FMIC - you're killing me, buddy

dougk said:
Totally. Though Titan will never have a mastery

Jimmy_Meme.jpg
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Just route it for me to put one in then.
 
Danhedonia said:
* As for Strats outselling JMs 500-1, I would doubt that, but would love to know what the ratio is. Part of that is probably fed by what FMIC is marketing.
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500-1 seems extreme, but I bet it may be 100-1.

Fender (#1) sells something like 20 guitars for every 1 Gibson (#2) sells, I expect 3/4 are strats. What surprises me is they offer almost as many teles as strats, but only sell a fraction of as many. Offsets have only relatively recently regain flavor-of-the-month status, their popular comes and goes.

If you are worried about resale of MIM Fenders...buy used. I bought one new guitar in 25 years (and lost 50% on it, never again). My favorite strat body is the older, swimming poll route, poplar MIM bodies...they were so resonant, much more lively than any alder one....hardware sucked though.
 
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Danhedonia said:
I used to have a very different level of disposable income - I was a corporate sales manager (and one making #'s) -- now I'm a high school math teacher. I looked for meaning and that sent any notion of a $2k guitar out the window (let's not forget how bad of a player I am).

The number crunching, etc - all of those explanations would resonate more if I didn't see things like the following from Fender:
* MIM this-n-that's with a street price of $999. Really!??! Congrats if you don't care about country of origin, but for some, resale value is a necessary component of purchase justification.
* Bastardized artist series (Van Loeuwen or however you spell it JM) retailing around $1,200.
* As for Strats outselling JMs 500-1, I would doubt that, but would love to know what the ratio is. Part of that is probably fed by what FMIC is marketing.
* Ludicrously priced $550 "Jazzmasters" with stop tails and humbuckers. Who buys these, if JMs are so unsaleable?

My point is that I think FMIC is just sort of out of it when it comes to product management - I don't get a vibe at all that I'm just unusual in my tastes. I think they're asleep at the wheel.
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The nitro finished MIM Classic series JM and Jag retail for only $100 than the nitro MIM Classic series strats and esquires. Come with a hard case, I believe. Vintage neck specs and bridge/trem placement. In short, these are pretty much the exact MIM offsets that offset nerds have been asking for at a $999 price point which seems reasonable given what you get vs where the current price of MIM Standard strats/teles is and the solid value of the Classic series stuff.

There's no way in hell a standard MIA Jazzmaster is coming in at <$1300 street which is about where the strats are now...and a lot of those are total dogs.
 
As this thread tumbles onwards, it's bringing into relief my simple wish: a solid, "grown up's" Jazzmaster - with an appropriate price. $2k is not an appropriate price. $1,300 is an appropriate price. I fail to see a reason why it can't be done.

And that's just my pet example; how can we explain that Fender wouldn't accommodate someone willing to spend $2k on an Elite Series Jazz Bass if they could only get a maple fretboard on a color that comes stock with rosewood? Person was willing to pay a charge, wait, etc. "Nope." End of story; please keep your $2k.

The other night I emailed an artist I used to work with about this, and he sent back a long rant where he basically said that it's partsmasters for him these days.

I get it - people will always want a 3-tone burst Strat. Hell, I have several Strats and love them. But I feel like Fender used to make some really interesting, compelling guitars, and now the only interesting models they make are Squiers or Modern Players. Boo, hiss.
 
Danhedonia said:
As this thread tumbles onwards, it's bringing into relief my simple wish: a solid, "grown up's" Jazzmaster - with an appropriate price. $2k is not an appropriate price. $1,300 is an appropriate price. I fail to see a reason why it can't be done.

And that's just my pet example; how can we explain that Fender wouldn't accommodate someone willing to spend $2k on an Elite Series Jazz Bass if they could only get a maple fretboard on a color that comes stock with rosewood? Person was willing to pay a charge, wait, etc. "Nope." End of story; please keep your $2k.

The other night I emailed an artist I used to work with about this, and he sent back a long rant where he basically said that it's partsmasters for him these days.

