Farewell Fender Japan!

[jcyphe]

Fender Japan(even before it was Fender Japan) always kept Fender on their toes. It would be a shame to lose that.

[Golden_Sonic]

I think that the next Summer and Winter NAMM will give us some upshots about this issue. I wonder if Fender thinks of releasing something of new this year

[James]

I hope you guys are fans of Sunburst, Black, White and CAR.

[MattK]

It's 1958 all over again!

[speedfish]

I hope you guys are fans of Sunburst, Black, White and CAR.

^This

[hotrodperlmutter]

Yeah there are Japan-exclusive models, but all Fender branded guitars will be made in the US, Mexico and China.
Ah well, I guess I can keep on chasing the old Grecos etc. Won't be selling my 83 Squier or my 85 Jazzmaster anytime soon.

ayyyy lemme get that tele

[ekwatts]

Fender Japan(even before it was Fender Japan) always kept Fender on their toes. It would be a shame to lose that.

They actually bailed Fender out in the late 80s, I think. Or it was a Japanese investor, I can't remember.

But I always thought that was why Fender Japan was given so much leeway, because effectively Fender just wouldn't have existed without the Japanese interest.

I started playing guitar in the 90s and I remember the market pretty well. If you wanted a strat, an SG or a Les Paul then you were sorted, you boring fucking cunt. But if you wanted something remotely interesting then LOL FUCK YOU. Now the market is totally different, but throughout all that I remember glimpsing Fender Japan models, sometimes in magazines or on the internet and they were always wacky, wild and pretty inspiring.

I think the market in general in the west has sort of caught up, now. But it's still kinda sad that the old wildcard Fender Japan might now be gone.

[jcyphe]

Fender Japan(even before it was Fender Japan) always kept Fender on their toes. It would be a shame to lose that.

They actually bailed Fender out in the late 80s, I think. Or it was a Japanese investor, I can't remember.

But I always thought that was why Fender Japan was given so much leeway, because effectively Fender just wouldn't have existed without the Japanese interest.

I started playing guitar in the 90s and I remember the market pretty well. If you wanted a strat, an SG or a Les Paul then you were sorted, you boring fucking cunt. But if you wanted something remotely interesting then LOL FUCK YOU. Now the market is totally different, but throughout all that I remember glimpsing Fender Japan models, sometimes in magazines or on the internet and they were always wacky, wild and pretty inspiring.

I think the market in general in the west has sort of caught up, now. But it's still kinda sad that the old wildcard Fender Japan might now be gone.

From what I read the Japanese distributors and manufacturers had a lot of power because they were already making Fender style instruments and Fender's IP law wasn't really enforceable in Japan. So Fender figured, might as well join with them if we can't "beat them". Then Fender had to retool their factory after CBS sold the company so there was a period where all the Fender guitars were coming from Japan or were leftover US made stock. The Japanese were really crucial in making the American companies both Gibson and Fender realize that people wanted re-issues in the style of the 50's and 60's models.

[Addam]

Fender Japan(even before it was Fender Japan) always kept Fender on their toes. It would be a shame to lose that.

They actually bailed Fender out in the late 80s, I think. Or it was a Japanese investor, I can't remember.

But I always thought that was why Fender Japan was given so much leeway, because effectively Fender just wouldn't have existed without the Japanese interest.

I started playing guitar in the 90s and I remember the market pretty well. If you wanted a strat, an SG or a Les Paul then you were sorted, you boring fucking cunt. But if you wanted something remotely interesting then LOL FUCK YOU. Now the market is totally different, but throughout all that I remember glimpsing Fender Japan models, sometimes in magazines or on the internet and they were always wacky, wild and pretty inspiring.

I think the market in general in the west has sort of caught up, now. But it's still kinda sad that the old wildcard Fender Japan might now be gone.

From what I read the Japanese distributors and manufacturers had a lot of power because they were already making Fender style instruments and Fender's IP law wasn't really enforceable in Japan. So Fender figured, might as well join with them if we can't "beat them". Then Fender had to retool their factory after CBS sold the company so there was a period where all the Fender guitars were coming from Japan or were leftover US made stock. The Japanese were really crucial in making the American companies both Gibson and Fender realize that people wanted re-issues in the style of the 50's and 60's models.

From what I remember reading, there was a management buyout from CBS in the early '80s where they bought the rights to the name Fender, the designs, models etc, but no actual physical manufacturing facilities, tooling or real estate.
The 'new' Fender concern went through a stage when all their product manufacture was contracted out (to factories that had previously built replicas).

[Dillon]

Yeah, that's exactly right. Many Fender guitars sold in the US for 1984 and 1985 were made in Japan. The rest were leftovers from the 1983 model year. But, Fender partnered with Japanese companies as early as '82, in an effort to save a struggling company and generate more business. IIRC I read that they were closing down the CBS factory at the end of '84. Then CBS sold to Fender employees.

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-02-02/ ... nstruments

http://www.music-trade.co.jp/Fenderjapanserial.html

http://www.adirondackguitar.com/fender/FenHist.htm

That last link is especially telling.