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Location: Michigan | i don't get it , stop building high end american ovations and start building high end american made fenders?
i am confused as to what they are trying to achieve . GWB 
http://www.fender.com/series/pro-custom/pro-custom-classic-koa-audi... |
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Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Don't think of it as a Fender acoustic.
Think of it as a high end Guild with a Fender label on it.
There must be enough Fender slappys out there who will jump on it just because of the logo.
Thing is.... being built at the Mothership, this might be the best acoustic ever to carry the Fender name.
Edited by Slipkid 2013-05-17 9:56 AM
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Location: Tennessee | guitarwannabee - i am confused as to what they are trying to achieve . GWB Enough revenue to keep the doors open and the workers working. And building world class guitars. |
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Location: Chicago | Hear, hear! I learned a WHOLE lot from the "O Stigma" post. If this guitar sounds and plays well and supports good people in Hartford, I'm glad. |
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Location: Tennessee | Here's a video about a little of what they're doing in New Hartford these days:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MNNxbsHumc
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Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | GULP! $3899 - that better be one hell of a Fender. Has anyone played one of these New Hartford custom Fenders yet?
It looks like a very nice guitar.
Edited by Brian T 2013-05-17 3:19 PM
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Location: south east Michigan | Nice little clip.
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I'm glad to see the doors still open.
Cause if they weren't open at all and there was not even that little corner for Ovation, we'd really be bitchin'. |
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Posts: 1478
Location: Michigan | i did not know fender even built a high end acoustic guitar , all i ever see at any stores are very low end price units.
then to see them advertise a new model high end mfg.$3899.00 seems like a huge leap for them .
it is a bold move for them and a 360 turn for a global company to bring back high end american made guitars.
i want to see the factory keep the jobs and the guitars here in the u.s
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maybe there onto something and i hope it works but i also remember fender building there latest plant south of the border to be competitive.
good luck to fender on going in this direction and maybe other companies will look at what fender is doing and start bringing some of our goods back to ( made in the u.s.a. ) GWB |
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Location: Jet City | I'm OK with whatever it takes to keep John and Kim answering the phones when I call, and those highly skilled craftspersons working on my guitars when needed. I don't care if they slap "Taylor" on the headstocks. It'll be a sad sad day if that factory closes down. FWIW, my first and only acoustic for nearly 20 years was a Fender. (and it was a cheap POS with a laminate top)
Edited by Damon67 2013-05-17 5:27 PM
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | guitarwannabee - 2013-05-17 2:59 PM
i did not know fender even built a high end acoustic guitar
They DON'T...
But if you can buy a coupla guitar companies until they get the craftsman that will...
Yeah... I want John to answer my email just like he has done since I came here.
And I want Fender to have an excuse to keep New Hartford open.
Just so we will have the MotherShip.
I am glad that the employees are having fun and getting a paycheck.
I won't be buying any Fender acoustic guitars though...  
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Location: New Bern, NC | No I won't be buying any Fender acoustics either! The only Fender acoustics I've ever seen or heard are the low end pieces of crap by beginner students bring to their lessons. I've had to send several of them back to the music stores they bought them from for adjustments because of horrible buzzes, VERY poor intonation, and downright poor workmanship. Honestly, any company that's willing to put their name of those instruments should be ashamed! |
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Location: Jet City | Kaman's put their name on some pretty shitty instruments too. Ever try a Montana? |
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Location: sitting at my computer | damon67 - ...Ever try a Montana? Hannah?! just kiddin' No never tried one, but have seen 'em on evilbay. Was pretty surprised to see Kaman Music Corporation on the label, right beneath... Made in Romania. huh??!! |
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Posts: 3612
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | As The Bard wrote, "A rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet."
If the Fender Custom Shop is serious about this, it could be the dawn of a new day. The sticker shock is a trifle daunting.
I will leave the playtest analysis to some of our more affluent, & discerning, membership. |
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Location: NJ | if you wanna play you gotta pay |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Amen, brother!
And, I REALLY don't like the way the IRS plays! |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Sorry, that was political. I apologize. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | That Fender looks like a cutaway version of the Guild 60th anniversary model. If that's the case, then the price is a bargain. |
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Location: Australia | After all these years Fender should except the fact that no decent player has ever or will ever want a Fender acoustic guitar. They have absolutely no legacy in pro quality acoustic guitars but still they will bash their heads up against the wall with some acoustic custom shop while right under their nose they have Ovation, a worldwide respected acoustic guitar for 40 plus years played by 100's of international stars over the years but what do they do with it, simply kick it to Korea.
In fact I wish Fender would sell Ovation to someone passionate about the brand who would refocus on the players and on making great acoustic guitars in the USA once again.
Fender have done a great job reviving Gretsch but a lousy job with Ovation.
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| richardd - 2013-05-27 5:16 PM
Fender have done a great job reviving Gretsch but a lousy job with Ovation.
Gretsch had a slightly more famous pedigree, if you get my drift. Perhaps if The Beatles used Ovations on their 64 appearance on Ed Sullivan maybe Fender would be more willing to market them, however as talented as Al Di Meola is, he's not as big of a draw. Is it unfair? Most certainly. Even George Harrison said he wasn't a fan of his Gretsch sound, and dumped it for Rickenbackers and Fenders in the studio by Rubber Soul. The fact that more talented guitarists such as Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin, (and Paul and John, but in the 70's to be fair), use them is a testament to their quality, but sometimes people don't want the good guitars; they want the guitars their idols used. No one used Les Paul guitars in the 60's, but after George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, et all the other famous 70's rockers started using them, all of a sudden LP's were fashionable again. Even Hofner wasn't a great guitar company until Paul McCartney made them famous. Beatle Nerd Rant over, but sometimes brand identity is hard to rebuild. For example, Fender makes a crappy acoustic....
Edited by paulramon1992 2013-05-27 10:28 PM
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | So, speculatively, how long to establish a Fender Acoustic loyalty & culture? And, will the beancounters allow it?
Have to agree with richardd- stay with the accepted & recognizable branding. |
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Location: Australia | Sorry Paul, I don't quite understand the point you're trying to make but as a major Gretsch fan (I own 6) I can tell you that the after the company was sold to Baldwin in the late 60's, the brand continued to slide until they went completely out of business in the early 80's. It took a Grestch family member who had the passion for the product to bring back an extinct brand and look at it today.
Ovation is nowhere near where Grestch was so it would be nice to think that down the road there could also be an Ovation second coming. |
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Location: Sunshine State, Australia | richardd - 2013-05-28 9:16 AM ... I wish Fender would sell Ovation to someone passionate about the brand who would refocus on the players and on making great acoustic guitars in the USA once again. Well said. (Well... well written!) |
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| This was a really good read! In the end it comes down to the almighty dollar. The passion the luthier has for the guitar is not going to be in line with what the CEO's and bean counters have in mind. Sad but the reality. I look forward to seeing where Ovation how from here, I just hope it isn't scrapped all together. |
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Location: Flahdaw | These high end acoustic Fenders will be great guitars. Will anyone buy them tho? That's what remains to be seen. |
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is this where fender is going at the old ovation factory
