Sunday, February 01, 2009

Fender's Recession Price Increase

So you own a business. Your stuff's not selling all that well. The economy's bad. Unemployment's up, the GDP is shrinking. What do you do?

Of course! Raise prices!

This is apparently Fender Musical Instruments Corporation's strategy. Their February price list (PDF link) went into effect today. Take a look through it, but make sure you're sitting down. Or, if you really want to be prepared, may as well just bend over now.

I'm a Jazzmaster fan so I'll pick it out as an example:

'62 AVRI Jazzmaster: $2,360
Elvis Costello Jazzmaster: $2,530
J. Mascis Jazzmaster: $1,590
Classic Player Jazzmaster: $1,400

Now, yes, these are list prices, but they're about 25% higher than the list prices were yesterday. Other guitars have even greater increases - just look at the full list. Already, I'm seeing some auctions on Ebay with Classic Players at over $1,100 and Elvis Costellos at over $2,000. That will probably be the going retail price. (Previously, Classic Players were $800 and Elvis models were $1,599, so that's a huge increase for those specific models).

Is there any way around this stupidity? Yes.

Current stock is still being sold at the old prices. So hit up Guitar Center quick. Help me out in the process by clicking the image below to get there.


GuitarCenter.com

Used prices also haven't reflected the change yet, but they'll probably increase over time to come closer to the new guitar prices. Hit Ebay while you can.


If you miss the boat on both of these options, just buy Japanese. Fender Japan has raised their prices slightly over the past year, but they were already cheaper than Fender USA and they didn't raise prices that much. So they're now going to be the clear better value again once all this dust settles. They're better guitars than the Mexican Classic Players anyway, which now cost about $300 more. The really good news is that Ishibashi is now selling new guitars to the United States again - Fender has lifted that prohibition. And buying used through U-box is still an option too, if you really want a guitar on the cheap.

There is still one more thing you can do, if you hurry: get a Thin Skin. These are special run Fender-made instruments with a thinner nitro finish. Some think this allows the wood to "breathe better", and they'll probably age quicker too. If that appeals to you, check out Dave's Guitar Shop or Wildwood Guitars. They do come in some nicer colors than the AVRI's, although the fretboard and frets aren't vintage style. The prices will likely remain the same as they are until stock runs out - a Jazzmaster is $1,599.

What is Fender thinking with this price increase? You got me. Yes, I know the famous story about Gibson in the 1980's and how they were almost out of business and they raised prices and suddenly people started buying their guitars again. Well, first of all, that was a confluence of events that favored Gibson - the country was coming out of a recession at that time and the economy was gaining steam. They were also helped by Fender's own QC problems - their main competitor wasn't doing so hot either. And they didn't have all these good-quality Asian imports to deal with back then. Gibson and Fender are both in danger of relegating themselves to niche guitar makers if they keep up pricing like this during a recession.

Not to mention the fact that Fender's supposed to be the working-man's guitar. The whole point of Fender as a company is to make guitars regular people can afford and play - that's why they exist! A 25% price increase during a recession goes against everything Leo Fender would have stood for.

If I'm going to pay that much for an American Jazzmaster, I'm just going to buy a vintage one.

25 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:46 PM

    Many years ago, the "guest" on a real estate infomercial claimed that you could often get an unsold house to sell faster by *raising* the price. (He might've been thinking along the lines of "If it costs more, it must be worth more." Or something.)

    Also: If you jack up the price of a product, you can always put it on sale for a lower price or even reduce the price, but repeated price increases look really bad (death by a thousand cuts).

    That said, Fender's price increase looks bad, really bad.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3:20 AM

    I noticed the price increases on the Dave's Guitar Shop, and thought that couldn't possibly be right. Apparently it is. I remember reading in the 'Fender Amps' book (by Teagle and Sprung), apparently Fender did a similar (sizeable) increase in 1970, which led them to rollback prices significantly in 1971 because of the backlash. I think that this is a similar boneheaded move, especially since the economy is apparently in a DEflationary mode right now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9:56 AM

    I bought my american deluxe HSS strat in may 2008 for 1100$, i put it on craigslist a few days ago and checked musiciansfriend price - it was 1249$. this morning the price is 1639$
    WOW!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3:01 AM

