TDPRI Fundraiser / Giveaway Dates Announced
The 2012 edition of the TDPRI Fundraiser / Giveaway is scheduled to begin on October 15th and end a month later on November 18th. If you are new to the TDPRI or were sleeping under a rock for the past 12 years, here is how the fundraiser works. Guitar companies, makers, builders and retailers donate a guitar to the TDPRI and we give the guitars to you. Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it?
In 2011 we gave away 7 great Telecasters and T-Style guitars to seven very lucky TDPRI members. We’ve been doing this kind of thing since 2000 and over the years have given away over $80,000 worth of guitars and gear to hundreds of winners.
Full details of the prizes and ways to enter will be announced as we get closer to the event. But you’ll want to mark your calendars for the 2012 dates and get ready to WIN!
Fender Releases MIM Cabronita Telecaster
Fender recently released an American-made version of the Fender Custom Shop Cabronita Tele, but at around $1400-1500 the guitar was still out of reach for some fans. Well, that changes with the release of the Made in Mexico (MIM) FSR version of the Cabronita Telecaster. Available now for half the price of the Amercian made version the new Cab is sure to be a popular model.
The MIM Cabronita Telecaster offers a distinctive take on a classic design and provides strong Tele tone from two new Fideli’Tron™ humbucking pickups. Other premium features include an alder body (ash on White Blonde model), modern C-shaped maple neck with a 9.5” radius and 21 medium jumbo frets, single-ply pickguard and single control knob (volume), and a string-through-body hardtail bridge with six cast saddles. The new MIM Cab is available in Three-color-Sunburst, Black and White Blonde
BUY ONE – Fender Fsr Cabronita Telecaster
FMIC (Fender) Files to Go Public
Millions of guitar players own a Fender guitar, but now they have an opportunity to own a bit of the company that makes them, as well. Fender Musical Instruments Corp., said in regulatory filings today that it plans to sell as much as $200 million worth of stock in an initial public offering.
Some shares will be sold by Fender and some by FMIC individual owners, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company said today in a regulatory filing. JPMorgan Securities LLC and William Blair & Co. LLC are advising on the proposed offering. No further details were announced.
“We intend to extend our reach to a broader global consumer base,” Fender said. The brand is “closely associated with the birth of rock ‘n roll and has a strong legacy in music and in popular culture.”
About $100 million of the initial public offering’s proceeds will go to pay debt, said FMIC. Fender intends to list the “FNDR” symbol on the Nasdaq, but didn’t set a price target on its stock. The company also did not say when it intends to go public.
Fender said it posted net income attributable to common stockholders of $3.2 million in 2011, from a net loss of $17.3 million the year before. Revenue grew 13 percent to $700.6 million from $617.8 million.
The market for musical instruments was worth $15.8 billion globally in 2010, according to the filing.
More info on this development when it becomes available.
New Fender Blacktop Series Baritone Tele
Fender’s “Blacktop” series of guitars is relatively new — but the line is already expanding. Today Fender introduces 3 new Blacktop Series guitars, including the Blacktop Baritone Telecaster. Along with the Baritone Tele, Fender is introducing a Blacktop Stratocaster HSH and a Blacktop Jaguar 90. These guitars are true to the “blacktop” credo of modern tones from humbucking pickups and more in your face hardware choices for “modern” (read: Heavy) players.
A true baritone Telecaster with a 27” scale, low B-to-B tuning, and a versatile triple-pickup configuration—including a humbucking bridge pickup—that goes from tic-tac to twang. The Blacktop Baritone Tele features an alder body, maple neck, 9.5”-radius rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and aged white position markers, single-coil Telecaster neck and middle pickups, humbucking bridge pickup, five-way pickup switching, three-ply pickguard (black-white-black), skirted black amp knobs (volume and tone) and black switch tip, Blacktop Telecaster bridge and chrome hardware.
Finish options include Classic Copper, Ghost Silver and Three-color Sunburst. The Blacktop Baritone Telecaster has a MSRP of $739.99
For more info on the Blacktop Baritone Telecaster visit Fender’s Blacktop Series website.
