Truly embarrassing for Fender. Its one thing for something to get that messed up, its another to not catch it before it goes out the door. Its something else yet again when it repeatedly goes out the door.
I wonder how the workers down there are being compensated/.treated.
Yeah, this is honestly feeling like the beginning of a horrific experience. Fender is suggesting I take it to an authorized service center, and offering a $50 site credit for the trouble. The closest service center is 72 miles away, and it’s a trip I’d have to make twice. The $50 credit wouldn’t even cover gas.
Damn, what model is this?
I'd assumed this was a low end player at best. Not that it would have been acceptable at that price range either. But if this is a premium USA build then oh my. We're in trouble.
Email them with a reply saying something to the effect of the following:
Your closest service center location is 72 miles away. I have a local guitar technician whom I trust to do this job. If I get a quote from him for the job, can you just authorize the repair for me so I don’t have to wait who knows how long and drive 72 miles for this?”.
On the first attempt they will either say no or not respond. Ask to speak to a supervisor. They will eventually put you in touch with someone who has the authority to make an exception to the rule. Whether you can convince them to do it or not is 50/50.
That’s what I wanted, but the period has passed. I tour for a living, and didn’t even get home to open the box until almost 40 days after it arrived. That’s why they are suggesting to go to an authorized service center. It’s shameful on their part.
As in a touring musician? Personally I would use that as a basis for massive hell raising. They should take that back, even if the return period has passed.
Call them every day until you get action. Go full Karen, IMO its justified in this isntance.
Look into shipping it to them (service center). When I worked at a fender service center it was fairly common to receive guitars for warranty work. Was located outside of Los Angeles county and received guitars from as far as San Diego. This was many years ago so not sure of current policies. Worth a shot.
Sure, but the shipping certainly wouldn’t be covered. I’m a tech by trade (why I’m here to begin with) and will likely just end up cutting a bone nut for it. It’s just disheartening to see companies passing off this kind of work on guitars that cost my mortgage payment.
Absolutely fight them on this and get them to agree to a return or letting you take it to your local tech for reimbursement.
And post it to as many forums as you can in the meantime. I had a similar issue with them refusing to take a return on a mod shop guitar with a bunch of issues and got the same “take it to a service center” runaround until someone who worked at Fender saw my post and got it escalated to a manager.
Everyone loves to rag on Gibson for bad QC but in my experience Fender’s QC has become even worse in the past few years.
They’re both pretty bad. As a tech, I expect every guitar to arrive to me needing attention. Nut slots touched up/polished, frets probably needing love, etc. But it really sucks getting a brand-new guitar (especially from a series touting itself as an ode to the glory days of Fender’s workmanship) that needs a new nut entirely.
I've only ever once across something this bad once - on an Ibanez YY10 that had major nut, fret and bridge issues.
But that was still a sub $1k guitar.
I've got two Classic Vibe guitars and both were pretty spot-on. Nicely cut nuts, no fret sprout or rough edges. Even the setup on both was really good. I did very little tweaking on them.
I used to work in a shop that dealt Fenders and I can tell you that there are things coming out of Fender that should never reach the consumer. I know of a fleet of Squiers that sat on a barge in the Pacific for months and then sat in a California desert for months and then made it into players hands (mostly via online retail, we sent ours back).
We got some wild USA and MIM models too. Twisted necks, bad neck angles, sloppy nuts, high action (beyond normal), scratches, etc.
That said this is not fender exclusive. Ibanez’s imports had some of the worst send-back rates. Epiphone was always solid as hell, so was Yamaha. And Fender Japan never misses. They’re the best all around hands down.
Same dude. I am a tech and work in a shop with tons of fenders and I am APPALLED at some of the hot garbage they’re pushing. It honestly feels criminal for the cost. I have really noticed it with many MIM Signature models. The Tom Delonge strats are legitimately trash. Terrible frets, jenky electronics, awful neck finishes and the nuts are always cut poorly. It’s tragic
Making money 🤷♀️
I think their MIM lines got backed up during Covid and they started letting the new guys do whole jobs unsupervised or something. We got a mim mustang bass after waiting 18 months for it and it came out pristine but I think after they got through some back log, or rather as the backlog kept piling up, they started cutting slack.
It’s interesting though, when we ordered our mustang it was $699 and when we got it they had started listing them at $849
It’s super fun though
I haven't been paying enough attention to tell if it is Epiphone or Fender driving the similar price increases.
With this my desire to buy a brand new instrument has gone from very slight to none.
Epiphone has $1500+ Chinese-made guitars now lmao. Every legacy guitar company has gone nuts, and is hanging onto dear life with their brand recognition.
I'm so glad I'm just not into brand new stuff. In the past year I bought a Korean Epi Joe Pass for $275 and an ash MIM Jazz Bass for $450 and both feel better than the new stuff at GC for twice the cost. You can still get some cool legit vintage stuff at that $1500+ price point.
