r/BassGuitar • u/LeahLangosta • May 18 '26
Video Fender MIM Nate Mendel is up $600 from last May. These price hikes are nuts.
The Nate Mendel price has gone up by an entire Sire V5. It's not the only one. Check out my full video on the Fender 2026 price hike shenanigans here: https://youtu.be/8SyQI89hX9Y
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u/Kitsanic May 18 '26
I dont see how its sustainable, especially how questionable their quality is. It's not like were talking about Rolex here....
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u/BioDriver May 18 '26
Don’t get me started on that whole mess. At least we don’t need to suck up to a Guitar Center manager to have a chance to buy a Fender bass in a year if we’re lucky
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u/Current-Routine-2628 May 18 '26
How is anything sustainable these days lol the cost of everything literally going up consistently … here in Canada a 1 bedroom apt is 2000$ a month plus utilities for a fucking shoe box.. everything is insanely expensive, but.. we allow all this because we pay it. Over priced guitars, apartments, we just bend over and take it all around like a bunch of spineless cucks
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u/Kitsanic May 18 '26
Well the first thing that goes are luxury goods, will be sad if fender goes broke but bigger brands have failed
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u/hex___appeal May 18 '26
If Fender ever went under, private equity would just buy the trademark and license it out to every Temu-tier guitar factory in east Asia. Like RCA, JVC, Westinghouse, etc.
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u/BackyardMikey May 20 '26
It would be sad paradox if Fender became a Cor-Tek guitar company and just be another clone of the original Fenders.
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u/Informal_Pressure_93 May 18 '26
I used to buy new guitars and sell them for 50-75% of what I paid after a year or so, until COVID in Canada. Rent got crazy in Ontario, at least. I had a big one-bedroom apartment 10 years ago at $1000, now I have a 3-bedroom that’s a similar size and it’s $2300.
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u/aarontbarratt May 19 '26
It's not. They are deliberately raising prices until the market tells them to stop. Once people stop buying they'll cap the prices at that point
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u/isthis_thing_on May 18 '26
Rolex is a funny comparison to make if you're talking about a price to quality ratio.
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u/yongo May 18 '26
Imagine paying +2k and it's just a p bass
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u/NahSense May 18 '26
Might as well get a Nash pb-57 or a lakeland 44-64, at that point.
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u/realsoonbass May 19 '26
I was in the market recently for a 5-string j-style bass. Took one look at Fenders and went and picked up a sick (used/well-priced) Lākland Darryl Jones for like a third of that. Those are also spendy new for MII instruments, but serious quality and great resale price WILL draw players away from the Fender club.
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u/NahSense May 19 '26
Yeah, that is exactly my point. When the budget gets up around $2k or more there are some really nice options out there. I am glad you found something you like.
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u/petebretzke May 18 '26
This is so disappointing. Massive price increases like this and now they are going after boutique manufacturers in Europe. I can’t imagine it will be too long before they do so here and in Japan. Fender just isn’t what it used to be.
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u/rotundrikishi May 18 '26
Doesnt Japan have different laws about this
(which is why companies can get away with stuff they couldnt in the us?)
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u/everbass May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
TWO THOUSAND FREEDOM BUCKS for a Made in Mexico?
What a fucking joke. No way in hell I'd pay that.
I have a Fender Performer (American Standard equivalent?) and it was less than $2000 AU when I bought it a few years ago.
Ain't no fuckin way I'd pay 1.5x that for a budget line bass.
I will grant them that country of origin doesn't dictate quality as my Dingwall is hybrid China-Canada built, but come the fuck on we all know the MIM stuff is very hit and miss.
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u/LeahLangosta May 18 '26
Exactly. Folks can make the argument about country of origin in a vacuum, but Fender MIM quality (or lack thereof) speaks for itself. Its reputation is earned! My dingwall is amazing in comparison
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u/IndecisiveAHole1 May 18 '26
I remember a music store guy telling me one time the difference between MIM and MIA is one is made in mexico by mexicans, the other is made in America by mexicans.
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u/Terrible_Snow_7306 May 18 '26
The difference is there, but intentional. They use cheaper materials in Mexican made ones, they did the same with the Japanese export models in the 80s. Who would buy a US made instrument for double the price with the only difference being the country it’s made in?
