All Genz Benz products on "standby" by Fender ??

[MetroBass]

This thread is now officially boring! I like the Mesa buying Aguilar thread better.

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by Syco_bass

I spoke with someone at GB a couple days ago too. It was a very brief discussion, but from what I gatherred, the problem isn't with GB here in the US it's with the importer/distributer in France. Guess the folks in Europe won't be getting any GB product for a while.

Yes, the situation which prompted all of this appears to be between the dealer and Fender France.

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by will33

Eh....looks like I was getting a little sassy there yesterday.

My intuition tells me when there's a "hush order" like this, or that people are told to not discuss something publicly but to wait for an "announcement", that means things are changing, and usually for the worse.

Though...if it turns out things are fine between Fender and Genz, then perhaps I was wrong this time.

So, we'll see what happens. Sounds like they are not shutting down per Tom's post. Maybe they're consolidating some support staff or something. It would be way cool to be able to talk to the owners/engineers on the phone rather than some FMIC call center. Perhaps Genz is getting too big for that kind of personal service? That may not necessarily be a bad thing, it means the brand is doing good and growing. It can make for a bit of a runaround for the customer, though it seems there aren't all that many issues with Genz products.


Anyway....if it all turns out good, then I was wrong.


I still wish they would make Tubeworks amps again though....I really like mine.

As a large, complex and established company who cares about a coordinated interface with the public, Fender has a policy of asking their employees to not engage in social media. With that in mind, my guess is that we will see less responses from individual Fender (Genz-Benz) employees on threads which directly relate to their products. This makes sense, and many companies do this.

Yes, there has been some reorganization that has gone on since Fender bought Genz-Benz, and yes, Fender service techs are handling the service calls, and the goal is for this transition to be seamless to the customer. The Genz-Benz designers and engineers are still involved in the company, only they now have wider responsibilities.

But again, to reiterate, the folks at Fender/Genz-Benz tell me that they are still making, selling, and servicing Genz-Benz gear and are doing well.

Hope this helps clear things up and puts peoples' minds at ease.

Tom.

[joelb79]

Originally Posted by nostatic

"Lightweight fad"? Yeah, like this whole internet fad...

imho you're buying the wrong amps. I wouldn't expect a cheap Ampeg micro to be worth a damn. And I'll never own a MB amp again after dealing with their CS (live and learn). There are plenty of great lightweight heads out there, and companies that will provide stellar service to back them up. GB is one of them.

Internets fad?!?!

The MB was stellar, but broken. The Ampeg is horrible to say the least; I cant trust it to gig with. I'm looking at a pile of $1000 worth of amps now worth $200 or so. If they were old standards, $200 of repairs would get them both back up from catastrophe. As it sits, the Ampeg is flawed from design and cannot be fixed, the Markbass is about 1/4 the cost of new to fix (it was much higher than that until recently markbass made the service guys sell the parts AT COST. They were marking them up 80% before that.)

[KJung]

Originally Posted by joelb79

Internets fad?!?!

The MB was stellar, but broken. The Ampeg is horrible to say the least; I cant trust it to gig with. I'm looking at a pile of $1000 worth of amps now worth $200 or so. If they were old standards, $200 of repairs would get them both back up from catastrophe. As it sits, the Ampeg is flawed from design and cannot be fixed, the Markbass is about 1/4 the cost of new to fix (it was much higher than that until recently markbass made the service guys sell the parts AT COST. They were marking them up 80% before that.)

I'd get that F1 fixed, and be happy for the next 10 years. Relatively low cost repair, and you will have basically a new amp. IMO there... one of the best sounding amps made, regardless of the size and weight if you like a clean, relatively accurate tone.

[60bass]

Originally Posted by wcriley

That's nothing new for Fender.

A friend was told back in the 80s that he'd need to stock specific items if he wanted to continue being a Fender dealer.
He told them he knew his market better than they did and that this was not part of his original agreement.

Not sure how he managed to work it out, but he's still a Fender dealer.

Having worked at and owned a small mom n pop store back in the 70's and 80's, I can attest to that fact about not only Fender but many other companies too.

Gibson was pretty bad they wanted you to stock a ton of stuff and Peavey wanted to give you an "exclusive protected territory", provided you stocked a TON of their gear.

Fender during the CBS years wanted you to stock heavy in all their lines. Fender, Rodgers, Rhodes, and whatever else they controlled.

Luckily the previous owners of the store went WAY back in their relationship with Fender so were able to pull strings and get Fender/CBS to work with me.

Many lines back then such as SUNN, AIMS, Randall, Acoustic, RIC,and most of the import lines were easy to work with and eager to have their gear in the store. Even in a small market like we were.

Seems like the bigger the company the more they want to squeeze you.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by 60bass

Having worked at and owned a small mom n pop store back in the 70's and 80's, I can attest to that fact about not only Fender but many other companies too.

Gibson was pretty bad they wanted you to stock a ton of stuff and Peavey wanted to give you an "exclusive protected territory", provided you stocked a TON of their gear.

Fender during the CBS years wanted you to stock heavy in all their lines. Fender, Rodgers, Rhodes, and whatever else they controlled.