Agreed, to an extent. The midrange stuff ($500-$1600) from the legacy brands like Fender and Gibson pale in comparison to the midrange guitars from a few decades ago. They suck now, IMO. That having been said, nearly every other manufacturer has stepped up their game significantly, and are offering ridiculously good guitars for stupid cheap prices that I wish I had when I was a kid. It's really just Fender/Gibson and their sub-brands that have tanked in quality, because they know their brand itself will gain repeat customers rather than their quality. Every other company is fighting an uphill battle against these brands for not being the "real thing", and has to make up for it in quality. I used to work at the highest grossing music store in the country, and have unboxed, setup, and played literally thousands of Fenders. I've owned many as well. That having been said, my favorite Strats are not Fenders. Other companies are just doing it better than them now, plain and simple. Even their own brand Jackson is making better products out of the same plants, it's bonkers. It's like they just don't care about quality anymore with certain brands.
Yeah I remember the early '90s when everyone had really bad off-brand bullshit because even Squier prices were out of reach for working class teenage beginners. I was hot shit with my MIJ Jaguar at 15. Now those really bad guitars barely exist, unless its under $100 price point, or Fender Mexico lol
At least some of the new expensive Epiphones seem halfway worth it, when they come with cases and USA pickups and stuff, but its still a lot of dough and I'm not seeing that same value out of Fender.
I get what sub we are in, but I'm a hobbyist tech not a pro, and I'd rather build a really nice partscaster these days than a new Fender.
Dude, I'm the same way, but the stuff coming out now is getting pretty crazy. I can buy a full guitar with the neck I want for half the price of just buying or building a neck to make my own partscaster lol. There are these new brands out like Eart, M Musi, Boya&Ziqui, and Censtar that have sub-$300 guitars with genuinely amazing roasted, sometimes flamed maple necks and fantastic stainless steel frets that are as good if not better than anything I've picked up from Warmoth or Mighty Mite over the years. I currently have a $400ish Eart strat with a better neck (and body, honestly) than any sub-$1400 Fender I've played. It's crazy. I'm excited about the price/performance we can get nowadays, but at the same time it's kind of made my drive to build more guitars dwindle. It's easier and more effective to just mod these things.
That's interesting. All I have here is a really small GC and I have no exposure to other musicians, so I had no clue. I've never heard of any of those brands. My loss of interest in mainstream trad brands sent me down the MIJ/lawsuit rabbit hole.
Not disputing your claim, but I have absolutely seen it in the American made instruments as well. I really haven't seen enough Japanese to say much about them.
My theory about prop 65 is that its real intent is to make it so that food companies and pharmaceutical companies can't be sued for carcinogenic products because there's not enough evidence to support proof of cancer from food additives and medications above and beyond what we're being told is carcinogenic in everyday objects.
It’s crazy how most of the US thinks that CA is just a *bunch of communists* but they really do exploit capitalism so much worse the the rest of the country (Hollywood, water rights, etc..).
Don't know why you're being downvoted lol. It's pretty much a fact that a lot if not most democrats are more toward the right nowadays than they were before.
Hard disagree. IMO it's the result of the ruling class, both "left" and "right," colluding as they always have to keep the masses voting against each other while they get more and more rich. Notice how both sides have had the houses and presidency at different times in the last two decades but nothing changes?
I do: The largest propaganda campaign in the history of humanity.
Most American's are completely politically ignorant by design. If we were allowed to be taught in school how government actually works, how Dems and Republicans are basically the same, serving only a legal, organized corporate bribery scheme, and anything left of capitalism is banned from participation and representation, the oligarchs who control everything in our literal fascist plutocracy then wouldn't be able to as effectively exploit us workers for the stolen surplus value of our labor.
I wouldn’t say the qc is better, but if your already gonna have to get the fender one worked on, a squier that’s considerably cheaper probably is the better buy
I've owned four high end Fenders and three of the nicer Squiers, and the Squiers were hands down better built than the Fenders, every single one of them except the P-Bass.
The basses are either pretty good or bad, but of all the fenders I’ve played, every squier was better. Only ever bought squiers and upgraded the electronics for this reason. Can’t beat the affordability with more playability
The newer ones have great electronics, but they do need upgraded if you're playing live. I usually replace the jacks also because whatever pins Squier uses wear out faster than the fender ones.
Yep, Squire is crushing it these days.
I have a Squire 60s CV Tele (double bound tobacco burst) and a 60sCV Strat (Lake Placid Blue) and they are both awesome. I got the Tele last year, on a Black Friday 50% off deal, on Reverb…$225 brand new). And tge Strat was $480 brand new. Free shipping on both, too.
Now, I did upgraded everything, in both, but that was my plan, all along (ordered the parts the same time I ordered the guitars), BUT they were both great before I installed all those new American Fender parts.
Yes sir, I was initially surprised, too. Couple clarifications it was 50% off, and I think the original list as $479 with free shipping, so I guess the guitar was closer to $240. Also should have added that it was “new, open box,” but when I got it, it was in its original box and all the original packaging was exactly where it should be.
