Do Fender really want to kill off Jackson?

[Force]

This would seem odd as they own it, it's not competition if you make money on it, right?

The reason for this thread is out of..........well, both anger & confusion. Some time ago I was in a local store asking when they'd get some Jacksons in. The guy tells me that the Fender rep has no interest in bringing them in, he only wants to flog off Fenders. Bullshit? Maybe, maybe not.

Fast forward to this week & I thought I'd struck the jackpot, found a couple of websites for semi local stores that had most import models listed at what I'd consider great prices & free shipping. Thinking they might be scams (fell for one before), I gave the numbers a ring, checked street view etc, all legit.

So, anyway, after much frustration trying to get these noobs to look up the correct models I was requesting, the return calls ended in the same story as my local shop, the Fender rep is not very cooperative regarding Jackson, doesn't come out with "Make the customer buy a Fender instead", he just wouldn't give these businesses an idea on availability or an eta.

ith our dollar being so bad of late & shipping costs rising all the time, I guess I won't be buying anymore Jacksons for a very long time

[etepbbb]

I have no idea if Fender would like to kill the brand or not. But, even if they did want to, wouldn't the reps. be out in droves discounting Jacksons to unload the inventory? Sounds like a problem with rep. down there to me, or something along the lines of; they already have a billion Strats on the Australian continent, lets sell those first, before ordering more guitars. Just speculating, I don't know for sure.

[shreddermon]

Also possibly a lazy rep. Let's face it, it's a lot easier to sell Fenders nowadays than "metal" guitars like J/Cs. He may be just pushing the easy sell because most people will be more open to it, and it's less work for him. Lazy bastard. LOL

Let's face it, your circumstances could be due to a thousand different reasons, though. We'll never really know. But FMIC trying to kill one of their own brands? Companies aren't typically motivated to shoot themselves in the foot.

[Jack Napalm]

It's been what, 3 months or so since the last post like this? We were due...

[neilli]

I've been told they are restricting which dealers can order Custom Shops, or even Custom Select now.

But I was also told that a respected, non-partisan trade magazine are reporting Jackson are outselling ESP and Ibanez, which I found hard to believe..

[toejam]

But FMIC trying to kill one of their own brands? Companies aren't typically motivated to shoot themselves in the foot.

Like they did with Hamer?

[Flatpicker]

It's hard to say.
FMIC does have a new CEO who will place his own stamp on the org.

I could see Fender selling off some of these brands like they did with Guild.

[xenophobe]

Fender does not have a clue how to run the Jackson brand.

As of the last few years, they've been doing awesome pushing the Charvel brand. But they still don't have a clue how to run Jackson. Maybe they should get Jemma to do another series. Maybe that help with the skanky brand Jackson is. lol

[Aso]

Fender does not have a clue how to run the Jackson brand.

As of the last few years, they've been doing awesome pushing the Charvel brand. But they still don't have a clue how to run Jackson. Maybe they should get Jemma to do another series. Maybe that help with the skanky brand Jackson is. lol

But it's a high class skanky brand not your every street corner skanky so that must be why the reps are unwilling to work with some dealers

[shreddermon]

Like they did with Hamer?

Point taken, but only sort of. LOL. That was shutting down a brand they had recently acquired, with very low production. Not one they've been running for over a decade, with good sales.

[pianoguyy]

Fender wants to make money.
If a brand isn't making them money, they aren't going to invest in it --- hence, killing it off.

As for the dealers ---
I wonder if they are just telling customers that it is the rep. You need to buy in to each Fender brand, which means not everyone will carry them. Certainly a shop isn't going to tell a customer "I can't afford to pay for another dealership and have to stock product too."




For Jackson, without taking profit into consideration, my hope is ---
They quit making so many various lines. We need need a good line and a more affordable line. We do not need chinese junk. We need the USA and one import like the Professional Series. Wal-Mart priced units don't bring 'status' to a name.

Get back to the days when only a few thousand were made each year.
Let musicians drive the brand.

[MartinBarre]

Why would they go to the hassle of making them if they didn't want to sell them? I don't see why they'd want to kill Jackson, they'd just sell the brand instead surely? It's not like most people buying a Kelly would rather play a fucking Hank Marvin strat.
That being said, companies do some crazy shit at times.

[MartinBarre]

Fender wants to make money.
If a brand isn't making them money, they aren't going to invest in it --- hence, killing it off.

As for the dealers ---
I wonder if they are just telling customers that it is the rep. You need to buy in to each Fender brand, which means not everyone will carry them. Certainly a shop isn't going to tell a customer "I can't afford to pay for another dealership and have to stock product too."




For Jackson, without taking profit into consideration, my hope is ---
They quit making so many various lines. We need need a good line and a more affordable line. We do not need chinese junk.

The Chinese stuff isn't junk.

[BLOOD SPLATTER]

"kill" ?? no....but "sell" ....YES

[Force]

I understand not filling a wall full of a product that doesn't sell well enough to warrant having so much stock but how hard is it to order in 1 guitar for a customer that says "take my money now'? They did make a few calls & called me back a few times rather quickly so that was a positive. However, they should write down what you tell them, besides the model & specs, he couldn't get the colour right.....gloss black, how fucking hard is it to get 'gloss black' right?

I think you guys are right, it's a lazy rep that needs booting out.