Re: New Squire Classic Vibe Guitars For 2010
My ONLY concern is that with models where the price points are somewhat close (ie: the '69 thinline RI and the squier vintage vibe RI), FMIC may be pricing everything sufficiently close such that Fender is cannibalizing itself excessively. I do think it's possible, if Fender keeps the squier line under $400 or so, to have both the MIM reissues and the Squier Vibes, but if there is too much of a common financial ground, Fender will lose profits on the virtue of playing a MIM and a squier side by side and increasing numbers of people willing to make small sacrifices in quality and accuracy, for a cheap machine that can be easily hot-rodded to outperform its more expensive counterparts.
But, this is FMIC, they've been on fire the past few years... I say I'm just overly paranoid. They're good guitars for the money, and I may own one for the purposes of hotrodding it a bit.
Jason
The thing about "FMIC hurting Fender sales because Squier sales are too good" is very real.
My favorite Squier ever, the Squier '51, was discontinued because they were stupid good, and they cost $99.
People were walking into guitar stores, playing a pile of MIMs and then the '51 and going, "Wow! This feels better than all the others!" and walking out the door having spent $99 as opposed to $500.
FMIC caught on, that the Squier '51s were essentially "too good," and they could either raise the price, or make them "less good."
Making an Indonesian Squier "less good" didn't seem feasible, and to make any sort of gain in defending MIM Fenders' mid-market marketshare, they'd have to make the '51s cost $400. yeah right.
So they threw up their hands and discontinued them.
Now mid-market shoppers are buying MIM Fenders again, and all is right with the world.
Wait, What's that you say? People are actually buying Squier Classic Vibes over MIM Fenders?
No problem --- Fender learned their lesson with the '51 and priced the Classic Vibes at $350.
-Hunter
