NBD - Olympic White P-bass, some issues.

[marklaforest]

Hey guys,

So I ordered this bad boy at the start of last November, and it finally arrived yesterday. It's just a standard white American P-bass, so I'm not sure why it took so long. The guy at the store said that Fender was really backlogged for a while. Anyways, it's here now which is all that matters. It's quite nice.

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So I took it out of the case (which is amazing by the way, these SKB cases look military issue!) and toyed with it a little. First of all, the strings were pretty much on the frets. Needed a major set up, and I'm not sure why they didn't do that at the store, but I got it all set up now and it plays great.

The only issue now is this:

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The tuning pegs actually hit the wood on the headstock. This is my first experience with this style of tuning peg, all my other Fenders have the vintage open back style pegs. I'm not sure if there's anything that I can do to adjust this. It's not really that much of a problem, I can still tune the bass, but it's kind of annoying and the pegs will eventually eat a lot of the wood away. I change strings pretty frequently, which doesn't help either.

Anyone else ever experience this? This is my first time buying a bass without trying it first too.

 

[pasta4lnch]

wow - that is kinda strange. do they all do that?


nice looking bass btw!

 

[Stranger Danger]

wow - that is kinda strange. do they all do that?


nice looking bass btw!

No they dont. Bring it back to the store. That isnt right.

 

[tangentmusic]

Yeah, real weird. You would think for the 60th anniversary edition. they would have used the original style tuners that jutted out a little more.
Nice neck plate tho...

 

[DTF]

man thats unacceptable, If it plays like a dream and you dont think you could part with it you could grind down the tuners , Id rather have them ground down than the neck, but I think you should return it

 

[jkramer5]

Something is really wrong there. In the pictures of an American Standard on the Fender site, the paddle or clover or whatever of the tuner completely ends before it contacts the edge of the headstock. Yours look like they got what, 1/8 - 1/4 past the edge.

How did that even make it out the door. When they strung it up it had to go grind grind grind every time they rotated the key 1/2 turn. Wow.

 

[sqadan]

Either the tuner shafts are too short or they drilled the holes for the pegs too far from the edge of the headstock... either way - that bass needs warranty attention. I can't believe that bass left the factory like that.

 

[lonote]

No they dont. Bring it back to the store. That isnt right.

Absolutely, take it back ASAP.

 

[king_biscuit]

I hate that style tuner (tapered post). It ruins the look of the Fender headstock IMO. btw, I have two Fenders with those keys and they don't rub. It looks like your bass has the tuners cut too far down towards the high side of the neck and that's why you are getting rubbing.

 

[johnk_10]

wow. i actually noticed it in the first pic of it in its case. IMO, those heads were drilled to far from the edge of the headstock, or the headstock has too much wood above them since the strings look like they're going straight to the heads.

 

[PazzoBasso]

That don't look right.

 

[marklaforest]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. All the tuners do it, not just one. The D string is the only one that happens to be at that position in the pictures. I guess my reluctance to take it back comes from just how long it took to get it in the first place. But I think I'll have to wait just a little longer now...

 

[EtoG]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. All the tuners do it, not just one. The D string is the only one that happens to be at that position in the pictures. I guess my reluctance to take it back comes from just how long it took to get it in the first place. But I think I'll have to wait just a little longer now...

A bit more of a wait is MUCH better than a defective bass, my friend. Get this thing returned ASAP.

So sorry this happened to you, I hope everything straightens out!

 

[fourstringdrums]

Between this and the Custom Shop thread fiasco...

Hope you get it resolved. Is the headstock damaged? If they're drilled in the right spot but just too short it would just be a matter of getting replacement tuners that are taller.

I'm surprised you had to wait that long as well. You think this would be something that has a quick turnaround.

 

[PazzoBasso]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. All the tuners do it, not just one. The D string is the only one that happens to be at that position in the pictures. I guess my reluctance to take it back comes from just how long it took to get it in the first place. But I think I'll have to wait just a little longer now...

Hey, I noticed you're in Ontario (me too) - can you mention the dealer?
Maybe any authorized Fender shop can take care of it & you might not need to wait so long? I imagine L&M or Steve's might have stock @ another location (but you might run the risk of getting something off the shelf that's been "tested" by the masses...

Maybe they'll just replace the tuners with longer shafts? - I can't imaging the post holes are in the wrong place?

Good Luck anyway - but I think it's worth going back to the dealer...

 

[Audiophage]

Send it back, that's clearly just going to damage the headstock more and more the longer you have it. You shouldn't have those kinds of issues when you spend that much money.

 

[MtManiac]

Agreed, that is weird, take it back. I had a 2008 and a 2010 with the same pegs and neither did that. It almost suggests that the holes for the machine heads were placed incorrectly... but I thought that was all done with CNC...?

 

[Ewo]

wow. i actually noticed it in the first pic of it in its case. IMO, those heads were drilled to far from the edge of the headstock, or the headstock has too much wood above them since the strings look like they're going straight to the heads.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing: the holes for the tuner bushings are misplaced.

Jeez, Aloise--you waited all that time for a bass that shoulda flunked the neck's QC inspection...

 

[JMac- Wiskerface Designs]

Awesome looking bass , but what a bummer on the tuners .
I am with the rest of the gang on taking it back, or contacting Fender CS. Something like this is unacceptable on any level of instrument, be it a $200 bass or a $2000 bass.

 

[joelb79]

Totally looks to me like they were machined wrong by the supplier of the tuners. This is not typical of Fender.. and if it is.. I'm so glad that I've decided to build up warmoths at a cheaper cost for better quality instruments.