Uh-oh...

A

alterbridgefan

Hero Member
Messages
1,274
This could spell bad news for warmoth...

http://www.fender.com/necks-bodies?utm_campaign=Fender+Guitars&utm_content=sf14414612&utm_medium=spredfast&utm_source=facebook&sf14414612=1&page=2

:blob7:
 
bad news because warmoth would lose out on business, or bad because fender would try to shut them down gibson-style? i certainly hope it's not the latter (or the former, but i think warmoth offers a unique enough service that they could ride it out). the FAQ on that page suggests that they don't recommend aftermarket bodies/necks while recognizing that they exist, not that they're going after aftermarket manufacturers. here's a c+p:

Are non-Fender necks and bodies compatible with Fender necks and bodies?
Possibly, but we recommend that Fender replacement necks and bodies be used with Fender instruments. Although aftermarket necks and bodies may appear quite similar to real Fender necks and bodies, they are not authentic Fender products.

It’s entirely likely, for example, that non-Fender aftermarket necks and bodies are not crafted to the exact same specs used by Fender. There may be variations in important elements such as neck pocket and neck heel width and height, bridge and pickup mounting alignment and spacing, and other pre-drilled and routed areas that do not meet Fender specifications.

i feel like the language would be much stronger if they planned to try to get these taken off the market entirely. i sure hope so.
 
I don't know, if these take off and Fender expands their offerings, aftermarket suppliers will cease to be necessary or benefitial to Fender, and shut downs could be inevitable...

But, at these prices, I don't see them being all that popular.

The best deal there may be $200 for a finished MIM neck... All the other necks seem to be very expensive.
 
It's entirely possible Warmoth is making these necks/bodies for Fender. They just installed a 4 position multi-gang CNC within the last year. What are those good for? Making multiples of the same thing. If you used to make 50 bodies a day, now you can make 200 for roughly the same price, discounting materials.

You can either move your labor-intensive operations to where labor costs very little, or eliminate most of the labor altogether. As an aside, robots don't form unions, and if you've trained one, you've trained them all.

 
Well, Fender could elect not to renew Warmoth's contract, but as it stands now, Warmoth has a license to make and market Fender replacement parts.  It's pretty shabby of Fender to implicitly dis its own licensees, but I don't think the boys in Puyallup are in danger of missing any meals as a result of it.
 
I'm just postulating. Warmoth has always made better Fender parts than Fender does, so it would make sense for Fender to job the work out if they wanted to supply a consistent, high-quality product. At the prices Fender's charging, they could certainly get away with it easily. Basically free money for them, and from all I've read, they can use all the free money they can get.
 
Why would they job the work out when they already manufacture gajillions of them on their own? The main reason for external suppliers is when you can't keep up with demand on your own.

More likely they do this to make use of their excess production capacity and charge a premium for people willing to pay for "genuine Fender" "replacement" parts, logo on the neck and all.
 
That makes sense, too. But, who says they have excess capacity? And who says anybody would buy their raw parts? Those are subject to more scrutiny. I'll tell ya - I've had a LOT of Fender products apart, and it's often amazing that they're still in business. The only thing that saves their ass is the designs are such that they can tolerate a great deal of inconsistency and still work out ok. Strats and Teles are arguably some of the most comfortable electric guitars you can play, but the real genius behind their success is their simplicity. You can throw together a perfectly good working example out of toadshit and wax paper. Put the right name on the headstock, and you can even demand a pretty high price for it.
 
I did notice they drill for strap buttons and do all the holes for the tuners (ducks  :icon_biggrin:)...
 
Which means whatever you have on hand to mount to the Fender part won't necessarily fit, AND you'll have to do some more drilling and possibly filling.  Awesome-tacular!