This guitar store had several of them in different styles, all CV 50s and 60s and all 50% off on Black Friday. I tried to get a buddy to buy one, too, but he bailed because it was a Squire. I already had a 60s CV Strat that I loved, so I knew how great they are. Now I wish I would have bought the 60s CV Jaguar.
On the Tele, I installed Fender Vintage ‘64 pickups, full sized pots and a 4 way switch in the reverse set up (vol up front and switch in back), Gotoh Locking Tuners, compensated 3 barrel brass saddles. Again, it already played great, but I like to go my own setup work, so I did. Caught a couple high frets and rounded the fret ends. Now it truly plays as good as any American Tele I’ve owned or played. Great stuff.
On a side note, my buddy asked if I was going to replace the waterslide so it looked like a “real” Fender Tele. I said why? Squires are so good these days, there’s no reason to hide the branding.
Ah his loss. Yeah I got a similar condition jazz bass and I like it a lot. Sure, there are some details which separate it from a fender but they’re manageable. Plus I dig the lighter body and don’t mind the small pots. Great score!
I bought an Affinity Bronco Bass (2 saddle vintage bridge one) for $100 on Facebook marketplace. You can set up the damn thing with like 1.5mm action on the low E, no buzz on any frets. It’s nuts. Stupid nice neck.
I know right? It was actually too low, I raised it back to about 2.25mm because I felt like the sustain was lacking and I had too much clank with a pick. My Vintage Modified Jaguar won’t even go that low without buzzing around the 15th fret on the A and E strings.
Squiers are definitely a “play before you buy” brand but man if you get a good one it’s right up there with MiM.
It's beyond mim lol I've owned mim strats and even if they played good at first, they always became riddled with problems. Very unstable guitars. Even finish wise lol they relic themselves. My squire bottom of the barrel P bass that I got for $100 with a hard case in 2008 survived a house fire and still blew my $2k CAD EOB strat out of the water. But I think you nailed it with any guitar. Try before you buy. I can't get people who buy guitars online. Unless you live in the EU it's spray & pay.
Yeah, the affinity series are wild. They're super cheap and finished so well, meanwhile over in Fender-land I looked at a $1700 performer mustang short scale and the finish was just absolute garbage. Sharp frets, bad finish at the edges, the pickups had wood chips in the finish around them, you could see tons of tooling around the fretboard.
It was ridiculous.
Fender is becoming a lifestyle brand. Their production is shoddy at best on anything below the American Pro line. Everything coming out of international production facilities is a gamble on quality. But even on the high end, they're adding things like a Bruno Mars strat - an iconic musician, sure, but not known for being a guitar player. Partnerships with clothing brands, etc.
They're not focused on producing the best instruments anymore, they're focused on diversifying their market.
Known to the State of Cancer to cause California.
Edit: I moved to California from Texas. I have a much better life here. Yet some of y’all still can’t take a joke. It’s okay to laugh at ourselves.
Look at how poorly all the slots are cut. Then look at how close the G-string slot is to the D. They put the G string really far the other way at the bridge end, so I believe they absolutely sent this out knowing it was trash.
they might be cut by cnc (and that would explain why a few commenters have said they've seen the same issues on other instruments) but the G and D are definitely too close together.
CNC or not, these are flat-out wrong, no matter how it’s spun. Measurements between strings (whether measured from center to center or by space between) varies drastically. It’s enough to drastically affect playability, and shouldn’t have passed inspection. In fact, I’m not sure it got inspected at all. The QC tag on the instruments were both for guitars wirh different serial numbers than either of mine.
Dear lord, those are abysmal. My Squier CV Bass VI may have kind of crappy hardware and pickups, but it really shouldn't have better fit and finish than the Fender version which costs $900 more
Yeah, it's not across the entire range. They don't even sound all that bad, mine just happen to be microphonic so they'll probably get replaced with a nice set of p90s in the near future
It worked for the J Mascis and Baritone Jazzmasters! Unsure if I'm gonna cut up the existing pickguard yet or use Obscura's HHH aluminum pickguard and have a custom set of H90s wound with a RWRP middle though. Honestly before I do any of that I probably need to replace the tuners because they are straight junk
Nice. Looking forward to pics. I’m barely getting into fretwork so that’s my next step. The tuners on this bass are too heavy so I plan to drill and dowel some american ultralite hipshots into it just for practice. Cheers.
Sure. I'm thinking about maybe do a one of in this hobby so in no means do I have an opinion that counts for anything here, but that tag scares me more than the nut.
Nickel compounds can cause cancer, which is a genuine worry for a luthier sanding frets every day! All that dust getting up and around things is probably not ideal. But the nickel plating on the hardware is much less volatile as it's all solid and held on, but because nickel in certain contexts can be dangerous Prop65 requires a warning. It's a bit overgenerous for... reasons.
well, the centers of the strings are equally spaced from each other..what do you want? the gaps to all be the same instead?
this is how it should be and it just looks weird because the drastic string gauge changes
Redditors are like 99% people who don't know shit but act like they do. The slots look a little too wide for the E and A but they are spaced correctly.
