Why no 5s at the Fender Mod Shop?

[brianrost]

My biggest beef with Fender today is how they only make certain options available when you buy an instrument. If you want a certain color, you have to get a maple fingerboard. You need a lefty and don’t like black? And so forth. In the 60s and early 70s, clor choices, fingerboard choices and even neck widths were all listed as option in the price lists, but not today.

The Mod Shop definitely continues in that vein, the choice of colors isan’t all that wide. But the bigger question for me is why you can’t do a Mod Shop 5? Seems pretty short sighted to me.

Yes, I know that it’s probably just not enough perceived demand.

 

[ahadl2500]

My college economics professor would respond to your question by saying "Vote with your dollar". If they do not make what you want, buy from somewhere else. G&L is happy to let you configure a 5 string bass via their Option Order program.

 

[Jefenator]

When you never buy new instruments, these problems never come up.

 

[Killing Floor]

@ahadl2500 ’s economic professor might also point out that Fender doesn’t offer every guitar variable on the Mod Shop either. And that a 5 string bass isn’t simply another neck option but another body. And bridge. And pickups and tuners and pick guards. And considering they have over 30 color choices, quick calcs of 4 neck choices (typical for basses in mod shop) plus 3 colors hardware and the pick guard options, bodies for P, J, and PJ and 30 paint colors and that’s about 200 new SKUs to add.

Now that professor would ask on the Friday morning quiz “basses represent less than 3% of Fender’s total electric guitar production and below 1% of Fender’s total instrument production. 5 string basses represent less than 10% of Fender’s electric bass production. Mod Shop represents below 1% of Fender’s bass guitar production. How many product managers would Fender fire if they brought a recommendation to introduce 5 string basses to Mod Shop?”

Spoiler alert, answer is 1

They don’t sell enough to warrant 5 strings in every step on the standard bass product line card.

Other brands do fine with 5. Not Fender.
It’s just not their priority or their position.

 

[chris_b]

In 1996, after 26 years as a Fender player, I switched to 5 string basses. I looked for a Fender 5, but couldn't find one anywhere, so went with an MM SR5. Fender's tardiness left the 5 string market wide open for smaller, more responsive, companies to meet the demand.

In the last 10 years I've played a couple of Fender 5's and they didn't match up to my Mike Lull, Sadowsky, Lakland or Sandberg 5 string basses. I wouldn't look at Fender for a 5 string anymore. There are so many other great/better choices out there.

 

[trothwell]

Now that professor would ask on the Friday morning quiz “basses represent less than 3% of Fender’s total electric guitar production and below 1% of Fender’s total instrument production. 5 string basses represent less than 10% of Fender’s electric bass production. Mod Shop represents below 1% of Fender’s bass guitar production. How many product managers would Fender fire if they brought a recommendation to introduce 5 string basses to Mod Shop?”

Are those numbers real? I would have imagined that Fender sold more guitars than basses, but I wouldn't have guessed the difference to be that wide.

 

[SC Bassboy]

In 1996, after 26 years as a Fender player, I switched to 5 string basses. I looked for a Fender 5, but couldn't find one anywhere, so went with an MM SR5. Fender's tardiness left the 5 string market wide open for smaller, more responsive, companies to meet the demand.

In the last 10 years I've played a couple of Fender 5's and they didn't match up to my Mike Lull, Sadowsky, Lakland or Sandberg 5 string basses. I wouldn't look at Fender for a 5 string anymore. There are so many other great/better choices out there.

Same. I'm the guy who complains that Fender doesn't offer more 5 string bass options and then I'm disappointed when I play one (and I've owned several).

 

[Iridescentone]

How dare they! We don't have to take this crap from Fender! Occupy Fender!

 

[JRA]

shop ibanez.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

In 1996, after 26 years as a Fender player, I switched to 5 string basses. I looked for a Fender 5, but couldn't find one anywhere, so went with an MM SR5. Fender's tardiness left the 5 string market wide open for smaller, more responsive, companies to meet the demand.

In the last 10 years I've played a couple of Fender 5's and they didn't match up to my Mike Lull, Sadowsky, Lakland or Sandberg 5 string basses. I wouldn't look at Fender for a 5 string anymore. There are so many other great/better choices out there.

Exactly this !!! Sandberg , Dingwall, Ernie Ball MusicMan , Sire, Lull, G&L, MTD, Spector, Ibanez, Yamaha , Fodera, Ken Smith, Lakland , Sadowsky and many others have mastered the 5 string . Sadly , Fender has not. I tried Fender 5’s. Been there , done that, not going back.

 

[PFBASSO]

Lakland makes a nice 35” 5

 

[Killing Floor]

Are those numbers real? I would have imagined that Fender sold more guitars than basses, but I wouldn't have guessed the difference to be that wide.

And visit Fender’s website.
There are 93 current configurations of bass guitar including Squier, only 8 5-string including Squire.

I play 5 and I like 5 so I’m not knocking 5 string basses. I’m agreeing with their decision not to invest in 5 string options on Mod Shop.