I get it - people will always want a 3-tone burst Strat. Hell, I have several Strats and love them. But I feel like Fender used to make some really interesting, compelling guitars, and now the only interesting models they make are Squiers or Modern Players. Boo, hiss.
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Reasonable and profitable are mutually exclusive. You don't have to like it. Find another brand, Fender doesn't want your money.
 
Yeah, well, I get that ^^^^^ part.

But this is my thread to bitch about it.

:ksmash:lol-049

Edit: Pardon, I disagree that reasonable and profitable are mutually exclusive. I find a lot of FMIC's price points reasonable; it's the product line up that's driving me nuts.
 
Danhedonia said:
As this thread tumbles onwards, it's bringing into relief my simple wish: a solid, "grown up's" Jazzmaster - with an appropriate price. $2k is not an appropriate price. $1,300 is an appropriate price. I fail to see a reason why it can't be done.

And that's just my pet example; how can we explain that Fender wouldn't accommodate someone willing to spend $2k on an Elite Series Jazz Bass if they could only get a maple fretboard on a color that comes stock with rosewood? Person was willing to pay a charge, wait, etc. "Nope." End of story; please keep your $2k.
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You're assuming that production capacity is unlimited.

Fender is, and has always been, about keeping costs down. "One offs" and special orders are the domain of the Custom Shop. Everything else is spewed off a production line the most efficient way possible. Any variation throws a wrench in the works and slows things down.

As for "appropriate price," that is, and has always been, determined by what the market will bear. Fender derives greater profit from selling one AVRI Jazzmaster at $2600 than they would selling two American Standard Jazzmasters at $1300 each. Strats and Teles move enough volume to warrant Standard and AVRI models, Jazzmasters most likely don't.

The cool thing about Fenders is that unlike Gibsons, you can assemble your own signature model out of parts.
 
It should be noted that the MIA Jazzmaster Fender is building at that price is a limited run with a telecaster layout. This run is built specifically to capitalize on the boutique telemaster market that has emerged over the past few years. These buyers want an ergonomic tele, not a Jazzmaster.
 
I'm not assuming anything; I'm complaining about Fender's product lineup. Why do people always have to try to be the smartest in the room? Please save the pedantic lectures for another (life)time.

The Telemaster run is about 4 years too late, IMO.

Adding to the FMIC woe: heard good reviews about the Bassbreaker, so checked it out further .... holy cow, is that one ugly amp. WTF?
 
I hear your gripes, I wish Fender offered more of what I want as well (more Antigua!).

But they don't offer what you want, they aren't going to offer what you want (those $1K MIM JM's are selling for Fender). Since you can't have what is impossible, are you going to whine about it?...or work around it? I was always taught to the the latter.
 
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Danhedonia said:
I'm not assuming anything; I'm complaining about Fender's product lineup. Why do people always have to try to be the smartest in the room? Please save the pedantic lectures for another (life)time.

The Telemaster run is about 4 years too late, IMO.

Adding to the FMIC woe: heard good reviews about the Bassbreaker, so checked it out further .... holy cow, is that one ugly amp. WTF?
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So what color JM are you looking for?
 
My hope is that an FMIC employee might see this and feel a little motivated.

The Jazzmaster is my specific complaint, but I am hearing it from many others. The impression is that FMIC (understandably) uses the cheaper product lines to try out new ideas .... but that none of those ideas seem to graduate to 'grown up' versions, with the odd exception of the Dimension bass (odd because it was not tried out first as a Squier VM/CV or MIM). FMIC's big rollout in higher-quality instruments appears to be the Elite series, which combines a hard-to-justify price point with what I consider less-than-interesting models.

What color Jazzmaster? Man, what color Jazzmaster wouldn't you want? Black. Shell Pink. Tangerine Flake. I used Warmoth's wizard to create a spectacular Dragon Burst with a quilted top that looked cool. Lake Placid Blue.

An Antigua Jazzmaster - with a nice ash body - would rock my world.
 
Is that the Brooklyn Mastery Bridge I've heard so much about? secret0

(BTW, I have had experience in the past with threads winding up in front of the right eyes).
 
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