Msvolpe

How on Gods green earth is it exploitation. I can honestly understand your disatisfaction with FMIC, its your God given right to feel how you want about a product. Its hardly exploitation though when you have free will whether to buy or not.

_________________
No no and no

Some of Fender's Strat prices are too much. Look at the Eric Johnson Strat. New it's about $2300.00. That's equivalent to a new Les Paul Standard. You know the one with the expensive binding. I think it's overpricing. Can you actually hear $2300.00 worth of tone coming out? I doubt it. The Malmsteen Strat used to be $1300.00. Now it's over $2000.00. It's a great guitar but it's not worth all that. Then there is the Relics. $3000.00 and up. Really overpriced.

There is a limit to how good a guitar can sound. It's not infinite.

But then again, can you really hear 2500 worth of tone coming out of a LP? Or how about 5500 to 6000 out of a Jimmy Page model?

do you see traces of glue around the fret inlays of a EJ.

Gibsons standards have long been a joke. Just that everyone looks at the mythical glued neck construction (which could be a fair bit better) on those guitars as the pinnacle of guitar building and dont question the mundane things. Like "why will this headstock break off if a chihuahua farts in the wrong direction?" My favourite "why does the sg just not stay intune?" Strum it hard enough to gig with and it goes way out. No wonder angus young takes a gazzilion of em on tour, he must use 15 a night.
What about the one that PRS uncovered that gibsons neck pickup is in a absolutely useless place, exactly where it shouldnt be like they planned it. Its on the 32nd harmonic of the 21st node or some other thing i dont quite understand about string talk and scale length. Perhhaps that explains the useless muddy sound of the neck humbucker on a LP.

It doesnt make gibson any less of a company. These things hae been this way since the 50's and 60's. What gets my goat about it is that everyone looks at them as a classy builder cos their all too afraid to say the emporers naked.

_________________
No no and no

The Fender Stratocaster (no matter which model) is never overpriced. You get what you pay for. If I had $1500 USD at the time I purchaced my HWY 1, I would have come home with the American Deluxe instead of the HWY 1.

One buys what one can afford at the time and tweaks it to what they need as money permits. I would like to believe that I wouldn't have needed to mod anything on the American Deluxe if I'd bought it. I remember it sounding really good in the store.

So far I have spent $800-ish USD on my Highway 1. I am finally finished and happy with it. Now all I have to spend money on my guitar is for the general up-keep and strings occasionally.


RK

_________________
RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

With the latest price increase they cost more than I would want to pay. I felt the increase was too much at one time. It would have been easier to take over several increments and a period of months or years. I tend to collect guitars and have been making one or 2 purchases a year. Had several American Fenders on my list until the price increases. That plan was stopped dead in its tracks because the increases were too substantial. I still love my Fenders, but I guess I'll have to be satisfied with a few less of them. I have been tempted to buy another American Series Strat with the recent decrease and the rebate, but have not been enticed quite enough to take the plunge.

Going from a price of $1300 to $1800 is enormous. Rape!

But there were no lay-offs, benefits are intact, and bonuses weren't sacrificed.

RK

_________________
RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

You can't rape the willing. no one is forced to buy guitars. it is not milk, or electricity. If manufacturing costs, of all kinds, materials, energy etc go up then sale price must follow.

if anything this just shows what an incredible bargain these guitars were, when Fender was able to keep prices down.

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

There are still deals to be had.Right now you can get an American Standard for 999 .

Guitar players need to buy guitars don't they? It's a requirement for the job. No it's not necessary to collect them and have a room full of 40 of them but if your's is stolen or it's too worn out or it's too valuable to take out of the house or it got burned, then I would say it's necessary to buy a guitar.

We are reaching on this one.

Yes, they have. I can vouch for that statement of "quality as much better than they use to be". At least from the CBS era. They 70s strats were horrid. Hardly stays in tune, tuners were low quaility as well as the trem bridge. Today every part of is top quality.

_________________


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

Fender makes quality guitars at all price ranges. I gigged for years with only cheap guitars.

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

Now as far as the American Standards being expensive........HELL YEA they are!!!

The $950 I paid for just two weeks ago was a fair price IMHO.

_________________


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