    I'm a HUGE Fender fan but greed is ruining this company. Leo Fender is spinning in his grave.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:11 PM

    Actually, even with the increases, Fender's prices (I am a bass player so I'm specifically referring to basses) are comparable to Music Man and other similar basses. The USA Jazz V is almost identical to the Stingray 5 in price (which is better is a matter of personal preference). Heck, there are even Korean-made basses (like Lakland Skylines) up in that price range. I actually own an '08 Fender Jazz V and it is a very well-made bass- superior to a 90's Jazz 5 I owned a few years ago. I think their quality has gone up and they haven't raised their prices for quite a while. G&L raised their prices well before Fender. This trend of price increases is happening everywhere. I guess they are doing what they need to do in this economy. I don't like the high prices either but you are paying for an American-made product which is basically the industry standard. It is interesting that we expect a certain level of pay and standard of living for our workers in this country but aren't willing to pay higher prices for American goods. Everyone buys Chinese stuff at Target to save money.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous5:32 PM

    I can't believe they did this. Fender's were already too expensive. The new Road Worn series made in Mexico now costs what my fist American Strat did in 1993. It's absolutely absurd, especially the higher end models. A Clapton signature went from selling at $1,350 to over $2,000! The quality isIf you miss the boat on both of these options, just buy Japanese. Fender Japan has raised their prices slightly over the past year, but they were already cheaper than Fender USA and they didn't raise prices that much. So they're now going to be the clear better value again once all this dust settles. They're better guitars than the Mexican Classic Players anyway, which now cost about $300 more. The really good news is that Ishibashi is now selling new guitars to the United States again - Fender has lifted that prohibition. And buying used through U-box is still an option too, if you really want a guitar on the cheap.

    There is still one more thing you can do, if you hurry: get a Thin Skin. These are special run Fender-made instruments with a thinner nitro finish. Some think this allows the wood to "breathe better", and they'll probably age quicker too. If that appeals to you, check out Dave's Guitar Shop or Wildwood Guitars. They do come in some nicer colors than the AVRI's, although the fretboard and frets aren't vintage style. The prices will likely remain the same as they are until stock runs out - a Jazzmaster is $1,599.

    What is Fender thinking with this price increase? You got me. Yes, I know the famous story about Gibson in the 1980's and how they were almost out of business and they raised prices and suddenly people started buying their guitars again. Well, first of all, that was a confluence of events that favored Gibson - the country was coming out of a recession at that time and the economy was gaining steam. They were also helped by Fender's own QC problems - their main competitor wasn't doing so hot either. And they didn't have all these good-quality Asian imports to deal with back then. Gibson and Fender are both in danger of relegating themselves to niche guitar makers if they keep up pricing like this during a recession.

    Not to mention the fact that Fender's supposed to be the working-man's guitar. The whole point of Fender as a company is to make guitars regular people can afford and play - that's why they exist! A 25% price increase during a recession goes against everything Leo Fender would have stood for.

    If I'm going to pay that much for an American Jazzmaster, I'm just going to buy a vintage one.

    Posted by Jeff at 4:56 PM

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    Labels: jazzmaster

    5 comments:

    Tremolux66 said...

    Many years ago, the "guest" on a real estate infomercial claimed that you could often get an unsold house to sell faster by *raising* the price. (He might've been thinking along the lines of "If it costs more, it must be worth more." Or something.)

    Also: If you jack up the price of a product, you can always put it on sale for a lower price or even reduce the price, but repeated price increases look really bad (death by a thousand cuts).

    That said, Fender's price increase looks bad, really bad.
    6:46 PM
    Anonymous said...

    I noticed the price increases on the Dave's Guitar Shop, and thought that couldn't possibly be right. Apparently it is. I remember reading in the 'Fender Amps' book (by Teagle and Sprung), apparently Fender did a similar (sizeable) increase in 1970, which led them to rollback prices significantly in 1971 because of the backlash. I think that this is a similar boneheaded move, especially since the economy is apparently in a DEflationary mode right now.
    3:20 AM
    boyan said...

