MI Pro

I’m not one of those quasi-politicos that look upon globalisation as some sort of secular devil to be exorcised, and to be honest, I really enjoy a MacDonalds and a Coke – and I’ve even been known to shop at Asda from time to time, but musical instruments are not mere consumables to me. They are items of wonder that, in the right hands, give untold pleasure to millions. My life (and I know many of yours as well) simply would not have been my life (or yours) without music making.

One of the truly great things about musical instruments – and it becomes all the truer the higher up the spec – is that they are as individual as people, and one instrument in one pair of hands will behave totally differently being manipulated by another.

The problem with globalisation in terms of musical instruments is that its greatest virtue, uniformity, is anathema to a good trumpet or tuba, to a good guitar or mandolin. I want my burgers to look and taste the same around the world (although I’ve nothing against a good custom job), but I do not want uniformity in all guitars and amps in the world. It would kill my pleasure.

I am probably over egging this a bit, and the good people at Fender (for yes, I am referring to the guitar giant’s purchase of the Kaman Music Corp) will point out that the guitars they sell (and own) that do not have Fender on the headstock remain unchanged. A Jackson is still a Jackson. Tacoma remains true to its founding standards…

Well, yes, they do, but you don’t see many of them these days, do you? And why should you? If I owned Fender, I would be pretty keen to make sure my core products were the first to leave the lips of my salesmen. The rest, let’s be honest, are there to make up the numbers, to make sure the salesman has something to sell to the less pliant customer.

So now Ovation (not to mention a couple of top percussion brands) are in Fender’s hands. The company, while covering its own back, says there will be no changes ‘in the immediate future’, but we all know, one day, there will be change. Some accountant will point out that ‘one sales team is cheaper than two’ and it will be the slow suffocation of another brand in the hands of the global beast. I dearly hope I will be proved utterly wrong…