Is Fender Aggressive?

Quite possibly. You raise some good points.

 

They just want to make money and sell basses.

 

Fender is a big enough company that they have the budget to do substantial marketing and advertising. Their online presence is significant - not just in advertising, but also in their Fender Play app, a robust website, and tracking data.

They also have a well regarded artist relations program. And this goes back to when Leo Fender was getting started in the 40's and 50's - he would go to jazz clubs in Southern California and engage players to try his amps first, and then the instruments, too. When Fender got bigger I believe Don Randall was doing a lot of this kind of outreach. The program now reaches out to players at varying levels of success, and they've been able to sustain it as the MI business and instrument aesthetics have changed over time.

So I don't know if I would necessarily call them aggressive so much as they are engaged with the people who have a significant profile and are playing their instruments.

 

They are quite... passive(?)... as compared to how Subway pursues eaters and Ford pursues drivers.

 

I was walking by their place and they came out growling and bit my leg. I was justifiably horrified, but it won't stop me from playing their stuff exclusively.

 

A good CIA trick is to make three right hand turns... If Fender is still behind you then they are definitely stalking you. You're welcome.

 

i voted the "roasted carrots" option because i don't know. that said: the 'fender contingent' on TB sure shows signs of one-world, kool-aid drinking, blind, zombie-like allegiance to the brand. i kid.*



* not!

 

They are agressively priced, thats for sure.

 

I think that as the big dog on the block, they take active measures to keep it that way. They bought out a significant amount of the competition already, but still have plenty of other companies trying to get their customers. Brands like Sire, Cort, Schecter. EBMM has been nipping at their heels for decades. They occupy a certain amount of market space and don't want to lose any ground. They use deals with artists to do that, in part. It works, too.

 

I guess they try to expand their customers type. I went to a store and tried a Jazz Bass Ultra V this week. They really stepped up their game. It actually feels like a boutique bass. Finally a Fender bass thats worth the 3k price (CAD). The low B was really good, awesome. And that is a thing I never thought would be possible. It felt in the same ballpark as Lakland, Sadowsky, Fbass or such. Fender has always got me for vintage stuff (classic 50s P, Original 60s Jazz) but I always went elswhere (Yamaha, Ibanez, Fbass) for 5 string and higher quality stuff.
With the Ultra, they got me in this market.

 

Fender was the first major player in the market. They would be crazy not to maintain their market. Same reason Cadillac is "aggressive" toward luxury cars, not sub-compacts.

 

I know some folks who work at Fender in Scottsdale, including one former bandmate who has a really good job in something related to their marketing.

They are a "company," not an "instrument manufacturer." They do what companies do to survive and grow. Targeting as many segments as is feasible and fits into the corporate plan.

 

Not in my case.
A neck through six string with a satin finished natural walnut body with no pickguard has been released.

 

They did have the Heartfield line for a while, don't know about walnut, but they did pursue that kind of market and stiffed.

 

Didn't that happen in the mid 90's?
I never saw any advertisement for it.
And I was big into Bass Player Mag back then.

 

Fender has had nearly 70 years to ingrain a tonal range into our ears. They just wanna make bread off the turf they’ve owned.

 

It did happen then, but I can't tell you about their marketing.