Re-issues ..a little history

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Re-Issues ..a little history

Fender was the first major guitar manufacturer to build and market a Re-Issue guitar .
In 1982 in an effort to re-establish itself in terms of percieved quality and to re-vamp its corporate vision Fender wisely decided to re-issue some of its older and highly esteemed guitars .
For years prior to , Fender and Gibson had been having quality controll issues which led to a steady decline in reputation , this steady decline was fueled by corporate bean counters and new owners who basically milked the respected names of Fender and Gibson for all they were worth quality was an afterthought if thought about at all.. they had sold their soul to the persuit of the bottom line .By the time the late 70’s and early 80’s rolled around there were other manufacturers who were building better instruments with great consistency – The Japanese .
Also by the early 80’s both Fender and Gibson were under new management and both teams looked for ways and means to resurect the stagnant brands. Fender’s new team decided that a return to the roots of what had made them successful in the first place was the direction to persue back to the future so to speak , back to the classic 50’s and 60’s strats and teles .
When during the era of the guitar hero, Clapton , Page, Beck, and Bloomfied were seen and heard playing old Fenders and Gibsons other players who wanted to sound and look like their idols took note and vintage guitars quickly became the hot ticket to the ultimate ego stroke . The thing was that these guitars were not the new shiney pieces on music store shelves but 2nd hand , pawn shop pieces , that Fender and Gibson had made their money on decades before … Enter The Japanese.
In the music crazed 60’s The Japanese had a history of providing the burgeoning world market for electric guitars with cheap guitars of dubious quality. By the mid 70’s the quality of the Japanese instruments was steadily improving , and Japanese manufacturers such as Ibanez, Greco, Tokai and Fernandes took note of the interest and demand for classic guitars and began making high quality recreations of vintage style Fenders and Gibsons. As these well crafted guitars began showing up in North America they quickly cut into the market helping fuel the decline of Fender and Gibson profitability..Gibson launched a law suit claiming trademark infringement based on the copy of their headstock design and the term “ law-suit era “ Japanese guitars was born. The litigation was somewhat successful at slowing down the importing of the copy guitars into the North American marketplace , but the copies were wildly successful in asia and europe , and were brought back to the states by many returning servicemen .. the secret was out .
Fender management having seen the quality and market interest in these vintage recreations from Japan decided to rebuild its reputation by re-issuing the 1954, 1957 and 1962 Stratocaster
Fenders new management team who were in search of a manufacturing facility until their new one was built in corona went to Japan and struck up a deal with Fuji Gen Gakki to build Fender designs and liscensed the fender name to them ..creating Fender Japan …
Early Fender built re-issues of those famous Strats were faithful to the original designs , incorporating the original neck profiles , body contours, cloth wiring and electronics , and nitrocelulose lacquer finishes .. top quality guitars the likes of which Fender had not produced in decades . Today these early re-issues are highly regarded by collectors and players alike . Prices seem to be rising almost monthly for these guitars as evidenced by their completed auction prices on Ebay …… more to follow ….6S9L

[r_a_smith3530]

Great article 6S9L! Yes, it was quite an interesting time. It was a period when companies not normally associated with "leisure pursuits" bought up companies in that sector, hoping to cash in on a craze. Fender was sold to CBS in '64, Gibson hit the market about '65 I believe, and outside the guitar industry, Harley-Davidson was one of several companies bought up by American Machine and Foundry around 1967.

In all three cases above, production was kicked up to meet customer demand, but without a matching increase in quality control. Because of this, quality dropped off, and in the motorcycle sector, just like the guitar industry, the Japanese were sitting there waiting for the opportunity. Unlike the guitar business though, when it came to motorcycles, the Japanese didn't try to copy turn-of-the-century old designs like the classic Harley V-twin or BMW boxer, they came out with innovative two, three, four, and six cylinder designs with the possible exception of two bikes, the 450 Honda twin and the 650 Yamaha twin, both nods to the Triumph Bonneville.

Like the guitar industry, it took Harley-Davidson some years and an internal buy-out to get it back together. Today, like both Fender and Gibson, although Harley probably sells more motorcycles annually than it did in the pre-AMF era, it does not own the percentage of the market that it once did.

During this time period, AMF bought out at least one other leisure industry company, Brunswick, at the time probably the leading manufacturer of bowling and billiards equipment. I don't know if similar trends followed suit there as well.

BTW, although they didn't change hands, a friend of mine reported that quality did fall off at Martin as well during the '70s. Who knows, maybe it was all the good drugs that were filtering into the music business during the late '60s!

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Thanks RA .. Your points are very well taken , though guitars and motorcycles seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum , their uniting thread in terms of what happened in the 60's is the " leisure persuits " craze and the corporate fight for increased share of disposable income . Ultimately the overall loss of quality in established products such as Fender / Gibson made room for others to capitalize and paved the way for the "golden age of guitars " that we now live in ... give the people what they want , if you build it they will come attitude underlines the fact of just who drives the musical equipment industry , its not the high profile players , its you and me ..6S9L

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Re-Issues ..a little history

Fender was the first major guitar manufacturer to build and market a Re-Issue guitar .

Just a quick note, in doing a little further reading on reissue guitars i've come to find out that Gibson not Fender was the 1st manufacturer to build and market a re-issue in the strictest sense . I'll post some info on Gibson reissues to keep all the Gibson guys happy ,,, in the meantime anyone want to venture a guess as to what Gibsons 1st reissue was??? 6S9L

[r_a_smith3530]

...in the meantime anyone want to venture a guess as to what Gibsons 1st reissue was??? 6S9L

My guess would be either '58 Standard or a Goldtop.

[SuperSwede]

6s9l, 1956 standard Les Paul reissued in ´68?

[Nelskie]

I think it's gotta' be one of their jazz boxes.

[duhvoodooman***]

6s9l, 1956 standard Les Paul reissued in ´68?

That would be my guess, too--'68 reissue of the '56 LP Std. Goldtop

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

I would have thought that the 68 LP standard was the 1st, but i've since found out that the 67 flying v which was offered 67-69 has the distinction of being the 1st re-issue , apparently very low production somewhere around 175 units, built in 5 batches of 35 .. Jimi's had 3 of them , and Michael Schenker OF UFO, Scorpions fame has a couple .6S9L

This guitar was produced in 5 batches of 35 guitars or a total of 175 instruments.

[/QUOTE]

[SuperSwede]

Ah, interesting... Were those in Korina?

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

mahogany bodies. sunburst , black, natural and a dark wine color were the finishes according to the sources i looked at 6S9L

[Algonquin]

[QUOTE=6STRINGS 9LIVES]Re-Issues ..a little history

Fender was the first major guitar manufacturer to build and market a Re-Issue guitar .
In 1982 in an effort to re-establish itself in terms of percieved quality and to re-vamp its corporate vision Fender wisely decided to re-issue some of its older and highly esteemed guitars .

Man this doesn't really seem like that long ago, but I purchased one of these Fender reissues back in April of 1983. It's the 1962 reissue sunburst strat with a rosewood neck. I've shielded the cavity and pickguard with self adhesive copper foil, replaced the 3 position toggle with a 5 position, and replaced the pickups with a Seymour Duncan 'Vintage' in the neck, 1/4 lb Strat in the centre, and had the bridge position routed for a Humbucker. I guess putting in the humbucker killed any collector value the guitar would have had, but It's what I wanted at the time. The guitar is 24 yrs old now, and is still in great shape. I had no idea at the time how great this guitar was going to be. Sometimes you get lucky. I don't think I'd ever sell this guitar,