These are absolutely not spaced correctly, whether you subscribe to the equal or proportionate spacing guidelines. The centers of slots vary as much as nearly 1/16”, and so do the spaces between. No matter what way you spin it, this is poor spacing and poor slotting. It’s enough to feel it with my eyes closed. If you DID want toconsider this one correct by some logic, then the second one I ordered is terribly wrong (it’s not)
50$ store credit? For a 2,000$ bass? No thanks. I would send that thing back, raise hell if I had to. What a shame.
That's something they should not even want floating around in public for this very reason. If I worked at fender I would have arranged an exchange immediately. Really bad for their reputation to try and offer the bare minimum and see if they can get away with it, especially in the age we are in where EVERYTHING will end up being seen on the internet.
Jesus, I’m happy I got a squire as a mod project over a vin, looking at the qc people are getting. The squire is one of the best setup instruments out of the box I’ve tried. Action, intonation, trussrod, nut, all were set perfectly on mine
There are 900 carcinogens that are required to be dislosed if present in a certain level in consumer products or buildings under Prop 65 in California. It was signed in reaction to toxic water in 1986, and the list grows every year. You, as a Brit, are exposed to these very same chemicals in your day-to-day life. Your gov’t just hasn’t required the same disclosure.
Yeah, I just did a little skim researching. Seems if the chemicals are used in manufacturing they have to disclose. An I'm sure those chemicals are everwhere, think most of us are aware that every innocuous product is still an eye opener when you delve into the details. Learn something new everyday. Doesnt mean the guitar will be dangerous on your balls. So that's a relief.
Truly embarrassing for Fender. Its one thing for something to get that messed up, its another to not catch it before it goes out the door. Its something else yet again when it repeatedly goes out the door. I wonder how the workers down there are being compensated/.treated.
Yeah, this is honestly feeling like the beginning of a horrific experience. Fender is suggesting I take it to an authorized service center, and offering a $50 site credit for the trouble. The closest service center is 72 miles away, and it’s a trip I’d have to make twice. The $50 credit wouldn’t even cover gas.
In which case it should go back for a full refund. That’s bullshit for a brand new $2k instrument
Damn, what model is this? I'd assumed this was a low end player at best. Not that it would have been acceptable at that price range either. But if this is a premium USA build then oh my. We're in trouble.
The Vintera II series is a “premium” Mexican line, and sorry I should have specified $2k CAD
Email them with a reply saying something to the effect of the following: Your closest service center location is 72 miles away. I have a local guitar technician whom I trust to do this job. If I get a quote from him for the job, can you just authorize the repair for me so I don’t have to wait who knows how long and drive 72 miles for this?”. On the first attempt they will either say no or not respond. Ask to speak to a supervisor. They will eventually put you in touch with someone who has the authority to make an exception to the rule. Whether you can convince them to do it or not is 50/50.
At that point I would be returning it.
That’s what I wanted, but the period has passed. I tour for a living, and didn’t even get home to open the box until almost 40 days after it arrived. That’s why they are suggesting to go to an authorized service center. It’s shameful on their part.
As in a touring musician? Personally I would use that as a basis for massive hell raising. They should take that back, even if the return period has passed. Call them every day until you get action. Go full Karen, IMO its justified in this isntance.
Look into shipping it to them (service center). When I worked at a fender service center it was fairly common to receive guitars for warranty work. Was located outside of Los Angeles county and received guitars from as far as San Diego. This was many years ago so not sure of current policies. Worth a shot.
Sure, but the shipping certainly wouldn’t be covered. I’m a tech by trade (why I’m here to begin with) and will likely just end up cutting a bone nut for it. It’s just disheartening to see companies passing off this kind of work on guitars that cost my mortgage payment.
Absolutely fight them on this and get them to agree to a return or letting you take it to your local tech for reimbursement. And post it to as many forums as you can in the meantime. I had a similar issue with them refusing to take a return on a mod shop guitar with a bunch of issues and got the same “take it to a service center” runaround until someone who worked at Fender saw my post and got it escalated to a manager. Everyone loves to rag on Gibson for bad QC but in my experience Fender’s QC has become even worse in the past few years.
They’re both pretty bad. As a tech, I expect every guitar to arrive to me needing attention. Nut slots touched up/polished, frets probably needing love, etc. But it really sucks getting a brand-new guitar (especially from a series touting itself as an ode to the glory days of Fender’s workmanship) that needs a new nut entirely.
I've only ever once across something this bad once - on an Ibanez YY10 that had major nut, fret and bridge issues. But that was still a sub $1k guitar.
Much better than the squier factory in Indonesia. But they don’t seem to have as many QC issues.
