Fender Squier current status & availability - IMPORTANT INFO - HMX update to OP 6/27

[alexlifeson]

Something along the lines of what Rock Smith is now doing with their "tour vans" in concerts and events? and that is just for the game, not an incredible guitar technology like this was

Seems Fender rubber stamped their name on this and didnt care to promote it to help sales

If they had really wanted to sell it, they're be demos and kiosks and more advertising. That some large online retailers and large music retailers would have been selling it.

It couldn't really have been because the retailer was going to sell the guitars in store one by one personally in the music section as instruments being explained and set up for users. The store availability and employee knowledge alone precludes that, doesn't it?

[lvmathemagician]

That's what warranties ARE. You make NOTHING off it, and you pay to fix anything you screwed up. Manufacturing extra parts, completely replacing dead guitars, etc. Usually while covering shipping and handling as well(of a large, fragile product, in this case).

How exactly do you think warranties work?

The expected cost of the warranty is built into the price of the guitar. If the average cost of the warranties is less than what is built into the price, the manufacturer makes extra profit. If the cost of the warranties is greater than what is built into the price, then the manufacturer makes less than expected. Same is true for defects spotted on the line.

[Bront20]

So Fender Sucks because their first production run of the Squier pro-guitar was apparently more popular than they thought it would be, and they have not yet announced whether or not they will make a second run (although we all presume they will not).

I see...

How was it more popular than they thought it would be? They seem to think they have enough still in warehouses that they stopped production at the moment. More popular than they thought would mean they'd still be producing them.

[ManiacMark]

How was it more popular than they thought it would be? They seem to think they have enough still in warehouses that they stopped production at the moment. More popular than they thought would mean they'd still be producing them.

They did not 'stop production'. They ran the production run, produced the amount of units they intended to produce and have not yet committed to a second production run. This has already been stated in this thread. Note in the HMX edit on the first post:

due to significant manufacturing lead times and the quantity currently available in the retail channel, Fender has decided not to place any more back orders for direct fulfillment.

'significant manufacturing lead times' means that they run production in 'batches'. They produce X number of guitars of a set model and then move on to the next model. If they wish to produce more of the first model they must re-tool again, get the part manufacturers going and then set up an assembly run.

See also: http://www.rockband.com/forums/showt...=1#post4432886

[tnevaker]

How was it more popular than they thought it would be? They seem to think they have enough still in warehouses that they stopped production at the moment. More popular than they thought would mean they'd still be producing them.

only if you assume they "thought it would be" so popular that it would sell out within a few months, the warehouses would be empty, and they'd have to schedule a 2nd production run almost right away. apparently they didn't think it would be that popular, more likely they thought the initial run would satisfy the immediate demand with enough left over to sell the rest over a period of a year or more.

[mikeyts]

They did not 'stop production'. They ran the production run, produced the amount of units they intended to produce and have not yet committed to a second production run

Well, technically speaking, they did stop production; you're saying that they planned to stop it .

'significant manufacturing lead times' means that they run production in 'batches'. They produce X number of guitars of a set model and then move on to the next model. If they wish to produce more of the first model they must re-tool again, get the part manufacturers going and then set up an assembly run.

The problem with that is that they did almost no distribution to non-US markets and left a significant number of unsatisfied pre-orders in other parts of the world (or even in this part of the world, considering Canada). They had to have known what the global pre-order demand was--why wouldn't they have made sure to make enough to take care of it?

We can't know how "significant" the number of unsatisfied pre-orders is, or how many they could immediately sell off the shelf in other countries, or even how many they'd consider to be enough to justify producing more.

[jimhenry]

They had to have known what the global pre-order demand was--

I'd be surprised if that was true at the time Fender placed orders for parts that were unique to the RB Squier. The number that could be produced was probably limited by parts that were ordered before RB3 was even released in October of 2010. The lead time for something like the special fretboard is probably much longer than most of us would expect.

