Cancelled Fender Custom Shop order

[WarwickE36]

Have you considered a Huff bass?

 

[Zak TMD]

I don't understand why the Fender custom shop don't care about their customers or their reputation. After nearly 18 months of waiting and being straight up lied to by the custom shop I cancelled my order this week.
It was just a 63 Precision bass with a roasted body and a roasted maple neck painted lake placid blue.
It should have been so easy... I have purchased well over $25,000 dollars of custom shop basses and amps from music stores in the past and figured I would get something special but not anymore. They lied when after 8 months they said it would be ready in ten days, then 4 months later they said the neck had a problem and it would be another 30 days... then 3 months later they said the body was bad... So I finally cancelled the order. The music store I was dealing with was lied to as well and they will no longer be carrying custom shop stuff. I will get it done with a local boutique guitar builder instead.
Thanks for the rant....

This rant is 100% warranted and understandable. I've pretty much sworn off new Fender / Gibson, and if I'm not buying a used instrument, I'll have someone I know - or another builder with a good rep make stuff for me, as I'm doing now. Between their prices, weird biz practices, and continuing decrease in quality, it's kind of a no brainer for me.

 

[roller]

I see Fender kinda like General Motors -- sure, they were one of the first... and they've been around a long time... still seen as a "classic"... but today, they're FAR from building the best product or delivering the best service.

Soooooooo many other makers/manufacturers have surpassed both of these companies in their pertinent fields.

Fender is the McDonald's of the instrument world, and their "custom shop" line makes the "premium" burgers.

Gibson is Burger King.

 

[petrus61]

Was the communication coming direct from the Fender CS or from the shop that was facilitating the order?

 

[cxcxcx]

This rant is 100% warranted and understandable. I've pretty much sworn off new Fender / Gibson, and if I'm not buying a used instrument, I'll have someone I know - or another builder with a good rep make stuff for me, as I'm doing now. Between their prices, weird biz practices, and continuing decrease in quality, it's kind of a no brainer for me.

I'd click the "Love" button for this post if there was one.

 

[ADeliciousBass]

I don't understand why the Fender custom shop don't care about their customers or their reputation. After nearly 18 months of waiting and being straight up lied to by the custom shop I cancelled my order this week.
It was just a 63 Precision bass with a roasted body and a roasted maple neck painted lake placid blue.
It should have been so easy... I have purchased well over $25,000 dollars of custom shop basses and amps from music stores in the past and figured I would get something special but not anymore. They lied when after 8 months they said it would be ready in ten days, then 4 months later they said the neck had a problem and it would be another 30 days... then 3 months later they said the body was bad... So I finally cancelled the order. The music store I was dealing with was lied to as well and they will no longer be carrying custom shop stuff. I will get it done with a local boutique guitar builder instead.
Thanks for the rant....

Fat lards. Gosh!

 

[Zak TMD]

I'd click the "Love" button for this post if there was one.

I mean - legit there are so many small companies where you get more for the money, and if you want some hand made custom stuff, there's also better places to look and pay less for everything you could ever want.

Also, I mean I'd much rather give my money to a person than a giant faceless corp. All the gear I've bought since 2020 has been from small biz or individuals, and I think that's what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life.

 

[Ace Of Bass]

It would suck to order anything around the time things went south last year...I’m not gonna sit up here and act like that bass wouldn’t have been special, because it probably would have...FCS Basses are just as dope as anything else being suggested...but one thing I can’t stand is not getting a straight answer about a product I purchased and am waiting on...I raise hell about tshirts I order that takes a week longer than they’re supposed to...I can only imagine what kind of crazy D-bag I’d turn into waiting in your situation...you did the right thing to walk away from it and ask for your money back..Fender obviously needs to tighten up...someone spending what you were spending should have gotten better service, so you’re right to shop elsewhere...maybe you’ll find a new/used FCS that will fit the bill..good luck either way..

