It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:44 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 15 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: American Deluxe Precision 2010 in Europe?
Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 8:24 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 8:18 am
Posts: 1
Hi,

April 2010 I first heard some of the specs of the 2010 Fender American Deluxe Precision Bass. It blew me away. Ever since I have been searching in Shops in The Netherlands & Germany to find it, to give it a test-run... But all I hear is: sorry... delivery-times are insane, one shop even expected them in Europe around Fall 2010...!

Is this a Europe only issue ? Is the bass available in the US for instance ?

How would I go about to get my hands on one of the guitars in the Netherlands?? Any tips ?


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 7:31 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:34 pm
Posts: 10760
Location: Athens, Greece
There are many rumours saying Fender has problems with their paint supplies because DuPont recently went out of business.

I really would be glad if Fender starts offering the "new" American Deluxe basses in Tungsten, Amber, Butterscotch Blonde, Sunset Metallic, Cherry and Tobacco Sunburst, with the latter three sporting a 3-ply cream pickguard.

My gripe is the finish options on the basses are very limited and their pickguards are only available in black. Also, the current range lacked of a 5-string P and a 4-string fretless J. Very annoying.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:48 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 6355
Location: Albemarle, NC
chromeface wrote:
There are many rumours saying Fender has problems with their paint supplies because DuPont recently went out of business.

I really would be glad if Fender starts offering the "new" American Deluxe basses in Tungsten, Amber, Butterscotch Blonde, Sunset Metallic, Cherry and Tobacco Sunburst, with the latter three sporting a 3-ply cream pickguard.

My gripe is the finish options on the basses are very limited and their pickguards are only available in black. Also, the current range lacked of a 5-string P and a 4-string fretless J. Very annoying.


Almost every Fender lover that isn't colorblind agrees that the very limited color options available now is not an ideal situation. Some instruments are only available in two colors while others are only made in one color.

However this is not because DuPont ( E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company) went out of business. So you can safely put that rumor to rest.

The downsizing of Fender color options was a production decision made at Fender. The fewer the colors, the faster production goes because color changes mean delays for cleaning and reloading painting equipment. Some color treatments, like Candy Apple Red and certain metal-flake finishes require not one, but two or more colors to be applied one on top of the other doubling application time.

DuPont is a very strong company headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware USA. DuPont's three classes of stock have been doing extremely well even in this economy, with DuPont common shares reporting an approximate 4% yield on their common stock over the past year. Over the past 12 months their preferred "A" stock has risen nearly ten dollars per share in value while DuPont preferred "B" stock has soared in value at nearly twice that rate. This is not a company that is closing and that has historically been one of the most solid and stable components on the NYSE.

DuPont will temporarily stop production at one facility for safety reviews and then implements procedural changes based on findings of the reviews, however DuPont is so large that there is production redundancy with more than one facility capable of producing the quantity of product necessary to meet demand for their entire line. This is not just in paint production, but their entire product line. One DuPont plant halting production temporarily for a safety review does not impact the available supply of automotive paints, which are the same paints used for guitars, since another plant just ramps up production so there is no shortage.

Fender would not be a major consumer of DuPont paint products when compared to Ford, GM, Chrysler, General Dynamics, US Navy, etc.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Precision 2010 in Europe?
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:28 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 6355
Location: Albemarle, NC
Le_Dude wrote:
Hi,

April 2010 I first heard some of the specs of the 2010 Fender American Deluxe Precision Bass. It blew me away. Ever since I have been searching in Shops in The Netherlands & Germany to find it, to give it a test-run... But all I hear is: sorry... delivery-times are insane, one shop even expected them in Europe around Fall 2010...!

Is this a Europe only issue ? Is the bass available in the US for instance ?

How would I go about to get my hands on one of the guitars in the Netherlands?? Any tips ?


These instruments are readily available in the USA. Fender instruments have always been scarce in Europe. Import tariffs increase the price making them much more expensive in Europe than the USA. European dealers are also at the mercy of the distributor having rights to distribute Fenders in that country since the European dealers don't buy direct from Fender as a US dealer does, but from the distributor. This adds another layer of profit taking further increasing the cost. Fender GmbH is the distributor for the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Their email is: fendergermany@fender.com and their website is: http://www.fender.de/ Try contacting them direct regarding availability and delivery dates.

Traveling to London (UK distributor is Fender GBI) or Paris (French distributor is Fender France) to get one might be a thought since they have different distributors.

But keep in mind that you may have to pay customs on it when bringing it back home. Therefore you would be paying import tariff for the country where you bought it and then paying a second tariff when you bring it home. Figure on that costing at least twice the USA retail if you go that route. Or you could come to the USA for a visit and take one back.

You can find contact information for all Fender International distributors here:
http://www.fender.com/support/international_distributors.php


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:14 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:34 pm
Posts: 10760
Location: Athens, Greece
I really don't like seeing the US Deluxe Bass series lacking of a fretless Jazz and a 5-string Precision, but love much their cool retro-looking CBS-era features such as the headstock decals and the bound necks with the blocks. Also, the "new" Deluxes lose their 22nd fret, which was a standard feature since the inception of the American Deluxe basses in 1995. For which reason Fender decided to not include these options on the 2010 series?


