Details about Fender destroying G&L

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Sure, G&L could have done this.

Who knows? They may have done this and it just hasn't surfaced yet. One can only hope.

 

[fishdude101101]

I don't think so unfortunately. No one really cares about G&L that much. You can still get a mint condition 1980 G&L for like $1500 bucks, and they are already rare.

Sure, but for the life of me ill never get the prices that any used fender commands. Mad the same product for 70 years. I say this as a fender and g&l owner.

 

[MIJ Fender Guy]

Sure, but for the life of me ill never get the prices that any used fender commands. Mad the same product for 70 years. I say this as a fender and g&l owner.

I like both. G&L is just more niche and not that exciting to the masses. Fender has the heritage, plain and simple.

 

[superiorpine]

See also Tacoma, et cetera.

 

[GretschWretch]

I say... it was Col. Rickenbacker, in the Library, with a tire tool.

With a Peavey T-40. Fixed it for ya.

 

[Iristone]

Shame, I also remember fondly of SWR and Sunn. Unfortunately even Eden (SWR's cabinet maker?) is defunct...
TBF Gibson also did similar things to Tobias, Trace, Steinberger etc. and Slingerland drums, but not quite to this extent. IIRC Gibson's strategy was to force Slingerland and Gibson to be sold by the same dealers, which to me seems more ignorant than plain evil...

 

[MultiScaleMale]

And this is exactly why these things happen. Its the same attitude as protected natural landscapes that hold aesthetic and cultural value to some but others think it aint worth a thing as it doesn't make money. therefore it's value is worthless.

I believe that's called a strawman argument. Making one argument by shifting to something completely different. But anyways, how do you save an office in a building that is no longer in use? It's not like you can move an office.

 

[Sjobi 1]

Moving an office would be easy.

If they could disassemble Francis Bacon's painting studio and reassemble it in a museum they could have easily moved Leo's office.

If they wanted to.

 

[Sjobi 1]

The ancient Egyptian Temple of Dendur is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. There are plenty more examples of moving rooms, buildings, etc. If anyone could afford to move *checks notes* an office, Fender could.

 

[Pings Bass]

two things can be true

this story is dubious
late stage capitalism is a b____

 

[T McClure]

Moving an office would be easy.

If they could disassemble Francis Bacon's painting studio and reassemble it in a museum they could have easily moved Leo's office.

If they wanted to.

View attachment 7476018

But does Fender have a reason to put up a museum for an office used to develop a competitor's products? Seems like asking Fender to do this is strange.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

This is a lot of hearsay. I wouldn't be surprised if none of it's true

 

[Pep]

You're just smelling realists. Fender didn't buy the G&L building or take over the G&L lease because they don't need it. Fender doesn't need another building. Doing so just to preserve an office no one visits doesn't make a lot of sense.

What do you think Fender was supposed to do here?

Recreate Leo's office at the Fender location with all the contents found in his G&L office. That wouldn't have been too difficult and very inexpensive to do.

 

[Sjobi 1]

But does Fender have a reason to put up a museum for an office used to develop a competitor's products? Seems like asking Fender to do this is strange.

Nope. That's why I added "if they wanted to". I was just addressing the comments saying that an office couldn't be moved. An office is easily moved.

 

[Pep]

I'm removing all of my Fender headstock decals and replacing them with G&L.

 

[Kindness]

Fender didn't buy G&L assets and then throw them away.

How do people that buy this nonsense make it through the world on a daily basis?

 

[mikeswals]

Wait, Fender buys a company only to completely burn it down and absorb the IP? They've NEVER done that! Especially not with the amp brands!

I've been on the anti-Fender train for a while, but this just reinforces that.

No Fender didnt do that.
G&L was already burnt to the ground and out of business.

 

[makanudo]

and yet, Fender continues to dominate the market worldwide. Everyone who buys one must be wrong I guess.

I don't really get all the Fender hate on TB. I mean it's cool if you like something other than an actual Fender, but if you think about it, even the FSO options or the Leo spin off companies (G&L, Music Man) are really just building Fenders with some modest improvements or changes to the originals. If you prefer a Yamaha "Precision" (BB) instead of a Fender Precision, you should absolutely use one. If you favor a Dingwall Super J over a Fender Jazz, go for it. If your choice is a Sadowsky, Lull or Lakland, have at it. But why take a dump on the root of the tree from whence all of these came ? Does not make any sense to me.

And I'll repeat/amplify that G&L killed G&L. Other than competing with them, Fender did nothing in this situation, other than seek the G&L/Leo Fender IP that originated with Fender anyway once G&L mismanaged themselves into oblivion.

I'm not hating on Fender.

I'm just addressing the OP's point of not buying Fender anymore by making an objective observation.

 

[Pep]

Fender didn't buy G&L assets and then throw them away.

What assets are you referring to? There were no freakin' assets!

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Sure, but for the life of me ill never get the prices that any used fender commands. Mad the same product for 70 years. I say this as a fender and g&l owner.

Fender is a prisoner of their own success. It's hard for them to innovate and they have made a few stabs over the years to introduce new and different models, but they are usually short lived. (Most) people expect the classics, so you have to give people what will sell to stay in business.

The Precision and Jazz basses are good designs and are proven sellers. There are so many copies and designs based on them.