Author Topic: What is with the "other" American bass manufacturers?? (Read 1106 times)

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #15 on:** October 09, 2006, 11:07:10 AM »

Well,

I certainly am not going to plant my flag on the side of the mega-stores, but there are the rare circumstances where they have their utility. I grew up in a fairly rural area, and there were primarily two music stores around, a Gibson and a Fender dealer(not counting the junk that turned up in pawn shops). Both of these shops knew they had a near monopoly, and as such, set their prices very near msrp, and didn't want to bargain. They made a great deal of money of people who didn't know any better (usually people just starting off). I can remember the first time seeing a musician's friend, and being amazed at how low the prices were in comparison. Pretty quickly both shops moved their prices into a much more competitive range. One of them failed, probably more due to bad customer service than anything else, and the other is still in business, probably because it is a front for some black market business, but that's another story. At any rate, they had to deal more honestly with their customers.

All that being said, I have always chose to buy locally, whenever the product I was looking for was available.

mikedm · « **Reply #16 on:** October 09, 2006, 11:49:18 AM »

If it's possible, here's a story where the overvalued prices of Fender basses worked to my advantage.

In '98 I bought a used Fender Jazz for $300. Kept it for a few years until I was bitten by the Alembic bug. So, I did a little research about the used market with the desperate hope of scraping up enough cash . Turns out the Jazz was worth a cool grand at the time and that's exactly what the local guitar store offered me as the trade-in value. Nothing special about it - '96 American Jazz Delux, from Corona, CA.
I loath the specualtive buying, own-a-piece-of-history-at-any-price mindset, but in this instance the run-away market made the purchase of my first Alembic possible.

All Hail the Mom and Pop shops, but even the chains serve a purpose. BTW, the shop re-sold the Jazz within three weeks.

olieoliver · « **Reply #17 on:** October 09, 2006, 12:21:35 PM »

Reading this thread I can't help but think of the Ford?s Edsel or Chevy's Corvair. Both highly sought after collectible cars, BUT that doesn't change the fact that they both were and still are very undependable.
?Piece of History? or ?Piece of (insert own expletive?)
.....eye of the beholder I guess.

jbybj · « **Reply #18 on:** October 09, 2006, 01:59:44 PM »

Reading this thread I can't help but think of the Ford?s Edsel or Chevy's Corvair. Both highly sought after collectible cars, BUT that doesn't change the fact that they both were and still are very undependable.
?Piece of History? or ?Piece of (insert own expletive?)
.....eye of the beholder I guess.

Hey wait a minute there Mr. Oliver. my 69 Fender Jazz bass is a great instrument, worth every penny............
Oh yeah, I paid $220........

88persuader · « **Reply #19 on:** October 10, 2006, 12:52:26 AM »

In regard to Fender and Gibson having high buy in for small music stores, this has been going on forever. I remember back in the late 70s there were several small stores in the New England area (NH & MA) within 50 miles of each other and they unofficially banded together to stay in business. One bought into Fender, one bought into Gibson and so on then they all shared the equipment and the cost for it so they all had a fairly extensive line of equipment to sell. And if you brought your Fender amp to a store for repair who wasn't REALLY the Fender dealer they would send the amp to the actual Fender dealer, they would get it repaired, send it back to the store you bought it from and you wouldn't be the wiser ... or care! And this worked for them for over a decade that I know of. Eventually Daddy's Junky Music and The guitar Center put most of them out of business but it worked for them for quite a while. Stores that normally would try to steel business from one another had to ban together just so YOU and I could but a Fender Jazz Bass and they could stay alive! Amazing ... and this was in the 70's! So this crap about Fender and Gibson having a high buy in price is nothing new ... it's how it's always been.

elzie · « **Reply #20 on:** October 11, 2006, 07:24:46 AM »

So this crap about Fender and Gibson having a high buy in price is nothing new ... it's how it's always been.

Not according tto the owners of my local music stores, who used to carry Fender and Gibson. Call me crazy, but I'd tend to believe the owners of the stores. Especially when they get exasperated when you just mention the subject......

