It think its stupid in Fender's part to increase prices during a bad economy. Even the rebates are rubbish IMHO. If they are willing to give back some money, why not just cut the price to that of the rebate amount up front? I think just lowering the price to a more affordable price, even for a limited time, would help people to purchase. I was completely shocked when Fender introduced the 57 RI tweed champ for $1000!!! Jeeze!!! Who are their target consumers for this????

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http://www.youtube.com/user/gmlasam

Which one did you get this time?

I got the 60s three tone sunburst with rw fingerboard. So I have both the 60s RW strats, olympic white and three tone sunburst. MF was pretty fast to ship. I just got a UPS shipping confirmation with tracking number already this morning. Should get it by thursday. I'll post some pics. $499 is the realisti price for these strats. No way paying $949, that is how much the USA strat standards were selling for just about a year ago.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/gmlasam

Glad I didn't see this yesterday b/c I would have definately ordered one.

That's a good combination! Congrats.

Just for fun, here's my "real" 1964 white Strat (in pretty good condition):

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Nice! Enjoy it! I wasn't too keen on the road worn strats, but I was ALMOST tempted at $499.

Generally MF is selling the Road Worns that are not as popular.

Tele RW only the 2 tone for 599
50s RW both colors (there doesn't seem to be a preference over black or 2 tone)
60s RW on Friday Aug 1 for 499 they offered only the 3Tone

It's the blonde tele that everyone want and the white 60s strat

Fender may have offered rebates on these (like car dealerships get) or they just cut them to the bone to move inventory out of the warehouse.

It's obvious that at 950 the RWs were not selling well. But BA BOOM! they are running out the door at 599 and now 499.

Here are some of the past Friday deal

On the same Friday Aug 1 they sold the Made In Japan Jaguar Bass with the 30 Dec Digi amp for 499 shipped. This deal was then pulled at 9am p.s.t. and replaced with the RW 60s 3Tone strat for 499.

The Jag Bass and amp are currently at 599 (price reduced today). Still a fantastic deal!

Telecaster Deluxe Blackout (3 tele pups) 299 MIM

Jaguar HH Made In Japan 299

American Deluxe strat in white for 999

+ the super champ XD amp listed in a previous post

Wow she is sexy. Classic closet condition indeed. How long have you had her?

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http://www.youtube.com/user/gmlasam

strat56brownie,

You seem to know very much about the MF deals. Are you affliated with them? You are accurate on the Fender Deals they were offering. I wonder why the 50s two tone sunburst was selling for $599 while the 60s three tone was selling much less for $499. Perhaps, there were more inventory on the 60s three tone sunburst? Will the black and olympic white RW be on the future list for the Fender Friday deals? That Deluxe White strat looks tempting for $999.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/gmlasam

I am not affiliated with Musicians Friend but I do call in and ask about deals. Also I call in on Fridays since they've started this Fender Friday special deal program.

A lot of these deals are offered only over the phone. That gets around the minimum advertised price agreement they have with most manufacturers including Fender.


It was all a guess on my part as to why certain RWs were not offered. But I do know that the blonde tele and white 60s are the most popular.

MF has been blowing out a lot of guitars due to the poor economy. They need sales even at cost because their monthly numbers are looking bad.

They sold the Ric 330 for 999 a few weeks back and Rics are NEVER at special prices. They had the 62 AVRI Jazzmaster for the same price (got that one!), Gibson Melody Makers for 250 just lots of very nice guitars. Acoustics too, but I didn't get any of the prices cause I wasn't interested in acoustics at the moment.

Most of all these hot deals have ended. Probably due to pressure from Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker. They turned a blind eye to it for a while then asked MF to stop due to pressure from other dealers.

But this Fender Friday thing keeps going on! Only a couple of weeks where the deal wasn't great.

Keep checking their site or I'll try and post the deal here when I find out.

31 years. You can't see dings and wear (not down to bare wood) in the picture. When I bought it in the summer of 1978, it had been "refinished" at home: spray painted a color that was close to the pickguard's color! That fall I had it professionally refinished. I suspected that it started life as a 3-tone sunburst, but I wanted a White Strat (because of Jimi Hendrix of course). After refinishing I had just $400 into it! I had it refretted in the mid-80's. All else is original:

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Hello Bluesguitar65,

When the bug bites, I regularly give MF a call,
over the phone they do give some nice deals.

Weird for me to buy a guitar unseen but when
the savings are so great. ------:wink:

Cheers

In Los Angeles we have nearly a 10% sales tax.

So if you can find a great deal on a guitar or gear at MF, given the free shipping and no tax to Calif, you can use part of the savings to set up the guitar if it's not right and still have the money you saved left over.

I wonder how much business Calif is losing to internet sales. The sales tax is so onerous that even if I buy something at street price, I automatically save 10% by buying over the internet.

If I bought a 1200 American Strat at GC and didn't haggle that's an additional 120 in sales tax! I save 120 by buying from MF and then pay 40 to 60 for a set up saving at the very least 40 dollars!