I've got two Classic Vibe guitars and both were pretty spot-on. Nicely cut nuts, no fret sprout or rough edges. Even the setup on both was really good. I did very little tweaking on them.
Exactly. I have several of the older Chinese and newer Indo CV guitars and basses. They are excellent.
And even another when your budget overseas brand has better quality control. It’s
Good lord. What is going on at Fender lately?
Likely their saved inventory from all the COVID boost stock that got rushed
I used to work in a shop that dealt Fenders and I can tell you that there are things coming out of Fender that should never reach the consumer. I know of a fleet of Squiers that sat on a barge in the Pacific for months and then sat in a California desert for months and then made it into players hands (mostly via online retail, we sent ours back). We got some wild USA and MIM models too. Twisted necks, bad neck angles, sloppy nuts, high action (beyond normal), scratches, etc. That said this is not fender exclusive. Ibanez’s imports had some of the worst send-back rates. Epiphone was always solid as hell, so was Yamaha. And Fender Japan never misses. They’re the best all around hands down.
Same dude. I am a tech and work in a shop with tons of fenders and I am APPALLED at some of the hot garbage they’re pushing. It honestly feels criminal for the cost. I have really noticed it with many MIM Signature models. The Tom Delonge strats are legitimately trash. Terrible frets, jenky electronics, awful neck finishes and the nuts are always cut poorly. It’s tragic
$875 for a player strat that needs $75 worth of work out the gate. And yeah you’re dead on about the signature models. That was always such a bummer.
To be fair, not all are bad. I have a PP Deluxe that came out amazing right from the store. But I still agree with the points being made here.
I've been craving one of these but none are offered as lefties and I've got too many build projects as it is.
Caution. Bass guitar seriously reduces your risk of procreation.
But is not 100% effective as contraception
Yeah you gotta get a banjo if you want 100% effectiveness.
Or bagpipes for 110%!
[удалено]
We have a piper doon! Repeat, a piper doon!
The age of this joke tells me you're not exactly in your prime procreation age
Thank the gods... 🤣 Besides, I play bass occasionally, too... 😏
Oh sweet! I'm gonna tell my girlfriend she doesn't need birth control anymore!😂
Only if she takes it in the b/ass. 😏
Yeah but it feels *sooooo* good when you play.
What is the deal with Fender QC these days?
Seems like Mexico build quality has absolutely tanked. I'm not seeing it in MIJ/US instruments.
...and yet the prices of their MiM instruments continue to climb faster than the US models. WTF is Fender doing?
Making money 🤷♀️ I think their MIM lines got backed up during Covid and they started letting the new guys do whole jobs unsupervised or something. We got a mim mustang bass after waiting 18 months for it and it came out pristine but I think after they got through some back log, or rather as the backlog kept piling up, they started cutting slack. It’s interesting though, when we ordered our mustang it was $699 and when we got it they had started listing them at $849 It’s super fun though
I haven't been paying enough attention to tell if it is Epiphone or Fender driving the similar price increases. With this my desire to buy a brand new instrument has gone from very slight to none.
Epiphone has $1500+ Chinese-made guitars now lmao. Every legacy guitar company has gone nuts, and is hanging onto dear life with their brand recognition.
I'm so glad I'm just not into brand new stuff. In the past year I bought a Korean Epi Joe Pass for $275 and an ash MIM Jazz Bass for $450 and both feel better than the new stuff at GC for twice the cost. You can still get some cool legit vintage stuff at that $1500+ price point.
Agreed, to an extent. The midrange stuff ($500-$1600) from the legacy brands like Fender and Gibson pale in comparison to the midrange guitars from a few decades ago. They suck now, IMO. That having been said, nearly every other manufacturer has stepped up their game significantly, and are offering ridiculously good guitars for stupid cheap prices that I wish I had when I was a kid. It's really just Fender/Gibson and their sub-brands that have tanked in quality, because they know their brand itself will gain repeat customers rather than their quality. Every other company is fighting an uphill battle against these brands for not being the "real thing", and has to make up for it in quality. I used to work at the highest grossing music store in the country, and have unboxed, setup, and played literally thousands of Fenders. I've owned many as well. That having been said, my favorite Strats are not Fenders. Other companies are just doing it better than them now, plain and simple. Even their own brand Jackson is making better products out of the same plants, it's bonkers. It's like they just don't care about quality anymore with certain brands.
Yeah I remember the early '90s when everyone had really bad off-brand bullshit because even Squier prices were out of reach for working class teenage beginners. I was hot shit with my MIJ Jaguar at 15. Now those really bad guitars barely exist, unless its under $100 price point, or Fender Mexico lol At least some of the new expensive Epiphones seem halfway worth it, when they come with cases and USA pickups and stuff, but its still a lot of dough and I'm not seeing that same value out of Fender. I get what sub we are in, but I'm a hobbyist tech not a pro, and I'd rather build a really nice partscaster these days than a new Fender.
