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Originally Posted by jads57
Nevertheless, it does seem to me to be an inappropriate way to market this product. I’d have preferred something like “honoring the Cremonese tradition of fine instrument making” - but I can’t get too bent out of shape about it.
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11-01-2021 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by jads57
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Originally Posted by Lobomov
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I believe Yuriy Shishkov is one of the builders that build the Benedetto Manhattans these days. His brother was head of Hamer's Custom Shop as well, and now makes "Hamer copies" under the Shishkov name. That Tele isn't my cuppa but I bet it's amazing.
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There has been log history of iconic images aligning themselves with other iconic artists/ cultural images.
Levi 501 Jeans would be painted by named artists. As would VW Beetles and even the odd cow statue for some reason. Even BMW has got in on it.
Fender is being no different. They are just morphing their iconic piece with another. The Swarovski Tele is probably done for all I know.
Doing a Monet Tele or a DaVinci tele is probably not far off. Aligning yourself with the greatness of others has been a time honored marketing tradition.
TBH the price is more about provenance, uniqueness & quality of the end product.
And if it gets sold at auction for a charity like supporting child homelessness then I'm all for it. Good on them for lending their names to something worthwhile. Not sure if this is Fenders intent but who knows. I suspect these pieces go to well heeled collectors who will hang it in their wine cellar or what not.
Time will tell if the Tele is even still relevant or revered as much in 150 years. Chances are no one will remember Levi Jeans, the VW beetle, telecasters etc or treasure it as much as the Stradivari are today. Antonio did not make his name through marketing. He made his name through making the best possible product of all his peers.
I find more issue with Fender making a new tele that looks like an old beaten, mistreated tele, and charging more for what is effectively a defective product because someone spent hours making something perfectly good look perfectly flogged.
I find even more uncomfortable the notion that an artist can align their skill level with another justifiably brilliant artist of the past and ride on coat tails.
It is one thing to present an interpretation of their art, and another thing to sample their art in order to lift up your own. Looking at you Hip Hop.
M
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Art?
Forget about it, Jake.
It's commerce.
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Fender is not a company based on craftsmanship. The guitars are mostly based on designs from the 1950s. They are made by semi-skilled labour. Fender guitars are sold at various price points, depending on the location of the factory and the quality of the components. Fender does make Custom Shop guitars, which have been pulled from the production line at an early stage of manufacture and given personal attention by a craftsman, but most guitars are produced by methods invented by Henry Ford.
A luthier making special guitars for such a corporation is a long way from Cremona.
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Originally Posted by Litterick
And this ain't a just a factory fender guitar - this is a Yuriy Shishkov built guitar based on a telecaster. Given the effort he has gone to to make this Tele based interpretation, you would not think it is art? This is not the work of average Joe Luthier. Gretsch, Gibson, Taylor, all let their master craftsmen let loose every now and again. That said, I don't get the impression anyone is saying the luthier is as good as Antonio Stradivarius ?
The Telecaster shape in this case is just the canvas for something else. Mr Shishkov is the artist, the Tele is the canvas, the Stradivarius is the muse. He was employed by Fender to do the work. What's the problem? The $ figure?
Lets say the project/research/build took 4 weeks or 160hrs. $5K on bespoke materials, hardware and tooling, perhaps $5K to recoup on marketing/ videography/ media. That leaves roughly $125/hr contractor rate including tax and insurances. Is that a fair rate? Not knowing premium US Luthier rates, I'll let you be the judge. I reckon he did an alright job. Not necessarily my cup of tea, but sure, someone will pay for it.
A relic'ed Tele picked off the shop floor is a whole different lump of wood. I think that is overstating craftsmanship sometimes.
Especially when sold on a mass produced scale.
M
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Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
i don't know how often these happen anymore, because they are technically fenders. the gretsch custom shop would crank them out all day, but it's not up to them. not sure what similarities or affiliations these have to the original tv jones concoction, but as of 2012, at least, they were promoted from one off to an officially sanctioned thing.
gotta tell you, i don't hate it. wouldn't take it over a penguin, but i don't hate it.
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Originally Posted by EastwoodMike
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Originally Posted by Litterick
Your invocation of Henry Ford is essential to this discussion. Leo Fender used cheap auto paint to finish inexpensive mass produced products made with interchangeable parts - and so did Ford (eg Fiesta Red was a Thunderbird paint that Fender bought from a neighboring auto paint shop). The first production Fords were available in many forms, from cheap and simple personal transportation to utility vehicles used in commerce - and you can buy a very playable brand new Tele for anywhere from $200 to $20k+. Fender makes some great first guitars and Ford makes some great first cars. Fender players have won Grammies and Ford drivers have won LeMans. The comparisons and similarities are endless.
For many years, the big guitar makers have hired, consulted, or otherwise turned to famous artisans for everything from inspiration to complete custom instruments. One has now used Stradivarius as inspiration. I have no problem with this, even though it has absolutely no appeal for me. Apart from the fact that almost all of us would turn down one but gladly have the other, how far removed from this product of an in-house custom luthier is a “Fender D’Aquisto”?Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 11-02-2021 at 03:10 PM.
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Originally Posted by EastwoodMike
Surely the luthier would have said this is grotesque?
But I guess he likes his job.
The whole thing is in exceptionally poor taste but it makes sense if you're Fender and a luthier working for Fender.
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have clarified my post. It was in reference to post talking about Kenny G putting himself on a recording with Lois Armstrong.
Leo and his cohorts definitely deserve their place in instrument history! Not Stradivarius maybe,Lol!
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Originally Posted by ArchtopHeaven
This will probably come as a shock to many of you, but Stradivarius actually did use nails to hold his necks on - he did not use dovetails. The necks were glued to the ribs and held to the neck block by 3 nails. I think I remember reading that at least one or two Strads were found to have 4 nails in them when disassembled for repairs, but it's not clear whether the extra nail was added to each as a repair or used in original manufacture.
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All my life I've been waiting to find a Tele I could spend $30k on.
To me this isn't really a tele. With that bridge and tailpiece setup I doubt it would act and sound like any tele I've ever played. Maybe it's a better instrument, but it ain't really a tele. For a hollow tele I think I'd sooner spend $2k on a semi-hollow Nash T-69 and have them put a Charlie Christian pickup in the neck position. Then I'd use the other $28k on something really inspiring, like as a down payment on a Porsche.
No need to thank me. Spending other peoples' money is what gives me joy.
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I'm not gonna claim I live in the best of all possible worlds (sorry, Gottfried) but my world is better for this guitar, even tho it's made from Unobtanium.
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I like it. Postmodernism at its very best.
And the reactions in this thread are evidence of its effectiveness. Well done, Mr. Shishkov!
Any Levin Deluxe Owners Here?
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