Another possibility is that Fender is trying to cash in on it's newfound resurgence and popularity among the gospel/urban genre. Many companies will have what they consider "introductory" prices or some kind of set price to pique interest in a product. Then when it takes off, they have room to increase it for whatever reason because either way it's lower that suggested retail. This happens in the car game all of the time.
Perfect example, I have had my eye on a Conklin Groove Tools 5-string. For the last 3 years or so, the price held at $799 at Musician's Friend which is the primary retailer. It held at that price even through an upgrade in the electronics. Now all of the sudden it's running $929 when nothing at all has changed. I emailed Musician's Friend about the increase. They gave a rather vague answer. The MSRP on that bass is around $1100, so they still come in under retail even after the increase.
That particular bass has seen a slight increase in sales as Conklin gets a little more underground attention from players so I think they just want to increase their profit margin and the current state of the economy is a great excuse. At first they tried to use diesel prices as an excuse due to their shipping costs going up. but those prices have dropped, so that reasoning is no longer viable. Fender is just following the old mantra of "if you really want it, you will buy it no matter what the price."
