2013 American Vintage '74 Jazz Bass-YES!

[tdizzle]

Originally Posted by Buster Brown

Honestly, I love my Fenders. ALL of them. But at $2400, they have lost me as a future customer.

Geezz...I just paid $700 for one of the nicest P basses I have ever owned....There is no way I could justify that price. $1295 for my 57RI, $1400 for my 62 RI and $1500 for my 75 RI.

Fender, IMO, is making a tactical error here.....

I might agree with you here. They might make more of a profit at $1800 simply by selling more basses. And besides, $2400 can get you into a real 74 Jazz Bass. It does, however, appear that they have listened to customer feedback in releasing these basses. I just hope they are nice. If they don't sell, then prices will probably come down.

[4001]

Seems that the majority thinks it's too friggin' expensive. I'm shocked. Not.

[ggvicviper]

Originally Posted by Buster Brown

Honestly, I love my Fenders. ALL of them. But at $2400, they have lost me as a future customer.

Geezz...I just paid $700 for one of the nicest P basses I have ever owned....There is no way I could justify that price. $1295 for my 57RI, $1400 for my 62 RI and $1500 for my 75 RI.

Fender, IMO, is making a tactical error here.....

When I first saw the price on the '74 AVRI, I felt the same way about being turned off the brand as a customer. I first voiced this in the AVRI waiting room thread (where I got into a heated argument with David281189), and I still feel turned off by Fender today.

Tactical error? Definitely. I don't believe it's just inflation and "better quality" that would make a price go up $600 overnight.

Some have said Fender has been raising their prices to make up for their losses. I honestly wish the brand well, but if this is true, I wish there was another way for Fender to come out of the hole. A lot of us aren't happy seeing prices so high on what are pretty basic production line instruments, even if they are reissues.

[4001]

Maybe if FMIC didn't waste their money with buying off Hamer, so they could make them disappear, they would have more $$ on hand and not need to raise prices on their stuff to make up for what they spent but that got shifted to the consumer.

[ggvicviper]

Originally Posted by 4001

Maybe if FMIC didn't waste their money with buying off Hamer, so they could make them disappear, they would have more $$ on hand and not need to raise prices on their stuff to make up for what they spent but that got shifted to the consumer.

Hamer was not the only thing they bought when they bought Kaman, so that's really not fair.

[Buster Brown]

Originally Posted by tdizzle

I might agree with you here. They might make more of a profit at $1800 simply by selling more basses. And besides, $2400 can get you into a real 74 Jazz Bass. It does, however, appear that they have listened to customer feedback in releasing these basses. I just hope they are nice. If they don't sell, then prices will probably come down.

Please don't get me wrong here. Fender can charge whatever they wish. I have no problem whatsoever with that. However, to go from the previous AVRI series and that price point to (if, indeed, it's true) adding nearly $1,000 to the price tag won't help their customer base grow any larger.

I'm not in the market for a new bass, but for that type of coin, I might be tempted to move on up to the Sadowsky market (even though I have never been in that camp that suggests tht a Sad is the end all of basses). I would guess that at that price point, they are certainly worth looking into......

FMIC .....if the reports are true, you just might have screwed the pooch..

[Buster Brown]

Originally Posted by ggvicviper

When I first saw the price on the '74 AVRI, I felt the same way about being turned off the brand as a customer. I first voiced this in the AVRI waiting room thread (where I got into a heated argument with David281189), and I still feel turned off by Fender today.

Tactical error? Definitely. I don't believe it's just inflation and "better quality" that would make a price go up $600 overnight.

Some have said Fender has been raising their prices to make up for their losses. I honestly wish the brand well, but if this is true, I wish there was another way for Fender to come out of the hole. A lot of us aren't happy seeing prices so high on what are pretty basic production line instruments, even if they are reissues.

Unlike a lot of bass players, I don't get into "heated" discussions over guitars....

I don't know, but time will tell. On the other side of the coin, Fender DOES sell a truckload of MIAs, MIM and MIJ basses. There might be something to the idea that they are moving the AVRI line into more of a "select" bass line. I don't really know, just thinking out loud.....

[ggvicviper]

Originally Posted by Buster Brown

I don't really know, just thinking out loud.....

Yeah, none of us really do. All we can say is what's directly in front of us and how we feel.

[Mossiebass]

I just don't understand - People are delighted by the more "period correct" features and as such justify the price, but how about get a real one for the same money? It'll probably have a few more period correct features as well, such as being 29 years old.

[David281189]

Originally Posted by ggvicviper

When I first saw the price on the '74 AVRI, I felt the same way about being turned off the brand as a customer. I first voiced this in the AVRI waiting room thread (where I got into a heated argument with David281189), and I still feel turned off by Fender today.

Tactical error? Definitely. I don't believe it's just inflation and "better quality" that would make a price go up $600 overnight.