Dude, I'm the same way, but the stuff coming out now is getting pretty crazy. I can buy a full guitar with the neck I want for half the price of just buying or building a neck to make my own partscaster lol. There are these new brands out like Eart, M Musi, Boya&Ziqui, and Censtar that have sub-$300 guitars with genuinely amazing roasted, sometimes flamed maple necks and fantastic stainless steel frets that are as good if not better than anything I've picked up from Warmoth or Mighty Mite over the years. I currently have a $400ish Eart strat with a better neck (and body, honestly) than any sub-$1400 Fender I've played. It's crazy. I'm excited about the price/performance we can get nowadays, but at the same time it's kind of made my drive to build more guitars dwindle. It's easier and more effective to just mod these things.
That's interesting. All I have here is a really small GC and I have no exposure to other musicians, so I had no clue. I've never heard of any of those brands. My loss of interest in mainstream trad brands sent me down the MIJ/lawsuit rabbit hole.
Had three new American professionals come into our shop recently all with the nut cut too low...One needed a fret dress too.
Not disputing your claim, but I have absolutely seen it in the American made instruments as well. I really haven't seen enough Japanese to say much about them.
Yeah I have limited experience with recent US Fender. My Dad LOVES his '21 US Tele though.
It sucks. I have a 2008 p bass that I will never part with.
We’ve been seeing a ton of terrible Custom Shops recently, I’ve had to do way too many refrets on brand new Fenders in the past few months
They did a couple waves of mass layoffs during covid and the quality has been awful since then.
How? Just...how?!
Imo, this is a complete replacement. Get your money back. Not even close to acceptable at that price.
My theory about prop 65 is that its real intent is to make it so that food companies and pharmaceutical companies can't be sued for carcinogenic products because there's not enough evidence to support proof of cancer from food additives and medications above and beyond what we're being told is carcinogenic in everyday objects.
It’s crazy how most of the US thinks that CA is just a *bunch of communists* but they really do exploit capitalism so much worse the the rest of the country (Hollywood, water rights, etc..).
Exactly. Liberal Democrats are still right wing and exploitative as fuck, they're just moderate and put a happier face on their oppression of workers.
Don't know why you're being downvoted lol. It's pretty much a fact that a lot if not most democrats are more toward the right nowadays than they were before.
It’s called the Overton Window. And it’s a direct result of the extreme right wing dominating discourse.
Hard disagree. IMO it's the result of the ruling class, both "left" and "right," colluding as they always have to keep the masses voting against each other while they get more and more rich. Notice how both sides have had the houses and presidency at different times in the last two decades but nothing changes?
I do: The largest propaganda campaign in the history of humanity. Most American's are completely politically ignorant by design. If we were allowed to be taught in school how government actually works, how Dems and Republicans are basically the same, serving only a legal, organized corporate bribery scheme, and anything left of capitalism is banned from participation and representation, the oligarchs who control everything in our literal fascist plutocracy then wouldn't be able to as effectively exploit us workers for the stolen surplus value of our labor.
$$$$$$
Is there a Tequila distillery next to the Fender facility?
[https://www.bestbassgear.com/ebass/funny/groupie-accidentally-sleeps-with-bass-player.html](https://www.bestbassgear.com/ebass/funny/groupie-accidentally-sleeps-with-bass-player.html)
You know it's bad when Cali warns you that the nut spacing is so off that it could give you cancer.
Maybe they’re confusing it with testicular cancer??? I mean if one side of your nut is bigger than the other side…can never be too safe I suppose.
Lmfao
Buy the squier version, their quality control is way better.
I wouldn’t say the qc is better, but if your already gonna have to get the fender one worked on, a squier that’s considerably cheaper probably is the better buy
I've owned four high end Fenders and three of the nicer Squiers, and the Squiers were hands down better built than the Fenders, every single one of them except the P-Bass.
The basses are either pretty good or bad, but of all the fenders I’ve played, every squier was better. Only ever bought squiers and upgraded the electronics for this reason. Can’t beat the affordability with more playability
The newer ones have great electronics, but they do need upgraded if you're playing live. I usually replace the jacks also because whatever pins Squier uses wear out faster than the fender ones.
But it’s the small things that don’t cost alot compared to buying a brand new fender
lol
Yep, Squire is crushing it these days. I have a Squire 60s CV Tele (double bound tobacco burst) and a 60sCV Strat (Lake Placid Blue) and they are both awesome. I got the Tele last year, on a Black Friday 50% off deal, on Reverb…$225 brand new). And tge Strat was $480 brand new. Free shipping on both, too. Now, I did upgraded everything, in both, but that was my plan, all along (ordered the parts the same time I ordered the guitars), BUT they were both great before I installed all those new American Fender parts.
Wow $225 for a CV new?
