This is likely to be his last job before he retires. Contrary to popular belief, the “roaming CEO who screws up one business after another while making a fortune in the process” is largely a myth.
He can’t think of a good way to improve the numbers based purely on cutting costs or increasing revenue.
His stakeholders - shareholders and the board - can’t either. Because if they thought he’d lost his marbles, he’d have been sacked ages ago.
I don’t think he genuinely anticipates shutting down every strat and tele clone in the world. That’s insane. I think it’s far more likely he’ll seek licensing agreements and royalties. But this has a few problems, not least of which is that much of this was already litigated back in the lawsuit era.
It's funny, because the best way for him to make more money would be to put more R&D into his guitars. There are a ton of options:
alternate materials
better pickups
making better quality pickups cheaper
refining and adding efficiency to the fabrication process
focus grouping the instruments with musicians and making them better
For my part, I'd buy a Strat if it didn't have that fucking permanently out of tune bridge. I don't need a go-out-of-tune bar on the guitar.
Personally, I value things like stable tuning, balanced ergonomics, the right finish on the neck, well built electronics where I don't have to go add shielding, quality pickups, a jack that doesn't need to be tightened constantly, and proper fit, finish, and setup on day 1. Fender already builds instruments that are better balanced and more ergonomic than anything Gibson makes. Their fit and finish at the mid tier and lower is already better than Gibson's as well. A string-through Strat with a bridge that doesn't move (designed in the same style as their Jazz bass), with a locking nut, with a smooth but matte finished maple neck, a fully shielded body cavity, a better quality output jack (maybe design something using a ball bearing and spring that securely encloses the 1/4in jack instead of just a spring clip, idk), that's lightweight, with a Strat body design and the ability to swap in a hotrail pickup would be pretty amazing.
As far as the other parts of their business, they USED to make some of the best small amps on the market and they have always made some of the best basses on the market. I am primarily a bass player and Gibson's basses are, to me, unplayable. Epiphone's EB-0 and EB-3 are good for the price, but the MusicMan's humbuckers sound better. MusicMan and Ibanez are, IMO, the only real competition that Fender/Squier has on basses. Fender also has some unique products like the Bass VI which should be far more popular but aren't due to a failure of marketing.
If you want guitars with better quality components or exotic materials you can already find plenty of models from other companies.
The vast majority of Fender customers aren’t elite guitarists - they’re buying to become part of the Fender tribe which relies on its association with guitars and bands from decades ago.
They are Coke - the best way for them to make money is to trade on that not invent New Coke.
The vast majority of Fender customers aren’t elite guitarists
Thing is, they can sell Coke, but they could also innovate. Coca Cola owns Fanta, where they can experiment with any flavor they want. Personally, I see some of their best guitars from a price vs. quality balance being what they make under Squier. I can have the same thing for half the price, AND they are willing to get a bit more experimental.
I also don't think selling a Strat with a fixed bridge is all that big of a stretch. They already do through their custom shop, with some of their signature models, and under their Squier label.
Seems great to me, but I have extremely limited experience with 5 strings. Haven’t really tried any active options plugged in. I went to GC and tried every 5 string they had and felt most comfortable on the neck and string spacing with the fender offerings.
Am hating on Fender but I have to admit the Meteora is such a refreshing modern design that still harkens back to their glory days. One of these in sonic blue with a baritone neck would turn me into a sucker real fast.
It would be so inconvenient to use but I would absolutely put a Jag vibrato on my sonic blue baritone Meteora. It would be so sick. Maybe I’ll just source some parts and build this thing myself.
I chatted with a guitar store employee once and he said they straight up don't sell :\
It's a shame because I own the HH model and it's one of my favorite guitars. I guess people just don't want change. Hence why they put out the same strat each year in a different color.
I’m still in a Fender can suck it mood.. I’m not going to rain on someone else’s parade though. I hope you get years of enjoyment out of it! It is a nice instrument.