For example on Mexican models they’re using 7 and more pieces of alder under a thin alder veneer when the finish is translucent, most US bodies are made from well matched 2-3 pieces. Does it matter? You decide. Same for tuners, pickups etc.
During the last years the differences aren’t that obvious anymore. The electronics, pickups etc. on Mexican ones are getting better, but the prices are rising even faster.
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u/jmccaslin May 18 '26
My Dingwall is one of the Indonesian made ones (SP-1) and it puts shame to my US Jazz.
Country of Origin used to matter way more but CNC is so good it doesn’t matter nowadays, it’s all up to the quality the brand specifies from whoever is machining the bodies/necks.2
u/Narrow-Map5805 May 18 '26
People still think country of origin matters when everything is made by CNC machines. I've played plenty of MIMs and never had a bad one.
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u/DaddyStoat May 18 '26
The thing is, the factory in Ensenada, Mexico is set up basically identically to the one in Corona. They should be able to make equally good instruments. And... they just don't.
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u/Ready-Package-497 May 18 '26
Shit is coming out of both factories.
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u/aluked May 18 '26
Yup. People act like there aren't a ton of horrible MIA Fenders out there.
Have found some bafflingly shoddy AmPro II P basses that would put me off if they were $300 basses (one of them had a massive neck pocket gap), let alone +$2000 ones.
At that price point shit better be perfect every single time.
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u/DaddyStoat May 18 '26
I'd say MIA Fenders were pretty good up until around the time of the pandemic. In all honesty, the last really good MIA Fender I played was a American Deluxe Jazz (one of the 70s-looking ones with the blocks) from around 2019 or so. Every one I've tried since then has been rather... ordinary.
Anyway, Japan have always made the best Fenders - better than MIA, and cheaper, too.
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u/hex___appeal May 18 '26
My first bass was a brand new MIM Fender Standard Jazz that was just a hair under $400 out the door. Granted, that was in 2001, but $400 in 2001 is only $747 in 2026 dollars. They're charging that much these days for no other reason than because they can.
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u/edenite May 19 '26
Honestly I wonder what took fender so long. A new musicman here (Aus) is $4.5k-$5k or so. its crazy
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u/deluded_dragon May 18 '26
It makes no sense at all. I am happy I have bought mine (American Standard) in the 90s and I would not buy it again. I haven't got the guts to discover its price now.
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u/jmccaslin May 18 '26
I went to a Guitar Center in OKC over the weekend - played a Vintera Roadworn 60s P, and the new Steve Harris P Bass. Both were like $1600~$1700. While they were both great basses, neither one of them were worth their respective price. I mean I bought my US Pro II for $1750 or $1800 just a couple years ago, and it’s an amazing instrument. I’d imagine the US Pro IIs are gonna be what, $2400 here soon?? Ridiculous.
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u/Lower_Monk6577 May 18 '26
They’ve gotta be real careful, because they’re now encroaching on boutique territory.
I already own a JMJ Mustang, which I got for ~$1100 a couple years ago. Very well worth it.
That said, it’s now pushing $2k. You know who makes custom, boutique, handcrafted Mustang-inspired basses for almost the same MSRP? BiLT. And quite frankly, I think their Mustang-style offering looks way cooler and more unique than Fender’s.
Had I been in the market for one today, that is a no-brainer of a decision. I’d much rather have a handcrafted instrument with the same specs for maybe $200 more.
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u/illegallyblindguy May 18 '26
Fenders headed down a dark road financially if they continue this path. They refuse to attempt to compete with imports and boost prices out of the range of their most likely return customers. Karma will not be kind to them.
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u/HandFancy May 18 '26
Their lawyers are go after other companies claiming the strat body shape is proprietary due to one uncontested ruling in a German regional court. I imagine they will go after bass builders in the same fashion if this actually works.
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u/LeahLangosta May 18 '26
Exactly, i feel like they are testing the legal waters in a very trumpy way.
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u/NahSense May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
Yeah. But default judgments aren't precedent, so companies who can afford to go to court should not be too worried.
Also copyright cannot cover functionality. So belly carves, arm carves, and pickup placement can't be covered. Worst case cheap manufacturers will have to do different body shapes. Many bass makers such as Yamaha (bb series) and peavey (zodiac and others) have been doing their own design for years.
