Really. Running a retail chain isn't the same as running a global manufacturing and distribution empire.
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Fender Hires Guitar Center CEO
- Thread starter bassyRyan
- Start date
Really. Running a retail chain isn't the same as running a global manufacturing and distribution empire.
+1
If the guy at the top doesn't understand why the neck pocket tolerance needs to be (just say for example) 0.01", and 0.05" is not good enough, then there's going to be pressure from the top to have looser tolerances, if it will save money in the manufacturing process.
Pressure from the top to cut costs is good when it's applied to the right things. But it can only be applied to the "right" things if the person at the top understands what's going on at the bottom.
Fender is a successful multinational corporation with an outstanding reputation that goes back over 60 years. Any new incoming CEO will do nothing to jeopardize that reputation, especially one who has been in the music business as long as Larry Thomas has. Fender will do just fine and if anything might do even better now.
Surely Fender's bottom line is churning out 60 year old designs, they just need to keep the CNC's oiled up and not worry about designing anything new?
I was wondering the same thing.
He knows at least as much about building them as he has to, and I'll wager much more about the process than the vast majority of posters on this forum.
Based on his background, probably more than Alan Mulally knows about building a Ford.
I'll bet he knows to within a mill (1/1000th of a dollar) how much it costs to manufacture one, including labor, shipping, marketing, ect.
On the other hand, I can't believe Fender would make such a bold move without consulting the marketing "mavens" of talkbass; the "GC haters" that don't have a freekin' clue about how business really works...
Look at the man's accomplishments. Do you REALLY question his ability to "tell the difference between a good musical instrument and a crap musical instrument"?
He's being paid serious money because he's proven his ability to perform in running a successful MI company. That in itself is certainly no guarantee that he will be successful as CEO of Fender, but it sure seems like a good fit on paper.
The man has busted his hump making himself successful at in the highest echelon of the MI, and now he's the Kahuna of one of the biggest and most respected MI manufacturers on the planet.
Shouldn't we withhold criticism; congratulate him and wish him well?
At least until he pulls a bonehead move or two?
Surely Fender's bottom line is churning out 60 year old designs, they just need to keep the CNC's oiled up and not worry about designing anything new?
The trouble is that it's we musicians as consumers at large, that don't buy any innovative new stuff from Fender on a large enough scale to make it a viable long term product when it comes to instrument design. Most of us, myself included, tend to be more conservative than we'd like to think when it comes to buying instruments and other gear from a company that has a long and famous history. We tend to drift to the things they make that have a proven track record as far as basic design goes.
Like a Baskin Robbins of instrument making, they've had to come up with a multitude of different flavors based on their more successful models. Anything really new and out of the ordinary for them, gets met with resistance for the most part. But when you think about manufacturing in general, no can reinvent the wheel so to speak when it comes to successful designs. Everything after the big development, is pretty much refinement. As far as the new CEO goes, I'm gonna be cautious and skeptical as to where he plans to take Fender, and I'll leave it that.
This:
Seriously, Fender is first and foremost a BUSINESS just like any other and they hired a former CEO of a large and successful company who has nearly 40 years of experience.
The problem with most of you is the man's connection with Guitar Center. It's hilarious!
Don't you think that 40 years of experience, exposure and connections IN the musical instrument biz (whether selling or making or distributing) accounts for anything?
"Chief Executive Officer" can really be a diverse and broad title, it doesn't generally mean "lording" over any one aspect of a business or micro-managing.
You have accounting, logistics/shipping/receiving, marketing, human resources, research/development/design, purchasing, inventory managment, sales/distribution, etc.
How big do you think the staff is overall at Fender? This isn't a 20 employee business renting small space in a tiny office building!
Seriously, Fender is first and foremost a BUSINESS just like any other and they hired a former CEO of a large and successful company who has nearly 40 years of experience.
The problem with most of you is the man's connection with Guitar Center. It's hilarious!
Don't you think that 40 years of experience, exposure and connections IN the musical instrument biz (whether selling or making or distributing) accounts for anything?