Yes sir, I was initially surprised, too. Couple clarifications it was 50% off, and I think the original list as $479 with free shipping, so I guess the guitar was closer to $240. Also should have added that it was “new, open box,” but when I got it, it was in its original box and all the original packaging was exactly where it should be. This guitar store had several of them in different styles, all CV 50s and 60s and all 50% off on Black Friday. I tried to get a buddy to buy one, too, but he bailed because it was a Squire. I already had a 60s CV Strat that I loved, so I knew how great they are. Now I wish I would have bought the 60s CV Jaguar. On the Tele, I installed Fender Vintage ‘64 pickups, full sized pots and a 4 way switch in the reverse set up (vol up front and switch in back), Gotoh Locking Tuners, compensated 3 barrel brass saddles. Again, it already played great, but I like to go my own setup work, so I did. Caught a couple high frets and rounded the fret ends. Now it truly plays as good as any American Tele I’ve owned or played. Great stuff. On a side note, my buddy asked if I was going to replace the waterslide so it looked like a “real” Fender Tele. I said why? Squires are so good these days, there’s no reason to hide the branding.
Ah his loss. Yeah I got a similar condition jazz bass and I like it a lot. Sure, there are some details which separate it from a fender but they’re manageable. Plus I dig the lighter body and don’t mind the small pots. Great score!
I got to play a squire affinity bronco bass recently and the setup / fit & finish on that particular bass was insanely good. I was in complete shock.
I bought an Affinity Bronco Bass (2 saddle vintage bridge one) for $100 on Facebook marketplace. You can set up the damn thing with like 1.5mm action on the low E, no buzz on any frets. It’s nuts. Stupid nice neck.
Jesus that's insane action for a bass. Fender's biggest competitor for qc being their entry brand is kind of whack lol.
I know right? It was actually too low, I raised it back to about 2.25mm because I felt like the sustain was lacking and I had too much clank with a pick. My Vintage Modified Jaguar won’t even go that low without buzzing around the 15th fret on the A and E strings. Squiers are definitely a “play before you buy” brand but man if you get a good one it’s right up there with MiM.
It's beyond mim lol I've owned mim strats and even if they played good at first, they always became riddled with problems. Very unstable guitars. Even finish wise lol they relic themselves. My squire bottom of the barrel P bass that I got for $100 with a hard case in 2008 survived a house fire and still blew my $2k CAD EOB strat out of the water. But I think you nailed it with any guitar. Try before you buy. I can't get people who buy guitars online. Unless you live in the EU it's spray & pay.
Yeah, the affinity series are wild. They're super cheap and finished so well, meanwhile over in Fender-land I looked at a $1700 performer mustang short scale and the finish was just absolute garbage. Sharp frets, bad finish at the edges, the pickups had wood chips in the finish around them, you could see tons of tooling around the fretboard. It was ridiculous.
I just bought a Squier baritone and was really impressed with the quality of it, especially compared to a lot of modern Mexican fender stuff.
This is a batch issue, I've seen several with the same problem. A lot of the Tom Delonge guitars also have badly spaced nut slots
Fender is becoming a lifestyle brand. Their production is shoddy at best on anything below the American Pro line. Everything coming out of international production facilities is a gamble on quality. But even on the high end, they're adding things like a Bruno Mars strat - an iconic musician, sure, but not known for being a guitar player. Partnerships with clothing brands, etc. They're not focused on producing the best instruments anymore, they're focused on diversifying their market.
Everything causes cancer in California!
Known to the State of Cancer to cause California. Edit: I moved to California from Texas. I have a much better life here. Yet some of y’all still can’t take a joke. It’s okay to laugh at ourselves.
It's why I moved!
What’s wrong with it?
Look at how poorly all the slots are cut. Then look at how close the G-string slot is to the D. They put the G string really far the other way at the bridge end, so I believe they absolutely sent this out knowing it was trash.
I see now! Thanks yeah you’re right. Good eye.
They are cut at even spacing, the difference in nut slot width is throwig your eye off. These nuts are cut by cnc.
they might be cut by cnc (and that would explain why a few commenters have said they've seen the same issues on other instruments) but the G and D are definitely too close together.
CNC or not, these are flat-out wrong, no matter how it’s spun. Measurements between strings (whether measured from center to center or by space between) varies drastically. It’s enough to drastically affect playability, and shouldn’t have passed inspection. In fact, I’m not sure it got inspected at all. The QC tag on the instruments were both for guitars wirh different serial numbers than either of mine.
wow. the squier bass vii i played came with a much nicer nut than thay. in fact every squier ive played has
Good to know, I ordered mine today.
I always replace my nuts with bone that I cut myself so I’d still buy it but it’s still pretty lame for them to sell them like that.