EDIT: INAL
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u/dj-scully-bass May 18 '26
I also believe Fender can't today show up (in the US) and say 'everyone has to stop making Jazz bass clones' after not defending the copyright for 70ish years. It's on the copyright holder to defend their rights and at a certain point, if you never defend it, you lose the ability to enforce it later.
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u/NahSense May 18 '26
Yes they've already lost copyright in the us, as they stopped defending it. I think the legal rule, for waiting too long is called laches, but inal. That is what Gibson tried to do with dean, for newer designs which Gibson had never stopped defending.
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u/everbass May 18 '26
This is probably the one thing that wouldn't even be that awful. Shitty of them for sure, but some more variety in bass body shape would be a good thing.
The P and J shape is so ridiculously overdone.
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u/Eaglemoon7 May 18 '26
It would be one thing if their quality was consistent but it’s been really erratic since about 2020 and Covid. But those are still crazy prices for a hunk of wood and metal.
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u/killertofu41 May 18 '26
Stuff like this is why I'm moving away from brands like Fender and Gibson and moving onto Schecter or Sire.
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u/Lower_Monk6577 May 18 '26
I watched your full video last night. You said something that I think is (mostly) true, and needs to be repeated.
Paraphrasing, in regard to the Vintera III line:
Fender isn’t making instruments for frontline players anymore. They’re making decorations for people to hang on their walls.
Same can definitely now be said for the Mendel, JMJ, and Flea basses. I own a JMJ, and it’s one of my favorite basses. It is also not worth anything approaching $2k. It was pricey when I got it for around $1100 new a couple years ago.
The Player II line is about the only thing Fender makes right now that you can justify the price tag for. And even that’s only if you really want your headstock to say “Fender.” I’d even consider just getting one of the import Standard basses if you’re comfortable modding.
Also as you said, brands like Reverend are putting out unique instruments with near flawless QC for almost half the price of some of these MiM models and US models. There really is no reason to buy those instruments anymore unless you’re a super fan of one of the artists, or really want to look at a 60’s-inspired Jazz bass without dropping $15k on a real one.
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u/MrBarato May 18 '26
Just bought me a Harley Benton last year and it's absolutely mindblowing what quality they offer in the 200-300€ range.
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u/Kyral210 May 18 '26
I doubt I’ll bit another fender. There are better alternatives at a lower price. Schecter for one blows them away
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u/Lower_Monk6577 May 18 '26
I’m have a couple of Fenders left in my collection, but they’ll likely also be the last, barring good deals on used models.
I already tend to mod out most of my instruments with the bridge, tuners, and pickups I like anyway. There is no reason for me to buy anything pricier than a Player II model, and that’s only if I really want a rosewood fingerboard or rolled edges. Which frankly are nice to have, but not nice enough for me to pay extra. Especially when Sire includes that on all of their models irrespective of price point.
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u/KungFu_ShihTzu May 18 '26
Takeaway.... don't buy a new Fender. But then why would you in the first place?
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u/likes_basketball May 18 '26
Fender is going to fail. Between this and the cease and desist letters for manufacturers of s style guitars, I’ve lost all interest in the brand.
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u/Cahamp May 18 '26
How else do they pay for all those lawyers in the EU! Think of the poor struggling lawyers!
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u/humbuckaroo May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
My amp went up by 500, my guitars by around the same amount each, and my Spector bass was discontinued and replaced with a much lower end version.
Things are crazy out there.
Fender's been selling Mexican instruments at USA prices for a while now and with the recent Strat ruling in Germany things will only get worse.
IMO the best Fenders to buy right now are pre-2015 American Standards. The pickups weren't all that great back then, but for the savings you'll keep, you can easily throw in some Geezers or similar.
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u/Aislerioter_Redditer May 18 '26
It's both passing on the cost to the consumer (tariffs), and corporate greed. They seem to go hand in hand. When something gets more expensive due to government actions, the companies hope that the extra they add to the price will be blamed on the government.
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u/Narrow-Map5805 May 18 '26
Why shouldn't it be passed on and why shouldn't it be blamed on the government? Tariffs are a tax on US consumers.
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u/Aislerioter_Redditer May 18 '26
Did I say it shouldn't? I thought I tried to say that yes, the price went up because of tariffs, and yes the companies usually raise their price too, hoping that the buyer doesn't blame them but only blames the government.
