I might have room for a few more. I have my eye on a really nice Rickenbacker.
Posted on 08/29/2023 10:08:17 AM PDT by Drew68
Fender’s CFO Matt Janopaul has revealed that in 2022 the electric guitar giant had to deal with almost $100 million worth of canceled orders.
Most players know by now that one of the few upsides of the pandemic was a boom in guitar sales. Indeed, after some years on the wane, guitar sales returned to their highest figures since the ’60s Beatlemania boom.
Of course, what goes up, must go down, and a decline has subsequently followed. Now we have some concrete figures from the world’s biggest guitar brand, Fender.
Speaking to business publication Pyments as part of its Tough Calls series, Janopaul discussed the extent of the downturn in orders and explained how Fender survived the knock.
“We had 16 million people pick up a guitar during the pandemic, 30 million worldwide. And the industry and Fender really benefited from that,” explains Janopaul.
“Then, of course, we get to 2022 and people decide to start taking vacations or doing other things with their disposable income. Guitars were no longer the priority – and the tough call I had to make was dealing with retail partner cancellations of orders in the magnitude approaching $100 million.”
Putting that into perspective, Janopaul says the figure equated to roughly “600,000 guitars and 200,000 amps”. As such, the firm opted to move quickly.
“We took action,” he tells Pymnts. “It was one of those things where you could not wait.”
Translating the business jargon [“postponed POs with our OEMs” anyone? – Ed] that action took the form of slowing down manufacturing – a challenging task, with supply lines that cross continents – and dealing with a significant stockpile of product.
“If [suppliers] had stuff that was about to hit the water, we said, ‘Please hold on to it’ and that we’ll eventually need it and will work through it,” says Janopaul.
“We stood up extra warehouses where the [existing] product could come into. Then we looked at every single piece of our operating expense infrastructure and said, ‘Where can we either cut costs or slow things down?’”
The firm reportedly laid off 300 California employees last August and the news appears to align with speculation online from players and dealers that Fender has been working through a significant oversupply.
What has that meant for us guitar buyers? Well, you might have spotted a few discounts on Fender’s direct sales platforms – not least its ongoing Labor Day sale. Likewise, Fender opted to not appear at NAMM in 2022 and 2023, citing the costs involved.
While we don’t necessarily expect Fender at NAMM next year, we’d speculate that another factor behind that decision might have been about keeping marketing budgets intact, ready to back new inventory down the line.
Regardless, it would seem the call was the right one. Indeed, Fender CEO Andy Mooney told us earlier this year that “2022 ended up being the second best year we've ever had.”
“Often what happens is that out of these tough calls, and borne of patience, comes opportunity,” says Janopaul.
“Fender is 77 years old. We’ve been through recessions, wars, now a pandemic, economic downturns, you name it and the company has continued to thrive. It’s always going back to the basics: saying what does the brand stand for? What do guitar players or musicians want and delivering on those things.”
For more on Fender and NAMM, the future of the iconic guitar firm and a digital amp development that “will blow people’s minds”, read our full 2023 interview with Fender CEO Andy Mooney.
And now there's 15,900,000 guitars for sale on Craigslist.
And now there’s 15,900,000 guitars for sale on Craigslist.
No. There are 8,000,000 million more people who think they are stars and looking for a place to play. I guess the bright side is many of them will begin to go to church.
Sure wish I still had my Stratocaster Sunburst.
I have owned a lot of guitars, going back to the 80s. Many Fenders.
I have to say that the quality of the current fenders is, overall, really excellent.
IMO/IME. pretty much better than anything they have ever put out.
I have been to several NAMM shows in recent years and it has always stunned me to ponder How many Thousands of guitars the world can actually absorb,
It's like this across all brands. CNC machining has revolutionized the guitar manufacturing industry (thanks Hartley Peavey). Even the cheap Chinese counterfeits are better-playing instruments in fit and finish than what many American companies were churning out in the 1970s.
They’re a plucky business
They’ll be fine
I might have room for a few more. I have my eye on a really nice Rickenbacker.
This isn't used, this is how it comes from the Fender Custom Shop.
See it here.
This.
Although they're almost like firearms where you need different models after winning the lottery.
-Electric
-Acoustic
-Twelve String
-Bass
-Baritone
-With locking tremolo
-Without tremolo
-With single-stack pickups
-With humbucker pickups
-With stacked humbucker pickups
-Slide guitar
-Mandolin-guitar
-Guitar with a compound neck radius
-Guitars with differing neck radii
-Guitars with different wiring options such as treble bypass
-Guitars with serial / parallel switches
-Guitars with tapped pickup coils
-Double neck guitar 12 and 6
-Double neck guitar standard and baritone
-Double neck guitar standard and slide
-Double neck guitar standard and octave neck
-Double neck guitar baritone and bass
-Double neck guitar standard and bass
-Guitars with double cutaways at the neck
-Flying V guitar
etc.
...and just when you think you've played some variations, you see a video of Justin Johnson playing a 3-string shovel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-ltPsbw9g
I’ve enjoyed listening to Justin for a while now, very talented.
Don't forget, you need a backup for all of those as well.
...and then all the pedals and amp combinations...
The gods of tone allow no rest.
“There were 15 million fingers, learning how to play, and you could here the fingers pickin’ and this is what they had to say...” -ACDC, Let there be rock.
But screw Fender. They went to bed with the Kenyan bastard Obama to attack Gibson. Fine guitars but it is run by woke pricks who use the government to destroy their competition.
Seeing all those guitars stacked up and leaning on their necks is causing me emotional distress :D
That’s some shovel ready music.👍👍👍
First Fender acoustic I ever bought the neck broke while tuning. There was a knot in the heal that was an obvious manufacturing defect that should have been seen. They demanded I paid to have it repaired and ship it at my expense to and from the factory. Was going to cost as much as the guitar. Never again will I buy one of their garbage products. It just takes one issue to totally turn a fan of a company to one who despises them, me. Especially after their conspiring with Obama to take out Gibson.
Nice collection! I've only got a measly thirteen electrics (twelve too many if you ask my wife).
I'd love a Ric 660/12. There's a waiting list for a lot of Rickenbacker models. They've never expanded beyond the small California guitar manufacturer that they've always been, selling every last guitar they make.
“...Janopaul says the figure equated to roughly “600,000 guitars and 200,000 amps”
Hang on.
800,000 units = $100 million? So each guitar or amp averaged about $120? I know Fender does make some less expensive amps and guitars, but I don’t see anyway that the average selling price of individual Fender amps and guitars is $120. Heck, a Mexican Strat is many times that price (and a pretty good guitar).
The 3-string shovel was great!
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