I guy in my local music store in Osaka told me there will be no more stocks of Fender Japan guitars and once they are gone that will be it. I also heard they were closing the factories. That's all the info I could get from him. Anyone else heard about this?
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Fender Japan is gone :(
- Thread starter GazzBass
- Start date
that would be a sad day. More and more going to China probably.. pisses me off.
in regards to this rumor, i really like post #8 on this thread: Invalid Link Removed
it's been said (i've heard, for like 10 years) this was happening and never did.
it's been said (i've heard, for like 10 years) this was happening and never did.
Sad if true Fender Japan made quality instruments, for those of us who were getting our first Fender.
I'm in Tokyo right now for a week-long business trip. I work for a Japanese company, and one of my employees is Japanese, and also a bass player. I noticed that the former website had a notice posted on it. I asked him to translated for me, and it described that Kanda Shokai was no longer distributing Fender guitars after April 1st. It went on to list models and parts that were already out of production.
I went to the Ochonomizu guitar shopping district on Saturday. It's a place with about 10 guitar shops in a 3 block span. I had just been here in January, and all looked fine then. This time there was noticeably less Fender Japan stock. Everyone that I could find working at a shop who spoke English said Fender Japan is done. They all said that they had all of the Fender Japan stock they were ever getting, and it will probably all sell through in 2 or 3 months.
I got into some detail with one guy who spoke English very well. I asked why this was happening. He said that fender USA was selling directly now.
Now, recently there have been a few interesting things happening here. The Japanese Yen is super low compared to the dollar. It's lost about 16% of its value in the last year and a half. This caused the Fender Mexico offerings here to be almost on top of the Fender Japan offerings. They were redundant.
The distributor model they had in place probably added 15% to the price of anything imported to Japan, and Fender probably didn't make that much royalty on the guitars manufactured in Japan. Getting rid of the Japanese Fenders , and replacing them with Mexican Fenders would get them better scale on their Mexican production, and make those guitars cheaper to make, and cheaper to get to Japan. They could pocket that difference, pass it on to the consumers, or split the difference, making everyone happy.
Most businesses use a distributor model only until the business reaches the critical mass to justify going direct.
I understand this all, but still mourn the passing of Fender Japan...
I went to the Ochonomizu guitar shopping district on Saturday. It's a place with about 10 guitar shops in a 3 block span. I had just been here in January, and all looked fine then. This time there was noticeably less Fender Japan stock. Everyone that I could find working at a shop who spoke English said Fender Japan is done. They all said that they had all of the Fender Japan stock they were ever getting, and it will probably all sell through in 2 or 3 months.
I got into some detail with one guy who spoke English very well. I asked why this was happening. He said that fender USA was selling directly now.
Now, recently there have been a few interesting things happening here. The Japanese Yen is super low compared to the dollar. It's lost about 16% of its value in the last year and a half. This caused the Fender Mexico offerings here to be almost on top of the Fender Japan offerings. They were redundant.
The distributor model they had in place probably added 15% to the price of anything imported to Japan, and Fender probably didn't make that much royalty on the guitars manufactured in Japan. Getting rid of the Japanese Fenders , and replacing them with Mexican Fenders would get them better scale on their Mexican production, and make those guitars cheaper to make, and cheaper to get to Japan. They could pocket that difference, pass it on to the consumers, or split the difference, making everyone happy.
Most businesses use a distributor model only until the business reaches the critical mass to justify going direct.
I understand this all, but still mourn the passing of Fender Japan...
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Thanks for the info. Its a sad time indeed. Fender Japan made a lot of great instruments. Lots of interesting models and finishes that Fender USA don't provide.
Just received the news from a trusted vendor, fmic just bought over fender Japan. They are closing the Japanese production line. I was just wondering about it after not being able to find fender Japan website
This is true... I just received a news from a dealer in my area. Well, he mentioned fmic just bought over fender japan. I assume they bought over the rights for fender Japan to use its trademark.
Maybe if they had made it easier for Americans to buy them over the last few decades, they wouldn't have this problem.
It they had made it easier for people to buy them, sales of their US made instruments would have gone through the floor.
I don't know about that. Americans like buying American products. I think both lines would've done well. Maybe the higher end Mexican Fenders would've gone through the floor, but I think American Fenders woulda done just fine.
Whether it's true or not, Fender seems to be one heck of a messed up company, making a lot of bad decisions.
Anyway there is another thread on the same topic which I didn't see. It is real the Fender Japan website is no longer available.
Yah but they no longer selling the Japanese product. That is a new website. Previously fender Japan is of a seperate entity with fender us.
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Some Americans prefer "buying American", others prefer the best value for the price approach - they do not often lead to the same result.
