Fender’s Stratocaster-protecting cease-and-desist campaign has divided the guitar industry in recent months. Now CEO Bud Cole has given his most candid response to the fallout from its legal actions and acknowledged some key complaints about Fender products in the process.
In a new interview with YouTuber Mary Spender, Cole addressed a significant part of the wider conversation around the Big F right now: quality control.
There’s a sentiment among some players that quality control standards have been slipping, especially since production increased in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, something Cole acknowledges in the new interview.
“Fender has always been relied on to be quality instruments for players at every level,” says Cole. “And when that gets called out, I need to listen.”
Cole reveals that proactive steps are already being taken in its flagship Corona, California factory.
“We have instituted a program, Fender 360, which is not simply about when a guitar arrives at the end and final inspection. [But] from the moment we bring the raw materials in, every single step of the way.”
“Keep in mind,” he adds, “that I've lived and worked in Japan for 22 years, and not just in the guitar business. I’ve had very close proximity to Japanese manufacturing standards.
“During COVID, frankly, I think that the demand for product and guitars was a big thing – we were not the only company that experienced this. Yield was a big thing for other companies.
“For me, it’s about quality, and yield doesn’t matter if quality isn’t first and at the front of everything we do,” he continues. “That’s something we heard, and we heard it loud and clear. And I can already assure you it’s happening in our Corona factory, in Ensenada [Mexico], and everywhere that we work.”
What those actionable steps look like, and when players can expect to see its impact in the electric guitars that line guitar store walls, remains to be seen.
For those not up to speed on the wider legal campaign, Fender has sent cease-and-desist letters to everyone from PRS and Yamaha to Thomann – who has since countersued – as it seeks to protect the Stratocaster. Why? Because a German court ruled that the Stratocaster is its intellectual property (as a work of art), rather than a generic body shape, and Fender has swung into action.
Cole, who was only sworn into the top job at Fender in January after a decade at the helm of the company’s Asia-Pacific region, has since admitted that Fender could have handled its campaign better.
