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Fenders were meant to be the model T Fords of the guitar world so I don't think any of them should cost more than $1,000.
 
idsnowdog said:
Fenders were meant to be the model T Fords of the guitar world so I don't think any of them should cost more than $1,000.
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Thats why I estimated parts at 700 for the Tele and the Twin -I've built both from scratch. Neither are expensive to make -time and skill is ther real cost -but not $23,300 in skill.
 
NegativeEase said:
Thats why I estimated parts at 700 for the Tele and the Twin -I've built both from scratch. Neither are expensive to make -time and skill is their real cost -but not $23,300 in skill.
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I don't have a problem with the cost of their amplifiers but I do object to the price of their guitars because I do not believe the quality of their components is that much better at $1,000.
 
idsnowdog said:
I don't have a problem with the cost of their amplifiers but I do object to the price of their guitars because I do not believe the quality of their components is that much better at $1,000.
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Yes, this has always been the truth -Fender guitars abandoned every long held luthier technique to make a guitar super cheap to pair with their amps. The release was lucky in that it coincided with the advent of Rock, Electric Blues and upbeat Country and Western in which a quality pickup and amplifier/speaker was most of the effort in getting a good sounding guitar -and that was Fender's forte.
 
I've seen this discussion on other forums. Back in 1951 the list price for a Telecaster was $139. If you use an inflation calculator that's equal to about $1900 in today's dollars. The American Original 50s Tele is $1999. So the cost of a production line USA made Fender is about the same as it's always been.

I don't think its unreasonable considering the overhead involved. Also keep in mind that Fender makes all their USA hardware in house with the exception of the tuning machines. They're cutting their own pickguards, stamping their own bridges, winding their own pickups, etc. Sure if they sourced out all of this to overseas contractors then sure they could bring the price down.
 
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