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Why Cant Fender USA do this?
- Thread starter Stranger Danger
- Start date
Fender isn't stupid. They know what will sell here and what won't. If they don't make it, it's because they've done a market study and found it would bomb.
This is why Fender Japan always gets more attention compared to MIA Fenders.
As people have said Fender in the U.S keeps making the same thing over & over pretty much.They add little things like stiffening rods & or a new kind of pickup ' wow big deal.
At the same time Fender Japan comes out with some of the best basses.People know i love Fender Lyte Basses , they werent made in the U.S even though they have Fender U.S.A on the neck plates.They clearly say MIJ on the Headstock.....these basses arent bad at all.
As people have said Fender in the U.S keeps making the same thing over & over pretty much.They add little things like stiffening rods & or a new kind of pickup ' wow big deal.
At the same time Fender Japan comes out with some of the best basses.People know i love Fender Lyte Basses , they werent made in the U.S even though they have Fender U.S.A on the neck plates.They clearly say MIJ on the Headstock.....these basses arent bad at all.
I don't know but having had several Japanese Fender guitars and basses, I really don't know how anything can be way better than them. The bodywork is astoundingly good, the necks perfect. Hardware is usually quite good. Electronics, well, they can be replaced.
The Japanese Fender factory has the vintage neck and offset body production down PERFECT.
Fender makes the same thing over and over for the US market because that's what the US buyers want. Fender has had lots of interesting variants come out over the past 20 years, but no one bought them. That includes the Lyte basses. Sure, they're decent basses, but they didn't sell. Look at the used market. A 90's American Standard Jazz sells for twice what a Lyte model does.
It's not Fender's fault if their customer base has a narrow scope.
I suppose you're right, smcd. It's just I wonder how a whole population of working musicians can be satisfied with such a narrow selection of Strats, Teles, P-Basses, and J-Basses, in such obvious finishes. It's not even easy to find a maple fretboard these days.
Makes me wonder how many of these instruments are just being bought for the trophy factor.
I don't expect Fender USA to start making similar oddball instruments. I just wish that the wonderful guitars and basses that Fender Japan could be imported more easily, that's all.
Makes me wonder how many of these instruments are just being bought for the trophy factor.
I don't expect Fender USA to start making similar oddball instruments. I just wish that the wonderful guitars and basses that Fender Japan could be imported more easily, that's all.
I wish they'd be more available, too. I like it when Fender strays beyond the traditional Precision/Jazz format. But it seems the market turns a cold shoulder when they do that.
I'm sure thats true. I currently own just 2 basses. I have Fender Mustang RI (MIJ) and an '08 MIA Precision. I like them both very much but for different reasons. I would say that the Mustang's build quality is excellent but I'm not going to sit here and tell you that its better or equal to my P-bass. The electronics and tuners alone tell that story. The point of the thread I guess is that I wish Fender could make more basses that follow the design principles of the Japanese Fenders but with American quality parts and fit and finish.
Are you saying the US buyers want the same old boring color options? There is a reason why Fender USA bans sale of Fender Japan guitars and basses in the US.
I don't know why FMIC bans MIJ guitars. But clearly the US market wants the same old boring colors. That's why FMIC offers what they offer.
Cool whatever the public wants......well it looks like the TB community love MIJ !
The American Zone bass was one beautiful bass thats gone too.
I didnt know Fender America made the Lyte Basses at all
As far as i knew it was all done in Japan for the Lytes.I havent seen one Lyte bass that has MIA printed on it anywhere ! Ive never seen one maybe they did make U.S Lytes.....but they are rare if they exist.
A MIA Fender Lyte Bass i wonder if anybodys got one to show us ?
For me, these are the Japanese basses I love that really should be offered here:
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Mustang, Competition Stripe
And of course, the REAL Jaguar Bass:
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That's just droolworthy.
Yeah but the electronics and tuners are so user-replaceable that I feel like with the price difference, you can easily afford exactly the pickups, wiring, tuners, and bridge that you want.
It's not like people always love the Fender American pickups either. In fact, I've rarely met a Fender pickup I actually thought was perfect, no matter what the origin.
It is the nature of the Japanese market. Not just in guitars but in other stuff like cars and mobile phones as well.
The Japanese consumer demands variety, and the companies somehow manage to give them that variety and still stay afloat. (Ok, that is contentious because the Japanese economy has been stagnant for over a decade on near 0% interest rates) This is a little anti-thesis to the economics of scale business model that started with Model T Fords (any color as long as it's black).
There's lots of real limited edition stuff in the Japanese market, snooze and your only recourse is the used market. This creates an "I must grab it now" mentality that keeps the consumer market fueled. My suspicion is that many companies (not just guitar makers) have broken that unspoken social pact by having unlimited limited editions. Trust takes a while to be rebuilt.
At any rate basses are a high unit cost product, so I do not see why more variety cannot be worked into the price structure.
The Japanese consumer demands variety, and the companies somehow manage to give them that variety and still stay afloat. (Ok, that is contentious because the Japanese economy has been stagnant for over a decade on near 0% interest rates) This is a little anti-thesis to the economics of scale business model that started with Model T Fords (any color as long as it's black).
There's lots of real limited edition stuff in the Japanese market, snooze and your only recourse is the used market. This creates an "I must grab it now" mentality that keeps the consumer market fueled. My suspicion is that many companies (not just guitar makers) have broken that unspoken social pact by having unlimited limited editions. Trust takes a while to be rebuilt.
At any rate basses are a high unit cost product, so I do not see why more variety cannot be worked into the price structure.
