I bet blocks and binding are part of that. I don't know about $250 more, but that's gotta cost more to make than dots and no binding.
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Another Fender price increase?
- Thread starter LadyLoveStingRay5
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I bet blocks and binding are part of that. I don't know about $250 more, but that's gotta cost more to make than dots and no binding.
I don't doubt it at all, based on product manufacturing related experience, in the U.S. and China.
Actually, there's no maybe about it if you think about it a bit more.
First, you need to understand that it is a given that the international supply chain entails domestic supply. The cost of supplies themselves and shipping costs for the thing Fender sources domestically are up. The cost of supplies and shipping costs for the thing Fender sources internationally are up. The cost for Fender to ship their finished manufactured products, domestically and internationally; also is way up.
At least some alder and hard maple Fender uses could be sourced from Canada; it's quite possible, if not likely. Indian rosewood and pau ferro obviously don't come from the U.S. Furthermore, wood and metals are commodities. Commodities prices are tied to the global supply chain.
Small items, hardware, materials such as sheet-form plastics, pots, caps, constituent ingredients within finishing chemicals, disposable/expendable items used in manufacturing processes, items and components needed to maintain and repair the equipment needed to produce the products can be sourced internationally. You can safely bet at least 20% of those things are imported.
So yeah, I maintain that enough of the materials, products and services Fender requires to do business entail the global supply chain quite a lot.
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Not disagreeing with you but I hope the workers got a raise. I saw crazy price gouging during 2020 and some of it is here to stay. Problem is for a lot of folks they still make the same as last year. Some times it necessity and sometimes and in a lot of cases it’s just greed ! Again, not trying to step on your take of it
I was gonna get the Tim Commerford model, but I couldn't justify 3k. I settled for a minty special.
I don’t think international supply is a major factor in Fender guitars. Ash, poplar, maple, basswood, and alder are all domestic woods. Pickguard plastic, copper wire, alnico and ceramic magnets, are sourced domestically last I heard. If they’ve outsourced their tuning machines overseas, they could still easily and economically be produced here. They’re very simple devices. That leaves what…pots, jacks, and capacitors?
Shipping is an issue that covid has played into since US truckers have been affected by it. But with the huge increase in online shopping resulting in increased home deliveries, our shipping infrastructure would have felt the impact eventually even if the pandemic didn’t play a role to some extent in encouraging that increase.
So combine shipping delays with JIT inventories and manufacturing practices and you have a brittle system with closely coupled links. And it wouldn’t matter whether they were international or domestic links. The system lacks flexibility and resilience. And that’s not a smart way to run an economy.
If you think the price increase of Fenders is bad...look at the increase of building materials. Romex and pvc pipe (if you can even find them) have doubled even tripled in the same timeframe. Its not sustainable.
That is quite a jump indeed.
But, if you don’t like the price, hit Fender back right in their wallet.
If we bassists put a moratorium on new bass purchases, prices will drop.
The US Geddy Lee Jazz retailed for $1649 in 2019.
Anything could hypothetically be made or sourced in the U.S. That doesn't mean those things are or will be. Most of all, it doesn't matter.
Why?
1. The supply chain isn't just simply shipping, it includes all manufacturing processes, and the American supply chain isn't isolated from the global supply chain; they're interconnected. Current problems in the supply chain are internal/domestic and external/international.
2. The value of commodities are set by the international market.
Ash, poplar, maple, basswood, and alder can be sourced domestically and they can be sourced from Canada. Other woods must be imported, there's no choice. They're all commodities with commodity prices. They're all processed, including harvesting, drying, milling and transport, through the supply chain.
Metals, whether to make bridges and tuners, screws, plates, copper wire, fret wire, pot housings/bodies, strings or Alnico magnets; also made of globally traded commodities. Metal parts and metals they're fabricated from are processed through the supply chain.
Again, the prices do not simply depend on whether they're domestically sourced, and they're processed through the supply chain regardless. Every tangible product Fender makes and sells is made of commodity priced materials that move through the supply chain. Fender's finished products move through the supply chain.
Bottom line: none of these things are isolated.
Once they hit $3,000 one might as well have a custom bass built to their spec. It’s just Ash/Alder , maple, rosewood, and some electronics. I understand the time that goes into building an instrument but with CNC now and Fender’s spotty QC. My opinion will likely not be popular but I was raised to see a dollar for what it is. I thank my Dutch upbringing for that
High demand + shortages of labor in all the sorts of work that create the needed supplies and bring them to Fender. Not surprising.
Inflation is out of control all across the economy and no relief is in sight.
Things won’t get better until we are working at full capacity again and from the looks of it, that might be a while.
Inflation is out of control all across the economy and no relief is in sight.
Things won’t get better until we are working at full capacity again and from the looks of it, that might be a while.
EBMM once raised the price of the Cutlas bass from 1200 to over 2000, then discontinued it??? ***?
And yea, at this point I am done buying any new Fender. They are all coming out heavy as hell anyway. Seeya Fender!!!
Can you imaging paying $1350 for a road worn jazz and getting a 10 pound bass with Pau Ferro, looking like a dry-ass 2x4 for a fretboard!? LMAO Fender is a joke now.
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Yep, Fender is no cheap anymore (not to mention the USA Geddy sig.) but I am happy with my 78 jazz so. $2050 for a Geddy JB? Wow.
Here is my '78:
Not the same but I just called Sweetwater about the Jazz Elite, MSRP is $2050 IIRC. I asked about any discounts on this bass and the sales engineer pretty much said there's only a small discount. But what's surprising is they are selling instruments even faster than before, most of these at MSRP.
I also called Musician's Friend on another item, same story, they gave me a special discount invoice with $0 off the retail price. I don't think there's any issue selling these at the new prices, tons of money out there and pockets are burning.
I also called Musician's Friend on another item, same story, they gave me a special discount invoice with $0 off the retail price. I don't think there's any issue selling these at the new prices, tons of money out there and pockets are burning.
I used the inflation calculator that @Killing Floor usefully provided on page one of this thread and entered the amount I paid in 1981 for a used Dakota red (new refin) 1966 Fender Precision w/case in very good condition. I paid $650, which the calculator says would equal $1,956, or about the new MSRP price of a AO Fender 60s P today.
Stuff is more expensive for lots of reasons, many understandable, others not so much. Hopefully, everyone who really needs a new bass can find something affordable to purchase. The Ric 4003S that was delivered to my home six weeks ago for $1,800 would've cost me $598 in 1981. I must've overpaid for that Fender P, though I've no regrets. "First world problems" for many of us...
Stuff is more expensive for lots of reasons, many understandable, others not so much. Hopefully, everyone who really needs a new bass can find something affordable to purchase. The Ric 4003S that was delivered to my home six weeks ago for $1,800 would've cost me $598 in 1981. I must've overpaid for that Fender P, though I've no regrets. "First world problems" for many of us...
Best $75 bucks I’ve spent lately for a U.S. made bass..
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