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #21 on:** October 11, 2006, 12:22:28 PM »

I remember talking to a shop keeper once who was lamenting the fact that Gibson required them to buy a package of acoustic and electric guitars. They could sell the electrics easily, but the acoustics would tend to accumulate and were rarely sold. It seems like these companies would try to cater to their market a bit more than forcing these retailers to buy products they are going to have a hard time selling.

pace · « **Reply #22 on:** October 11, 2006, 01:39:58 PM »

Kev, I guess it's a balancing act between catering to the market and the pressure to keep the acoustic, electric, American and Asian factories all operating at the status quo..... From the Execs down to the dealer reps, on down to the retailer it's a campaign to brainwash the consumer into buying the hype...... I believe it's true that several markets out there will never have a great demand for Gibson acoustics, but as a retailer there's a fine line between knowing your market, and not trying at all...

As far as an $170K buy in, I totally believe it, but Im certain that isnt the buy in for the market where I live.... I'd question the franchise's ulterior motives~ I'm sure there's a sweetheart deal on the other side of that coin!

FWIW, Two days ago I walked out of a local Daddy's w/ a SWEET deal on a used bigredbass (ironically Joey, it's a '96 Gibson LP stnd in Cherry)...... Either they didnt know what they had, or they didnt think there's much of a market around here for a Gibson bass!!!! I couldnt believe it.... It felt so good to put one over on the man

88persuader · « **Reply #23 on:** October 11, 2006, 03:06:54 PM »

Well Elzie if you got 1st hand info from local store owners and I'm just words on a page I'd believe them 1st too. But trust me, this is what I was told years ago from a store owner who was working with three other store owners so they could all aford to carry the big manufacturer's lines. I didn't pull this information out of my butt!

olieoliver · « **Reply #24 on:** October 11, 2006, 04:11:06 PM »

Mr. Young, I too own a couple of Fenders, a 76 Jazz that I purchased new in 76, and a 72 Telecaster Bass That I bought used around 1980.
And I agree, they are worth every penny, $400 and $250 respectively.

57basstra · « **Reply #25 on:** October 11, 2006, 06:25:00 PM »

Olie, I will give you $250 for your Telecaster bass.

elzie · « **Reply #26 on:** October 11, 2006, 08:01:40 PM »

Well Elzie if you got 1st hand info from local store owners and I'm just words on a page I'd believe them 1st too. But trust me, this is what I was told years ago from a store owner who was working with three other store owners so they could all aford to carry the big manufacturer's lines. I didn't pull this information out of my butt!

I am not discounting what you said. I don't doubt that in your area, at that time that's how it worked. It's not like that in my area. So this crap about Fender and Gibson having a high buy in price IS relatively new in my area. So take a deep breath, relax and don't sweat the small stuff

88persuader · « **Reply #27 on:** October 11, 2006, 08:59:48 PM »

Sorry Elzie ... No harm done. I've taken a few deep breaths! :-)

BTW I think it's a shame that manufacturers force stores to buy expensive groupings of products to deal with them because it forces a lot of small store owners out of business. In my area of New England I can only think of 3 small music stores that still exist that aren't part of a big chain, and they all specialize in something to stay in business. For one it's giving beginner's lessons, one stays alive by selling strings and sheet music and the other is near a music college and sells a lot of horns and wood winds, something you don't always find at a place like the Guitar Center. But it is the way it's going in ALL retail and even most businesses unfortulately. The big guys buy up the small guys or put them out of business. Heck ... look at the small family owned farm!

bsee · « **Reply #28 on:** October 11, 2006, 10:48:04 PM »

Twenty years ago, the biggest problem a new/small dealer faced with regard to getting access to Fender or Gibson products was proximity. If there were already a dealer in the general area carrying the line, it would have been nearly impossible to get in. That was about the timeframe of my last direct experience, so I have no idea what may have changed since.

811952 · « **Reply #29 on:** October 12, 2006, 06:51:21 AM »

Telecaster Bass = Worst. Bass. Ever.

I had one of the early ones with the single coil pickup. The quintessential fart bucket bass sound. Swapping in a Seymore Duncan Quarter Pounder didn't do much for it either. I ultimately ended up parting it out, as the neck was fairly decent and the headstock was unusual. I believe I may have burned the body, which may have been too kind.

John