[Stol-FA-Lin]

The expected cost of the warranty is built into the price of the guitar. If the average cost of the warranties is less than what is built into the price, the manufacturer makes extra profit. If the cost of the warranties is greater than what is built into the price, then the manufacturer makes less than expected. Same is true for defects spotted on the line.

Well also and I don't know this but sometimes the overall support budget just covers whatever, and so one product may be more expensive to support and the other less expensive, so they group it all together. Effectively making supporting this just more of the same, just with some special parts. Now, if they ordered those parts at all, or only got 5% extra when they needed 10% and couldn't cannibalize any returns, and so on and so forth, it's just like all the other things we don't know and can only guess at with little or nothing to back it up.

I'd be surprised if that was true at the time Fender placed orders for parts that were unique to the RB Squier. The number that could be produced was probably limited by parts that were ordered before RB3 was even released in October of 2010. The lead time for something like the special fretboard is probably much longer than most of us would expect.

The sensor board and the internal MIDI components and the like might be highly specialized, or from something else they or somebody else is working on. The body itself (and the neck and tuners) and the things in it, that's perhaps another story. From the looks of the fret strip, I wouldn't see why whoever actually builds that couldn't make another 1,000 or 50,000 or however many RB3 Squiers they made and whatever else the fret strip might go to.

[jimhenry]

I don't doubt that Fender could make more RB Squiers if they wanted to.

My point was simply that Fender probably placed orders for parts that established the size of the production run long before there were any pre-orders or anything else to give them an idea of the demand for the RB Squier.

This probably also means that from such time as Fender might decide to produce a second batch of RB Squiers until they appeared at retailers could be many months, maybe even a year. Just the time to move the batch of finished guitars from the factory to the retailers is not inconsiderable.

Based on the information that has surfaced, and disappointing as it may be to us fans I do thank Fender and Harmonix for providing some insight into the production of the RB Squier, I certainly understand why the RB Squier has become hard to find and why that situation is not going to getter better soon, if ever.

As much of a fan of the RB Squier as I am, if I worked for Fender I'd be reluctant to place an order for a second production run that wouldn't be available for sale until some time in 2012. Despite all the agonizing over the scarcity of the RB Squier in this Forum, I am not convinced that I could move 1, 000 RB Squiers at list price in a reasonable length of time from right now even if I could deliver them anywhere in the world at no cost.

I don't fault Fender for wanting to quit while they are ahead with the RB Squier.

For those in the U.S., Best Buy still has ready availability but based on the decline in the number of stores reporting them on the shelves, now about 15% based on my sampling, I don't think the RB3 Squier is going to be available here for too much longer.

For those outside the U.S., I am truly sorry that you had such limited access to this really remarkable addition to Rock Band.

[ManiacMark]

Well, technically speaking, they did stop production; you're saying that they planned to stop it .

Symantics, mostly, 'stopped' implies that it was not yet finished and that the run was 'stopped' before it was ended. Like the phrase 'stop the presses'. As opposed to 'The printing run has ended."

The problem with that is that they did almost no distribution to non-US markets and left a significant number of unsatisfied pre-orders in other parts of the world (or even in this part of the world, considering Canada). They had to have known what the global pre-order demand was--why wouldn't they have made sure to make enough to take care of it?

I agree with jimhenry on this, if production involved 'significant lead times' then I am guessing that most of the production (of at least parts) was probably finished before they even started taking pre-orders. Certainly the number was determined before pre-orders where even being taken.

We can't know how "significant" the number of unsatisfied pre-orders is, or how many they could immediately sell off the shelf in other countries, or even how many they'd consider to be enough to justify producing more.

Agreed, it will be a long time (many months) before what currently exists is completely sold out. Only then could still existing time be determined, and only then could Fender determine if there was justification to do another production run, and only then could the 'significant lead time' begin on the next production run.

I agree that somebody did a bad job judging the international market, but I am not sure who the blame would lie upon.