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Where Will Fender Go Next?

#121
Ha! Whoa big fellah! I never said they "thwarted the whole economy" or changed the country as we know it. I only implied that the "demand" for traditional Fender basses is not driven by the simple desires of young bassists. It is "fake" demand to me, because if they REALLY had their own way, many would NOT opt for a traditional Fender. They have TOLD me as much. I'm not just making this up or pulling it out of my butt.

I think you added 2+2 and came up with 75. I never said that grumpy Fender fans uprooted and destroyed capitalism.
 
#123
As for musical instrument manufacturers' "marketing"....

Although I have subscribed to many music publications in past years (Guitar Player the first one... Vintage Guitar the last one) and now with the 'net, I don't think musical instrument manufacturer's traditional marketing efforts have much sway on me at all. Sure, I've seen print ads, banner ads, MFG demo videos, but my filters go up and I don't pay any attention to most of them. Nor what CG or Musicians Friend or Sweetwater or anyone else flooding my mailbox says. Paid ads, paid no attention.

HOWEVER... user reviews, message boards such as this, and any public forum for evaluating equipment IS somrthing I do pay attention to. I know these are not perfect, they can be spammed, and many times the "five-star review" is from a twelve year old, but still, recurring patterns of the good and the bad of a product emerge from the masses.

New Product awareness (press releases) is one thing, But I don't think I've been successfully "marketed to" for years.

I'd love to try a Carl Thompson. But I've NEVER seen a Carl Thompson ad of any sort, notwithstanding Les Claypool, LOL!
 
#125
Well said Jimmy ...The Jag,Mustang,Tele,Coronato,Starcarter,Reverse Jag,Precision,Jazz,Stingray im sure im missing a couple model,s how many basses can one company design Fender does a little more than just design Basses sheesh...It Costs ALOT of money to produce something from scratch they are not gonna make some Radical Bass with some freaked out paint job so a couple of guy,s can say there different... they produce what sells and offer it ever price range possible.PS....Two Fingers there are many Musicman Basses in Nashville hmmm also designed by Fender your one Musician and Fender has you playing 3 model of their Basses....I would say they are doing an unbelievable job....Showing up in Nashville without a J or P Bass is like showing up in Nashville without a Telecaster...I think DMN was awesome to speak on behalf of the younger players thanks man well said... i think it would be cool to offer customers possibly some Custom colors and or Paint jobs Place your New Bass on order at your local store your store hooks you up with an online Fender designer you give him your ideas a couple back and forth yes and no,s done you approve it give your deposit you now own a beautiful bass painted the exact way You want...i bet there alot of people that would like some options to personalize an ordered instrument.
 
#128
I too would like to see more color options and more bound/block necks in the standard p's and j's. As for innovation, Leo got it so right long ago it's hard to improve. I've owned a lot of different basses but keep coming back to j's because they balance so well, have all the tonal versatility I need and they just feel right in my hands.

What I really would like to see is an affordable instore custom option. You pick body color, neck, pickguard and pickups and they assemble it for you. This has been a pipedream of mine for a long time. I realize it's impossible with the lack of trained sales staffs at the Megamart and the labor costs would probably make them too pricey but one can dream. It would be great for the better shops with good techs. More options with less inventory would be possible and the added cost for assembly would all go to the store.
 
#129
Oh yeah the other thing I'd like to see relates to finish quality. Why do they need such thick coatings of clear urethane or whatever it is on so many of the necks? And why can't someone invent a nontoxic paint that wears like nitro? Then they wouldn't even need the roadworns. And what's up with the crappy quality of rosewood I see on even the US models? I've seen much cheaper basses from other manufacturers with much better looking fretboards. And the setups?..........don't get me started.....
 
#132
Fender, like Harley Davidson has been the original. Copies have flooded the market. So while they have stayed with their original ideas, other manufacturers have developed new ideas and concepts. So where do they go from here ? I think that "new" and "innovative" ideas not based on their original concepts will make Fender the copycat. I don`t think it`s the way to go. Fender has to build on their concepts and design and evolve from there. Like the P/J, it was not Fender`s idea. But when they started doing it the success was absent. So I predict that any 6-string neck-thorugh-body exotic wood Fender will fall flat on it`s face. Somebody has already done that and they are way ahead of Fender. What Fender has done extremely well lately is improved quality. I have a 60th Anniversary P-bass. All built on tradition and perhaps optimized, and a great instrument at that. It still looks an sounds like a Fender.
I also think that the "mess" of all the models we see today makes it hard to find the common thread in Fender`s portfolio. The message becomes unclear, and at least for me, it is hard to see the point.
So product development based on tradition is where I hope Fender will go. After all most of us want a P-bass or a J-bass (or preferably both) with 4 or 5 strings and with the fretless option. Fender should continue to be Fender..
 
#133
Personally I was baffled at the amount of different Squier VM models that Fender released recently.

This MAY be a way to probe the market. I expect some of the models to be discontinued pretty soon, while other models may be fetched into the Fender brand with some upgrades. I also think that the market is still somewhat in recession, which means Fender push new models in the lower priced product ranges.

Personally I like that Fender uses the Squier brand to experiment with features and models. It makes the Squier brand more exciting, while Fender models can continue to be a more stable quality brand with well tested models.

One thing I think they should do, not for the sake of change, but because it gives a different balance and is preferred by some, is to make a headstock for 2+2 (on bass) and 3+3. That could be exciting. That market is virtually untapped by Fender.
 
#134
I'd like to make a few points, if I may. And I guess I may.

