Fender has gone wild!

[Baird6869]

there have been a few threads about this previously.

+1... LOTS of threads.

Who cares? Buy used.

As an example..... there is a 1 month old J5 in the classifieds for $800 or so..... buy that (or one of dozens of similar basses on CL, eBay, etc) instead of complaining about the price hikes.

If prices go up and people still buy these instruments... who cares what we think?

P.S. MIM Fenders can still be found used for $275-300.

 

[TJBass]

I remember when I first got into it a MIM P was $349 and $384 for a MIM Jazz, which is about what I picked mine up for. I know the economy is wrecked and all, but $660 for a MIM Jazz? $620 for a MIM P? Hello Rondomusic.com....

Yeah, now all the MIM lovers are saying "You know.... that SX looks pretty good......."

 

[madbassplaya]

The price hikes are completely absurd. What is more insulting than the increases themselves is that Fender is calling the now $660 MIM Jazz "All New!"

And $999 for a Geddy with painted binding. C'mon.

Best I can tell, they redesigned the pickups on the MIM. All new-- give me a break!

Commodities prices have crashed, economy in the tank, etc. but it makes no difference.

With all the consolidation in distribution (i.e. music stores)Fender and GC are colluding to create absolute pricing power. Fender's brand is strong, every player new and old feels it is a rite of passage to have a Fender, and frankly, a lot of their biz comes from young players who mow lawns or whatever to save up for the bass, so I do question how much the economy effects guitar sales. Can't help but the impact might not be as dramatic as you would think.

If this bothers you, best thing you can do if you must have a Fender is buy used.

And if you are way pissed at Fender, buy from Rondo Music and support a famaily owned business!

I used to think a Fender Jazz bass was the be all/end all of the bass world. I bought an MIA Jazz V and gigged with it for a year, it was a good bass. Since I have owned several Fenders, but I'm just not a big fan of them anymore. I think they are great designs and I like the way a Jazz bass sounds, but I primarily play a 5 string now. I do not like Fender 5s. If I ever needed a 4 string, I'd buy a used Jazz, but I will most likely never buy a new Fender.

I just recieved a SR5 however, and I must say. Leo definately got it right with this bass. Build quality is excellent and the sound is unbelievable!

 

[nightcityburn]

The price hikes are completely absurd. What is more insulting than the increases themselves is that Fender is calling the now $660 MIM Jazz "All New!"

And $999 for a Geddy with painted binding. C'mon.

Best I can tell, they redesigned the pickups on the MIM. All new-- give me a break!

Commodities prices have crashed, economy in the tank, etc. but it makes no difference.

With all the consolidation in distribution (i.e. music stores)Fender and GC are colluding to create absolute pricing power. Fender's brand is strong, every player new and old feels it is a rite of passage to have a Fender, and frankly, a lot of their biz comes from young players who mow lawns or whatever to save up for the bass, so I do question how much the economy effects guitar sales. Can't help but the impact might not be as dramatic as you would think.

If this bothers you, best thing you can do if you must have a Fender is buy used.

And if you are way pissed at Fender, buy from Rondo Music and support a famaily owned business!

The truth of the matter, you will see this happening with all companies. Maybe not so dramatic, but it is going to happen. If the cost of materials increases, and labor rises steadily with the cost of the living, we will see this across the board.

How is Rondo family owned? Just curious, I thought they were foreign made and just branded and sold here in the states, and that was just their brand they place on them.

 

[metron]

Price hikes are usually to quell demand. rickenbacker is currently doing this.

I disagree. Ric may have done so to control demand because they can't seem to figure out how to meet their demand and/or they don't want to but Fender is huge. They can meet their demand so that argument doesn't really make sense. What a smart company does is keep demand high and make a business model that can meet the demand without sacrificing quality. Fender just raised their bar on quality so... I don't know.

This is very simple. They raised prices because it what happens to the price of goods in a capitalistic economy. A Fender cost what $200 in the 60s? Now they are more and the reason why is because thats how it goes. Brace yourself - it will happen again in the future. And if you think other brands are safe think again. Everything will go up in price in the future.

 

[60bass]

To make it worse, GC and the other big box retailers will raise the prices on their existing stock which they purchased before the increase and make extra bucks.

There's no way a Geddy is worth $999.00 or a MIM at over $600.00. It's a joke and as much as I like Fender basses, I hope they have the worst year ever in sales.

Now is the time when Fender should be holding their 08 prices. They could have looked good if they ran an ad saying they understand that we're going through tough economic times and therefore are going to hold prices in an effort to help us players out.

Nope, instead we get MIM relic basses selling for more than the MIA American Standard did last year! Go figure.

This will suck even more as it's going to drive prices up in the used market too.

I can get a new US made G&L right now for less money than a MIA Fender. I'm looking for another bass right now, so maybe I'll look into that.

All the manufacturers will be watching Fender close, so expect others to increase prices too.

Keep Low

 

[BurningSkies]

When they 08's came out everyone was excited about the 'new' models. They had better build quality, finish, and some of the components were a big upgrade from past Fenders...

...Reports from most people said that QC and setup was also a lot better...that you no longer had to pick up a dozen instruments to find one that was a good piece...

Sounds to me that even then, Fender knew what was going to happen with pricing. Maybe they finally got tired of all the gripes about the above issues. Maybe they realized that EBMM, G&L, Lakland and a bunch of other 'production' basses were outclassing the Fender flagships with their American Made instruments and it was time to step up their game. Maybe they also saw that all of these other companies were charging MORE than they were...and selling plenty.

