True so true BigJay. Now for the next couple hours I am going to go test another part of the market. The car market, My son has been nagging the hell out of us for a new car so I am going to look at the new Civics and Fits. You would think he would be happy with the other I gave him that he has been driving the last two years. Last noght he argued he want to keep two cars and I said thats not happening 19 year old does not need two.I told him since Hopkins dropped my group and laid us off we have to watch the money. I begining to think I should have taken the overseas offer by them but to late now.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

If the 'Stratosphere' model is driving prices that is just bad business.

Under Fender's current production model the sum of their parts will always outpace the cost of a production guitar by a large margin. This is due to fender not supplying key replacement parts (ie necks.) If consumers want a branded replacement they have no choice but to buy a parted out piece. This drives the value of these necks way above the cost of a 'licensed' but unbranded replacement. The branding on the headstock is the only visible marking that easily distinguishes your fender from any number of other things that look just like it.

The lack of branding on replacement necks leads consumers to believe that they are inferior, or less desirable than the branded parts. This in turn drives up the perceived value of the other components, and allows for higher prices on parts like bodies, as the implied inferiority of 'licensed' necks will translate over to all other components.

Given a notable absence of a retail source for branded retail parts Fender has created a 'Grey' market for parts. It functions like a black market , but isn't illegal. Remember these parts are bought at retail prices,(well, probably at a dealers bulk discount,) but not at cost. They will never bne the incredible value that a replacement from a source like Warmoth, or allparts, or a similar vendor.

If this is the justification for raising retail prices on a finished guitar it is just an excuse, as the actual price gap between these two realities will never bridge until Fender either supplies branded replacement parts or allows its licensed vendors to brand their replacements. Given the climate of counterfeits this won't happen. But if this is factored in it is only a cash grab by fender.

Though I agree that this price increase was planned a long time ago, and the result of many factors, I tend to agree with CV, I think fender may be carrying a lot of debt. I think this may prevent them from quickly adjusting to the change of economic climate. We may see fender prices remain high, counter to the trends of all other consumer goods for this reason.

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