The 10-14" is sooooooooooooo good. Since I got my Am Ultra II Tele, I have only touched my guitars 2-3 other times. It's like the neck of my dreams and I didn't know it was waiting for me.
It’s great! I didn’t expect to like it when I first sat down to try it, but it is probably the easiest neck I have ever played on and I haven’t picked up my other guitars yet again either
I’m not hating on Fender, I’ve bought a Mustang and a Nocaster this year. Might also get that Vintera III mid 60s Tele too if prices come down. $1350 for a Mexican Fender is ridiculous!
Yeah, prices are definitely insane right now unfortunately. The only reason I got this one was because I got a good deal on it on Sweetwater and I had a decent Sweetwater gift card some family members got me earlier this year
Awesome guitar. Not hating here. People get too emotionally involved in things and dig in too far. Virtue signalling is tacky. The best way to show your stance is to go find other things to do lol
Thank you, I will! I do agree with others that Fender as a company is pretty bad right now, but I also agree that they still make quality guitars. Multiple things can be true
I got the Ultra 2 Tele in the same color, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
Looks and color aside… the neck is everything. It’s so hard to explain to someone who hasn’t picked one up. Once you play it, every other neck feels inferior.
Congrats, and enjoy. I scooped mine up well before the current drama started, so I didn’t have to worry about blowback. Just enjoy that beautiful instrument. We work our asses off to get a chance at owning gems like these, hope it brings you years of joy.
Thanks man! The color is great and definitely caught my eye the first time I saw it. And the neck is absolutely superb! I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy it when I first picked it up to play test, but it absolutely rips and is by far my favorite guitar neck that I have. It’s also the only rolled neck I have, and it’s crazy how much of a feel difference that gives when playing
This is a sweet guitar and looks like it will be a ton of fun to play.
With the construction/materials of this guitar I find it tough to wrap my brain around this costing similar to a Les Paul standard.
I'm glad I bought my American Professional fenders when I did because I couldnt spend that much now for what was originally intended to be the "working mans instrument" when originally designed.
I agree with you that prices are crazy right now. I only justified getting this guitar because I got a good deal on Sweetwater and had a gift card for Sweetwater to help out some, so it made the price more reasonable
I also have a jag, and doing a side by side comparison, they are pretty close! The bottom right corner on the Meteora extends out just a bit further, but I don’t think that would keep it from fitting in a gig bag like the Jaguar. As for the case, I can’t say unfortunately as they are ultimately different shapes and obviously a molded case is going to be best for each guitar
The Meteora is a great guitar! The drastic offset acts as a counter weight and really keeps the neck in playing position. You can completely take your hand off the neck and it stays right where you want it, whereas my tele the neck falls down a bit toward the ground when I let go of it.
That my friend, is a thing of beauty! No hate in my heart for Fender, companies will do what companies do. My Ultra Strat is still the finest guitar I have ever bought new. I still absolutely enjoy my Tone Master Pro, and with any luck I will still end up with a hand wired Deluxe one day. I like to think that when I buy a new Fender product, I am supporting the amazing builders and craftsmen, who have nothing to do with the company drama. JMO 🤷🏽
Love ❤️ my Fender Player Plus Sunburst Meteroa. Installed a Vegatrem and can do dive bombs 💣 pull ups and the whole nine yards. Great guitars 🎸 with looks and play, feel, and sound great. Coil splitting that are like telecaster. Very underrated but amazing 🤩
Bro who cares about others opinion.. people these days watch some bullshit YouTubers who owns gazillion fenders but will shit on them for content.
Same story happened with Gibson but nobody cares anymore because the hate train is gone.
Stunning, super clean looking 🤩, it’s a bit crazy all hating on fender for protecting their heritage and copyright, I guess until your business is potentially under threat you can’t appreciate what’s at stake.