 

[nightcityburn]

I disagree. Ric may have done so to control demand because they can't seem to figure out how to meet their demand and/or they don't want to but Fender is huge. They can meet their demand so that argument doesn't really make sense. What a smart company does is keep demand high and make a business model that can meet the demand without sacrificing quality. Fender just raised their bar on quality so... I don't know.

This is very simple. They raised prices because it what happens to the price of goods in a capitalistic economy. A Fender cost what $200 in the 60s? Now they are more and the reason why is because thats how it goes. Brace yourself - it will happen again in the future. And if you think other brands are safe think again. Everything will go up in price in the future.

$200 in the 60's is about the same as $1400 these days.

What cost $200 in 1960 would cost $1385.79 in 2007.

That is from an inflation calculator, so your argument there is moot.

And yes, Trent was right about supply and demand. Mercedes would do the same thing for their cars. Not everyone should be able to afford to drive a Mercedes, and not everyone is supposed to be able to afford a MIA or MIM Fender.

You are paying for the quality and brand name.

 

[H2ODog]

The truth of the matter, you will see this happening with all companies. Maybe not so dramatic, but it is going to happen. If the cost of materials increases, and labor rises steadily with the cost of the living, we will see this across the board.

How is Rondo family owned? Just curious, I thought they were foreign made and just branded and sold here in the states, and that was just their brand they place on them.

Sure the cost rises per year but not %30. I expect to pay a little more as a new year passes but not this type of increase. When all said and done at the end consumers will decide if it's worth it to buy a new Fender bass or not. This hike has made me reach my limit so i will not be buying a new one any longer. For others it may take more and for some it has already reached its breaking point, i know it has for me.

 

[Bassamatic]

The manufacturers are not being smart in this economy. They are not only raising prices, but they are also pressuring dealers to make commitments for larger quantities to maintain their dealerships. My friend is going to drop a couple of major guitar lines in his store because of this.

It is like the bankers - they have gotten used to a certain level of income and can't accept a downturn, so they are gouging the dealers AND buyers.

On the other hand, Lakland is wisely allowing them to buy whatever then need, no minimums. Guess whose sales are going to survive?

 

[DaveLS]

Wow, I saw that price in a Music123 catalog I got at my house a couple weeks ago and I thought it was a misprint. I was saving up but it looks like I'm not getting one either.
Oh well, there are better jazz basses out there for a lot less.

 

[funkymonk77]

all my fender guitars and basses just went up on the used market!!

 

[H2ODog]

all my fender guitars and basses just went up on the used market!!

LOL, exactly my thought.

 

[BurningSkies]

all my fender guitars and basses just went up on the used market!!

This had crossed my mind...

 

[joshmickelson]

I just bought a MIJ 62RI Pbass for $400. Used is such a better value.

 

[Baird6869]

The manufacturers are not being smart in this economy.

I disagree.

If things like labour costs and material costs go up and currency values decline, manufacturers SHOULD raise their prices regardless of the economic climate IMO.

Example: the company I work for is a multi billion $$$ global organization that is also in bankruptcy protection. We are still raising prices despite this. Not really a supply/demand issue as it is a currency/raw material cost one.

Remember, these companies are not charities and have substantial operating costs.

 

[MarcusPocus]

You can find some clearance stuff at GC. I recently bought an 08 Jazz Standard for $599 w/ the new SKB case. That is about half off of the GC price. They have also clearanced the 5 string 08 Jazz standard. I picked up one of those for $899. Here is the cool thing about that. The clearance item in the store was the Olympic white/tort gaurd. I wanted a black/maple 5'ver. They got me one from GC online for the clearance price. It is shipped to my door and never entered the Local GC's doors.

The GC may be a lot of things, but at least my local one will guarantee the lowest price, including online, and they do clearance a lot of stuff.

Companies are raising prices to maintain status quo as demand falls. In other words, the last resort is to layoff employees. I think it is probably even more important to hand out obscene bonuses to executives. In order to maintain this with falling demand, prices get hiked. However, as I have struggled to scratch together some $$ for these amazing clearance prices, I have done my part for the economy. So, this may be a crazy idea, but, cut the bonuses, thin out management, and cut prices of the products. Fender, along with other American companies should be more proactive in these difficult times, instead of feeding the fat cats and waiting for the federal govt to bail them out.

 

[metron]

$200 in the 60's is about the same as $1400 these days.

What cost $200 in 1960 would cost $1385.79 in 2007.

That is from an inflation calculator, so your argument there is moot.

And yes, Trent was right about supply and demand. Mercedes would do the same thing for their cars. Not everyone should be able to afford to drive a Mercedes, and not everyone is supposed to be able to afford a MIA or MIM Fender.

You are paying for the quality and brand name.

Isn't a new MIA Fender available for about $1400 with the price increase? How does that make the argument moot? It's actually spot in within a few dollars. IMO the thought that not everyone is supposed to be able to afford a MIA or MIM Fender and thats why they raised their prices is pretty ridiculous. Fender is the Ford of the bass world, not a Mercedes. Or a Ric.

 

[H2ODog]

I just bought a MIJ 62RI Pbass for $400. Used is such a better value.

Very true, but i suspect this will change soon also once everyone sees what a new Fender is going for.

 

[TimWilson]

When almost any bass you could possibly want is available in good condition on the used market (if you're willing to be a little patient) for less than half the retail price, why does ANYONE buy a new bass? Except for a few CRAZY clearance sales, I haven't bought a brand-new bass since my first one.