Fender price increase

[thrashingbass]

They do offer options, just not the ones some of you may want.

Again I must ask, which brands offer the most affordable "American" basses? I am not saying there aren't great non-American instruments at a lesser price-definitely tons of great basses out there, and no one needs to spend $2,000 to be a "proper" bass player. But many bassists do indeed spend lots more than that (lucky them!) Had I surplus amounts of money, I would buy an American Fender and would definitely not feel ripped off, despite the classic design that could easily be replicated by super budget lines.

(Not trying to start an argument, so my apologies if it appeared that way.)

 

[Shawn Luckman]

I guess we will all find out on Jan 1st if prices will go up.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

One of the major bass guitar retailers in Australia is promoting a price increase by Fender of 10 to 15% as of 1 January 2023. Has anyone else from another country heard of similar price increases?

View attachment 4895725

Retail prices, on average, are going up about 10% per year over most of the Western World, so a circa 10% increase is expected. You'd need to look at a longer term trend, though. Very long term, relative to the 1960s, they are cheaper, which means I'm even more impressed that my late uncle managed to get a white Fender P in about 1964 (long gone, sadly) on his meagre wages. He used to hang around with the Bluesbreakers but never quite made it into Fleetwood Mac.

 

[Sparuto]

In the US Fenders are still reasonable (at least in my humble opinion). My reality here in SA:

Fender American Vin II = approx. $3200
Fender American Pro II = approx. $2600
Fender Mexican Player = approx. $1400
We also have no finance deals, or at least none that makes financial sense (i.e., some offer ridiculous deals where you end up paying nearly triple the list price over the life of the loan). So you either cough up the full amount, or no Fender for you!!

 

[Iridescentone]

Is it safe??

Dang, beat me to it!

 

[andare]

If only there was a decent used market. Whatever few instruments are available are priced absurdly high. Many as if they were vintage just because they are 10 years old.
I just sold my Player P for the same price I paid 2 years ago and feel like a chump because I could've made a profit and the buyer would have still saved money. But it wasn't selling and I needed the money and the space.
Seriously what happened to used instruments being significantly cheaper than new ones?

Anyway I just missed my chance to buy a Squier Jazzmaster at a discount and I'm considering pulling the trigger anyway because I know it's gonna go up soon. And like everything in the Fender camp nowadays, the prices are absurd for what you get.
Still, there's nothing else on the market I like. All those horrible headstocks

 

[MovingPitchers]

Suddenly my 2018 Player P for 899.99 CAD and my new used 2020 Player for $700 doesn’t sound so bad anymore.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I'm not a huge Fender fan, but I don't think you can hate on them that much. Everything is up. Have you priced a flight lately? Booked a hotel? Been to a restaurant? But when you get to those prices, the used market looks pretty good. I'd be looking for a used Lakland or something like that over a new Fender.

I just swapped a bass which I didn’t use a lot lately for an almost brand new Fender American Ultra P-bass in mocha burst; 1 to 1 swap .. full satisfaction .. zero additional costs involved

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Imagine if Fender disappeared tomorrow.

What would you do?

Buy something out of the existing stockpile of Fender instruments, or

Just buy a bass that does the job but doesnt have the snob appeal.

Snob appeal? Where? On a Fender P-bass? This is silly, come on .. then what about those super hyped and largely overpriced (IMO) FSOs made in the USA by that guy with the Italian 2-words surname?

 

[Levent]

Imagine if Fender disappeared tomorrow.

What would you do?

Buy something out of the existing stockpile of Fender instruments, or

Just buy a bass that does the job but doesnt have the snob appeal.

Good era to sell your Fenders
Get something without chrome plated parts, plastic accessories, flat sawn woods and with higher fret / heel accesses, angled and protected headstock... and on and on... for better prices!

 

[BassVibes]

I recently purchased a new Fender Jazz AVII '66 and don't feel I overpaid. Fender offered a 10% discount so overall I think I did ok. Quality of build was almost what should expected for this amount of cash. But looking at prices today for equivalent factory built (heritage name) basses the price point has not changed at least in the UK relative to other brands:

£1,899.00 ($2190) AVII Precision
£2,599.00 Rickenbacker 4003S
£2,749.00 Stingray
£1,983.00 Gibson TB
£2195.00 Hofner 500/2 (factory I think?)