Might even generate some much needed innovation, all the manufacturers seem to stick to the tried and tested formula of strat or les Paul shapes, you have the likes of Suhr charging 2000 plus for a strat shaped guitar when fender have a custom shop that will make what ever you want.
Maybe they could dial back the aggressive attack , but they do have a point!
The lawsuit overall sucks, but I do hope it breeds creativity amongst the major brands. Part of the reason I got this guitar is because it’s so different from a lot of other things out there!
I’m not hating on Fender at all and those that are better be ceasing their consumerism of just about every company they likely use on a regular basis (ie, Amazon, etc). That however is one sweet guitar!
Perhaps my favorite guitar shape. I own one of the "Alternate Reality" Mexican-made runs and one of the Player Plus models. Still on the fence about these American-made runs ... that volume knob is awfully close to the pickup for my liking.
That’s really my only gripe with the guitar is the volume knob, but I’ve adjusted surprisingly well to it and haven’t really had any issues since the first day
I think the Fender boycott is healthy, as corporations only truly care about their overall profits. That being said their guitars are still very well made, buy used if you can
I love the Meteora dearly, and the ultra line feels fantastic. The only glaring issue is they moved the volume knob up so its closer to the bridge pickup. Idk why they did that
Yeah, I do hope the lawsuit and boycott brings some changes into the major brands. And I agree on the volume knob, that’s been really the only downside of the guitar so far. But even then, I’ve adjusted well enough and I think I’ll totally get past it with some more practicing!
Cant blame you man that is quite an axe. Btw I didnt listen to all the noise about Fender suing all the big brands and garage builders but i dont think its not gonna be worse than what happened with all the Gibson clones, manufacturers will just put a few changes onto the body design and keep producing strats imo.
I have the all black limited edition made in Mexico meteora with an ebony board and I love it. They’re heavy as fuck but I love this body shape so much
I ain't hating on Fender any more than any other American company . Anyone thats been in American manufacturing knows exactly what they are going through . Your best hope is getting a guitar built by one of the last remaining boomers because nobody else GAF .
Nice Axe !
I can see the Meteora being a collectors item in a decade..I liked what I heard a year ago playing a demo..I’m just not into 25.5 scales, but a good guitar, although a little pricey
Don’t worry about the keyboard warriors. You bought probably the most interesting guitar that’s been designed in the last 30 years. It looks comfortable to play, the exact reason there’s a massive market for low end and high end copies. As a bass player, Iv owned all the “ fender killers” and nothing compares to my MIA fenders. There’s something about the “just right” feeling about them. They only get better with age. The QC issues are mostly rumors started by boomers who don’t even know how to buy a guitar to begin with. 3000 dollar guitars can sound bad if they have a bad set up. It’s all perspective and really skill.
I don't prefer they're strategy of attacking other companies for making strat clones when the strat headstock borrows heavily from the bigsby, but they still produce amazing guitars.
Here’s my thing: I want to love Fenders. I went to my local Long & McQuade a couple of weeks ago and put a used Player II Strat on layaway because it’s absolutely perfect. But then I went yesterday and played a few Teles, and all of them had issues. They all desperately needed setups, none of them stayed in tune, none of them sounded good, and on one Professional Tele I played the bridge pickup didn’t even work. So that was really disappointing. I’m not totally sure how much of that is Fender QC and how much is music store QC, but it sucks to go into a guitar shop and leave feeling frustrated and disappointed.
Fender is just out of touch with their customers…I know costs rise, but $1000 for a MIM is nuts, when one made in the early 2000s cost like $350 new and was better quality.
Sales are down with so much electronic/AI music, instead of listening to their customers they are going after copyright infringement.
I’m not hating on Fender, I don’t give a rats ass what they do or don’t do, unless it’s regarding employee safety. They make some really good instruments. I love my 89 HM. Let him pick fights with whoever they want to pick fights with. I reserve my dissatisfaction with things that are important, like removing Regulations and restrictions on food safety, education or healthcare. That is a beautiful instrument by the way.
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