Fender Bass prices???

[funkymonk13]

The American standards from 2008 and beyond are amazing instruments. Consistently good quality, i love the bridges, the pickups, the thinner finishes, the reinforced necks, everything about them.

However, I think they're too expensive too. $1400 just seems like a lot when theres a bunch of imported basses that are just as good for $800-1000; Thats the price I think they're worth. But thats the reason they cost so much OP, American labor. And in the end theres no reason American labor should really be "worth" more than foreign labor, as long as the manufacturing process is held to the same standard. Many companies do this, and they make great guitars overseas and can sell them for half the price of an American fender.

The higher end mexican fenders are basically the same thing as thing as the American ones. Im talking about the ones that use better electronics, hardware and material(although i've seen these features on fender guitars more than basses); they also tend to pay more attention to QC.
There's a (sorta?) joke i've read that says the only difference between American and Mexican fenders is that they're made by mexicans but on different sides of the border.

Anyways, I buy most of my stuff used. For around $750 a used american jazz or P is worth every single penny.

 

[Metalbasspro]

Don't like the price? Don't buy it.

Fender has a bass at every price point -- well below and well above the American Standard price point. All are at least a reasonable value at that price point. I think they have figured this out pretty well and better than most.

Wait a minute! We were promised cheaper goods if we went along with free trade policies.

 

[GretschWretch]

And in the end theres no reason American labor should really be "worth" more than foreign labor, as long as the manufacturing process is held to the same standard. Many companies do this, and they make great guitars overseas and can sell them for half the price of an American fender.

And is there any reason American living standards and quality of life should be diminished to those of foreign labor? That's the implied corollary.

And I too buy used. Nearly always.

 

[kenneffdupriest]

Because you are looking new.

I bought a 2012 Am Special P for 500 bux w/a Fender gig bag a 2006 60th Anniversary Jazz Bass w/ G&G case and all the fixins for 750 and a 2014 Select P also w/ G&G case n candy for 1200. All in excellent/new condition. I watch ebay, this place and CL. I hold out or lowball for the good deals.

 

[Metalbasspro]

The American standards from 2008 and beyond are amazing instruments. Consistently good quality, i love the bridges, the pickups, the thinner finishes, the reinforced necks, everything about them.

However, I think they're too expensive too. $1400 just seems like a lot when theres a bunch of imported basses that are just as good for $800-1000; Thats the price I think they're worth. But thats the reason they cost so much OP, American labor. And in the end theres no reason American labor should really be "worth" more than foreign labor, as long as the manufacturing process is held to the same standard. Many companies do this, and they make great guitars overseas and can sell them for half the price of an American fender.

The higher end mexican fenders are basically the same thing as thing as the American ones. Im talking about the ones that use better electronics, hardware and material(although i've seen these features on fender guitars more than basses); they also tend to pay more attention to QC.
There's a (sorta?) joke i've read that says the only difference between American and Mexican fenders is that they're made by mexicans but on different sides of the border.

Anyways, I buy most of my stuff used. For around $750 a used american jazz or P is worth every single penny.

I'd be VERY interested to know the low wages paid out to the rank and file production workers at Fender. I know that the Saw mill I worked at we were told by the Union the labor costs at the plant were inconsequencial when it came to the plants ability to compete in the global market and after the 2008 Crash. They said the wood chips the plant produced everyday that was sold to paper mills paid for all the labor and the main product was all profit for the Company and it's costs of business.

 

[joebar]

I have $1500 in the exhaust pipes on my Harley

doesn't take much to rack up those numbers on Harleys-I know from personal experience.

 

[DavC]

that's why they have different models made in different places ... = different prices points ... MIA, MIM, MIJ , MIK , MIC ..... as do other companies ...

i prefer Warmoth pieces/parts basses .... Used ... ! made to the specs , with my preferred parts .

 

[bassguppy]

Wait a minute! We were promised cheaper goods if we went along with free trade policies.

BWWHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

 

[Metalbasspro]

BWWHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Hey Hartke can manage to put out a 1000Watt Bass head for 500 dollars or under in my case I got one new for 440.00 shipped.