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 4:14 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 6355
Location: Albemarle, NC
chromeface wrote:
I really don't like seeing the US Deluxe Bass series lacking of a fretless Jazz and a 5-string Precision, but love much their cool retro-looking CBS-era features such as the headstock decals and the bound necks with the blocks. Also, the "new" Deluxes lose their 22nd fret, which was a standard feature since the inception of the American Deluxe basses in 1995. For which reason Fender decided to not include these options on the 2010 series?


The reason is "Standardization." Fewer options (colors, necks, fretted vs. fretless) mean streamlined production. It is all about making the most guitars possible in the shortest amount of time. Any options add production time which raises labor costs and causes quality control issues.

Like all companies that actually make a product in the USA, Fender is looking for ways to cut costs and increase productivity right now. It isn't about being mean and it isn't about making an inferior product. It is about saving Fender USA and maybe...just maybe making some profit.

I personally am more concerned about Fender remaining in continuous operation under current management instead of Fender going out of business or being taken over by an even bigger conglomerate that knows nothing about making instruments. We'd be right back where we were in the darkest days of the CBS era. Fender has recovered quality wise by leaps and bounds since then. There were some painful years but the brand survived and I think they are making the best basses they've made since 1965 right now.

The price hikes of a year ago came only because the company needed the money. When everyone complained about the increases and then sales slumped further Fender rolled back prices on the USA and MIM things and were hurting, but they could not do so on the CIJ instruments due the US Dollar versus Yen exchange rate exploding in a negative direction if you were holding dollars. Fender has to make up the losses somewhere and cutting options is an easy way to do that. They evaluated sales of fretted versus fretless USA Jazz basses and found that they could do away with the fretless option for now and still sell as many if not more fretted ones. Anytime a production line worker has to shift gears mentally it causes a slowdown. Fender wants to grind out as many instruments as possible in as few man-hours as possible. That is all they care about right now. It is about saving the brand.

If you want something special, that is why they have a Custom Shop. I too would LOVE to have all these choices. I especially want a blonde P-Bass. But fully understand WHY it is that I can not have one. I don't want to see a repeat of Fender in 1983/84 and I don't think anyone else does either.

Here in the USA brands are collapsing left and right. Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer have all closed in the past year. Oldsmobile before that. Mercury is in the final year of production. These are all fine products. I love my Mercury Grand Marquis and plan to buy another one of the last ones out this year. My aunt bought a new Olds every 2 years since 1951. My copper colored Pontiac Trans Am (the Thunderchicken) was a bitchin' machine that could outrun just about anything short of a Corvette or Ferarri. I have several friends with Saturns who all say they were the most reliable cars they ever had. The Hummers are practically nuke proof. Well, these brands all made GOOD products but just couldn't make it in this economy. Fender is doing what they have to do to survive.

Fretless USA Jazzes, a rainbow of color choices and neck choices may return someday. Right now for USA businesses, it is about staying alive. Ask people who worked at Curtis Mathis or people that used to build Oldsmobile cars.

Fender USA instruments are one of the FEW THINGS LEFT worth owning actually made in the USA! Other than pizzas, beer and value menu fatburgers of course. I want them to keep making the Fenders in the USA.

If I had ONE criticism of Fender USA it would be LACK OF INNOVATION! Where is the follow-up to the JP90? It is only 20 years overdue! Fender USA seems stuck at reproducing the early 1960's stuff. I mean other than the S-1 switch, which was a huge debacle, and the graphite reinforced necks....where are the innovations? There are none. What did they learn from the Heartfield project? Why didn't they proceed with a USA low impedance XLR output bass? I have LOTS of whys.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 8:35 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:34 pm
Posts: 10760
Location: Athens, Greece
brotherdave wrote:
If you want something special, that is why they have a Custom Shop. I too would LOVE to have all these choices.


Did you mean that we can have the "missing" Deluxe features only on a Custom Shop instrument? Why not, after all?

For example if I want an American Deluxe HSS with the current specs and the locking bridge option, I can tell the Custom Shop to make this guitar for me, right?

Nice idea, but a "new" American Deluxe HSS "LT" with the 2010 features and the Fender Deluxe locking bridge will certainly skyrocket the prices, because this guitar will be considered more like a custom-ordered "one-off" rather than a general-production American Deluxe item. Until Fender decides to offer the 2010 HSS LT as a Factory Special Run (FSR)!

I'm also afraid if the deluxe locking bridge remains available as a custom option, because this product has been dropped in 2007 and Mike Eldred told me that the locking bridge option is not actually available for 2010.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Precision 2010 in Europe?
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 3:15 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:08 am
Posts: 31
Location: London
Hi guys, I would like to join the discussion, because I recently found a 2009 Fender USA Factory Special Run 70's Precision Bass, which I'm tempted to buy.

The chap that is selling it says it was made for the Japan market. He bought it from Ishibashi and imported it to the UK in 2010.

He says the guitar is a standard spec USA Precision with the following FSR tweaks - Older USA bridge (not the HMV one), Early 70's headstock logo and the older shaped hard case.

