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Fender price increase

#182
BassDaddy77 said:
I respect your opinion, and am glad you've found the value in your EBMM basses. What baffles me is this strange view that some folks hold which suggests that somehow EBMM made in the USA products are "worlds better" than Fender's USA products. I mean, if a Stingray is what someone seeks then obviously EBMM is probably your best bet. But for whatever reason, if a Precision or Jazz is what one seeks, then "why on earth would you waste your money on a USA Fender?" That's the thinking I'm calling into question here. It's perfectly fine to snub your nose at Fender when considering a P or J type bass, but sacrilegious to snub your nose at EBMM when considering a Ray type bass. It's so weird. I simply don't understand it. EBMM is to a Stingray or Sterling what Fender is to a Precision or Jazz. But apparently not. 
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I agree. And I also agree USA Fender us in a temporary downturn in quality because of the clown running the show.

for me. Anything over ~$1500 for a fender bass or a Gibson SG bass is questionable.

Gibson is offering nitro, quartersawn Mahagony, set neck, 2 pickups, and a PLEK job for $1500. Fender offers less but has a little tax in the legacy. I’m not complaining because looking around the market it’s better than anyone else.

The Gibson also has a decent chunk of hand work.

Ernie Ball invested in robot technology and their instruments are largely made by machine. While I don’t think that is a bad thing necessarily (fender CS is guilty of this as is PRS) I have to note that the machine is probably paid for and it costs more to have a human being trained doing the job himself.
I also notice the Ernie ball brand has removed made in USA from the Instrument whcih leads me to believe that the electronics and circuits are made overseas outside of pickups and some other stuff.

so where does the extra $1k come from. The 4 seconds to bolt down the neck vs the 8 hours of skilled labour of a set neck?

the answer is economics of scale. Fende buys 10x the amount of wood as Ernie ball and therefore pays much less for it. That cost in overhead allows them to sell the same guitar for much less.

ernie ball makes good stuff, I like the design, but you’re paying extra for the same thing quality wise just because it’s a small company.

good ? Bad? Up to you and your wallet.

I also seriously Wonder why you can’t print it in China and get the same electronics and just wax the neck. It’s plastic finsih either way.
 
#183
DWBass said:
Nope. Fender would be out of their minds to take it there.
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5% increase each year for 5 years takes it to $2550
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#184
sleepingEB0 said:
I also notice the Ernie ball brand has removed made in USA from the Instrument whcih leads me to believe that the electronics and circuits are made overseas outside of pickups and some other stuff.
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No, it was because the Schaller machine heads are made in Germany, and new U.S. trade laws meant that anything labelled "made in U.S.A." has to have all it's components manufactured in the U.S.A. (Sterling Ball wrote a blog about it, and I seen to remember him grumbling about how inconsistently it was enforced, with many electronic components made overseas, yet used in "U.S.A." branded vehicles etc).

That's why it switched to made in California.
 
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#185
Wood and Wire said:
No, it was because the Schaller machine heads are made in Germany, and new U.S. trade laws meant that anything labelled "made in U.S.A." has to have all it's components manufactured in the U.S.A. (Sterling Ball wrote a blog about it, and I seen to remember him grumbling about how inconsistently it was enforced, with many electronic components made overseas, yet used in "U.S.A." branded vehicles etc).

That's why it switched to made in California.
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I didn't think that could possibly be true as it is more strict than basically anywhere else in the world. So apparently it used to require more than 50% made in the USA (1998 act) but now says

"According to the Federal Trade Commission, “Made in USA” means that “all or virtually all” the product has been made in America. That is, all significant parts, processing and labor that go into the product must be of U.S. origin."

So there is some wiggle room, but since tuners would surely count as a significant part, then German-made Schallers would tip the balance.
 
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#189
Wood and Wire said:
No, it was because the Schaller machine heads are made in Germany, and new U.S. trade laws meant that anything labelled "made in U.S.A." has to have all it's components manufactured in the U.S.A. (Sterling Ball wrote a blog about it, and I seen to remember him grumbling about how inconsistently it was enforced, with many electronic components made overseas, yet used in "U.S.A." branded vehicles etc).

That's why it switched to made in California.
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good to know, but I do question the PCB board in the majesty for example. I know the music man pickups are done in house.

not saying that they aren’t done in the USA. We know Gibson does, but that would be a very easy place to cut a corner without anyone realizing.

and I of course am suspicious because PRS S2s all use cast chinesium bubble metal instead of proper materials for $2k. It’s sort of accepted in the market out of ignorance of what casting vs machining. Funny because in automotive world you still see people complaining on the Porsche forums about cast door handles and on the corvette clubs about bad cast wheels on the new C8.
But for guitars? You pay $2k with the expectation to spend $40 replacing them .
 
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#194
Shawn Luckman said:
I thought the machineheads on the USA models were, Fender branded Hipshot tuners?
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They were always Schaller, until the 2018 "Special" revamp, then they switched to a custom lightweight aluminium tuner - but we have no indication of who actually manufactures them, or where (presumably still foreign made, otherwise EBMM would have been keen to get the "made in America" stamp back in place) .
 
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#195
Wood and Wire said:
They were always Schaller, until the 2018 "Special" revamp, then they switched to a custom lightweight aluminium tuner - but we have no indication of who actually manufactures them, or where (presumably still foreign made, otherwise EBMM would have been keen to get the "made in America" stamp back in place) .
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Didn't know that I'm sure I read that the Am.Std machineheads, were re-branded Hipshot tuners but I might have dreamt that :laugh:.
 
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#196
-Asdfgh- said:
I didn't think that could possibly be true as it is more strict than basically anywhere else in the world. So apparently it used to require more than 50% made in the USA (1998 act) but now says

"According to the Federal Trade Commission, “Made in USA” means that “all or virtually all” the product has been made in America. That is, all significant parts, processing and labor that go into the product must be of U.S. origin."

So there is some wiggle room, but since tuners would surely count as a significant part, then German-made Schallers would tip the balance.
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P. S. My quote was from the FTC's own website.

'tip the balance' : no pun intended.
 

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