 

[Pings Bass]

Bummer about their bad customer comms. But it's hard for me to see the value proposition of fender cs even if their customer experience were stellar.

I'm sure this is just a kind of rationalization, but I'm glad I'm not good enough to think i need one bass that costs more than my entire rack of midrange imports that are absolutely good enough for me.

 

[ntang]

This is outrageous. I've been waiting for a US Geddy Lee Jazz since November. ETA is now the end of August. I would cancel if I didn't want it that much.

 

[MattZilla]

The "bad neck" and "bad body" arguments are particularly surprising, considering how much raw and dressed inventory Fender would have on hand. Don't they have proper environmental policies and procedures to ensure that their wood stockpile doesn't develop defects?

This is something I’ve wondered about for years prior to Covid.

Most small companies & almost all indy luthiers do have a stockpile of “selected probably good-to-great pieces” which they hang onto for a few years & monitor before either using to make Christmas Tree ornaments or other nicnacs for friends & family or building into a body/neck, but they seldom also have mass manufacturing necessitating monthly (weekly?) shipments of entire pallets of individual woods or even have the same quantities ordered and built as just Fender’s Custom Shop alone.

I know nothing specific of Fender USA’s operations but I’d be willing to bet $10 that, even if they actually have a dedicated wood ageing room, the wood that typically comes out of there not twisted & bowed is reserved for industry players and regular Joe’s ordering Custom Shop from some rando shop somewhere in americaland are just getting wood that was on the pallet just a few weeks or even just days prior.

I’d not be surprised if all Standard, Special, Artist Signature, etc. USA production models are built from boards that were on a pallet on a flatbed truck less than 40 days prior to being cut, shaped, painted, and shipped.

There’s a very real likelihood that they’ve stuck fifteen pieces of maple in the oven for the OP’s bass and they’ve all either split or twisted well beyond use for anything longer than a mandolin’s neck. And they’re doing that with a skeleton crew in facility. From the production manager’s POV, the OP might have one of the most expensive basses they’ve built in a decade.

There very probably are a few employees who are CNC enthusiasts with a beat up old HAAS or Matsuura in their garage for side-hustling who are handling some production there. There very probably are a few independent builders who are having some production and even CS work farmed out to them to do in their “shop” (garage/basement).

This thread is the first I’ve read of Fender making a whole roasted body an option at all which bolsters my thought of them going through wood like McDonalds goes through buns and sticking wood that’s not thick enough to be able to twist up in the oven and still have enough to be squared down to size- thus their problem getting a good piece out of the oven for the OP’s body.

I’m not defending them, but trying to put into perspective the ludicrousness of the high expectations many TBers seem to have for this company. They ARE the McDonalds of musical instruments.

Valenti, Fodera, Lull (did Mike have a group of employees to hand over his machines, skills, and ethics to?), Alleva Coppolo, Sadowsky, and others are always a better option for a custom build than a Large Manufacturing Facility, period.

 

[Silky Johnson]

Ya it's not the delay that's totally unacceptable, it's the stringing you along with bogus excuses that is

 

[marchone]

Production delays due to the pandemic are being experienced across all industries. There is a Mesa Boogie thread going on now about their shortages.

 

[cxcxcx]

I mean - legit there are so many small companies where you get more for the money, and if you want some hand made custom stuff, there's also better places to look and pay less for everything you could ever want.

Also, I mean I'd much rather give my money to a person than a giant faceless corp. All the gear I've bought since 2020 has been from small biz or individuals, and I think that's what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life.

Agreed - I spent about 2 hours "repairing" a brand new Fender American Original 60's P Bass the other day and I know many others that have done the same. I can do those fixes in my sleep, but a customer who does not might not be so casual about it. I also don't appreciate buying a new guitar to present me with an opportunity to roll up my sleeves.

It hasn't been a big point of discussion here - yet - but many the iconic luthiers that established what we call excellent craftsmanship and solid business are retiring and/or getting set to retire. That's gonna make a bad smell stink even worse.

