Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
- Thread starter JMP/HBE
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Obsessive Compulsive
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Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
Single owner, different brands, different product lines, different target market, different strategies. Don't mix em up. Also, there is history being resurrected.
Single owner, different brands, different product lines, different target market, different strategies. Don't mix em up. Also, there is history being resurrected.
ItsaBass
New member
Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
All Fenders are overpriced by about $200 to $300 now, IMO. Over the past few years, they have really positioned themselves as a higher budget brand, while letting Squier move up to cover most of the lower budget price points. Nice MIMs are over $600 now, and the high end MIMs are $1,000, plus or minus a few hundred bucks.
To their credit, though, the MIM instruments have greatly improved in quality along the way. Most of the time they only really lack anything from a U.S.A. model in terms of fret work and nut work. The finishes are excellent. The hardware has improved. The pickups have improved. The general fit and finish is much better than it used to be. The main cost that they seem to cut on MIM models is the time consuming and expensive labor of rounding fret ends and cutting precise nuts.
If I wasn't so sentimentally attached to my '04 Sage Green Metallic Standard Strat that I got for $380 new, I'd dump it and pick up the new Sage Green Metallic Player Series Strat for $675 new. It's a much nicer built guitar in every way.
All Fenders are overpriced by about $200 to $300 now, IMO. Over the past few years, they have really positioned themselves as a higher budget brand, while letting Squier move up to cover most of the lower budget price points. Nice MIMs are over $600 now, and the high end MIMs are $1,000, plus or minus a few hundred bucks.
To their credit, though, the MIM instruments have greatly improved in quality along the way. Most of the time they only really lack anything from a U.S.A. model in terms of fret work and nut work. The finishes are excellent. The hardware has improved. The pickups have improved. The general fit and finish is much better than it used to be. The main cost that they seem to cut on MIM models is the time consuming and expensive labor of rounding fret ends and cutting precise nuts.
If I wasn't so sentimentally attached to my '04 Sage Green Metallic Standard Strat that I got for $380 new, I'd dump it and pick up the new Sage Green Metallic Player Series Strat for $675 new. It's a much nicer built guitar in every way.
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bigcupholder
New member
Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
My guess is Fender is slowly moving their brand up market and making Squier compete with Epiphone.
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I took 10 years off from really following this stuff closely. The weirdest thing I found after starting again was that Gibsons cost about the same as before but Indonesian- and Chinese-made guitars (Squiers, non-prestige Ibanez) were now approaching the price of the low-end faded Gibson models... And yet everyone still complains that Gibsons are too expensive!
My guess is Fender is slowly moving their brand up market and making Squier compete with Epiphone.
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JamesPaul
Well-known member
Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
The black and white finishes have not weathered the years very well. Firecrackle! I have an old Lead II in red, but the neck went totally wonky. Even my luthier couldn't save it, so we replaced it with a '72Tele Deluxe neck. It was a road worn rescue and the previous owner put an Evolution in the bridge. That's a very unforgiving pickup. After years of searching for another X-1 I just had MJ wind me one. It RAWKS!
Back on topic, the Lead series are a decent Fender hardtail.
The black and white finishes have not weathered the years very well. Firecrackle! I have an old Lead II in red, but the neck went totally wonky. Even my luthier couldn't save it, so we replaced it with a '72Tele Deluxe neck. It was a road worn rescue and the previous owner put an Evolution in the bridge. That's a very unforgiving pickup. After years of searching for another X-1 I just had MJ wind me one. It RAWKS!
Back on topic, the Lead series are a decent Fender hardtail.
JamesPaul
Well-known member
Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
I knew a couple of guys who played 'The Strat' back in the 80's. Thanks to MJ for helping me restore my Lead II. Will PM you with some names of those players.
I knew a couple of guys who played 'The Strat' back in the 80's. Thanks to MJ for helping me restore my Lead II. Will PM you with some names of those players.
STLMTLHD79
New member
Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
Let me get some things straight here on this HM Strat:
Its MIJ, which makes the $1200 price point very good IMO. If it had an upgraded Floyd and Duncans/Dimarzios etc, it would be probably around the $1800 mark. They are made in the same Fujigen factory that the originals were from.
I actually plan to pre-order one. I have some credit at Guitar Center so i will order it through them. I'm definitely going after the teal "ice blue" color. I plan to upgrade the floyd to better saddles/stainless screws/brass block, depending on how the Fender pickups sound, change them out if they are sub-par. I have plenty of Duncans to put in here. Again, as I posted in another thread about basswood guitars, the verdict will be out to how the tone of these will be (rolled off treble?).
Im all about the retro guitars. The 80s are my favorite decade I ever experienced, so the nostalgia is strong with me. I would also like to try that previously mentioned 70s Flying V.
Let me get some things straight here on this HM Strat:
Its MIJ, which makes the $1200 price point very good IMO. If it had an upgraded Floyd and Duncans/Dimarzios etc, it would be probably around the $1800 mark. They are made in the same Fujigen factory that the originals were from.
I actually plan to pre-order one. I have some credit at Guitar Center so i will order it through them. I'm definitely going after the teal "ice blue" color. I plan to upgrade the floyd to better saddles/stainless screws/brass block, depending on how the Fender pickups sound, change them out if they are sub-par. I have plenty of Duncans to put in here. Again, as I posted in another thread about basswood guitars, the verdict will be out to how the tone of these will be (rolled off treble?).
Im all about the retro guitars. The 80s are my favorite decade I ever experienced, so the nostalgia is strong with me. I would also like to try that previously mentioned 70s Flying V.
STLMTLHD79
New member
Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
My pre-order is in and cant wait! This will be the first Japanese guitar i have ever bought new!
My pre-order is in and cant wait! This will be the first Japanese guitar i have ever bought new!
The Guitar
New member
Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
Sweetwater has them on pre-order, too. I'd like a maple 3 pickup HM, but I'm glad to have been able to get my '88 single hum. Glad to see they brought them back! Maybe the originals will see a price drop....
Sweetwater has them on pre-order, too. I'd like a maple 3 pickup HM, but I'm glad to have been able to get my '88 single hum. Glad to see they brought them back! Maybe the originals will see a price drop....
JamesPaul
Well-known member
Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
I had decent luck with a "roll your own" using Kahlers on a Fender Bullet S-3 and a '62 RI Strat. What issues did the Kahler have that the Floyd might overcome? Only asking as I heard Floyds were a nightmare to tune...which is why I passed on them in the 80’s.
I had decent luck with a "roll your own" using Kahlers on a Fender Bullet S-3 and a '62 RI Strat. What issues did the Kahler have that the Floyd might overcome? Only asking as I heard Floyds were a nightmare to tune...which is why I passed on them in the 80’s.
STLMTLHD79
New member
Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
I watched one of his personal youtube videos and he said that the bridge is still the Super Distortion, but the neck is a Dimarzio "fast track".
I watched one of his personal youtube videos and he said that the bridge is still the Super Distortion, but the neck is a Dimarzio "fast track".
STLMTLHD79
New member
Re: Fender NAMM 2020 peek ...
How did it sound with the Full Shred? that was one of the pickups i was thinking of putting in mine.
How did it sound with the Full Shred? that was one of the pickups i was thinking of putting in mine.
JamesPaul
Well-known member
JMP/HBE
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JamesPaul
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