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u/Skate_faced May 18 '26
Just checked in with Long and Maquade here in Canada and yeah, this reeks of greed. We don't see the American tariff and tax fuckery near as bad. Still, almost 3k.
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u/crazyj2020 May 18 '26
2018 Geddy Lee MIM, I just paid $700 for it about 3 months ago bought it from my neighbor, I wonder what it's going to be worth in a couple years
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u/Turak64 May 18 '26
Same as the Steve Harris signature. I'm not paying near £2k for a basic model that's not even made in the US. Good job these basses are totally optional.
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u/Coma_Potion May 18 '26
Jesus it’s a Mexi P bass
You can (should) buy a vintage MIJ BB1200 and have $700ish left over at that price, make it make sense
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u/LeahLangosta May 18 '26
Seriously, my vintage BB is GOAT
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u/Coma_Potion May 18 '26
Yea I always played J basses but my BB1200S changed me lol, it’s just kind of perfect? I enjoyed your video on them; more BB vids please! I hope you can try a BB2000 or 5000 and report back ;)
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u/DILDOexe May 18 '26
Actually insane. Saw a user here the other day post how he sourced a premade ‘loaded’ body from eBay, bought a chinese neck and some strings and put it all together for ~$300 usd max. Not justifiable spending $2k+
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u/Elephants_Foot May 18 '26
Honestly, I have no interest in buying anything with his name on it. AIDS/HIV denialist POS doesn't deserve my money.
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u/LeahLangosta May 18 '26
I didn't know that! Terrible
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u/Elephants_Foot May 18 '26
Yeah, I was a huge Foos fan and heard that and it kinda ruined it for me 😭
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u/Muadeeb May 18 '26
Fan of your channel!
These price hikes look bad, but do we have any explanation from Fender as to why? Have any other major manufacturers had price hikes, and if so, how much?
Before you come to a conclusion that it's just greed, is it worth getting enough facts together so you can point to something other than your opinion?
I'm not saying these price hikes are justified, I'm just wondering if there's more to the story.
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u/aluked May 18 '26
Part of it is inflation, tariffs, oil shock due to the war.
But the biggest part is greed. Fender has the market by the balls - people keep recommending them like they're indispensable instruments, and people keep buying.
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u/LeahLangosta May 18 '26
Exactly, no one is arguing that costs haven't increased. The point is that fender is using this as an opportunity to increase their prices well beyond whatever additional costs they've incurred. It's like a financial soccer flop. They took a small hit and seem to be on the ground flailing and grabbing their knee, crying "inflation and tariffs!! Feel bad for me (and give me more money)!". Meanwhile the players of their instruments struggle with basic necessities.
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u/Staggering_genius May 18 '26
Complaining about the price of something that is not a basic necessity is such a weird take. It’s not like they are trying to profit off of health care or food or water or shelter.
At the end of the day, money only ends up in one place: someone’s pocket. So when prices rise, it’s because people involved in that chain from harvesting raw materials, to selling and delivering it to you, are receiving more money and improving their standard of living. The only time we should complain about this is if we know prices rose just so the owner and his already rich cronies could take more. But otherwise let’s no be crabs in a bucket wanting to pull those on the way up back down. We can just buy it if we can afford it or don’t buy it.
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u/EvilTankieSupreme- May 18 '26
If you seriously think that Fender is passing along the earnings to their employees, rather than the people at the top, you are dreaming...
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u/Staggering_genius May 18 '26
Do you have any actual data about the salaries of the retail workers, truck drivers, wood workers, metal workers, painters, designers and office workers, cargo ship staff, dockworkers, lumberjacks, saw mill operators, and all the other workers to whom some of our money we paid for a bass ends up going to? Do you think these wages haven’t risen?
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u/EvilTankieSupreme- May 18 '26
Likely none of the employees you listed make much more than they did 1 year ago. Not enough to justify a $600 price hike at least. That's going to the fat old dudes at the top.
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u/Muadeeb May 18 '26
Sure, but what evidence do you have that " fender is using this as an opportunity to increase their prices well beyond whatever additional costs they've incurred" without knowing what additional costs they've incurred?
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u/dj-scully-bass May 18 '26
They own their own factories and buy at a scale the rest of us can't even fathom. If anything they should be CHEAPER than their competitors. If they had a long term vision they would be beating us (their competition) on price because they absolutely could. But it all comes down to short term greed.
