Never play a fender the same way again?

[AniML]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

Though I've got to say, the computer-enhanced LPB strat in the ads sure is pretty

[BeKindRewind]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

^^ you beat me to it. Why do we have to pay $1900 to have a neck carve that warmoth does custom for $35?

And I was just reading on how Fender is marketing to keep new players interested with an app /training program. But not offering these innovations to those who stayed with it but who buy lower/mid priced instruments.

I have a $300 Korean Ibanez with an all access neck joint that is light years better than this slightly carved fender thing. And it has 24 frets too. And neck binding. And headstock binding. And body binding. And a flame Maple (veneer but still) top. A carved neck heel doesn't cost them anything more to make.

If fender made a Strat with an actual carved neck heel and 24 frets they'd call it the Ultra Mega Omega Strat and charge 4400 for it. And it'd still be a solid color with a giant pickguard that covers 70% of the body, dot inlays and no binding.

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[Masta' C]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

Exactly

Never Play a Fender the Same Way Again...buy something else

[Mincer]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

The carved heel is not really a cause of the high price- that sort of thing has been done forever on other guitars. It is one of those cases where it is a tiny step forward but hyped up as being something that will change guitar as we know it. Actual structural, revolutionary change won't happen on a Strat, because history and tradition is their brand. So I get while people shake their heads at the hyperbole, but Fender can't really do a whole lot and still call it a Strat.

[GuitarStv]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

I have a $300 Korean Ibanez with an all access neck joint that is light years better than this slightly carved fender thing. And it has 24 frets too. And neck binding. And headstock binding. And body binding. And a flame Maple (veneer but still) top. A carved neck heel doesn't cost them anything more to make.

If fender made a Strat with an actual carved neck heel and 24 frets they'd call it the Ultra Mega Omega Strat and charge 4400 for it. And it'd still be a solid color with a giant pickguard that covers 70% of the body, dot inlays and no binding.

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I always thought it was weird that with all the devotion to never changing their designs Fender didn't jump onto the whole relicing bandwagon a little more wholesale. Fender guitars in solid colours look awesome when they start to wear . . . but poly finishes don't. There exist a great many of us don't want to buy a guitar that someone threw keys at and dragged down the road in an attempt to pretend it was played a lot. Near as I can remember though, there was only the Highway One series that offered guitars that would relic on their own through use (I mean, short of crazy expensive custom shop stuff or an Eric Johnson strat).

Feels like that would have been a better opportunity to sell some more guitars.

[Ayrton]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

Sweet! $1900 for the Stratocaster nobody asked for.

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

New guitar-oriented players, modern players, embrace the new designs like the ones by Strandberg or Kiesel. Any brand will have to start producing entirely new designs if they want a future. The old "stock" (us over 50 yrs) will slowly die out, any solid and reliable company should start looking forward.

If this analysis were valid, innovative designs of the past (Steinberger or SynthAxe or that EVH-endorsed Ripley stereo guitar for example) would kill the 'old' Strats and LP obsolete and they would be museum artifacts today.

[Archer250]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

I always thought it was weird that with all the devotion to never changing their designs Fender didn't jump onto the whole relicing bandwagon a little more wholesale. Fender guitars in solid colours look awesome when they start to wear . . . but poly finishes don't. There exist a great many of us don't want to buy a guitar that someone threw keys at and dragged down the road in an attempt to pretend it was played a lot. Near as I can remember though, there was only the Highway One series that offered guitars that would relic on their own through use (I mean, short of crazy expensive custom shop stuff or an Eric Johnson strat).

Feels like that would have been a better opportunity to sell some more guitars.

This is EXACTLY why I'd get a Suhr Classic Antique over any of this.

****, the Suhr's neck joint looks like it's carved better too.

****, I could actually find a used Fender CS for around the same price that will look, feel and sound better.

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[ICTGoober]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

Okay, I've been reading up on this, and it's most than just a little neck carving. Anyone miss the Ultra noiseless pickups, and the humbucker wound hotter to compete when tapped? How about the different neck carve.... bigger, rounder, etc? Sound like anything from Fenders' past? And the body IS carved more on the back and so on, for comfort and access.

Also read an interview with CEO Andy Mooney, and I realized what they were shooting for.... Anyone recall the Fender Heavy Metal Strats from the 80's? They were kickass guitars! Mooney is a metalhead, and he likes stuff from that era - including the Japanese made stuff that has become quite collectible of late.

So, I'll ignore all the nay-sayers and haters.... and wait to play one. Bet it will be cool.

[Masta' C]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

Of course it will be cool! Just not $1900 cool

[greekdude]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

If this analysis were valid, innovative designs of the past (Steinberger or SynthAxe or that EVH-endorsed Ripley stereo guitar for example) would kill the 'old' Strats and LP obsolete and they would be museum artifacts today.

I wrote it explicitly "the old stock" will slowly die out. When Steinberger came out, jimi hendrix' death was still fresh, it was only 2 years after VH's first album and malmsteen had not left sweden yet. Not to mention that the currently middle aged players (like me) were kinda of 10 yrs back then, listening to their first rock music. Yeah, as much as futuristic Steinberger was, this happened too early. Hmmm or just about the right time if we look it from another POV. They had a fair deal of success back in the 80s. But the classic hype was still producing new music and legends. So the futuristic look guitars/synth guitars diminished by the 90s.
However those factors are not relevant anymore. The current target group of fender will not exist in 20 yrs from now. They will have to do something about it. No car company secured a sustained business by re-issuing designs of the 50s. Loot at it this way.

[AniML]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

Okay, I've been reading up on this, and it's most than just a little neck carving. Anyone miss the Ultra noiseless pickups, and the humbucker wound hotter to compete when tapped? How about the different neck carve.... bigger, rounder, etc? Sound like anything from Fenders' past? And the body IS carved more on the back and so on, for comfort and access.

Also read an interview with CEO Andy Mooney, and I realized what they were shooting for.... Anyone recall the Fender Heavy Metal Strats from the 80's? They were kickass guitars! Mooney is a metalhead, and he likes stuff from that era - including the Japanese made stuff that has become quite collectible of late.

So, I'll ignore all the nay-sayers and haters.... and wait to play one. Bet it will be cool.

But which of these 1980s "innovations" live up to the advertised hyperbole?

No one doubts the quality, we're just rolling our eyes that the claim "never play a fender the same way" really means, hey we finally added some really nice low cost features that have been around on other guitars for decades, but only to our most expensive production line.

[ICTGoober]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

YE GODS! Don't get hung up on the hyperbole. Let's just talk about the guitar, OK?

[AniML]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

YE GODS! Don't get hung up on the hyperbole. Let's just talk about the guitar, OK?

Sure, the lake placid blue strat with parchment and rosewood is beautiful as is the black tele with white binding. Either would be very hard to resist at half the price.

[GuitarStv]

Re: Never play a fender the same way again?

I want an Ultra Jazzmaster with a Floyd. Sadly, they don't seem to be offered.