 
[me=AutoBat]looks at page[/me]
Sees $500 "USA" maple/maple or maple/rosewood, non-figured, no fretwire options, no profile options, no inlay options, no nut width options, no scale length options, no tuner ream options, no nut material options.
[me=AutoBat]closes the tab and walks away.[/me]
 
AutoBat said:
[me=AutoBat]looks at page[/me]
Sees $500 "USA" maple/maple or maple/rosewood, non-figured, no fretwire options, no profile options, no inlay options, no nut width options, no scale length options, no tuner ream options, no nut material options.
[me=AutoBat]closes the tab and walks away.[/me]
Click to expand...

There are $200 models, too. (Which are probably exactly the same, in terms of manufacturing cost.)

Those necks are ridiculously boring and undesirable to me, but considering that a large part of Warmoth's sales are most likely from guys that want to replace something on their Fender, this could hurt Warmoth's business. A lot of people get snobby about brands, so these necks are desirable because of the name. It doesn't matter if there are no options for neck profiles, woods, frets, inlays, etc. People will snatch them up because of the brand.
 
Also, I demand to know why there is no fretless Jazz bass neck? Isn't that what would sell like hotcakes? They could be stuffing their pockets with the cash of a million "Should I defret my bass, or buy a sacrilegiously non-Fender replacement neck?" thread-posters.
 
I spent over 2 grand on necks and bodies from Fender today.  It's a smart business decision for them, I suppose.  Limited options and colors, but undercutting some overpriced replacement parts or parts of shoddier quality.  Still a reason to buy your favorite guitars and basses, but if you want a change, you can get a Real Fender (tm, patent pending) replacement part.  The instrument can be sold as a Fender on Ebay.

Makes sense, and there's still room for higher end replacement parts companies to offer options.  I like it because there's a reasonable option for 200 bucks, finished and good to go.  Warmoth's been coming close to that for some time with "ready to go" maple and maple/rosewood necks for 20-30% more than that.  There's a market to be exploited.

-Mark
 
line6man said:
Those necks are ridiculously boring and undesirable to me, but considering that a large part of Warmoth's sales are most likely from guys that want to replace something on their Fender, this could hurt Warmoth's business. A lot of people get snobby about brands, so these necks are desirable because of the name. It doesn't matter if there are no options for neck profiles, woods, frets, inlays, etc. People will snatch them up because of the brand.
Click to expand...

+1

I sell off my Fender guitars in order to fund building instruments that are truly unique and customized to what I want. (-Got one american deluxe ash Jazz Bass left if anyone is interested lol!) I've been playing guitar and bass for a lot of years, and the cookie-cutter factory-built stuff is just plain boring. The resale value on a W build is crap, but I don't care; -I'd rather play stuff that took some creativity and imagination to come together (-even if it means it'll be mine forever 'cuz nobody will buy it on CL or flea-bay), not be a slave to a name on the headstock.

-Don't get me wrong; I have great respect for Fender, -they make great stuff! But when ya get quality and custom options like what is found in Warmoth parts, that "F" logo loses it's luster... at least it does for me.
 
AutoBat said:
[me=AutoBat]looks at page[/me]
Sees $500 "USA" maple/maple or maple/rosewood, non-figured, no fretwire options, no profile options, no inlay options, no nut width options, no scale length options, no tuner ream options, no nut material options.
[me=AutoBat]closes the tab and walks away.[/me]
Click to expand...
And THAT is the reason W will prevail and continue, W has FAR too many Cooler options.
Like a 24 3/4 scale neck for G fans that want to build AWESOME customs.
 
I get a 404 error entering the link in the first post?  :help:
 
SaintFu said:
I'm pretty sure Fender isn't thinking about Warmoth with this. They're thinking about this guy: http://stores.ebay.com/The-STRATosphere.
Click to expand...

That is totally what I thought, too! I've known of guys building guitars out of All-Parts/Mighty-Mite/etc. and topping it off with a "genuine" Startosphere neck -and selling it for a profit. -Disgusting.

If I were Fender, I'd be more interested in givin' that flea-bay store a run for their money.
 
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