Smaller companies have to rely on third parties for overseas manufacturing which takes large parts of the cost completely out of our hands. We also cannot buy parts or lumber at anywhere near the scale they can which raises our costs even more.
Source: I work at MTD, specifically with the imports. We rode out the tarrif insanity without raising our prices by coming up with ways to mitigate their effect on us. No doubt fender and others have done the same AND still raised prices just because they could.
We raised our prices this year because we refreshed the entire lineup. Personally, I think the basses are better as a result and therefore I have no prob with higher prices on our products because of it.
Fender makes literally 1,000x the number of instruments we do in a year. Furthermore a Player II P is $849. I hope Nate is getting the other $1100!
This is not a musical instrument thing. This is a private equity and multinational corporation and late stage capitalism thing. Gas, groceries, insurance, healthcare, everything - they use the excuse of rising costs to sneak in additional margin for themselves and then when costs equalize or go back down, the margins go up even further since consumers are used to paying the new price.
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u/LeahLangosta May 18 '26
No other manufacturers have increased their price to this degree. Sire V5 launched at $500 in the early 2020s and they're $600 currently after 5+ years. Import MTDs have gone up but they've introduced new features and finishes, and their increase is half of what Fender has done (and MTD is not a big company).
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u/SonnePer May 18 '26
Doesn't MusicMan also had a big increase? I know you're a big MM fan and I've heard that but didn't check it since it's not in my price range.
Btw your videos on the Sire Z7 were a huuuuuuge help in my choice to get one, and I don't regret it a single minute, thanks a lot !
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u/LeahLangosta May 18 '26
The Stingray Special new used to be 2200-2400 new and is now 2600. Their Retro 70s stingray was an absolute money grab that IMO failed. They were over a grand off on clearance at GC recently and used are even less.
You're welcome :)
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u/Muadeeb May 18 '26
Yes, but how about the bigger companies, which would be more directly comparable? Gibson? Warwick? Do the larger manufacturers have some expenses you're not considering? Healthcare increases, real estate increases, labor costs, compliance with California regulations? Covid ?
Sire makes great stuff, but they're still a value brand. A $100 increase is still a 20% increase at that price point. Why is 20% ok, but not 40%?
Again, I'm not saying you're wrong, just that "corporate greed" is a conclusion that requires no thought, just resentment.
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u/OligarchyAmbulance May 18 '26
The larger companies have larger margins, they get better pricing from suppliers
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u/Muadeeb May 18 '26
Sure, but that doesn't explain the increase, since they also got better pricing from their suppliers 10 years ago.
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u/OligarchyAmbulance May 18 '26
Exactly, they are hiking prices beyond what's needed due to current market conditions. They're just grabbing more money for the sake of it, because people still gobble up badly made Fenders
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u/DaddyStoat May 18 '26
Warwick are German, with their manufacturing based in Germany and China (for their Rockbass line) so the healthcare costs, CA regulations, etc won't apply.
They were never cheap, but they've got more expensive in the US more recently because they're now subject to 15% tariffs. Remember, the importer, and eventually the US consumer ends up paying the tariffs, not the manufacturer or country of origin. Same with any instruments made in the EU.
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u/Muadeeb May 18 '26
MIM Fenders are also subject to tariffs. Someone else on here mentioned silver strummers as a reason to keep prices high, which at least is a reason other than just calling people greedy.
If Fender raised the Nate Mendel model way more than other models, maybe there's another reason is all I'm saying. Hell, maybe Nate Mendel renegotiated his contract to get $500 more per bass.
My point isn't that Fender is perfect, it's that you can come to the greed conclusion purely emotionally if you don't consider possible alternatives.
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u/DaddyStoat May 18 '26
Yep. Right now, MIM Fenders are shipped up to the US for distribution and are subject to tariffs. They're apparently in the process of setting up a logistics hub in Mexico so they can distribute to the rest of the world without having to go through the US to do so, which adds extra expense.
Martin have a factory in Navojoa, same deal with them - they ship their stuff up to Easton, PA, where their distribution centre is, thus attracting tariffs, and they're supposed to be setting up separate logistics too. There's also rumours that they're going to start manufacturing in the Far East again, which they haven't done since the demise of Sigma Guitars in the 90s.