    I bought my american deluxe HSS strat in may 2008 for 1100$, i put it on craigslist a few days ago and checked musiciansfriend price - it was 1249$. this morning the price is 1639$
    WOW!
    9:56 AM
    Anonymous said...

    I'm a HUGE Fender fan but greed is ruining this company. Leo Fender is spinning in his grave.
    3:01 AM
    Anonymous said...

    Actually, even with the increases, Fender's prices (I am a bass player so I'm specifically referring to basses) are comparable to Music Man and other similar basses. The USA Jazz V is almost identical to the Stingray 5 in price (which is better is a matter of personal preference). Heck, there are even Korean-made basses (like Lakland Skylines) up in that price range. I actually own an '08 Fender Jazz V and it is a very well-made bass- superior to a 90's Jazz 5 I owned a few years ago. I think their quality has gone up and they haven't raised their prices for quite a while. G&L raised their prices well before Fender. This trend of price increases is happening everywhere. I guess they are doing what they need to do in this economy. I don't like the high prices either but you are paying for an American-made product which is basically the industry standard. It is interesting that we expect a certain level of pay and standard of living for our workers in this country but aren't willing to pay higher prices for American goods. Everyone buys Chinese stuff at Target to save money.
    12:11 PM

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    not ther to justify taht kind of hike. MAYBE if they started using laquer finishes again like Gibson they could justify it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous1:13 AM

    Hi All,

    If any of you have been frustrated by the MAP pricing from Fender and their insane price increases along their entire line along with their main competitor Gibson, please go to

    https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

    and register a complaint for FTC to investigate a price-fixing/collusion possibility between Fender and Gibson. This only takes a few minutes and the wizard there will guide you through the process. I believe there is already an investigation by several states on Fender price fixing policies.

    I have always been a Fender man and have never played anything else but I am not happy with the corporate practices of Fender.

    Thanks

    PS: If you personally don't think this is warranted, that is OK. Many of us believe that such price increases cannot be supported without monopolistic and price fixing practices and while we can certainly choose not to buy Fender and go elsewhere, such boycotts will not prevent anti-consumer practices. Hence we are starting this grass roots movement to bring public and regulatory attention to Fender's business practices. I hope you will reconsider.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12:33 PM

    Price fixing? What B.S.! Compare Fender's prices right now with any similar products on the market. They are not overpriced- even with the increase. In fact, I think before this price hike, their production American guitars were underpriced. And both Gibson and Fender know the value of their brand names, so they charge for that, too. It means your resale value is better for one thing (ever try to sell a used Ibanez?). Come to think of it, there are some pretty nice looking Chinese Ibanez guitars for under 400.00. I guarantee they won't hold their value (or hold up) like a Fender. No affiliation here, other than the fact that I play them and dig them!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, you're a marketer's dream. Sounds like you'll pay pretty much whatever they ask you to. Unfortunately, not all of us have money to waste like that. And it just means fewer of us will be buying Fender's guitars.

    There's no such thing as an "underpriced" product from a consumer's perspective. You're telling us you've actually bought something and said to yourself "man, that was too cheap! I wish I'd paid more!"?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous7:04 PM

    Blah! Who needs crap Fenders anyway. They haven't made a guitar worth what they are since the 60's. When are people going to WAKE UP?? G&L is as good as Fender Master-Built for 1/3 the price.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous2:21 AM

    I remember in the mid 90's you could buy an American Standard Strat or Tele for what a Mexican one costs today. I bought a Squire, because they looked the same, and I couldn't, being still a non-player, see why they're worth half as much. I still have the guitar, and I now know the reason. Alas, watching this price creep makes me think I can substitute 'Fender' for something else. I wish someone would have told me they're as much investments as instruments. Instead of my Squire, I would have bought 2 AmStds - one to play, and the other to stick in a portfolio!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous1:08 PM

    -Here's a theory of why they did it.They probably don't care about quantity any more as people aren't buying much anyway.they want to GOUGE the naive people who would pay an unreasonable price for their over rated,overpriced guitars.I have seen their quality go way down in the last couple of years on both the american made and the Mexican made.Also to note if you buy a new fender,they will not back you up if there'e a problem.

