, I get closer to purchasing
the Princeton Reverb for my Strat!

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FIGHT!

What we need Sirs is a cunning plan mmm....what if we all blinged up wore baseball caps at jonty angles and show even more of our underpants than them and yo'd alot, we could gather on street corners n vogue n stuff, that would p them right off seeing an entire middle aged generation gettin down with them, we could recruit blinged up pensioner "boybands" to swamp X factor auditions and their like.......Oohhh yes I think we'll have them on the turn in no time........time for the revolution to begin Wilson..carry on

LOL!!
Yer really looking ta get beat up ain'tcha?

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Like that idea Ripitup555...

I've followed these posts with interest. It is a difficult economic road for any company to navigate in today's business climate. I can understand the trepidation that some of the investors feel and personally I think that Fender has been too aggressive in their acquisition of other musical product companies. If you're in the grocery business it makes sense to buy out your competitor because everybody has to eat. Not everybody plays an instrument and buying out your competitor does not enhance the value or quality of the brand. In many cases it has the opposite affect on both brands. As some posters have said perhaps Fender should divest itself of some of these "Brands" use the revenue to pay off the debt. Wean itself off of the codependent relationship it has with "Guitar Center" and its affiliates and quit trying to control the end pricing of their products with MAP. Thats all a load of horse manure designed to keep high artificial prices so the "big box stores" can make enough profit to keep their doors open. I can understand a manufacturer wanting to impose quotas on their distributors because they need to keep the factory running, but they should negotiate with them and be realistic in their forecasts.

I love my Fender guitars. I have other guitars but they don't have the same charisma, history, or mojo that the Fender brand has created with their history. I'm confident that with the right people and the right longterm plans that Fender will still be around in a hundred years. Who knows maybe the accordion will make a comeback and Fender will be there with the first atomic powered ones....

Fender peoples. The writing is on the wall. From the linked piece the 600 pound gorilla here is, "about $237 million of its $246 million in long-term debt will be due in 2014."

That is a lot of Standard Teles, Strats, Jazzes and P-Basses. 395,000 in fact. SURPRISE! I can do math!

ANOTHER SURPRISE, making that nut will take nothing short of a miracle.

So if you can afford it, go buy one or two. Now is the time for all Fender players to come to the aid of the brand.

To coin a phrase, "FENDER IS TOO IMPORTANT TO FAIL."

Socially, historically, musically... FENDER is just too important to fail!

If Guitar Center folds tomorrow, which is even more likely than Fender failing....nobody much would care much, except those who work there. To some it would in fact be a mercy killing.

BUT...if Fender folds, the music DIES. Go listen to "American Pie" by Don McLean. Great song, and very appropriate to reference here. Substitute these sobering lyrics after the break:

"I met a boy who played the Blues, and I asked him for some happy news
He just cried and turned away

I went down to the sacred store where I'd heard a Fender years before, but...
The man there said Fender was no more

And, in the streets the players screamed, the bassists cried, and the poets dreamed, but...

Not a word was spoken - the Bassmans all were broken

And, the three men I admire most: Leo, George, and the Holy Ghost, they...
Caught the last train for the coast the day the music died....."

interesting article. hm, a touch pad guitar (each note on the neck and the 6 strings on the body) with wlan, telephonie and pipapo. maybe you get the kids.

cheers

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It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting - paulo coelho

No company is too important to fail. And a company like FMIC will not be going away any time soon. They might get smaller for awhile, but that's how business cycles work.

Adjust, adapt and look long term.

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Gary

Sensing some big emotions here ... and some sensible stuff . All good I got the impression that Fender need investors ,and the investors just want to invest if they can get more profit - so they are doing stupid acquisitions just to please and entice the investors.

Whilst we all know , as mentioned here in this thread, and in other threads in this Forum , that the music WE love is ,well , not actually dying , but rolling down a steep hill , loosing some of its grip in the competition to other music-forms . Which I don't find strange : The times-they are-a -changing ! It always has , and always will. Each generation has their changes to the music,big or small . R & R has been a great one , will be lasting , but diminishing .

In that aspect , I can't see why Fender could possibly expand - they should rather try to save themselves from going down , by doing what they can - build some incredible instruments and amps , and keep it in a smaller scale. Slow it down a bit ! I think the industry is changing so fast , that it is very difficult to keep up with new products .

Hopefully sooner or later more people again want to play those wooden sticks with strings on , then it is time to expand. IMHO!

A-man

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A-man

At least, by remaining a private company they dont have the pressure of board members and millions of shareholders in it for the money like in the CBS era. Fender is a legendary name, a pillar or rock n roll, they need to do whatever it takes to remain afloat, even if another Bill Schultz is needed. Screw the banks, bail Fender out.