"Chief Executive Officer" can really be a diverse and broad title, it doesn't generally mean "lording" over any one aspect of a business or micro-managing.
You have accounting, logistics/shipping/receiving, marketing, human resources, research/development/design, purchasing, inventory managment, sales/distribution, etc.
How big do you think the staff is overall at Fender? This isn't a 20 employee business renting small space in a tiny office building!
Should be interesting to see if anything changes. I don't think we'll be seeing a drastic difference in anything for a while...
New Fenders are really good quality right now (but perhaps somewhat overpriced), so as long as they don't start cutting corners, things should go smoothly.
I don't know why I chimed in on this anyways, I don't even buy new Fenders
New Fenders are really good quality right now (but perhaps somewhat overpriced), so as long as they don't start cutting corners, things should go smoothly.
I don't know why I chimed in on this anyways, I don't even buy new Fenders
I think this man's experience will be more of us to Fender than his connection with Guitar Center. I think it's ridiculous to say this is a bad thing just because the guy is from Guitar Center. I've said it before, but I haven't had as many problems with Guitar Center as a lot of you have. So maybe it isn't ALL Guitar Centers that have these problems.
Nonetheless, why would the CEO be to blame for poor customer service? Or anything that you guys usually complain about?
I don't see this as a bad thing at all.
EDIT: Here's someone's experience with the higher-ups at GC
The article talks about GC's poor service in the store, but the article also mentions how it was easy to work with those at GC Corporate, which would seem closer to the CEO if you ask me.
Nonetheless, why would the CEO be to blame for poor customer service? Or anything that you guys usually complain about?
I don't see this as a bad thing at all.
EDIT: Here's someone's experience with the higher-ups at GC
http://www.gearpipe.com/dear-guitar-center-i-want-to-give-you-money-why-wont-you-take-it/
The article talks about GC's poor service in the store, but the article also mentions how it was easy to work with those at GC Corporate, which would seem closer to the CEO if you ask me.
I was wondering the same thing.
He knows at least as much about building them as he has to, and I'll wager much more about the process than the vast majority of posters on this forum.
Based on his background, probably more than Alan Mulally knows about building a Ford.
I'll bet he knows to within a mill (1/1000th of a dollar) how much it costs to manufacture one, including labor, shipping, marketing, ect.
On the other hand, I can't believe Fender would make such a bold move without consulting the marketing "mavens" of talkbass; the "GC haters" that don't have a freekin' clue about how business really works...
Look at the man's accomplishments. Do you REALLY question his ability to "tell the difference between a good musical instrument and a crap musical instrument"?
He's being paid serious money because he's proven his ability to perform in running a successful MI company. That in itself is certainly no guarantee that he will be successful as CEO of Fender, but it sure seems like a good fit on paper.
The man has busted his hump making himself successful at in the highest echelon of the MI, and now he's the Kahuna of one of the biggest and most respected MI manufacturers on the planet.
Shouldn't we withhold criticism; congratulate him and wish him well?
At least until he pulls a bonehead move or two?
Amen Brother, I couldn't have said it better. He is not some yo-yo they pulled off the street. I must admit, I really wish that Gibson would have hired him......
Does this mean that the American Standard series are going to now come with missing knobs and bent tuning keys?
Just kidding. I've actually never been to a Guitar Centre. We don't have em in Canada.
Either way, I'm sure this guy is no slouch, considering his impressive track record with GC. It could be good for Fender!
Just kidding. I've actually never been to a Guitar Centre. We don't have em in Canada.
Either way, I'm sure this guy is no slouch, considering his impressive track record with GC. It could be good for Fender!
My bias isn't so much against GC, it's against somebody with a sales background being put in charge of a product company.
Let's be honest: How many people out there have and kind of experience leading a large company in the musical instrument business?
And the Fender family of brands includes much more than Fender/Squire guitars/basses. From the Fender website:
"Today, FMIC brands include Fender®, Squier®, Guild®, Gretsch®, Jackson®, Charvel®, EVH®, SWR® and Groove Tubes®, among others. FMIC also manufactures a complete line of professional audio equipment under the Fender brand, including the innovative Passport® portable sound system. Fender also offers a complete line of accessories, including strings, authorized replacement parts, cases, straps, clothing and much more.
