New Fender 2008 JM's?

[maximum_perlich]

If you actually went out and bought these, THAT would encourage FMIC to build more JM!

Well, they need to actually produce some decent designs for us to buy them.  Not to say the standard AVRI's and CIJ's aren't, but they've been on the market for a while now.  To generate any new excitement, they've gotta make new designs... but they have to be good designs.

I agree with Zhivago like most others seem to, that there's probably enough product out there to satisfy whatever market there is for these things.  But at a certain point, you do reach some level of saturation and then you need to entice people to buy their 2nd or 3rd guitar (while hopefully still convincing enough new guitarists to buy their first).  That's not unreasonable; many people have more than one of the same model guitar.  So there do need to be new options every couple of years; if not new model revisions, then new colors, etc.

The Mascis and Costello signature models don't really cut it IMO; they're a niche of a niche.  If JM's already have a small market share, why market guitars that by their cosmetic nature are going to command an even *smaller* market share?  Put something out that actually has some mass appeal instead.

I think what Fender Japan is doing with the "J-Craft" line (or whatever it's called) is a good idea.  I don't know how successful they are with that, but those are some interesting new designs that have mass market appeal and probably didn't cost much to develop as there's nothing all that new about any of them... same bodies, same hardware, just some different pickups and paint.  I don't see why Fender USA couldn't rotate in some new vintage finishes every few years, plus add some popular modern ones, maybe do B&B as an option like Fender Japan does, or maybe even just import some more of those J-Craft models (like they are with the Jag HH).  It's not going to lead to an explosion of sales, but like anything else, the longer you have something in the lineup without changing anything, the fewer sales you're going to have.  They need to keep refreshing just to maintain.  That's just as true of the strat, tele, etc. as it is of the offset line.

+1

I would buy an AVRI JM today (and maybe an AVRI Jag next year) if I could pick my colors or they came out with new colors that I wanted.
I'm just not interested in what's out there now.

I am interested in the 59 JM ThinSkins.  Mostly because of the dream of the blonde/ash with gold pickguard.  If they made an AVRI like that, I'd already have bought it.

[5L1V3R]

I would really like to see a new, cheap Jazzmaster that is affordable ($500-700) so I could mod it up.

[B]

Well limited run will mean that they will be expensive as

I bet this year's Thinskin run will be more expensive than last.  Just a hunch.  We know they won't be less than last year's $1599.

I don't know the prices yet on our 59 Jazzmasters, but I am thinking they will be right there around the $1599USD mark as last years.  No guarantee, but I would think so.  Part of the goal of the line is to keep them affordable for players.

Man, I can't wait!

[mcjt]

Hi Mr B!
Thanks for coming back and commenting!
The $1599 price is "street price", correct? I thought i saw a MSRP of $2299 or something like that last year on the Thinskins. 

[MikeMaster]

Whay are they 59's and not 58's.  It would seem the 50th year from 58.

[StevenO]

I would really like to see a new, cheap Jazzmaster that is affordable ($500-700) so I could mod it up.

I wouldn't. Jazzmasters would be everywhere! And it would be annoying and they "unattainable" status of these guitars is apart of the allure, I'm sure.

Actually, I wouldn't care. Bring 'em on, that's fine. Don't, that's fine.

[maximum_perlich]

I would really like to see a new, cheap Jazzmaster that is affordable ($500-700) so I could mod it up.

Aren't most CIJ or MIJ JMs on ebay around this price?  I guess I could check...
How much are the CIJs new?

My MIJ was only $600 new I think.

[5L1V3R]

The ones I've seen seem to be in the $800-900 range...I'm guessing the selleres are being steep.

[spacecadet]

The dollar has collapsed, that's the problem.  The retail price of CIJ JM's is about 73,920 yen, which right now is about $685.  When you add shipping and any customs taxes into that (I didn't pay any, but YMMV), it comes to around $800.

When I bought my CIJ new, the grand total charged to my credit card was $701.

A lot of people also don't know or feel comfortable ordering direct from a Japanese retailer, so they're probably ok with paying a little bit of a premium to deal with a domestic seller.  Somewhere between $800-$900 isn't that ridiculous right now.

[maximum_perlich]

$800-$900 for a CIJ seems like a lot to me but I guess that's still only a little more than half the price of an AVRI.

[jetset]

Ahh the good old days of a couple years back when MF was blowing out CIJs for $399.

[spacecadet]

Ahh the good old days of a couple years back when MF was blowing out CIJs for $399.

I woulda bought 3!

[aen]

Ahh the good old days of a couple years back when MF was blowing out CIJs for $399.

DONT RUB IT IN.  SOMEBODY ON THE FORUM MIGHT HAVE SPENT $400 ON AN SG AROUND THAT TIME.

[flatfiver]

Someone else on the forum might have spent $500 on one of those same CIJs at dealer cost at that time...

[RumorsOFsurF]

I paid $925 for my CIJ Jazzmaster a few months back....Brand new from Ishibashi.  Damn weak dollar.