Some have said Fender has been raising their prices to make up for their losses. I honestly wish the brand well, but if this is true, I wish there was another way for Fender to come out of the hole. A lot of us aren't happy seeing prices so high on what are pretty basic production line instruments, even if they are reissues.

if you would have taken the time to read through the link i posted in the last thread you would not have to mention the losses, because there are no losses except in 2010 and that was a 3 % loss. in 2011 and 2012 they made profit and their debts declined by 20%
in europe the previous AVRI line was much more expensive than in the USA.
the euro price for the AVRI 75 jazz bass was around 1800-1850 euros. the new 74 jazz bass has a price tag off 2150-2250. that price increase is not that bad compared to the dollar price. which sucks for you guys in the U.S. because you were used to the old price which was actually much lower than the previous AVRI euro price and the current dollar price for the AVRI.
the price difference in euro for between the old and the new line is made up of inflation and the few things they added. i believe they use the correct nitro finish now. a nitro finish costs somewhere in between 400-700$ depending on color ect...

i really don't want to get into heated arguments with anybody, but if someone repeatedly spreads untruth about fender's finances and business ect... that just pisses me off. just because there are people who hate fender or gibson or whatever and with no real knowledge to backup their arguments they bash about this and about that, but if you tell them how it really works they absolutely ignore it.

[I<34080]

No one charges MSRP

The worst thing, for me, is lack of a special colored Fender nitro finish.

[landau roof]

Originally Posted by David281189

i believe they use the correct nitro finish now. a nitro finish costs somewhere in between 400-700$ depending on color ect...

Fender stopped using nitro in the '60s, so I doubt they're using it on a '74 RI. You may be charged $400+ for a nitro refin, but the premium to use nitro rather than poly on a guitar in the production stage will be NO WHERE near that, particularly for factory already well equipped and licensed like Fender's.

[David281189]

Originally Posted by landau roof

Fender stopped using nitro in the '60s, so I doubt they're using it on a '74 RI. You may be charged $400+ for a nitro refin, but the premium to use nitro rather than poly on a guitar in the production stage will be NO WHERE near that, particularly for factory already well equipped and licensed like Fender's.

correct, my bad.

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by 4001

It is a laugh. I laugh at all you guys that are willing to fork over that much $$ for something that isn't worth it.
First thing I said when I saw the price was..."What for?"

+1 I would much rather have a "real" vintage bass for that coin.

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by mjac28

+1 I would much rather have a "real" vintage bass for that coin.

I agree about the 74 reissue, but the real deal vintage 50s and 60s stuff is way out of reach for what the reissues will cost.

[Paul M]

Price aside, the Natural Ash 74 RI is exactly the Jazz Bass I have wanted for years:

pearl blocks on maple
4-bolt neck
70's pickup spacing
my favourite Jazz Bass logo of all time

I just wonder how meaty is the neck with the "meatier U-shaped profile." I don't think I would like that.

[pacojas]

waiting for the "used" prices in a year or two! they'll be popping up in the classified for $1.2-1.5k by the summer, IMO. there are $3000. CS's as well as other custom builds for sale under $2k every week.

[JoeWPgh]

Not to knock Fender, but at that price I'd be looking at a Sadowsky first.

[ggvicviper]

Originally Posted by David281189

if you would have taken the time to read through the link i posted in the last thread you would not have to mention the losses, because there are no losses except in 2010 and that was a 3 % loss. in 2011 and 2012 they made profit and their debts declined by 20%
in europe the previous AVRI line was much more expensive than in the USA.
the euro price for the AVRI 75 jazz bass was around 1800-1850 euros. the new 74 jazz bass has a price tag off 2150-2250. that price increase is not that bad compared to the dollar price. which sucks for you guys in the U.S. because you were used to the old price which was actually much lower than the previous AVRI euro price and the current dollar price for the AVRI.
the price difference in euro for between the old and the new line is made up of inflation and the few things they added. i believe they use the correct nitro finish now. a nitro finish costs somewhere in between 400-700$ depending on color ect...

i really don't want to get into heated arguments with anybody, but if someone repeatedly spreads untruth about fender's finances and business ect... that just pisses me off. just because there are people who hate fender or gibson or whatever and with no real knowledge to backup their arguments they bash about this and about that, but if you tell them how it really works they absolutely ignore it.

"Some have said" and "if this is true" - does this sound like I am saying this as fact, or that it's even my thoughts? You're getting on my case for paraphrasing things said by other people.

You know what pisses me off? When I get attacked over nonsense because someone doesn't take the time to read MY posts.

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by Paul M

I just wonder how meaty is the neck with the "meatier U-shaped profile." I don't think I would like that.

If it's any thing like a real mid 70s Jazz bass, it will be perfect -- thick enough so that the neck is nice and stable, but not too thick.