300 Fender Employees Get Laid Off

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by KT88, Aug 5, 2022.

  1. spindly

    spindly Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    kt66brooklyn likes this.
  2. spindly

    spindly Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Of course!
     
  3. nutsfortubes

    nutsfortubes They tried to kill us, and we won!

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Where I get strings and some work in my guitars the owner used to give lesions but stoped because there are no one under 25 who have an interest in playing.
     
  4. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member Thread Starter

    That's not the way mfg in China works though. It's not a U.S. managed operation. You place trust in your mfg partner, which is a huge mistake when that partner is located there. This is born out in results from many, many different company's products that are sourced from there. It should be a huge " I should have seen that coming" red flag when the stuff was ordered there. But the suits only read the bottom lines. The greed clouds their corporate vision. It is about quarterly reports and nothing more. According to some others, it may be that those reports are being read by lenders. Lenders don't care about your companies reputation after you have borrowed.
    - Bill
     
    spindly and kt66brooklyn like this.
  5. stereoguy

    stereoguy Its Gotta Be True Stereo!

    Location:
    NYC
    If you read the Fender book by Forest White, the Fender plant manager for 10 years, CBS did the exact same thing to them once they bought them. A low level accountant noticed that Fender was buying Banjo Tone Rings made from "Bell Steel" which have that chirpy, ringing tone that made their banjos special. But Bell Steel is expensive. So he forced Fender to buy cheap tone rings made of regular steel. The tone of the banjos took a nose dive and Fenders dealers, salesmen, endorsers and customers were very upset. Very misguided management.
    CBS also tried to force Forrest to use a bunch of close out magnet wire that they picked up for pennies on the dollar. The problem was it was ALL the wrong gauge for how Fender made their magnets. Forrest White , to his credit refused to use it and that was one of the reasons why CBS forced him out.
     
    kt66brooklyn and Jaxjax67 like this.
  6. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    Here is something else to think about. When the baby boomers start downsizing and dying off in droves there will be plenty of large homes, collectible records and guitars flooding the market. Just saying.
     
    marcb, jonwoody, Fender Relic and 2 others like this.
  7. Hoyt

    Hoyt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Georgia
    Just read a couple of articles. Sounds like it was not just factory workers, but managers, designers, research/development, the guy responsible for Acoustasonic, etc. One article said it will reduce instrument production by 200 or so a day. Must be higher quality/cost stuff.

    Anyway, tough for the workers impacted. Have had a lot of Fender equipment, and still have a few pieces.
     
  8. I guess guitar groups are on the way out.
     
    kt66brooklyn likes this.
  9. I don't think it's just that people want cheap, they want affordable. There's a ton of fantastic Fender Custom Shop guitars but could I justify their purchase? No way. Likewise, a parent buying a child their first guitar 1) may not want to spend big $ on a first instrument and 2) they may not have the budget to spend more even if they wanted to. US-made Fender guitars - while nice instruments - are just too much money for a lot of people.
     
    kt66brooklyn, jonwoody and searing75 like this.
  10. kt66brooklyn

    kt66brooklyn Senior Member

    Location:
    brooklyn, ny
    Fewer and fewer musicians are introduced to real PAF’s- patent applied for pickups- in their natural habitat: solid, semi-hollow and hollow bodied Gibsons of the late 50’s and early 60’s. As goes PAF’s so goes Gibson.
     
    jonwoody likes this.
  11. blowinblue

    blowinblue Kind of not blue.

    Location:
    SoCal USA
    You can blame me for this layoff. Well, maybe a teeny, tiny part of it. I own 5 bass guitars. Not one of them is a Fender. I won't own a Fender bass no matter what its country of origin. In fact, I won't own anything made by Fender nor by any brand that Fender owns. And get off my lawn!

    M. M.
     
  12. allied333

    allied333 Audiophile

    Location:
    nowhere
    I agree the new kids are playing games on the internet and busy on Facebook all the time.
     
    searing75 likes this.
  13. mkane

    mkane Strictly Analog

    Location:
    Auburn CA
    Cheap, affordable, same thing wrong word sorry.

    I once had a friend who bought a Road King. He accessorized the bike with cheap, affordable bling made in China and sent 90% of it back because of quality issues. Hence my use of the word cheap sorry.
     
    Shawn likes this.
  14. mkane

    mkane Strictly Analog

    Location:
    Auburn CA
    And China practically owns Austrailia.
     
  15. Johncan

    Johncan Always learning

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    All my kids and all their friends play instruments. The local high school and several middle schools around here have guitar clubs. There are several thriving businesses around here that teach guitar, bass, and other string instruments. Some have waiting lists for music instruction. Also most kids don't use Facebook. They use Tik Tok, Instragram, and Snapchat. And you can find lots of kids showing off their musical chops on Tik Tok.
     
    Shawn likes this.
  16. Static

    Static Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    Raise wages without increased sales to compensate...raise the cost of advertising...raise the cost of shipping...raise the rent...raise the cost of heat and cooling - raise the price of guitars (which they have done) even 100$ makes a difference to struggling musicians-drives musicians to the 2ndary market which doesnt help them. So what happens.... you reduce staff and make the current staff have to do more and hire part time employees to help if needed or temps. Simple.
     
    Shawn likes this.
  17. For God's sake, people, stop buying things!
     
    fmfxray373 likes this.
  18. dsdu

    dsdu less serious minor pest

    Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
    No wonder.
     
    searing75 likes this.
  19. nutsfortubes

    nutsfortubes They tried to kill us, and we won!

    Location:
    New Jersey
    No wonder what?
     
  20. searing75

    searing75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western NY
    The quality of guitars coming out of Indonesia is top notch! I too am an amp/guitar tech, and find that the guitars made in the USA have had quality control issues. It’s hard to justify spending the money on American made, when your can roll the dice for cheap, and end up with a fantastic, playable instrument. The only company I see putting out consistently good guitars all around in their made in the USA line is PRS.
     
  21. searing75

    searing75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western NY
    Lesions suck.
     
    dsdu likes this.
  22. RemyM

    RemyM Forum Resident

    really? How old are you?
     
  23. AP1

    AP1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    TX
    When you implement proper quality control and insist on using specific parts, the cost sky rockets. We are talking about 3-4 times price difference. In that case you have to raise price and will not save much comparing to things made here. It is only when you make high end stuff, where higher than usual retail price is tolerated, you can operate that way.
     
  24. AP1

    AP1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    TX
    I just asked my 15 y.o. son about how many other kids in his school he knows playing guitar or piano. His answer was that he does not know anyone. Playing musical instrument (outside of school marching band) is not something kids brag about between themselves anymore. Playing electric guitar does not bring attention of peer teens.

    In the end most mass market guitar makers will go down. Musical instruments making will become boutique industry with 4-5 numbers price tag for master made products.
     
    nutsfortubes likes this.
  25. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    Squier and Fender Mexico have been showing them up for ages. I'm not paying triple for an inferior product just to prop up a decaying system.
     
    searing75 likes this.

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