If Fender Went Belly Up...

[hsech]

There will always be a buyer for Fender if they go under:

 

[BassDoc51]

I do not play Fender basses, so that would not bother me terribly. However, I am a Telecaster junkie. If this were to happen, I'd have to go with G&L, Carvin, or give Bill Crook a call for a new Tele.

 

[FerK]

Never owned a Fender...never liked their designs either. Nothing would change for me. But I'd much rather see a Hilti bass than a DeWalt. At least I'd know it'll last me a lifetime (sorry...Hilti employee, hehe).

 

[punkjazzben]

Any thoughts on who would buy the Fender brand, and would assets like factories be sold with the brand or separately? I suppose it would depend on how much the company needed to scrounge back.

All hypothetical, of course.

 

[JimmyM]

Any thoughts on who would buy the Fender brand, and would assets like factories be sold with the brand or separately? I suppose it would depend on how much the company needed to scrounge back.

All hypothetical, of course.

Haliburton.

 

[sven kalmar]

agree hilti or a feinbass. dont like dewalt

 

[Energy]

Since Fender already has connections to Volkswagen, may be they would buy the brand and Fender would be a German company. I kinda like that...

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[stepswork4me]

Alright then..... Ibanez buys the bankruptcy and dumps it all to boost sales on their new Roadworn Roadstars and Roadworn ATK's.

 

[Meddle]

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

I think Gibson would go to the wall first. That smug "Government" series of instruments? Are they becoming the Ted Nugent of instrument manufacturing?

 

[uOpt]

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.

I have an idea. Maybe a media company could buy them

 

[eccles77]

A has been said already, somebody would buy the name and continue to build Fenders. But would they retain their current level of US building? Not trying to be contreversal here but I can see a time in the near future when a US built Fender will price themselves out of the market, certiainly in the UK where a standard P bass retails for £1100.
Mabye the US factory will end up producing the high end models (as they do just now) and the Mexican and Chinese plants will build the cheaper (equivelent to the US Standards of today) models?

 

[uOpt]

Behringer could buy them

 

[mystic38]

fender is simply a company producing guitars designed by Leo Fender... there are other that do exactly the same thing.

 

[micgtr71]

I love my fender but if they go under it would not affect me. My Jazz is the las fender bass I bought and that was over 15 years ago. My next bass is probably going to be something else....

I guess the only thing that would change is that I would keep a closer eye on mine...

 

[jfantuzzo]

Same here! The MusicMan basses are beautiful! I like the StringRays alot myself and I must say that would have been my second choice for a bass if they made lefties!

My 1998 lefty StingRay 5 ... They're out there. You just need to be patient and know where to look.

I've found it more difficult to track down a lefty Fender American Deluxe V than a lefty StingRay 5.

 

[bassmonkeee]

Alright then..... Ibanez buys the bankruptcy and dumps it all to boost sales on their new Roadworn Roadstars and Roadworn ATK's.

Heh. I'm sorry you aren't getting the answers you wanted. What exactly are you looking for?

This has already happened--more than once. Yes, large companies die. But, intellectual property gets sold.

Ibanez wouldn't use Fender to boost sales of Roadstars and ATK's. What's the advantage of releasing it under the Fender name? None. How would it boost their sales? "Because it's a Fender" isn't an answer. The Fender brand in your scenario couldn't even boost the sales of the iconic P and J basses to stay afloat. So, why would Ibanez rebrand iconic Ibanez instruments as Fender?

Now that Hostess has been sold off, a Twinkie isn't going to become a chocolate cupcake with mint icing. Because that'd be stupid.

 

[georgestrings]

It wouldn't affect me personally - I already have enough high quality Fender basses to last several lifetimes, and *if* I did need a Fender-type bass, I could always buy a Lakland or Sadowsky...


- georgestrings

 

[DwaynieAD]

thinly veiled fender bashing is thinly veiled.

 

[nukes_da_bass]

Fender? Which fender? Leo sold "the company" in 64, CBS sold it in the 80s, it has re-structured at least once since then...
There is no way on Gods Green Earth the brand name could ever die, it's too damn valuable.
Google "Jazz Bass" and marvel at how FMIC has cornered the phrase for most of 9 pages of ORGANIC hits! That is quite a remarkable accomplishment regarding organic search results!

 

[drTSTingray]

I already have enough high quality Fender basses to last several lifetimes

I suspect you've hit on a dilemma that Fender really have - there are far too many P and J basses, strats and teles in circulation (they've been around for 50 - 60 yrs) - is there a big market for new ones, which most aspiring youngsters can't afford anyway.

Those of you who think it's impossible for a household name to disappear, our town centres in UK have lost at least 5 to 10 major names in the last couple of years - eg Woolworths - and many haven't been 'bought out' - they simply died.

Another thought - it's nearly 50 yrs since Mr Fender himself was associated with Fender instruments..........how Fender are they in reality?