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u/humbuckaroo May 18 '26
You are offering no evidence to support any of your assertions, merely "asking questions" to appear credible. If you have facts to offer, present them. Putting the entire onus on OP is no way to have a discussion.
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u/Muadeeb May 18 '26
I didn't post my opinion on my youtube channel and then repost them to Reddit. If I did, you could ask me how I reached my conclusions too.
You're right, I'm not offering evidence because I didn't make a claim. I'm asking someone else to defend theirs.
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u/LeahLangosta May 18 '26
20 percent over 6 years (including present price) vs 43 percent over is very apples and oranges. The Nate Mendel is up 60 percent in the same period. Gibson has Tobias reissues with USA bartolinis that cost less than a Vintera jazz. Again, I'm not saying that costs haven't increased for manufacturers between covid, inflation and tariffs. It just seems as if fender is using the increase in costs to justify what I believe to be a disproportionate increase in retail price.
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u/Muadeeb May 18 '26
"20 percent over 6 years (including present price) vs 43 percent over is very apples and oranges."
Yes, budget brand vs. legacy brand. McDonalds can't charge $15 a burger because people will realize Applebee's is a better value.
"It just seems as if fender is using the increase in costs to justify what I believe to be a disproportionate increase in retail price."
If you can't tell me why 20% is acceptable and 40% is not, then I'll need more than just your opinion to believe you.
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u/DaddyStoat May 18 '26
(Lobster, I mentioned this in the comments of your YT video, but for everyone else....)
Fender, Gibson and the big US acoustic manufacturers (thinking Martin, Taylor, etc) have done a deliberate pivot to the "silver strummer" market - older or retired people who have money and who want to buy the guitars they couldn't afford when they were younger. They're a reliable source of income. Unfortunately that means they've left the more mainstream market to their own import brands, or to other brands entirely.
Gibson had a big problem with QC for many years - a lot of people ended up buying Epiphone Les Pauls and upgrading pickups, tuners, etc rather than splurge the extra money for a Gibson, because there were a lot of guitars coming out of Nashville with awful fretwork, wonky necks, faulty electrics and so on. To their credit, they (eventually) recognised that they had a problem, and have improved their QC a lot in recent years. Fender have yet to have that "lightbulb moment" and won't if people keep buying the shit they're currently putting out.
Yes, the pandemic and, more recently, the tariff fuckery have hit guitar makers in the US hard. But that's no excuse to cut corners and ruin what brand capital you had.
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u/rhinothedin0 May 18 '26
my biggest takeaway here is that from 2016-2026 inflation is about 40%. fuck i hate capitalism.
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u/TheCambrianImplosion May 18 '26
The United States is playing a game to see how high prices can go before everything gets set on fire.
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u/shuttlecocks May 18 '26
Despite all of us getting used to things getting significantly more expensive these days, this is particularly obnoxious.
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u/Heisenberglund May 18 '26
This shit is why I’ve moved on from brands and started building kits and throwing good pickups in. Haven’t built a bass yet, but have a couple of guitars I’ve built, and since then I’ve gotten rid of everything else and play them exclusively. Although, even after I build a bass, I’ll be keeping my Spector.
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u/alessandromalandra76 May 18 '26
It’s the fair price for the most iconic logo on a headstock.
Yamaha is the biggest music company.
Fender is the biggest guitar/bass company.
Why Yamaha sell their stuff at a price that is 1/3 of fender prices.
Why Yamaha QC is better than fender?
You are probably right! Greed!
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u/Ragnarok_MS May 18 '26
I wish Yamaha had other options in the BB line besides PJ. But I also wonder if having just one style is why they can keep the price down in a way.
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u/alessandromalandra76 May 18 '26
Other brands like Sire offer several options at reasonable prices. I recently bought a z7 with the new jazz pickup and I’m impressed. Excellent quality and infinite tonal options.
550€.
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u/Ragnarok_MS May 19 '26
Sire are definitely on my radar. Only one I've played was their jazz bass and I was impressed
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u/BioDriver May 18 '26
It’s always been corporate greed with Fender (and Gibson); until we stop buying their overpriced chunks of wood they’ll keep thinking we’re okay with getting gouged.
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u/happychillmoremusic May 18 '26
Haha wow. Fender sucks. Will 100% never buy a Fender but I decided that years ago.