But all of this is because I am paying money for the heritage and I guess fortunate to do so. At least 3 of those brands above have QC issues and are well documented and sometimes justify the stick they get by the. commentators on the various forums and SM. Yes, you can get much better bang for your buck and better QC when you look at the newer manufacturers like Sandberg and Dingwall and I know plenty of younger players who will go for those brands.

But comparing like-for-like(ish) I don't think Fender are taking the what's-it with their pricing.

 

[blendermassacre]

If only there was a decent used market. Whatever few instruments are available are priced absurdly high. Many as if they were vintage just because they are 10 years old.
I just sold my Player P for the same price I paid 2 years ago and feel like a chump because I could've made a profit and the buyer would have still saved money. But it wasn't selling and I needed the money and the space.
Seriously what happened to used instruments being significantly cheaper than new ones?

Anyway I just missed my chance to buy a Squier Jazzmaster at a discount and I'm considering pulling the trigger anyway because I know it's gonna go up soon. And like everything in the Fender camp nowadays, the prices are absurd for what you get.
Still, there's nothing else on the market I like. All those horrible headstocks

There is a decent used market, just not for fenders. G&L CLFs were retailing for ~ $1800 for an L1000 and they're used for $1200, for example

 

[JRA]

But wait....how do the Glarry and SX fans view the Squier players?....as gear snobs?

we look at everyone else's axes with envy!


Fender price increase
who knew? i mean, how could you see that comin'?

 

[31HZ]

Prices are rising across the board all over the world. Raw materials, transport, energy. Fender is hit as much by that as anybody.

Actually, the prices of many goods have dropped substantially. Shipping a container from China to the US is now back in the $1000 range, down from $20,000 at its peak last fall. Lumber (commodity) is less than half of what it was a year ago. Even gasoline (commodity) is half the price it was in June; steel and aluminum are down sharply.

Also, I keep hearing that "recession is right around the corner" but many leading economic indicators keep not pointing to that. We'll see, I suppose.

 

[andare]

There is a decent used market, just not for fenders. G&L CLFs were retailing for ~ $1800 for an L1000 and they're used for $1200, for example

I don't live in the US and things look different here

 

[alex1fly]

Yeah it's a weird thing how somehow Fender gear is perceived as snobbish at times, when in truth Fender has historically always been the "workingman's guitar"...

It was the workingman's guitar back when the main competitor was Gibson who had comparatively fragile builds. But so many other companies have been hitting build quality for cheap instruments out of the park since at least 2010, now when you buy a Fender you have to know that you are absolutely paying extra for the Fender name, the brand, the marketing machine, all of that. Fender doesn't make the best instruments at their given price points, but they probably are the most recognizable.

 

[blendermassacre]

I don't live in the US and things look different here

ah yeah quite, I'm sure.

 

[Relayer71]

Their US made basses were over priced and now they are ridiculous. There are so many better builders out there.

And those builders' prices have gone up the last couple of years as well.

Sadowsky and (more recently) Spector killed their US shop made "entry level" models (Satin and Forte, respectively) which were specially priced due to having limited spec options like matte-only finishes, among other things. Being custom shops, you can still order a build the same way, but as part of their regular builds, no longer at a "special price".

Cost of everything is going up, unfortunately.

 

[FRoss6788]

They do offer options, just not the ones some of you may want.

Again I must ask, which brands offer the most affordable "American" basses? I am not saying there aren't great non-American instruments at a lesser price-definitely tons of great basses out there, and no one needs to spend $2,000 to be a "proper" bass player. But many bassists do indeed spend lots more than that (lucky them!) Had I surplus amounts of money, I would buy an American Fender and would definitely not feel ripped off, despite the classic design that could easily be replicated by super budget lines.

(Not trying to start an argument, so my apologies if it appeared that way.)

Funny how no one has answered your question.

I don't believe that there's any other American made bass at the same price point as the "American Performer".

 

[Relayer71]

Just buy used, always.

People always respond with this and it makes no sense to me. Now, I have absolutely no problem buying used, there are LOTS of great deals to be had. But there would be no USED basses if there were no NEW basses.

Someone has to buy it new first, before it can be resold at a lower value.

If everyone stopped buying new basses and all those bass companies went out of business, the price of used basses would go ridiculously sky high and there'd be no bargains at all.