I'm continuously shocked at how many people care what other people think. But I get it. Performers have a psychological need to be liked. I guess we just don't realize we really don't need to be liked by sound guys and other musicians. After all, 90% of the paying customers don't know or care whether you're playing a Fender bass or a MTD.

With that said, I do not see Fender like a distillery at all. They're an instrument manufacturer of quality guitar and bass instruments. They likely see themselves as one of the great instrument makers of the modern era, like Steinway, or Marigaux, or Selmer, or ... you get the point. Electric bass and guitar are now fairly well-established instruments. If you decide to learn bass or guitar, you know that you can't go wrong with a Fender. Just like piano players know that they probably can't go wrong with a Yamaha. Are there better options? Yes. More consistent? Probably not.

As such, they stay fairly conservative with radical design changes and instead focus on small changes which improve the actual (or perceived) quality of their existing line. Graphite reinforcement rods. Better, lighter poly finishes. Better preamps. Etc. Keep up with the competition without trying to change the established image.

Their best options for growth, honestly, are to expand into foreign markets. They need to convince Asian kids, for example, that: 1) electric guitars are cool, and 2) that they need a real Fender guitar and not the Phender made in their uncle's anonymous factory next to the Gallaway golf clubs and Pionear stereos.

Frankly, I think the U.S. market is fairly saturated as far as Fender is concerned. Most serious players I know own at least one Fender instrument. To some extent they need to invest in maintaining interest in guitar/bass. They risk losing market due to waning overall interest in the instrument itself.
 
#135
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyM Link Removed
Sterling Ball, in a response to those looking for wider string spacing out of Stingray 5's, said that if he could get 50 people to put deposits on them, he would make some Stingray 5's with wider string spacing. About 5 people took him up on it.

Exactly...


- georgestrings
Click to expand...

Its funny, people seem to think that just because THEY want something, its going to be wildly popular across the market. This thread alone has lots of people commenting that they hope "fender will go next" to their favorite finish or pickup option. I hope that Chevrolet will bring back fins and white wall tires and trunks that hold 4198456 suitcases. But that's not going to happen either.

If Fender can't provide you with the exact options you want, there's a HOST of other people out there who probably will. Or if not, another brigade of people who will custom build, or custom shoot or custom wind whatever you want.
 
#136
BurningSkies said:
Its funny, people seem to think that just because THEY want something, its going to be wildly popular across the market. This thread alone has lots of people commenting that they hope "fender will go next" to their favorite finish or pickup option. I hope that Chevrolet will bring back fins and white wall tires and trunks that hold 4198456 suitcases. But that's not going to happen either.

If Fender can't provide you with the exact options you want, there's a HOST of other people out there who probably will. Or if not, another brigade of people who will custom build, or custom shoot or custom wind whatever you want.
Click to expand...

That is a good point! Fender, in my opinion, doesn't owe us everything we want by virtue of us wanting it. Fender is a huge multi-National Corporation that needs to meet its bottom line. They do some things that are very pleasing for some us and they do some things that really bother others of us. They bring instruments to the market that they think they can sell! I appreciate their efforts. There are definitely other out their who will make your instrument any way you want it made, but you've got to pay for it.
 
#137
If I owned Fender, I'd likely take a make more of an aggressive push into the high-end market. They have their custom shop, which is a fantastic thing, but I think that many players automatically look to other manufacturers when they want to drop $3k+ on a bass. I'd do everything that I can to put Fender in someone's face as they consider their purchase. After all, is there anyone in the game who has more RnD resources at their disposal than Fender? That said, the cash is made in the volume -- keep their finger on the pulse of the public, watch trends and technology and they'll do fine.
 
#138
What gets me is the unending Talkbass Mythology that Fender are the stodgy old guys at the top of the heap, who stubbornly refuse to build anything but P's and J's. And that there's a whole world of bassists dying to give Fender their money if they would just offer something else, for crisakes!

Or that Fender should 'make this', or they 'should try that', when in most cases they've already done it at some point, or are still doing it today.

I challenge anyone to list all the various Fender bass models that they've offered over the decades. If you can, there's a prize for you...
 
#140
Not to get too far OT, but...where are you guys playing that these Fender Nazi sound men and "old guys" have sway over what kind of instrument you use?

Now, I'll admit that contemporary country music is almost completely driven by image, gimmicks, conservatism, and faux nostalgia, so I could see the puppet masters in that field wanting their creations to maintain a certain look and perceived sound. But anywhere else? C'mon...

I played drums with an original band in Nashville for a number of years (think jangly Big Star-esque power pop). During our career, we went through four bass players. These guys used: a Fernandes P-Bass copy, a Kubicki Factor, an Ibanez, and a Rick 4001. All played appropriately and all had great tones that fit our music. Not once did I ever hear a sound man or a representative of our management team say, "You should really get a Fender."

There are country, pop, rock, and Americana guys all over Nashville (in both high- and low-profile gigs) playing Jazz Basses, Stingrays, Ricks, 5-strings, and hollow-bodies.

None of this is to say that you should ever show up with an instrument who's sound is not appropriate for the music you're going to be playing. I probably wouldn't show up for most mainstream gigs with my new flip-flop painted "12 string backward strung headless tapping machine" (total win, BTW!), because it wouldn't be a good fit, musically. Would I take a Rick to almost any gig? Oh, hell, yeah.

OK, rant over. What I'd really like to see Fender come out with is a surf green P/J, with P-neck, 1.625" nut, active/passive switching, and the ability to swap between two tone caps with a push-pull knob. Now that would be thinking outside the box! :p
 

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