Now I’m a massive lifer Fender fanboy. If they ever do add 5s to Mod it will be because they have invested more on the ground level with 5s.

Honestly, subjectively, I believe Fender doesn’t Need to spend on 5s because of their tradition being rooted in 4. For what it’s worth I see them neglecting a lot of markets where they weren’t involved in the innovation. Same with their amps and guitars. They don’t like being “also ran”, they operate as “first or last”.

5 string basses, like solid state amps, digital modeling amps, “super strats”, just things other brands have launched to compete with Fender.

 

[J Wilson]

For me, The Mod Shop seems like (and understandable I suppose as they do have the Fender Custom Shop) you simply are combining regular production / off the shelf items in combinations they don't ordinarily offer, so 'mod' instead of 'custom'. But this does leave gaps most of us could think up pretty quick. I've never understood why you can't have a classic butterscotch/black 'guard Tele or 1st Gen Precision bass with the maple neck in butterscotch to match.

That they don't offer fives in this project simply tells me it's not worth their while to do so.

Again, this is where Squier comes in, offering basses that would never show up in the regular Fender lineup. I often wonder if they use Squier as an 'interest gage' to see it there's a Squier model with a big take rate they ought to offer as 'the real thing'.

 

[sethlow3]

I feel like Fender has been stuck in their ways for much of their history which has been a double-edged sword.
They don’t go for trends much but are late to many a party and may lose some sales because of this.

1.) Low on great 5 string options.
2.) Heavyweight… and not many light wood options, when many a company have addressed this trend. A trend especially for people who gig 4+ hours a day…
3.) Expulsion of cool models with potential like Fender AE Precision (fretless hollowbody) for models like the $3k+ Suona Jazz…

However, their bread and butter is four string P’s and J’s. They still crank those out pretty consistently. Similar to how a Big Mac is roughly the same worldwide. They don’t need to necessarily cater to trends since they started many of the early ones.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

FSO is my favorite shape but I think it gets too too big when you have more than 5 strings. There are many other options and I think Fender also thinks that there's too little demand.

 

[Michedelic]

Warmoth would love to hear from you.

 

[micguy]

Congratulations on having taste that's not like the vast majority of people. Fender is there to serve the niches of people that are large enough for them to make a bunch of units of a model, and sell them to a bunch of people. The "mod shop" is trying to appear like a "custom shop", but it isn't - they have very limited options that you can get.

A custom shop is a place that can make a one off for you, and is organized so they can make a profit that way. Fender has a "custom shop" (although their "custom shop" does production runs of things as well, so it isn't strictly a custom shop). Warmoth (as referenced above) is a "custom shop" for folks that are capable of doing some of the work themselves - they make really good stuff. There are lots of small builders that qualify as custom shops (no quote needed) as well.

 

[micguy]

FSO is my favorite shape but I think it gets too too big when you have more than 5 strings. There are many other options and I think Fender also thinks that there's too little demand.

Warmoth's FSO 5 string bodies are not larger than their 4 string ones - with a slightly bigger cutaway (22 frets rather than 20) and a bigger neck pocket, a 5 string body will actually weigh a bit less than a comparable 4 string one.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

My college economics professor would respond to your question by saying "Vote with your dollar". If they do not make what you want, buy from somewhere else. G&L is happy to let you configure a 5 string bass via their Option Order program.

If you want to spend an eternity waiting for a bass that may have have been mis-specced and may or may not have a functioning truss rod, G&L is the obvious choice.

 

[CryingBass]

@ahadl2500 ’s economic professor might also point out that Fender doesn’t offer every guitar variable on the Mod Shop either. And that a 5 string bass isn’t simply another neck option but another body. And bridge. And pickups and tuners and pick guards. And considering they have over 30 color choices, quick calcs of 4 neck choices (typical for basses in mod shop) plus 3 colors hardware and the pick guard options, bodies for P, J, and PJ and 30 paint colors and that’s about 200 new SKUs to add.

Now that professor would ask on the Friday morning quiz “basses represent less than 3% of Fender’s total electric guitar production and below 1% of Fender’s total instrument production. 5 string basses represent less than 10% of Fender’s electric bass production. Mod Shop represents below 1% of Fender’s bass guitar production. How many product managers would Fender fire if they brought a recommendation to introduce 5 string basses to Mod Shop?”

Spoiler alert, answer is 1

They don’t sell enough to warrant 5 strings in every step on the standard bass product line card.

Other brands do fine with 5. Not Fender.
It’s just not their priority or their position.

While I have no problem with the Op's opinion. But as a guy who knows business, every SKU costs a LOT of money to onboard. Just setting up an SKU / "Item Master" record, the Bill of Materials, Vendor item info for the raw materials, specifications, production line training/tooling/setup, etc. takes a lot of time = money. Let alone buying and stocking all of the components, etc. Heck, you need warehouse space for all that stuff = money.

Then to sell just a handful of them? I take my hat off to the other makers that can do all the variations of 4's and 5's and still stay in business!