Fender "QC" - Is this acceptable these days?

TINMAN82

Seriously, why keep trying? The 3rd one isn’t going to have accidentally slipped into the custom shop for finishing and setup. I’d be tempted to ditch Fender after this experience. That’s a poor response from them. 

PhilM

TINMAN82 said:

Seriously, why keep trying? The 3rd one isn’t going to have accidentally slipped into the custom shop for finishing and setup. I’d be tempted to ditch Fender after this experience. That’s a poor response from them. 

It's turning into a sport now...

PhilM

Who is the tame Fender GBI employee who frequents this forum? I'm not a massive fan of "@ing" people into threads, but if you know who he is I'd appreciate it if you could send him the link to this thread.

SPECTRUM001

PhilM said:

So, one week and many phone calls to Fender later, I have my response from them, which was essentially:

"Really sorry, but you'll need to continue to deal with GG"

I think I'll try one more, before giving up and finding another brand that cares

Given that you said you have been loyal to Fender for over 25 years, you presumably like their guitars.

They should be treating you a lot better than they are and trying to keep your loyalty, but if they are not, there could be reasons why.

Perhaps (as been suggested already) there are issues across this product line, and they do not want to have to admit as such. I am speculating here, as it does seem odd for them to be so distant. My experience of their recent customer service has been very good.

Even if this doesn’t work out, I would hope you don’t need to jump brand - but if you do, please tell them. They need to know the consequences of poor quality control.

TheBigDipper

Shame about the poor response from the Fender rep. I'd suspect they understand there's an issue with these guitars but fear the consequences for them if they admit to it. They're hoping the OP goes away. 

Sadly, it's a lot cheaper to attract new, less-experienced customers to Fender than it is to retain experienced ones or sort out production errors. 

What I'm unclear about is why a retailer would order an FSR model run from Fender and fail to check they got what they ordered, built to the quality they (presumably) expect? Or am I mistaken that it's the retailer that set the spec? 

LooseMoose

My advice is return it and sit on the money for a bit. The second one is EXACTLY what I’d expect from a production guitar so whilst I’m not calling you picky as you have every right to want to find something you are happy with, you aren’t.

Return it, enjoy the search for a replacement and perhaps even try to get out and play some now that shops are open again!

ICBM

LooseMoose said:

The second one is EXACTLY what I’d expect from a production guitar

Er... no. Look at a PRS SE series or a mid-priced Yamaha, for example - or even most Fenders.

Nothing to do with “production”. Everything to do with a bad combination of material and finishing choice, and lack of care in carrying it out.

Musicman20

TheBigDipper said:

Shame about the poor response from the Fender rep. I'd suspect they understand there's an issue with these guitars but fear the consequences for them if they admit to it. They're hoping the OP goes away. 

Sadly, it's a lot cheaper to attract new, less-experienced customers to Fender than it is to retain experienced ones or sort out production errors. 

What I'm unclear about is why a retailer would order an FSR model run from Fender and fail to check they got what they ordered, built to the quality they (presumably) expect? Or am I mistaken that it's the retailer that set the spec? 

I have a feeling this might have been an offer of 'necks that didn't hit QC that we took the finish off to pretend we made this model purposefully then sold as a batch as limited edition because...marketing'..... 

WezV

i know we said  its likely this was caused by then de-glossing a normal neck to offer a satin finish, which would involve working across the neck  with abrasive to leave marks like that,  but I am not so sure now.

I have a gloss finished new Vintera jazz bass here for a rewire at the moment.  I just caught sight of some really subtle lines going across the headstock that reminded me of this thread.   this is a gloss model, but its clearly had its finish levelled or buffed against the grain with something quite coarse at some point for these lines to be there... maybe the buffing wheel, who knows.   Its a long way from being a flaw on this bass, but shows they are doing some process against the grain which may be leading to the issues  on the OP's guitar as they would show up more on a satin finish

Its urethane, not nitro






as an aside, its having a re-wire because  it keeps cutting out.   We reflowed the solder joints a few weeks back, but the owner wanted to try new pickups so we decided to start from scratch with the wiring at the same time.   It is a nice bass, but most of you would hate the pale PF board on it  

euan

With it appearing in the clear coat like that I think it is too fine for wood sanding marks. Its either sanding from 600 or 800 grit thats been buffed on a wheel from there. Possibly because they've flatted the clear back for a smooth transition over the graphics.

