Pros
The only pro about this company right now, is the name and its history. Mr. Thomas is a strong leader with a history of success. The proof is the first 3 years of his tenure Fender had record breaking sales. I am not one his so called “GC cronies” but an MI veteran who has seen the good and bad of Fender as well as the industry.
Cons
Unfortunately Mr. Thomas’ senior staff did not support him and did nothing but disrespect every decision and made no secret of it. It started when he stated that he wanted to close the Scottsdale office and move it back to California. The backlash of not doing it killed any chance he had of long term success. After he made that statement Larry made a lot of enemies here. Yes, Fender would have lost 90% of the staff here in AZ but only 10% of this staff is worth keeping. The culture of the industry as a whole is great however Fender does not display any of this culture currently as everyone is running scared. I did not know Larry very well but I really liked the direction he wanted to go. Too bad he did not get the support he needed. Maybe he should have wiped out the entire senior staff and started over. Fender would be better off.