Thu May 02, 2013 8:28 pm
Thu May 02, 2013 11:05 pm
Fred Finisher wrote:Electrodyne,
Wow,
This thread goes way back, at least for me. I will need to ask Gabe if he or Kenny have the original records for the Purple Broadcasters. The story I was told when I was asked to paint them was that we were making them for a guy who would get them to Prince. Who knows if he was blowing smoke or if he really did acquire instruments for him.
Meursault, the stigma of an imported instrument has changed drastically because of the level of quality that began to come out of Japan at that time. As the instruments got better, the idea of playing an imported guitar such as an Ibanez or Yamaha was no longer a problem for the serious or professional player. One of the reasons that Fender and Gibson were experiencing sales declines were the fact that the seventies were not the best years for quality control. As the instruments began to decline in quality in the U.S., Japan stepped up their game and took serious market share. That is why the early Squires have a great resale value, they were actually decent instruments. With a few mods, mostly in pups and electronics, some would say they are as good or better than the Fenders of the same time frame. As far as all the imports of today go, I have seen good and bad ones. It really depends on what you are doing with them and if resale matters. Reselling an import guitar is hard to do without taking a hit so buying one as an investment is usually not a good idea in my opinion.
Fred
Fri May 03, 2013 8:04 am
Electrodyne,
Wow, this thread goes way back, at least for me. I will need to ask Gabe if he or Kenny have the original records for the Purple Broadcasters. The story I was told when I was asked to paint them was that we were making them for a guy who would get them to Prince. Who knows if he was blowing smoke or if he really did acquire instruments for him.
Fri May 03, 2013 10:22 am
Fri May 03, 2013 3:52 pm
Fred Finisher wrote:I don't know how many Broadcasters were given away but I'm sure Dale tried to get them into the hands of players that would help promote the line. I remember seeing Roy Clark playing one on TV once ( I believe it was a tour of Russia ) and James Burton probably had one. Other than that, I don't know where they all went.
All this talk has made me curious though so I am trying to contact several of the folks that were there. Hopefully I can help come up with some new info in the near future,
Fred