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If i had $8499...

#361
ggvicviper said:
As a mass production car company, Daimler is not even a close comparison. At 16,000 employees, it's anything but a personal affair when it comes to their cars - far less personal than Fender (which appears to be somewhere in the ballpark of 1,000 employees).

How many people does Fodera Guitars employ?
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no, it's a perfect analogy. Don't stop him - he's on a roll:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zc0BI7T1LA
 
#363
smcd said:
Do Mercedes owners claim that the workers care, really care about the cars? More than Suzuki employees? Do the Mercedes employees put "love" into their cars? Do they hug their cars goodbye and hope the owners send the corporation photos of the cars years down the road??
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ya know, i read training materials for automotive companies as a day job.

i don't know how each employee feels (and neither do you, by the way), but just reading about some of the workmanship and testing that goes into the people who become the workmen on some of these things is ridiculous.

so, my guess is that some of them do have pride in their deal (for whatever that is worth).

as to your give a hug to the car, bass, whatever, give it a rest it's a silly point and an exaggeration in any event.

you don't feel that way? no prob.
 
#364
Like most fodera threads, this is not going anywhere IMHO...

play what ever you wanna play... "worth" doesn't mean anything... What ever music you'll play play it good, just play what ever suits YOU... some are happy with a MIM jazz.. some are happy with fodera/ken lawrence or what ever.... it's just music, and it's just gear...

Peace
 
#366
Jared Lash said:
I love my basses but they aren't Foderas. They are made by talented luthiers in one man shops with much lower overhead in rural New Hampshire and Moffat, Scotland. They don't have Vinny and Joey's experience, their level of feedback from working pros or their impressive client list. And because of that they don't have their price tag either.
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well, here's an interesting thing to consider. when i met (1985) joey and vinny, they were a two-man shop, and their client list didn't read like a who's who of bassdom. joey handled front of house, too.

for them to grow and prosper they added some people. prices crept up because you can't do all the building and front of house stuff and get stuff done in any sort of timely fashion (and because materials and tech/expectations go up too).

the builders you mention may have that moment happen . . . and probably would like to—that would probably equal some kind of success to them. people would want (!) to buy their instruments and they need to spend the time doing something they love—*building*—not answering phones. they also may want to actually be able to have a life like everyone else, ya know have kids, live in their own place, etc. that takes money, unless mom and dad have you on a trust fund or you live in the basement. so they charge a reasonable price for their time and expertise (just like anyone else in this world).

so those one-man shops may be the foderas of the future—ya know, people taking potshots at them for being too this or that.

how many good young builders worked out of their parents' garages and couldn't make a go of it? they kept their prices reasonable for *everyone else* to be happy, but the economics didn't work. then they stop building.
 
#368
smcd said:
You think. Hahaha! No they don't. I will tell you for an absolute fact that were it not for car clubs, those old cars would be scrap.
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Try getting an original GM part for one of their cars from the 40s. Daimler-Benz still manufactures OEM parts for VERY old cars, even pre-war vehicles. (They cost an eye, but still they're available.) You don't think there's a difference? They may not operate out of a modest plant, but they really honor and support their own legacy quite well as a car company.

I suppose the difference between a bass and a motor vehicle is a bass doesn't have parts that must be regularly replaced.
 
#369
smcd said:
Do Mercedes owners claim that the workers care, really care about the cars? More than Suzuki employees? Do the Mercedes employees put "love" into their cars? Do they hug their cars goodbye and hope the owners send the corporation photos of the cars years down the road??
Click to expand...

Cars are made on assembly lines. So no. Foderas are made by hand by a handful of people who work them for hours at a time.
 
#375
Just Thumpin' said:
I honestly believe that in many instances, this is the kind of thing that is a disincentive to buy our instruments rather than something people flock to.

In my own case, I wanted a Fodera for many years before I actually bought one. NOT because of economics, but instead because I did not feel that my playing was "worthy" of the brand's reputation. I do not believe that I am (or was) alone in feeling this way...

Jason
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LOL. My playing will never be worthy of a Fodera, let alone two. In fact, my playing isn't worthy of most of my basses. But since I'm just a bass collector the whole playing thing is moot.
 
#378
LightGroove said:
This is purely supply and demand...they have a commodity and are treating it as such...I will say they have a great marketing and sales strategy.. its working for them. I tend to avoid companies with this strategy...just a personal thing.
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Wow. You hit the nail on the head. The fact that Fodera sells every bass they make and, further, there's a wait of well over a year to get one proves that they are "worth" the price. In fact, it indicates to me that their prices should be higher. That's the law of supply and demand.

Regarding their "strategy," if you buy anything you're buying it from a company with the same strategy. The strategy is to sell the commodity for the maximum price you can get and still sell all the product you have.

Bottom line, you have the power of the consumer. You can buy a Fodera or not. It's really that simple.
 
#379
Just Thumpin' said:
I honestly believe that in many instances, this is the kind of thing that is a disincentive to buy our instruments rather than something people flock to.

In my own case, I wanted a Fodera for many years before I actually bought one. NOT because of economics, but instead because I did not feel that my playing was "worthy" of the brand's reputation. I do not believe that I am (or was) alone in feeling this way...

Jason
Click to expand...

Yeah, me too. But, funny thing, my Fodera helped my playing improve dramatically. And it's still helping.
 
#380
NickyBass said:
Other than that, I tend to just walk away from threads like this.
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Most of us should, especially since some users are entirely too dense to learn something new or change. (If that offends anyone, perhaps it's true.)

The folks who have built guitars and basses for me did an extremely good job and I'm not going to just let someone with a chip on their shoulder piss on luthiers who work really hard. Nor am I going to allow the double standard of it being kosher to bash boutique players because they're obviously overcompensating. If boutique people bashed SX and Squier, it would be considered a crime against humanity.
 

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