    My Fender buying days are over as of right now.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous11:18 PM

    I was planning on getting a Fender Jazzmaster this summer, and now with this increase, ugh...I have no idea what to do. I guess stick with my cheapo and hope for a price decrease. Can't believe this timing...such bad luck

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous5:44 AM

    I'm glad that I have two American made Stratocasters, because they're now out of my range with the price hike.

    No more Fender's for me.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous8:08 AM

    People, stop complaining. These are luxury items to 99.99% of the people who buy them. They are not necessities. If you can't afford them, don't buy them. Market forces will decide who wins.

    ReplyDelete
  16. They're not luxury items for professional musicians. Yes, there are people who make a living on music - or at least are trying to. Luckily, I'm not one of them, but I feel for them.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous2:48 PM

    I heard about the price increase and was still able to get the old previous list price that was in my music123.com catalog for a Fender '62 stratocsater reissue. The only reason I purchased that guitar was to beat the price increase that had gone fron 1,500 to 1,890 for the guitar. I had been looking at the American Fender guitars for years while watching the price slowly creep upwards, but the new 2009 prices forced me to act quickly after so many years of waiting and wishing I had one. For a guitar collector a Mexican Fender or a similar Chinese electric guitar has no real sentimental value. Sentimental value can add a staggering amount of money to any guitar.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous8:24 PM

    I generally only play in the Fender Mexican made category - they went from $399 to $549 in 1 week at most major outlets. Ridiculous. I could handle $20-$30 per year since they have basically been dealing the same product for over 5 years...I just don't get the logic of raising prices at this point in time.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous1:33 PM

    Fender just made the decision easier. Before it was - I'll get a fender, it sounds pretty good, looks cool and will hold it's price. Now ya need to think - Fender, Suhr, or Anderson, etc. they're all about the same price, no way I'm buying a Fender.
    Unless you're the type that just needs the name on the headstock, and will pay the price, in which case - boy do I have a deal for you on a used Fender.
    Bottom line is this is my opportunity to upgrade - thanks for boxing yourself out of the market Fender.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous6:27 PM

    I bought my American Deluxe Strats back in 2004 when they were $949. Now they are over $1,600? WTF? Man am I lucky I bought them when I did. Same for mty '62 RI Jazzmastrer... paid $1100 3 years ago, now the price is almost $2K.

    I love Fenders but I'm done purchasing new ones... Leo Fender is spinning in his grave.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous7:12 PM

    I use only Fender basses on stage and for the last few years it's been nothing but mexican players just due to the price being so high, now i won't buy any more new basses, i can't afford it any more. I am an active musician and it doesn't pay the kind of money at the present time to buy one of these over priced guitars, i have a Fender Special Run P-Bass that never got to be played before the screws in the saddles stripped out leaving all the saddles sitting on the bridge plate. for the price not a good quality buy. I'll be buying old ones and not giving my money to Fender any longer. Fender needs to think about how this market trend is going, people aren't raising prices they are lowering them to encourage buying, I don't know how many people will think buying a guitar the quality going downhill for a more expensive price is a good idea

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous9:19 PM

    I'm very sad in seeing such an increase with Fender Instruments. A resonable increase would have made better sense, for it's not like the quality of the product has change for the better! However, I'm happy for Peavey, and Carvin who will gain from Gibson and Fender's loses.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous3:08 PM

    This is the push that I've always needed to buy a G&L...

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous11:23 AM

    I've played fender and only fender for as long as I've played guitar...I love fender i think they play the best, sound the best and were always the affordable choice!! but i guess that's all changed. thing are tight right now!! I'm just a blue collar, so I'm by no means rolling in the dough! i really hope fender chooses to bring there prices down!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous11:54 PM

    Man the prices are going up and the quality is
    going down. This company should wake up!!

    ReplyDelete

About This Blog

This is increasingly not a blog about Alphabet City, New York. I used to live in the East Village and work on Avenue B, but I no longer do. Why don't I change the name if I'm writing about Japan and video games and guitars? Because New Yorkers are well-rounded people with varied interests, and mine have gone increasingly off the rails over the years. And I don't feel like changing the name. I do still write about New York City sometimes.

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