Fender aiming for chapter 11?

Basvarken · September 22, 2021, 04:58:49 AM

Maybe Henry J. has found a job at Fender?
The very thing that brought Gibson on the verge of bankruptcy, seems now to be pursued by Fender:
Instead of making stringed instruments and amplifiers, they now think they will stand a chance on the market of turntables.

https://www.fender.com/en-US/lifestyle/gifts-novelty/fender-x-mofi-precisiondesk-turntable/9190021010.html

uwe · September 22, 2021, 08:01:11 AM

If Fender goes bankrupt, my work will be done here.

That's a weird turntable belt. I could imagine people liking the looks of this, but it will need to be excellent quality too for the hifi buffs. You know, those people that believe in "cleaning AC power" and stuff like that.

BTL · September 22, 2021, 11:38:09 AM

They are CNC-milling and finishing 1,000 ash blanks and shipping them to MoFi for assembly and sale at a $2,400 markup over their standard offering.

https://mofi.com/collections/mofi-electronics/products/mofi-electronics-studiodeck-foundation-turntable

https://mofi.com/products/mofi-electronics-fender-x-mofi-precisiondeck-limited-edition-turntable

They are posted on the "gifts and novelty" section of Fender's site.

Dave W · September 22, 2021, 09:53:01 PM

Ridiculous price but with the financial strength of their ownership, Fender isn't in any danger of going the way of Henry J.

I'll stick with the used $60 Sansui turntable I bought from eb2 Jim.

BTL · September 23, 2021, 07:56:05 AM

The fetishism of scarcity and the business of collectables are curious things.

TBird1958 · September 23, 2021, 08:43:01 AM

My Bull$%^& meter is pegged.

Sorry, never been a 7ender fan.

D.M.N. · September 23, 2021, 09:25:52 AM

Yeah...I think I'll stick with my Dual 1009...

uwe · September 23, 2021, 09:43:14 AM

LOL, those weren't great either!

Pilgrim · September 23, 2021, 10:44:06 AM

I keep wondering why the resurgence of vinyl. Maybe my hearing went a long time ago or I was listening to music on cheap systems that couldn't show me the difference.

Having battled vinyl damage as a DJ and having babied 45s and 33s against warping, transit, temperature and handling damage, I rejoiced to have CDs that were smaller, much more damage-proof, easier to transport and store, and which have greater capacity for more music per disc. It soon became apparent that they could be digitally transferred much more easily than LPs for portability on personal devices as well.

I keep wondering how much of this vinyl craze is pure nostalgia, now much is a compulsion to play with technical toys, how much is actually a difference in sound reproduction, and how much is psycho-acoustics.

Meanwhile, my 40-year-old turntable is still connected to a pretty good (for its generation) Sony receiver that is old enough that it has properly EQ'd turntable inputs, and I'll bet I'm not the only one here. I have an 8-foot long cabinet of LP records, but I honestly can't remember the last time I played one.

Maybe I'll have to try it and see if that turntable still works.

But inna meantime, if Fender can make a buck selling techy-looking turntables to those convinced they should have the latest "neat-o jet" turntable, more power to them.

4stringer77 · September 23, 2021, 11:20:14 AM

I think the analog aspect of vinyl appeals to a lot of people but I agree with what you're saying Pilgrim. Vinyl degrades every time it's played and I have some 20 year old cds that still sound perfect. Nostalgia could be a factor as well. Perhaps 8 tracks and cassette tapes will also have a resurgence some day.

Basvarken · September 23, 2021, 02:16:58 PM

Quote from: 4stringer77 on September 23, 2021, 11:20:14 AM
Perhaps 8 tracks and cassette tapes will also have a resurgence some day.

Which is already the case.
Young artists releasing their new songs on cassette.
Completely absurd.

I wonder if they include a pencil.

westen44 · September 23, 2021, 04:53:10 PM

Quote from: TBird1958 on September 23, 2021, 08:43:01 AM

My Bull$%^& meter is pegged.

Sorry, never been a 7ender fan.

There aren't many things that I can even think of that I would be less interested in than a Fender turntable. Or actually any turntable for that matter.

Dave W · September 24, 2021, 12:22:49 AM

My turntable is to play records I already have or to buy some oldie not available on CD. I wouldn't buy new vinyl unless it's a vinyl only release, like a 7" single.

uwe · September 24, 2021, 07:02:57 AM

Quote from: Pilgrim on September 23, 2021, 10:44:06 AM
I keep wondering why the resurgence of vinyl. Maybe my hearing went a long time ago or I was listening to music on cheap systems that couldn't show me the difference.

Having battled vinyl damage as a DJ and having babied 45s and 33s against warping, transit, temperature and handling damage, I rejoiced to have CDs that were smaller, much more damage-proof, easier to transport and store, and which have greater capacity for more music per disc. It soon became apparent that they could be digitally transferred much more easily than LPs for portability on personal devices as well.

I keep wondering how much of this vinyl craze is pure nostalgia, now much is a compulsion to play with technical toys, how much is actually a difference in sound reproduction, and how much is psycho-acoustics.

Meanwhile, my 40-year-old turntable is still connected to a pretty good (for its generation) Sony receiver that is old enough that it has properly EQ'd turntable inputs, and I'll bet I'm not the only one here. I have an 8-foot long cabinet of LP records, but I honestly can't remember the last time I played one.

Maybe I'll have to try it and see if that turntable still works.

But inna meantime, if Fender can make a buck selling techy-looking turntables to those convinced they should have the latest "neat-o jet" turntable, more power to them.

Pilgrim, you're my hifi messiah! This is a bass forum. Any bassist claiming that vinyl is even an adequate, much less a superior medium to transport bass frequencies isn't quite right in the head. Any studio engineer/producer will tell you that bass frequencies and vinyl don't mix well and were always hugely compromised in the recording process. Until the advent of CD, most bass drum patterns weren't even audible on vinyl if there was a lot of other music going on. The current craze for half-speed mastering is a valiant and vain effort to compensate for the sonic limits inherent to vinyl.

In blind tests, people prefer the standard CD signal with a little vinyl hiss and crackle artificially added to either the pure CD or the pure vinyl signal. It's all in the mind.

I miss vinyl for the size of the album covers and the gatefold sleeves, there was undeniably a visual art aspect to it. (Roger Dean covers on CD are like watching Lawrence of Arabia on your smartphone.) But for nothing else (ok, new vinyl smelled nice). If I hear vinyl these days, I immediately ask myself: "Where's the bass?"

My oldest CDs are 30 years old now. Some of them are discolored - sort of a nickel color rather than the original silver - but their signal is still perfectly fine.

Basvarken · September 24, 2021, 08:04:57 AM

CD-R however is an entirely different matter.
I have many of these that don't work after less than 4 years.
We used to store back ups on CD-R (and later DVD-R) of designs and projects with my design studio.
All gone. We truly live in the dark ages when it comes to data storage and means to decipher data after a relatively short period of time.
Anyone remember sy-quest, optical disc, zip disk, dat tape? Lots of bits that are lost in cyber space.