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Help me understand Fodera pricing a little better.
- Thread starter alienstarguest
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You forgot the most important reason: Thereare people that will actually pay that!
fodera does not have a "backlog of years" at this point. i believe they are at about eight months for a custom instrument.
as someone pointed out, they only started being profitable in the last 10 years or so (i think it's actually about seven).
not everyone one who owns one is a hedgefund manager.
if everyone who owned an instrument needed to "deserve" it, most of the musical instrument business would die. blaming the manufacturer for the lack of ability on the owner's part is ludicrous.
as someone pointed out, they only started being profitable in the last 10 years or so (i think it's actually about seven).
not everyone one who owns one is a hedgefund manager.
if everyone who owned an instrument needed to "deserve" it, most of the musical instrument business would die. blaming the manufacturer for the lack of ability on the owner's part is ludicrous.
This is a good point. Custom anything these days is going to be expensive. And at least Fodera's shop is truly custom. Gibson's "Custom shop" is still mostly their factory assembly line. In some cases (like lefty models) the only thing that makes it a "Custom shop" guitar is the sticker on the back of the headstock, but the buyer still gets hit with the custom shop price tag.
Other brands custom work is similarly expensive. Take Paul Reed Smith for example. I've bot a beautiful PRS guitar, a lefty custom 22 with their 408 pickups and wiring. It is one of a kind (I've asked, they don't remember making any other lefties with the 408 pickups/switching). I got it used and paid a very reasonable price, but if I had to have PRS remake it, I'd pay every bit of $10,000 since it would have to be built through their private stock program.
Point being, Fodera isn't the only brand charging these kind of prices. For some reason, that fact gets lost whenever this conversation comes up here.
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buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Folks - this is no different than the random "bash Ric", or bash anything else thread.
The man owns a business.
The man has chosen to run a business the way he wants to.
Either you support it or not.
Ask not "why"?
The man owns a business.
The man has chosen to run a business the way he wants to.
Either you support it or not.
Ask not "why"?
Now is there any other builder like Fodera in NYC? Makes extraordinary builds to extortionate prices?
You have to expect, a certain "New York sense" to pricing when looking at those basses. I can very well think that most people living and working there think that this is not so so, it's expensive but so is a Bugatti Veyron or Koenigsegg car. But you know the comparison is a little far fetched when it comes to sports cars and luxory cars. They are sold SOLELY to drivers who don't have driving as a profession, but solely as a show off, vanity project. The Formula 1 drivers doesn't buy these. The Schumachers, or Kenny Bräcks... i e the cars isn't the ones who'll make them money.
I would love to see a program like Top Gear where they can slash expensive sports car, and compare the prices. But with basses or guitars instead. The digs they make on them from time to time are ... priceless.
You have to understand than most of the stock brokers in NYC may ONLY buy the basses for investment, thinking that they'll increase in worth in a few years, and later on when retiring. Some sort of a new "50 ish vintage" prices like on Gibson or Fenders. But the prices adjusted accordingly. Since Fondera threw out their MINI-MG with a diss on - basically - all other headless basses around, I wonder if they really know how to make basses, at least headless. They do price anchoring to make you think that after a couple of years, it isn't that expensive...when all things compared around....
If I would buy a posh boutique bass, I would rather turn to Canada, Dingwalls and the like. Fodera is stock broker basses. Just like you line up in the queue for joining that prestigeous golf club which takes 10 years (and a hefty fee) you'll line up for a Fodera about in the same way, manner and meaning. I'll bet they included some golf membership at their most highest priced models.
You have to expect, a certain "New York sense" to pricing when looking at those basses. I can very well think that most people living and working there think that this is not so so, it's expensive but so is a Bugatti Veyron or Koenigsegg car. But you know the comparison is a little far fetched when it comes to sports cars and luxory cars. They are sold SOLELY to drivers who don't have driving as a profession, but solely as a show off, vanity project. The Formula 1 drivers doesn't buy these. The Schumachers, or Kenny Bräcks... i e the cars isn't the ones who'll make them money.
I would love to see a program like Top Gear where they can slash expensive sports car, and compare the prices. But with basses or guitars instead. The digs they make on them from time to time are ... priceless.
You have to understand than most of the stock brokers in NYC may ONLY buy the basses for investment, thinking that they'll increase in worth in a few years, and later on when retiring. Some sort of a new "50 ish vintage" prices like on Gibson or Fenders. But the prices adjusted accordingly. Since Fondera threw out their MINI-MG with a diss on - basically - all other headless basses around, I wonder if they really know how to make basses, at least headless. They do price anchoring to make you think that after a couple of years, it isn't that expensive...when all things compared around....
If I would buy a posh boutique bass, I would rather turn to Canada, Dingwalls and the like. Fodera is stock broker basses. Just like you line up in the queue for joining that prestigeous golf club which takes 10 years (and a hefty fee) you'll line up for a Fodera about in the same way, manner and meaning. I'll bet they included some golf membership at their most highest priced models.
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Literally 1 minute of google search and cut/paste. And most of that time was the cut/paste...
It's not that difficult- they charge the absolute maximum people are willing to pay. If they can't sell them out of business they will go.
If you think they are too expensive, Don't. Buy. One. There easy, move along.
With operations in NY, I'm surprised they don't cost more than they do. Those guys can't be making very much money.
They make a custom made product (therefore, producing fewer units) in an extremely expensive area. They've got to be barely scraping by. They should probably charge more.
They make a custom made product (therefore, producing fewer units) in an extremely expensive area. They've got to be barely scraping by. They should probably charge more.
Maybe. They're in Brooklyn off 278, on a block of factory buildings. The first time I went to their shop I owned a fancier car than I do now. I was a little nervous about parking it there. It's not like they're on 5th Ave in Manhattan.
Edit: Yes, I used to live in Northern NJ. I'll admit maybe their rent would be cheaper if they were in the middle of say Kansas.
If no one ever asked why then no one would ever learn anything.
You just advocated stupidity.
Didn't know that. I just figured it was way more expensive than my neck of the woods. I've spent much of my life in flyover states.
Brooklyn today is a whole different world than Brooklyn when Fodera opened their doors. I can only imagine how much their rent has gone up over the last 10 years or so.
It's the NorthEast. Even though it isn't Manhattan, I'm sure it's more expensive than some other parts of the country. Obviously California is pricey too, Alembic has some interesting prices for their very sweet looking basses. I could never get past the weight myself.
I'm sure there's a Kombucha bar/hot yoga studio/artisanal pencil case maker with it's eye on Fodera's shop space as we speak....
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
No, but in this case, it's pointless, and it's just a #$%!#-@$$ guess. It is his choice. We don't KNOW why, other than that is how he want to run his business.
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