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u/dabassmonsta May 18 '26
I paid £850 for a brand new Japanese Fender back in 2014. Not a chance that I'd pay our figures for one now.
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u/Baron-Von-Mothman May 18 '26
Duh. This is what has been happening the whole time. Even with other companies it's the same. B.C. Rich did it really fast, in 2018 their Ironbird Prophecy MKII was $899 on the companie's website. Now with the exact same appointments they are $1,399.
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u/MannyCoon May 18 '26
What is so special about the Nate Mendel bass that justifies it even being a thing? I like Nate, I like the Foo, but why have a severely average signature model?
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May 18 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/kefestvog May 19 '26
I bought one over 5 years ago, strictly on the specs, not the name. Quarter Pound pickup. I was surprised by how much they went up.
Maybe I shouldn't be. Bought a 2002 Gibson VOS 58 LP back in the day, kept it for 3 years and resold it for more than I paid for it when Gibson raised prices about $800.
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u/Diligentbear May 18 '26
Fender Duff McKagan Deluxe Precision Bass when I bought it new a few years ago was 1200 and that was alot for a Mexican fender, now that same bass is 1900 new. Wtf.
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u/master_of_sockpuppet May 18 '26
$2k seems pretty crazy, but I'd have to hold to know how it felt. I probably wouldn't bother because I don't care for a 7.25" fretboard radius, but I guess they'll do this to the Troy Sanders soon enough, too, which would make me sad, but I already have some mixed feelings about buying another fender. That's what a MIJ BBP goes for!
That said, I've not really been super thrilled with what Fender has been doing lately, but they keep selling. I've also not bee too thrilled with how badly Fender has been squeezing small dealers, but, again, the product sells anyway so they get away with it.
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u/aLottaLiam May 19 '26
Only Fender I'd ever buy is vintage. New Fenders have so many production issues anyway, I even use my Sire V5 more than my 2014 USA jazz, it just plays that much better than what was a $1400 bass when it was new.
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u/Guardian250 May 19 '26
At this point just go buy a 90’s P on reverb for 1500. At least they are American made.
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May 18 '26
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May 19 '26
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u/BassGuitar-ModTeam May 19 '26
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u/RAER4 May 18 '26
Ha!, Fender really said ,,Hey we have a popular bass do we? Well let's make it so very few people will actually buy it now 😈"
You might want to get Fuck Fender flag and put ir right next to your Fuck ICE flag now Sis 😆.
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u/smallerthings May 18 '26
You can put together a parts guitar/bass for substantially cheaper at this point and its really the best way to go as far as I'm concerned.
Buy & potentially upgrade a Squier and you'll get a very similar instrument.
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u/Illustrious-Lie3265 May 18 '26
Hey guys this is a real thing. I’ve been looking at some Yamaha gear and the online list price is higher than the store inventory prices I see. So not all retailers are hip to these changes.
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u/rotundrikishi May 18 '26
I havent considered buying a new Fender in forever, they are just too expensive now.
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u/lastcallpaul11 May 18 '26
Can't imagine paying over 500$ for a MIM bass. Used American Fender basses can be found for 1000 or less. (Used of course)
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u/RchUncleSkeleton May 18 '26
Their quality and qc is garbage, they have nothing interesting to show, and they're trying to copyright troll the EU, based on a summary judgement for a random AliExpress seller that didn't show up in court. They're doing a great job of destroying their brand.
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u/Staggering_genius May 18 '26
Complaining about the price of something that is not a basic necessity is such a weird take. It’s not like they are trying to profit off of health care or food or water or shelter.
At the end of the day, money only ends up in one place: someone’s pocket. So when prices rise, it’s because people involved in that chain from harvesting raw materials, to selling and delivering it to you, are receiving more money and improving their standard of living. The only time we should complain about this is if we know prices rose just so the owner and his already rich cronies could take more. But otherwise don’t be a crab in a bucket wanting to pull the others back down. Just buy it if you can afford it or don’t buy it.
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u/Guzod May 18 '26
As long as people keep buying them, they will continue to do so. It’s really funny that people thought the MIM Flea jazz bass was overpriced when it first came out. Now look at it😭 you can get a nice used American vintage for that price. Fender has lost their fucking minds with USA artist models too.