USA Select Production Being Scaled Back?

[groverj3]

Hey, it's been a while since I've been around here but I do lurk from time to time.

A month or so ago I went to sweetwater sound in Fort Wayne, IN. Just to check out the place since they have a lot of sweet gear and it was only an hour drive. I ended up leaving with an SLX (replacing the SLSXMG I got right when the x series got relaunched, just didn't dig the white binding on a white guitar).

While I was there I was talking to one of the salespeople about Jackson custom shop orders and USA Selects. He said that Jackson is scaling back production of their USA Select line in order to catch up on custom orders. This would seem to match the latest price increases. I got an SL2H in 2007 for $1,700, and now they're selling new for slightly over 2k. Also, the number of finishes available has been decreasing at most dealers. He said you can order a non-standard finish for a smaller upchrage than a full-blown custom but you will likely have to wait as long as a custom order. Also hardware/pickup color changes will be a smaller upcharge, likely with a shorter wait-time.

At first I thought he was BSing me, but the people at sweetwater actually seem to know their stuff most of the time. Any idea if this is true?

[mjtripper]

I have no idea but since I'm in the Kalamazoo area I figured I'd reply anyway

[xenophobe]

Not sure about that particular "truth" but Jackson does need to do something about these 2+ year wait times for custom orders...

[neilli]

Wouldn't surprise me, given that (I am guessing here) that the market is probably fairly slow right now, so re-allocating production towards the CS to get the backlog down and the money in would seem to make sense to me.

[RacerX]

but Jackson does need to do something about these 2+ year wait times for custom orders...

Really? We must have missed your previous 1,253 posts where you whine about this!

[xenophobe]

Really? We must have missed your previous 1,253 posts where you whine about this!

I wouldn't call it whining. There's a definite tone of sorrow when I whine. If it's a touch of anger, then it's mad ranting.

[Newc]

As for the price increases, Jackson establishes an MSRP and the dealers have a degree of wiggle room on them, depending on their local market economy. If prices are going up, it might not be that Jackson has raised prices, but that the dealer has.


As for the 2+ year wait on customs - we're not the only ones ordering CS models. There are dealers ordering limited runs of this or that, as well as NAMM models to work on, as well as artist/endorser models to build to replace their worn out/broken/stolen/lost touring guitars.

If you factor all that in together, it's easy to see how a 5-person custom shop crew can get very far behind in a short period of time.

Plus they only work an 8-hour day, with weekends off? Plus they're probably training some of the USA Select crew to do CS models.

Might be time to look into a 24/7 continuous operation manufacturing model.

[xenophobe]

Might be time to look into a 24/7 continuous operation manufacturing model.

Or a few new employees...

[potatohead]

Two years is kind of crazy really, but it is what it is. More employees only makes sense if they can pay for themselves in decreased production time, and they can trust them to uphold the quality of the brand.

[groverj3]

If I had some specs I wanted really bad I wouldn't mind going to the custom shop despite the long wait. However, I might check out some smaller builders (reputable ones) and compare price and time to completion, etc.

However, I just thought that was an interesting tidbit of info from the peeps at sweetwater. I'm aware that dealers can set their own prices below MSRP, but in general it seems that the prices are going up a fair amount across the board for the USA models. Not a bad thing for those of us that already own one. It would fit with supply and demand though if they aren't making as many.

Granted, there is no way to verify that anything they said is true.

[snowblind56]

While I was there I was talking to one of the salespeople about Jackson custom shop orders and USA Selects. He said that Jackson is scaling back production of their USA Select line in order to catch up on custom orders. This would seem to match the latest price increases. I got an SL2H in 2007 for $1,700, and now they're selling new for slightly over 2k. Also, the number of finishes available has been decreasing at most dealers. He said you can order a non-standard finish for a smaller upchrage than a full-blown custom but you will likely have to wait as long as a custom order. Also hardware/pickup color changes will be a smaller upcharge, likely with a shorter wait-time.

At first I thought he was BSing me, but the people at sweetwater actually seem to know their stuff most of the time. Any idea if this is true?

I recently contacted some dealers about getting a USA Soloist in a discontinued color. I could have gotten it for about a $500 upcharge, but it would have been full custom shop, with the wait.

If I had some specs I wanted really bad I wouldn't mind going to the custom shop despite the long wait. However, I might check out some smaller builders (reputable ones) and compare price and time to completion, etc.

However, I just thought that was an interesting tidbit of info from the peeps at sweetwater. I'm aware that dealers can set their own prices below MSRP, but in general it seems that the prices are going up a fair amount across the board for the USA models. Not a bad thing for those of us that already own one. It would fit with supply and demand though if they aren't making as many.

Granted, there is no way to verify that anything they said is true.

It's not just FMIC that has raised prices. Just about every company in this industry has had to raise prices in the last 5 years or so.

[Whoopu2]

This sounds like a smart decision to me. USA Selects don't exactly seem to be flying off the shelves right now anyway...

[Nightbat]

Bad decision if you ask me

I still don't understand how hiring more help and making less (not 'no') profit is bad for business
when the alternative is jacking up prices so you're selling less guitars

[Predator1]

The entire CS facility is idle on Fridays. I have been there several times?

[xenophobe]

Bad decision if you ask me

I still don't understand how hiring more help and making less (not 'no') profit is bad for business
when the alternative is jacking up prices so you're selling less guitars

If they could hire new help and get wait times under a year, they could raise prices and still sell more guitars.

I wonder how many people here won't order a custom just because of the wait time.

And as I've said before, I'd pay $1000 upcharge for expedited processing if it could bring wait times from 2 years to like 9 months..