 

[SonnyBassPlayer]

Good news: this year, Fender's price list raised 3 times, for a total of about +37%.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Here's an example. I make custom wood baseball bats. There are factories overseas that put out an unfinished bat for less than I pay for wood. I believe my quality is better, and yes, I buy in smaller quantities, but that is the market.

 

[hsech]

Who cares what Fender prices are? If you want an American Standard or above you fork over the moola. If you can't afford it you whine about the high prices. If want something less than the American Standard buy it, but don't complain about the prices of Fender's more expensive bass guitars.

 

[Metalbasspro]

Who cares what Fender prices are? If you want an American Standard or above you fork over the moola. If you can't afford it you whine about the high prices. If want something less than the American Standard buy it, but don't complain about the prices of Fender's more expensive bass guitars.

I basically asked why they are so high, never really complained.

 

[steelbed45]

Fender is mass manufacturing these basses and they can't put them out to the point the average worker can afford one? The math is not adding up.

If you can't afford one, and I hate to break this to you...you're probably not the average worker. I make a couple bucks less per hour than the current average hourly wage, and I could walk down to the local GC right now and buy the American Standard P they have in sunburst/rosewood.

 

[pcake]

i'm not seeing them as high at all. they may be higher than i can afford right now, but so are lots of things. they have (so i have been told) thicker finish, better QC and not only are the workers who make them paid more, but i bet that insurance and rent or property taxes are higher here than in mexico, china or indonesia. also keeping up with EPA regs can be expensive, and those costs must be absorbed over time - special ventilation booths for spraying can cost hundreds of thousands each in california, and then there are disposal fees for chemicals and lots of other stuff that doesn't apply in other locations. then there's paying for health insurance, unemployment insurance and lots of other stuff like that that happens every month, and surely fender has an occasional lawsuit. and all of that has to be figured into the cost of anything made here in the u.s.

it's not like fender's out of line imo. when it comes to acoustic guitars, the full gloss taylors start at over $2000, the martin 15 series starts at a little under a grand but has no gloss finish or amenities and the iconic martin models over $3000. in a total reversal of my reality, gibson now offers what i believe is the lowed priced all-solid u.s. made acoustic with full gloss.

 

[Metalbasspro]

INTERESTING SITE,

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[reddesert]

A 1965 price list shows the P-Bass at $229.50, which in today's money is $1733.60. Just sayin'.

Wages may have stagnated more than inflation, but this inflation adjusted price shows how the price of a Fender has actually decreased slightly relative to other consumer goods, including food or housing. A Fender in 1965 might have cost more than a month's rent on a house, depending where you live, and it still might in 2015. That means buying a high-end consumer product made in the US (made by people making a working-class wage) on a US working class wage is a luxury, and it was in 1965 as well. IMO, in the 1960s or 1970s, the average US working class or middle class household had many fewer objects or gadgets than it does today. (Just think about the number of things you own that plug into the wall, compared to how many your parents had when you were a kid.)

What has changed is the availability of high-quality low-cost imported goods, that make US-made items look expensive. Compared to a 1965 import or low-end US instrument (like a basic Harmony), today's entry-level instruments are really a lot more competitive in fit and finish. This means we can all satisfy GAS by gobbling up Squiers, but the effect is also to lose jobs in the US. This isn't directly our fault, but it is a consequence of our collective behavior, and it isn't Fender's fault. It's impressive, to me, that Fender still manages to make money manufacturing in the US.

 

[Stdjazz4]

My question is; how can they control prices so strictly in the internet age??

The Fender web site and every major on line and B&M store I found lists the same "sale" price for stock/new items.

 

[Metalbasspro]

My question is; how can they control prices so strictly in the internet age??

The Fender web site and every major on line and B&M store I found lists the same "sale" price for stock/new items.

Guitar Center, Musicians Friend, ZZ sounds, Sweet water all owned by the same company that Mitt Romney helped to consolidate. A FEW OTHERS included in that too.

 

[Stevorebob]

Guitar Center, Musicians Friend, ZZ sounds, Sweet water all owned by the same company that Mitt Romney helped to consolidate. A FEW OTHERS included in that too.

While Guitar Center does own several retail brands, it does not own all of them. You have some facts wrong there. Seems not to be a concern.