CITES, Rosewood, and the Price Hike

[blackbox]

omfg, $25 to $50 hikes????

well fuck me, I better get a 2nd job

[PixMix]

...

I know it's two different companies, and maybe Gibson is cutting prices because of reduced demand while Fender is increasing them due to increased demand or something, but as the "big 2" USA-based electric guitar companies, it's an interesting comparison to note. My MIM ("from USA parts") TVL is now more expensive to buy in Canada than a USA Firebird V, which I would have thought to be an insane statement 10 years ago.

Yeah, Fender is definitely taking advantage of the current wave of popularity. Gibson hiked their prices steeply on their 2015 models to which it also introduced some really unpopular changes. LP Standard went from 3k in 2014 to $3900 in 2015. They lowered their prices in less than a year as nothing was moving. Now a 2017 LP Standard costs $3200.

https://reverb.com/news/gibson-to-incre ... s-for-2015

[PixMix]

The most recent word to come from Fender:

Fender is committed to the continued use of Rosewood in American-made solid body guitars, such as our American Professional Series. After actively exploring alternate wood options to Rosewood for selective use on a few US models, we will be transitioning most of our Mexico made product away from rosewood to pau ferro, a fantastic alternate we currently use on the SRV signature strat. The American Elite series is transitioning to ebony fretboards with dealers and our inventories.

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/ ... f-rosewood

[s_mcsleazy]

honestly, i dont mind the shift to other fretboard woods. pao ferro (or whatever it is called) is a really good fretboard wood. i would also like to see more use of the epoxy fretboards. i've played a lot of guitars with them. while the look is a bit... striking to say the least. the tone is good.

[dren68]

honestly, i dont mind the shift to other fretboard woods. pao ferro (or whatever it is called) is a really good fretboard wood. i would also like to see more use of the epoxy fretboards. i've played a lot of guitars with them. while the look is a bit... striking to say the least. the tone is good.

DiPinto recently posted that they would be offering Richlite as an option for fingerboards. Is that what you mean by epoxy fretboards? I hadn't heard of it until then, but I'd be curious to try it out, at least.

https://www.facebook.com/dipintoguitars ... =3&theater

[Embenny]

honestly, i dont mind the shift to other fretboard woods. pao ferro (or whatever it is called) is a really good fretboard wood. i would also like to see more use of the epoxy fretboards. i've played a lot of guitars with them. while the look is a bit... striking to say the least. the tone is good.

DiPinto recently posted that they would be offering Richlite as an option for fingerboards. Is that what you mean by epoxy fretboards? I hadn't heard of it until then, but I'd be curious to try it out, at least.

https://www.facebook.com/dipintoguitars ... =3&theater

Richlite is one of those things that got the AGF all riled up when it started making its way through the Martin lineup, but to be honest, it's an excellent material. Feels great, looks good, sounds good. People will get over the "blasphemy" aspect quite quickly. The reality is that we can't keep making guitars on a modern production scale like it's the fifties or sixties. The combined output of Gibson and Fender in the entire decade of the fifties is probably less than what FMIC sells in a single year now, and we've spent an extra half-century logging old growth forests in the meantime.

I welcome the change to modern, more sustainable woods (e.g. Gibson with baked maple) and materials (like Richlite). This feels long overdue.

Save the real rosewood for things like vintage reissue guitars where accuracy is more highly valued. A modern MIM model will do fine with richlite, and a $300 Squier certainly doesn't "need" the woods to be authentic to an early 60's strat.

[loveinathens]

We need more aluminum.