Luckily the previous owners of the store went WAY back in their relationship with Fender so were able to pull strings and get Fender/CBS to work with me.

Many lines back then such as SUNN, AIMS, Randall, Acoustic, RIC,and most of the import lines were easy to work with and eager to have their gear in the store. Even in a small market like we were.

Seems like the bigger the company the more they want to squeeze you.

Mesa is tough like that also... you have to stock a LOT of stuff to be a Mesa dealer. I get that, but tough for a smaller store to do.

[jlepre]

[b-b-b-bass]

I found this 6-month-old New York Times article (via NBC) about Fender's failed initial public offering (IPO) quite illuminating. It presages what we are seeing right now...
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/fend...its-ipo-899516

[B-string]

Originally Posted by tombowlus

As a large, complex and established company who cares about a coordinated interface with the public, Fender has a policy of asking their employees to not engage in social media. With that in mind, my guess is that we will see less responses from individual Fender (Genz-Benz) employees on threads which directly relate to their products. This makes sense, and many companies do this.

Yes, there has been some reorganization that has gone on since Fender bought Genz-Benz, and yes, Fender service techs are handling the service calls, and the goal is for this transition to be seamless to the customer. The Genz-Benz designers and engineers are still involved in the company, only they now have wider responsibilities.

But again, to reiterate, the folks at Fender/Genz-Benz tell me that they are still making, selling, and servicing Genz-Benz gear and are doing well.

Hope this helps clear things up and puts peoples' minds at ease.

Tom.

Well this actually gives me pause. To close the door on GB's stellar CS and place it in the hands of Fender service network does not bring "ease" IMHO? Thanks for the info though. Maybe GB's attitude can be adopted by Fender?

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by B-string

Well this actually gives me pause. To close the door on GB's stellar CS and place it in the hands of Fender service network does not bring "ease" IMHO? Thanks for the info though. Maybe GB's attitude can be adopted by Fender?

Well, Genz-Benz is now a Fender company, and from how it sounds, Fender it trying to make the best use of G-B's personnel from a company-wide perspective.

[60bass]

Originally Posted by tombowlus

Well, Genz-Benz is now a Fender company, and from how it sounds, Fender it trying to make the best use of G-B's personnel from a company-wide perspective.

I'm assuming with all the reorganization that Jeff is still heading up the company's day to day operations but "overall " decisions are now under Fender's control?

[will33]

Originally Posted by tombowlus

As a large, complex and established company who cares about a coordinated interface with the public, Fender has a policy of asking their employees to not engage in social media. With that in mind, my guess is that we will see less responses from individual Fender (Genz-Benz) employees on threads which directly relate to their products. This makes sense, and many companies do this.

Yes, there has been some reorganization that has gone on since Fender bought Genz-Benz, and yes, Fender service techs are handling the service calls, and the goal is for this transition to be seamless to the customer. The Genz-Benz designers and engineers are still involved in the company, only they now have wider responsibilities.

But again, to reiterate, the folks at Fender/Genz-Benz tell me that they are still making, selling, and servicing Genz-Benz gear and are doing well.

Hope this helps clear things up and puts peoples' minds at ease.

Tom.

Odd that. Their participation here is one of the things their customers really liked.

[odineye]

Side note to self. When subscribing to a thread like this one, be sure the notifications are not set to "instant notification by e-mail".

Nope... Didn't think that one through very well. Did I?

[Flabass]

Back in the early 90's there was a Fender rep saying that they were going to quit making bass amps. I think he was just trying to get stores to sell more "before the end."

[B-string]

Originally Posted by odineye

Side note to self. When subscribing to a thread like this one, be sure the notifications are not set to "instant notification by e-mail".

Nope... Didn't think that one through very well. Did I?

Nope

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by 60bass

I'm assuming with all the reorganization that Jeff is still heading up the company's day to day operations but "overall " decisions are now under Fender's control?

I don't know exactly what Jeff's exact position is, but I believe he works on more than just the Genz-Benz brand - R&D, mostly, I think.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by will33

Odd that. Their participation here is one of the things their customers really liked.

One of the things I've learned in decades of consulting and being involved in many corporate mergers and buyouts:

You ALWAYS want to be the one buying, NOT the one being bought (unless, of course, you are the owner and get big bucks!).

Makes TOTAL sense that the parent company would attempt to integrate this very small part of the total corporation to maximize resources and profits. It was amazing to me that they were allowed to operate like the small independent company that they once were for as long as they did.

It was pretty amazing to see the Genz 'booth' last year at NAMM. It was just a small, small corner of the massive parent corporation booth.

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by KJung

It was pretty amazing to see the Genz 'booth' last year at NAMM. It was just a small, small corner of the massive parent corporation booth.

They've been in that same location, pretty much, for the last 4-5 years, I believe. In fact, the last several years, they actually had more floor space set aside for them.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by tombowlus

They've been in that same location, pretty much, for the last 4-5 years, I believe. In fact, the last several years, they actually had more floor space set aside for them.

+1 My point was that they are a small part of one big honkin' company.