If Fender Went Belly Up...

[stepswork4me]

Could you imagine? Many people only know one name when it comes to electric guitars and basses; Fender. I think about this because of the news that Fender isn't doing as well as it once did, financially. It's not unimaginable in todays economy. I mean we had to give a few automakers some serious money so they wouldn't tank. Could you imagine the folklore that would develop? ... where the prices would go? What would you play if you could no longer get a Fender or a Squier?

 

[bassinplace]

A washtub with a broom handle and a string? I've got a Squier that I thoroughly enjoy and it ain't goin' anywhere.

 

[Systolic]

G&L. I don't always play Fender, but when I do, I want it to play kinda like a Fender.

 

[Flyingfrets]

Guess I'm safe as I don't like, nor do I own any Fender basses. I do have a Strat, but that probably only comes out of it's case once every 2 or 3 years. Just never got the whole Fender fixation, but to each, their own, eh?

 

[Barca_bass]

It wouldn't affect me personally, but there are a lot of players who love their Fenders so it would impact many, many musicians. However, perhaps it would open up some people's views toward trying other brands.

 

[chuck3]

It would not go down like that. Their name and intellectual property, know-how etc. is valuable put in the right capital structure. Someone would buy all that out of bankruptcy and there would be a "new" Fender; it wouldn't just go away.

 

[smcd]

Fender will never disappear as a brand. If the current company goes under, the name will be sold, and someone else will produce guitars under the Fender name.

 

[Baird6869]

Won't happen.

Even if Fender filed for chapter 11, the assets would be liquidated ad the new owners would be making the same basses with the same logos in the same factories with most of the same employees.

Plus, there are hundreds of thousands of Fenders out there. Not exactly rare.

 

[stepswork4me]

It would not go down like that. Their name and intellectual property, know-how etc. is valuable put in the right capital structure. Someone would buy all that out of bankruptcy and there would be a "new" Fender; it wouldn't just go away.

Large companies die = non-fiction.

 

[bassplayer8953]

If Fender were to go belly-up, like Hostess/Twinkies, someone would buy the brand, and the right to produce Strats, Tele's, P & J basses, and the rest. They might be merely a division of another manufacturer (Yamaha or Ibanez, for example) but I'd bet the brand would continue to exist. Too much money can still be made, for the brand to just "go under".

 

[msaone]

It would be as bad as the day lionel trains moved to china and became nothing more than a label.

 

[emf818]

I would move over to my second love, Gibson. Hopefully one of them will always stay afloat.

 

[alexlocurto]

Plus, there are hundreds of thousands of Fenders out there. Not exactly rare.

This. Let's be honest, it still wouldn't be hard to go out and buy a MIM P-Bass, even if Fender did somehow stop producing.

 

[Phalex]

If Fender went belly up, I imagine the world would continue to spin on its axis and stringed instruments would still continue to be mass produced in factories.

 

[NOT]

If Fender went belly up, I'd keep playing my Gibsons.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I would move over to my second love, Gibson. Hopefully one of them will always stay afloat.

My ex-girlfriend's dad was one of the top accounting dudes for Gibson (either a chief controller or possibly even a CFO of sorts - I can't remember his exact position) for a brief period of time. Anyways, he told me that their management is running themselves into the ground. He left the company after being with them for only several months because of how bad it was.

 

[Worldeeeter]

Really?! Is this what Fender people think about?
If Fenders ceased to exist, there are about 160 other companies that make Fender knockoffs; I think people would manage.

 

[coreyfyfe]

It would not go down like that. Their name and intellectual property, know-how etc. is valuable put in the right capital structure. Someone would buy all that out of bankruptcy and there would be a "new" Fender; it wouldn't just go away.

As has already happened. A few times.

 

[chuck3]

I own so many basses right now as it is - they could all go out of business and I'm set for life.

"GAS" would be quite the same, though.

 

[Jamarvic]

As has already happened. A few times.

Exactly , like in the 80's.