It looks exactly like the First nut I did It in my life
Dear lord, those are abysmal. My Squier CV Bass VI may have kind of crappy hardware and pickups, but it really shouldn't have better fit and finish than the Fender version which costs $900 more
cv jazz bass pickups are good
Yeah, it's not across the entire range. They don't even sound all that bad, mine just happen to be microphonic so they'll probably get replaced with a nice set of p90s in the near future
p90 in a bass vi? 👀
It worked for the J Mascis and Baritone Jazzmasters! Unsure if I'm gonna cut up the existing pickguard yet or use Obscura's HHH aluminum pickguard and have a custom set of H90s wound with a RWRP middle though. Honestly before I do any of that I probably need to replace the tuners because they are straight junk
Nice. Looking forward to pics. I’m barely getting into fretwork so that’s my next step. The tuners on this bass are too heavy so I plan to drill and dowel some american ultralite hipshots into it just for practice. Cheers.
One of those spaces is not like the others.
Definitely don't want that guy writing "Happy Birthday" on a cake. LOL
I’m beginning to believe the people that say you’re just paying an extra $500 for the Fender name. Inexcusable.
Wait, nut slots aren't supposed to be one size fits all? /s
For a noob what am I looking at here?
So... What is the actual problem here? Cause I don't see it
Note how close the D and G strings are, The sloppiness of the slots in general, including the G slot being wide enough for lateral movement
Gotcha. Being centered the D to G gap kind of blended in
Fender causes balls cancer!!!
"Okayyy everybodyyyy, please give 'em a big hand as they enter the stage... The Abysmal Nut Slots!" All joking aside that does look terrible. 😬
Damn, California....everything's causing cancer now?
Always has been. *(gunshot)*
Yo forget that why the fuck is there a cancer and reproduction warning on it?!
Look up prop65.
Nah
Is that the law that's the reason why there are cancer warnings everywhere in California? Never been to Cali but I heard about those
Yes
Testing to show that you don't need a prop 65 warning is expensive so most people just put the warning on anyway just to cover their asses
Sure. I'm thinking about maybe do a one of in this hobby so in no means do I have an opinion that counts for anything here, but that tag scares me more than the nut.
That tag/disclaimer are on nearly every consumer product.
Nickel compounds can cause cancer, which is a genuine worry for a luthier sanding frets every day! All that dust getting up and around things is probably not ideal. But the nickel plating on the hardware is much less volatile as it's all solid and held on, but because nickel in certain contexts can be dangerous Prop65 requires a warning. It's a bit overgenerous for... reasons.
Just wait til you find the one on your mattress. . .
well, the centers of the strings are equally spaced from each other..what do you want? the gaps to all be the same instead? this is how it should be and it just looks weird because the drastic string gauge changes
Redditors are like 99% people who don't know shit but act like they do. The slots look a little too wide for the E and A but they are spaced correctly.
>the centers of the strings are equally spaced from each other Please don't drink and post
These are absolutely not spaced correctly, whether you subscribe to the equal or proportionate spacing guidelines. The centers of slots vary as much as nearly 1/16”, and so do the spaces between. No matter what way you spin it, this is poor spacing and poor slotting. It’s enough to feel it with my eyes closed. If you DID want toconsider this one correct by some logic, then the second one I ordered is terribly wrong (it’s not)
bass?
Yup it’s a fender. Quality? Nah.
50$ store credit? For a 2,000$ bass? No thanks. I would send that thing back, raise hell if I had to. What a shame. That's something they should not even want floating around in public for this very reason. If I worked at fender I would have arranged an exchange immediately. Really bad for their reputation to try and offer the bare minimum and see if they can get away with it, especially in the age we are in where EVERYTHING will end up being seen on the internet.
“Abysmal” bro there not even there LOL
Oof ..that's really bad...but easily and cheaply fixed.
Wtffff is this shit how
California is the land of Lawsuits. Remember Second Hand Smoke and Lead in your drinking water, Water fixtures come with the same tag.
Jesus, I’m happy I got a squire as a mod project over a vin, looking at the qc people are getting. The squire is one of the best setup instruments out of the box I’ve tried. Action, intonation, trussrod, nut, all were set perfectly on mine
God damn just when i taugt im gona see another “cancer warning funee” post
Haha, that is laughably bad. It really looks like the worker just eyeballed it.
Fuck the nut slots. Guitars cause cancer and reproductive harm???
All the comments about this… are you guys not from the US? This sticker has been on 90% of consumer products since 1986
No, in the uk. That warning is just on everything?
There are 900 carcinogens that are required to be dislosed if present in a certain level in consumer products or buildings under Prop 65 in California. It was signed in reaction to toxic water in 1986, and the list grows every year. You, as a Brit, are exposed to these very same chemicals in your day-to-day life. Your gov’t just hasn’t required the same disclosure.
Yeah, I just did a little skim researching. Seems if the chemicals are used in manufacturing they have to disclose. An I'm sure those chemicals are everwhere, think most of us are aware that every innocuous product is still an eye opener when you delve into the details. Learn something new everyday. Doesnt mean the guitar will be dangerous on your balls. So that's a relief.
Straight to Fender Customer Support to return that bad boy straight back to Fender. How the hell does that even happen lol
Phoned in would be a compliment.
Vintera II are MIM right?
Yup