Thats definitely different to what is happening with the Strat necks.

PhilM

LooseMoose said:

The second one is EXACTLY what I’d expect from a production guitar 

The entire fretboard looks like this

PhilM

euan said:

With it appearing in the clear coat like that I think it is too fine for wood sanding marks. Its either sanding from 600 or 800 grit thats been buffed on a wheel from there. Possibly because they've flatted the clear back for a smooth transition over the graphics.

Thats definitely different to what is happening with the Strat necks.

The scratches are definitely in the clear coat and not the wood - you can feel some of them with a fingernail.

LooseMoose

PhilM said:

LooseMoose said:

The second one is EXACTLY what I’d expect from a production guitar 

The entire fretboard looks like this

Oooh, missed that - that's nasty (although I bet it's fixable if you can be arsed, not that you should have to).

Gerrit sent back and buy summat else, made by someone else, from someone else!

PhilM

After giving GG/Fender a few options to mull over, they have come back with the following:

Our warehouse team has checked their stock and can confirm that each of the guitars has areas of slight scratches to the fretboard similar to the ones you have had. We have 2 more in another branch but I would go by rule of thumb that if 7 of the order have these scratches then the rest will also. This I assume would take the first option off the table of a replacement.

I spoke to my manager yesterday and we could not offer to pay for the neck so you could fit it. The cost of the neck would be nearly 50% the retail value of the guitar. Fender stated that they would fit this for free but again they would not offer a similar discount for this.

This ultimately leaves us with only option C. We can collect this form you and exchange it onto something else or cancel the order for a refund if you would prefer.

The options were:

A - swap it for a thoroughly inspected 3rd attempt.
B - they either cover the cost of an aftermarket replacement neck that I already own, and I pay to have that fitted. or, they have no2 back and pay for and fit aftermarket neck with the same part number.
C - They collect this one, I have a refund and I look elsewhere

Sorry Fender, you're about to lose a loyal customer of 25+ years thanks to non-existent QC and an "oh well, that's how it is" attitude. @MattFGBI ;I'm not sure if you're aware of this case or not, or if there's anything you can do. But you should at least know why I'm walking away from the brand.

TheBigDipper

PhilM said:

After giving GG/Fender a few options to mull over, they have come back with the following:

Our warehouse team has checked their stock and can confirm that each of the guitars has areas of slight scratches to the fretboard similar to the ones you have had. We have 2 more in another branch but I would go by rule of thumb that if 7 of the order have these scratches then the rest will also. This I assume would take the first option off the table of a replacement.

I spoke to my manager yesterday and we could not offer to pay for the neck so you could fit it. The cost of the neck would be nearly 50% the retail value of the guitar. Fender stated that they would fit this for free but again they would not offer a similar discount for this.

This ultimately leaves us with only option C. We can collect this form you and exchange it onto something else or cancel the order for a refund if you would prefer.

The options were:

A - swap it for a thoroughly inspected 3rd attempt.
B - they either cover the cost of an aftermarket replacement neck that I already own, and I pay to have that fitted. or, they have no2 back and pay for and fit aftermarket neck with the same part number.
C - They collect this one, I have a refund and I look elsewhere

Sorry Fender, you're about to lose a loyal customer of 25+ years thanks to non-existent QC and an "oh well, that's how it is" attitude. @MattFGBI ;I'm not sure if you're aware of this case or not, or if there's anything you can do. But you should at least know why I'm walking away from the brand.

Crappy as that sounds, your only idea of what Fender is saying is hearsay from someone junior-ish at the retailer. He might not be telling you the truth. Maybe... 

PhilM

TheBigDipper said:

PhilM said:

After giving GG/Fender a few options to mull over, they have come back with the following:

Our warehouse team has checked their stock and can confirm that each of the guitars has areas of slight scratches to the fretboard similar to the ones you have had. We have 2 more in another branch but I would go by rule of thumb that if 7 of the order have these scratches then the rest will also. This I assume would take the first option off the table of a replacement.

I spoke to my manager yesterday and we could not offer to pay for the neck so you could fit it. The cost of the neck would be nearly 50% the retail value of the guitar. Fender stated that they would fit this for free but again they would not offer a similar discount for this.

This ultimately leaves us with only option C. We can collect this form you and exchange it onto something else or cancel the order for a refund if you would prefer.

The options were:

A - swap it for a thoroughly inspected 3rd attempt.
B - they either cover the cost of an aftermarket replacement neck that I already own, and I pay to have that fitted. or, they have no2 back and pay for and fit aftermarket neck with the same part number.
C - They collect this one, I have a refund and I look elsewhere

Sorry Fender, you're about to lose a loyal customer of 25+ years thanks to non-existent QC and an "oh well, that's how it is" attitude. @MattFGBI ;I'm not sure if you're aware of this case or not, or if there's anything you can do. But you should at least know why I'm walking away from the brand.

Crappy as that sounds, your only idea of what Fender is saying is hearsay from someone junior-ish at the retailer. He might not be telling you the truth. Maybe... 

I’ll probably never know, as Fender didn’t want to say too much about it to me.

The worse bit really is that there are at least 7 of these guitars at GG in the same state and they seem happy to sell them for £800. Fender also seem happy to have supplied them in that condition in the first place. 

Tannin

TheBigDipper said:

Crappy as that sounds, your only idea of what Fender is saying is hearsay from someone junior-ish at the retailer. He might not be telling you the truth. Maybe... 

Not so. Fender has had every opportunity to say exactly what they want to say. Phil contacted Fender direct and the company made no effort to say anything. 

For what it's worth, it seems clear to me that Fender regard the quality of that finish as within spec for that level of their range. So far as Fender is concerned, if you want better than that, they have models at two, three, and five times the price. Buy one of them. 

Or, as Phil has decided to do, buy something better finished from any of a hundred different makers, every one of them prepared to try harder for your hard-earned.   

Nerine

Not trying to be cynical about this, but this is literally why I will happily drive/travel for 2-3 hours each way to actually try a guitar before I part with my ££££. And I will bring home the very guitar I tried. It’s a known entity. 

Yes it could be seen as a bit of a chore (I actually don’t mind it - New guitar day - I’m gonna make a day of it, absolutely! Stick some tunes on the stereo, stop for food etc.) but it’s saves all this utter bullshit.

The time/stress it takes in hassle and emails and what have you, is far more than just doing the trip. 

(Yes, yes. I know. Covid etc. But you know what I mean. I’m making a blanket statement for all these types of “guitar turned up not as expected” complaints, even pre-Covid, and I’m sure we’ll see many more when lockdown has ended. Just be patient and wait till the shops open and try/buy the guitar in person. Hassle = none. Nasty surprises = none etc etc.)

Also, the scratches on that neck are utterly shite. Get rid. Abysmal finishing on that. 

olafgarten

Just go for a Yamaha Revstar or PRS SE, both very reasonably priced (in fact most are cheaper than this) and are of impeccable quality. 

skunkwerx

Hmm. I do think it’s a case of the manufacturer taking the stance it is within tolerance for the model/price/whatever. 

I’ve had (mainly Ltd) for the £1000-£1200 mark with worse, and from well regarded shops too, and both manufacturer and store have taken that stance.

Not saying its on. What pisses me off is the inconsistency, some models at the price are great, others turn up like this.