My Fender Adjacent Tier List

[Chistopher]

• S- Charvel, EBMM, Fender CS
• A- EVH, Jackson, Fender, G&L
• B- Gretsch, Guild, Squier
• C- Bigsby, Tacoma/Olympia
• D- Sunn Amplifiers
• F- None that I can think of

What do you guys think? This is Fender subsidiaries plus G&L and EBMM

 

[GuitarStv]

Fender also owns Groove Tubes, Tacoma Guitars, and Brand X amps.

 

[GuitarStv]

Hamer, Ovation guitars and Latin Percussion stuff too.

 

[ErikH]

Umm, Fender does not own G&L. Never have. Totally separate company. Same with EBMM, not owned by Fender. Unless I'm confused what you're laying out here.

 

[Chistopher]

Umm, Fender does not own G&L. Never have. Totally separate company. Same with EBMM, not owned by Fender. Unless I'm confused what you're laying out here.

As I mentioned, Fender subsidiaries plus companies that were made by Leo

 

[ErikH]

As I mentioned, Fender subsidiaries plus companies that were made by Leo

Gotcha! Leo was a silent partner with Music Man. Not really a primary with starting it like he was with Fender and G&L. Still involved some.

SWR is also under the FMIC umbrella but nothing is being made under that label anymore.


Anything that was under the Kaman Music Corp umbrella (including Latin Percussion, Hamer, Ovation), are no longer owned by Fender. Here's the timeline of that in the 2000's.

From KMCCorp's Wikipedia:

In January 2008, Kaman Corporation sold Kaman Music Corporation to Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) for $117 million.[2]

In 2011, Kaman Music Corporation and Musicorp, sister companies under the FMIC umbrella, united their sales and catalog divisions as KMC Musicorp.

As of 2018, Hamer has moved its facilities to China.[3][4][5]

In 2014, FMIC sold KMC's Gretsch Drums, TOCA Percussion, Latin Percussion, KAT Percussion, Ovation Guitars, and Gibraltar Hardware brands to Drum Workshop.[6]

In February 2015, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation sold KMC to JAM Industries,[7] which rebranded as Exertis | JAM in 2021.​

 

[Chistopher]

Woah, that's a lot of info I never knew. Especially SWR. I always thought they were a hole in the wall brand. One of the local places near me used to sell a lot of their stuff

 

[ErikH]

They kinda were. Fender got SWR in 2003 from Raven Labs (who got it from someone else some years prior). Production of the brand products ceased in 2013.

 

[JOLLY]

I didn't realize how much FMIC stuff I owned until I saw that list.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I'd call Bigsby F tier, LOL.

 

[Mincer]

Now do other companies!

 

[playas]

PreSonus is also part of FMIC