In January of 2008, FMIC also acquired Kaman Music Corporation (KMC), the largest independent U.S. distributor of musical instruments and accessories. KMC produces and/or distributes Ovation®, Takamine® and Hamer® guitars; Latin Percussion®, Gretsch® Drums, Gibraltar® Hardware, Toca® Percussion, Sabian® cymbals and Genz Benz® amplifiers; in addition to a full catalog of more than 36,000 wholesale music products."
So if you really needed to know neck pocket tolerances off the top of your head, wouldn't you also need to know, say, the spring tension on a snare drum snare off the top of your head?
If he knows what sells, and what customers want (and just as important, what they don't want), maybe he's not a terrible problem. But, having said that, sales guys tend to focus on "biggest selling/most commonly desired/best margin" products at the expense of innovation and niche products.
And the Fender family of brands includes much more than Fender/Squire guitars/basses. From the Fender website:
"Today, FMIC brands include Fender®, Squier®, Guild®, Gretsch®, Jackson®, Charvel®, EVH®, SWR® and Groove Tubes®, among others. FMIC also manufactures a complete line of professional audio equipment under the Fender brand, including the innovative Passport® portable sound system. Fender also offers a complete line of accessories, including strings, authorized replacement parts, cases, straps, clothing and much more.
In January of 2008, FMIC also acquired Kaman Music Corporation (KMC), the largest independent U.S. distributor of musical instruments and accessories. KMC produces and/or distributes Ovation®, Takamine® and Hamer® guitars; Latin Percussion®, Gretsch® Drums, Gibraltar® Hardware, Toca® Percussion, Sabian® cymbals and Genz Benz® amplifiers; in addition to a full catalog of more than 36,000 wholesale music products."
So if you really needed to know neck pocket tolerances off the top of your head, wouldn't you also need to know, say, the spring tension on a snare drum snare off the top of your head?
If he knows what sells, and what customers want (and just as important, what they don't want), maybe he's not a terrible problem. But, having said that, sales guys tend to focus on "biggest selling/most commonly desired/best margin" products at the expense of innovation and niche products.
But it doesn't hurt that he has a sales background, it will help. You still have to sell that product (hah, I sounded like the "pusher man" just now!)
You have to know about merchandising (as in retail), and you have to understand the market.
I mean, they wouldn't have hired him if they didn't feel confident in his abilities.
When was the last time Fender did anything innovative, at least with instrument design? A couple decades ago?
Hey all…I wrote the post on GearPipe.com that was originally linked to (thanks bassyRyan!), and the post rarisgod linked to about poor customer service at GC.
I think this is a very good move for Fender. I worked in marketing for Fender under Bill Schultz and Bill Mendello. Mr. Mendello was a numbers guy and not a musician, but I think he did an excellent job running the company. With Larry Thomas they get a guy who has equal talents as a CEO, but is also probably much more in tune with today’s musicians.
Say what you will about Guitar Center (and I have said it!), but they give 90% of musicians what they need. It’s just the other 10%, like us, who tend to want more (unique finishes, boutique brands, above average customer service).
More than instrument quality, I worry more about what will happen to the relationship with independent music stores. They are a dying breed and you would be naive to think the Fender/Guitar Center relationship will not be stronger than ever with this move.
I think this is a very good move for Fender. I worked in marketing for Fender under Bill Schultz and Bill Mendello. Mr. Mendello was a numbers guy and not a musician, but I think he did an excellent job running the company. With Larry Thomas they get a guy who has equal talents as a CEO, but is also probably much more in tune with today’s musicians.
Say what you will about Guitar Center (and I have said it!), but they give 90% of musicians what they need. It’s just the other 10%, like us, who tend to want more (unique finishes, boutique brands, above average customer service).
More than instrument quality, I worry more about what will happen to the relationship with independent music stores. They are a dying breed and you would be naive to think the Fender/Guitar Center relationship will not be stronger than ever with this move.