Nut width is 1.63"/41.4mm and it weighs in at 9.37lbs/4.25kgs

Have you have any information on such FSR production for Japan? The colour on the guitar is Olympic White with black pickguard.

I did try it and it plays great. He had the action a bit high to my liking, and the guitar is strung with roundwounds. I think if I take it home will change the pickguard for a tortoise pickguard and change the strings for flats. And what I also love is the fact that it can be strung through body!

Attached few images.

Image

Image

Image

http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx16 ... f231b4.jpg


Your thoughts?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Precision 2010 in Europe?
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 5:30 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:18 pm
Posts: 1921
Location: Upstate, NY
Dave is correct on the market and industry factors affecting this. Manufacturing is all about the Toyota model and that means standardization.

Unfortunately as bassists. We lose out. Hard. As a bassist who only plays vintage reissues I get it even harder. It gets hard to look at the line up each year and see American Vintage Strats, Teles, Jazzmasters, and Jags in a seemingly never ending supply of custom colors. While the new 58 Precision finally got an "upgrade" from the 30 year old 57 reissue when we got ... Black.

Seriously. WTF is THAT?!

Back in the 80's before the custom shop came around you'd see not only the standard white and burst, but CARs, LPBs, Surfs and Shell Pinks now and then. Now if I want a 50's Reissue in something other than Burst, Black or White I have to pay twice the cost.

The reality is that FMIC started to turn into CBS almost a decade ago. What's the old saying about becoming the monster you fight? They started that trend early on when they adopted the modern radius to basses just because it was being adopted to the guitars. Because, y'know. What makes a good guitar MUST make a good bass.

While Fender is still managing to do some things right. The new Pro series Bass rigs are killer with the exception of the new auto-bias nonsense. However, Fender has treated bassists fairly poorly for a long time in my book. They are bordering on being as bad as the other guitar makers who have always viewed their basses as simply oversized versions of their guitars. (which is probably why they sound as bad as they do)

To Fender, We are simply not a big enough force in the market place to deem worthy of their attention. Despite the fact that the Precision bass is likely the best thing Leo ever invented.

_________________
http://www.reverbnation.com/casanovafrankensteinandthevoodoomachine
https://www.facebook.com/CFandtheVM

2012 Fender Custom Shop 55 Precision Bass
2012 Fender American Vintage 57 Precision Bass RI
2014 Fender Super Bassman and Bassman 100T/410 Neo


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Precision 2010 in Europe?
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 8:55 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:08 am
Posts: 31
Location: London
Mui Vintage wrote:
Hi guys, I would like to join the discussion, because I recently found a 2009 Fender USA Factory Special Run 70's Precision Bass, which I'm tempted to buy.


Sorry, this might not be the correct topic to post this. I apologies.
Cheers.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Precision 2010 in Europe?
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 9:07 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 5:14 pm
Posts: 3169
Location: Linningrad
If the price is right and you like it, I'd pounce on it.

_________________
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


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Precision 2010 in Europe?
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 2:19 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:59 pm
Posts: 237
Location: Bolton, England
That's a nice looking precision I love the big 70's logo 8) .

_________________
2014 American Standard Precision Bass
Fender Rumble 200 Bass Combo
Fender 1.0mm USA Nylon Pick


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Precision 2010 in Europe?
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 1:49 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 6355
Location: Albemarle, NC
There is really no way for most forum users here to know anything at all about USA made FSR's ordered by Fender Japan beyond saying they can do that. Fender Japan has three owners, namely the Yamano Gakki distributorship, the Kanda Shokai stores and FMIC USA. I'm suspecting Fender Japan ordered them and sold them new through Kanda Shokai stores. However Yamano could have sold some to other dealers like Ishibashi but that is somewhat unlikely, so he probably bought it used. At any rate, Fender fans here in the USA would have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of any of the USA FSR's Fender Japan orders.

Fender Japan is of course in a completely unique position with FMIC since Fender Japan has a full voting seat on the FMIC board of directors. That gives Yamano and Kanda a direct preferential pipeline to whatever they want Fender USA to make for them to distribute in their territory through Yamano or to sell exclusively in their Kanda stores.

That bass looks spectacular. That would be an automatic buy here.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Precision 2010 in Europe?
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:46 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:08 am
Posts: 31
Location: London
brotherdave wrote:
At any rate, Fender fans here in the USA would have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of any of the USA FSR's Fender Japan orders.

That bass looks spectacular. That would be an automatic buy here.


Hi brotherdave, thanks for your reply. I didn't know the technicalities of a FSR until now, so I appreciate your explanation. Anyhow, that bass is joining my arsenal.

Have a nice day!

M.

Hi, just to update you guys... I got it, and it's a beauty!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Precision 2010 in Europe?
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 10:58 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 11:45 am
Posts: 20994
Location: On the loo, regretting that gas station burrito.
It looks like it. 8) Speaking of Fender Japan, I wish they had the market here in the US with the models they make there. I've always liked Japanese-made Fenders and never had any issues with the ones I've owned and played. I'm not sure how the quality control is these days, but back in the early 90's I thought they had some nice stuff.

_________________
Image


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 15 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: