When it seems too good to be true... Fender advice needed

Kipaste · #1 02-18-2011, 05:07 AM

This is a bit of a rant, but any suggestions and advice would be really welcome.

About a year ago I stumbled across the best playing fender I've ever had my hands on. A marcus miller jazz of exceptional playability. I had to buy it even though I'm usually dead set against buying new instruments. Made me sell a sadowsky.

Too bad the neck had suicidal tendencies. It has been a year of tightening the truss rod every now and then and it's now maxed out. The shaping of a ski jump is also well on its way even though the micro tilt hasn't been used.. I just took it to a good luthier who used to do fender warranty repairs and got a price estimate of around >650 USD (top of the line labour isn't exactly cheap here) for properly fixing it. Or >400 for repair of the skijump and doing some washer type contraption for the truss rod. The luthiers opinion was that given the age of this bass fender really owes me a new neck. Too bad he isn't making the decisions anymore.

So I asked about it from the store I bought it from and they were quite unhelpful. And naturally I've managed to misplace the receipt and they've managed to misplace my warranty information. Of course I'm the one to blame for losing the receipt and maybe this stupidity of mine is balanced out by them losing the warranty information that they typed on their computer.

So basically I'm effed.

Does anyone know if fender sells replacement necks? I know there are plenty of companies that do replicas, but I absolutely love the Miller neck and I've never seen a replacement that exactly matches them.

Slowgypsy · #2 02-18-2011, 05:15 AM

I believe they do. But it has to go through the authorized dealer, and you'll have to return the "defective" neck to them to get the replacement. Your dealer should have the details.

My Fender AV62RI neck also developed a case of "ski jump", and my luthier fixed it permanently by planning down the heel end of the fretboard and replacing those frets, and then re-leveling all the frets. It's now easily one of the best necks I've ever played. The price you got seems high. Any other luthiers you could get an estimate from?

Kipaste · #3 02-18-2011, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slowgypsy

I believe they do. But it has to go through the authorized dealer, and you'll have to return the "defective" neck to them to get the replacement. Your dealer should have the details.

My Fender AV62RI neck also developed a case of "ski jump", and my luthier fixed it permanently by planning down the heel end of the fretboard and replacing those frets, and then re-leveling all the frets. It's now easily one of the best necks I've ever played. The price you got seems high. Any other luthiers you could get an estimate from?

Hey!

I'm trying to work the authorized dealer angle, but as said, I've managed to lose the receipt and the store people didn't find the warranty info from their computer either. I'm thinking of going back there when the guy I usually deal with is there as I've spent a lot of money there and the guys I spoke to today made it pretty clear that they have no interest in helping me here. I know it's my fault for losing the receipt, but damn, I've made all of my purchases during the last couple of years there and they know me. And I'm not even quite sure if Fender would replace it. I mean it's defective, but now that the truss rod is maxed it's still playable even though it's not very good. And come next winter, it will most certainly be trash at best. I don't have much faith in big corporate covers and warranties...

The ski jump itself would be a fix worth paying for, as it would be done by planing the fretboard, giving it a thermo treatment, re-fretting and re finishing. The gloss finish maple FB increases the price a bit too. But that combined with the fact that the truss rod is maxed out and the neck seems to want to bow more is making me nervous about if it's really worth it.

The quote is indeed high. In fact it's completely ridiculous compared to US prices but labour is stupid expensive over here. I did some calling around and for the same treatment, I could save about 10-15% by taking to it someone else, but in my experience, this guy is worth his price as he won't allow anything less than perfect leaving the shop.

Slowgypsy · #4 02-18-2011, 02:50 PM

Having a truss rod maxed out on a Fender is very, very common. And the fix is very, very simple. Just take off the truss rod nut, add a spacer... about 1/8" - 3mm.... replace nut, and you're good to go. It's a very common and inexpensive fix, and it's actually recommended by Fender.

On my Fender neck, my truss rod was also "maxed out", but in the final analysis it wasn't that my truss rod was maxed, it was really the "ski jump" that was the bottom line cause. Just a piece of info.

As for dealing with your dealer...not sure what to say. If this shop is not helping, you might be somewhat at a loss. If all else fails, I would at the very least try to contact Fender via all of the following... (1) email (2) snailmail letter-certified delivery (3) telephone call... and tell your story to them. Hey... you never know...

Kipaste · #5 02-19-2011, 06:00 AM

That's actually pretty good news. I thought the spacer/ washer thing wouldn't do much good, but 3mm is a lot of extra playroom for the truss rod. Does the 70's style bullet end cause any problems here?

I'll try contacting fender importer and corporate if I fail to get anything out of the dealer. It seems like they aren't an official fender place anymore, which could explain their downright rude service. Still I don't get the attitude as it's not out of their pocket if it goes to fender warranty. Oh well..

If all else fails, I'm thinking of going with letting this luthier fix the neck. Afterall, even though the fretjob was phenomenal for a fender on this bass, I'm sure it will be on a completely differend level after a refret. Also, it seems like getting a 3rd party replacement 7,25" radius neck with blocks and binding isn't going to happen. And since the only reason I really bought this bass is the neck and the big electronics cavity, I'd hate to get an expensive replacement that I most likely won't like as much.

You've been big help slowgupsy! Thank you.