 

[bobalu]

I have just been through this with MJT I ordered a body in January should have been ready March, no communication unless I contacted them, then the body arrives totally checked I ordered it clean unaged, they offered to change it if I paid all the transport, in the end I gave up and kept it NEVER order from MJT

What is MJT?

 

[cxcxcx]

What is MJT?

MJT Aged Finishes

 

[Zak TMD]

Agreed - I spent about 2 hours "repairing" a brand new Fender American Original 60's P Bass the other day and I know many others that have done the same. I can do those fixes in my sleep, but a customer who does not might not be so casual about it. I also don't appreciate buying a new guitar to present me with an opportunity to roll up my sleeves.

It hasn't been a big point of discussion here - yet - but many the iconic luthiers that established what we call excellent craftsmanship and solid business are retiring and/or getting set to retire. That's gonna make a bad smell stink even worse.

My guitarist bought a gold top a few years back, went to have it set up, and decided to pull all the garbage pots and stuff they are jamming into them nowadays. Not long later, the frets started popping loose, and he took it to a luthier to get it fixed, because the only place the warranty was good at was guitar center, and ain't no one wanna take a nice instrument to GC to get it fixed.

If I bought a $100 piece of gear and had to immediately turn around and fix it, I'd be frustrated. $2k? Heck no. I'd return it immediately and contact execs because that is unacceptable in my eyes.

But the good news is new people building and getting into the whole luthier thing is still happening. Sure some of the masters will age out/retire sure, but there are others who will step up.

 

[Matt R.]

I’m currently waiting for a CS Jazz to be done. A few years back, I had a bit of a warranty related kerfuffle on a CS bass I received.
I took to social media in the form of a very detailed review (the good and bad). It was a clearly angry yet diplomatic review. It worked, and the situation got sorted out, and then some. Hopefully they will take good care of you. Good luck!

 

[Yango]

…”I have purchased well over $25,000 dollars of custom shop basses and amps from music stores in the past”…

I’m not sure what this has to do with anything.

It sounds to me like you were getting the runaround BS from Fender on your order. You made the right decision.

 

[Koshchei]

This is something I’ve wondered about for years prior to Covid.

Most small companies & almost all indy luthiers do have a stockpile of “selected probably good-to-great pieces” which they hang onto for a few years & monitor before either using to make Christmas Tree ornaments or other nicnacs for friends & family or building into a body/neck, but they seldom also have mass manufacturing necessitating monthly (weekly?) shipments of entire pallets of individual woods or even have the same quantities ordered and built as just Fender’s Custom Shop alone.

I know nothing specific of Fender USA’s operations but I’d be willing to bet $10 that, even if they actually have a dedicated wood ageing room, the wood that typically comes out of there not twisted & bowed is reserved for industry players and regular Joe’s ordering Custom Shop from some rando shop somewhere in americaland are just getting wood that was on the pallet just a few weeks or even just days prior.

I’d not be surprised if all Standard, Special, Artist Signature, etc. USA production models are built from boards that were on a pallet on a flatbed truck less than 40 days prior to being cut, shaped, painted, and shipped.

There’s a very real likelihood that they’ve stuck fifteen pieces of maple in the oven for the OP’s bass and they’ve all either split or twisted well beyond use for anything longer than a mandolin’s neck. And they’re doing that with a skeleton crew in facility. From the production manager’s POV, the OP might have one of the most expensive basses they’ve built in a decade.

There very probably are a few employees who are CNC enthusiasts with a beat up old HAAS or Matsuura in their garage for side-hustling who are handling some production there. There very probably are a few independent builders who are having some production and even CS work farmed out to them to do in their “shop” (garage/basement).

This thread is the first I’ve read of Fender making a whole roasted body an option at all which bolsters my thought of them going through wood like McDonalds goes through buns and sticking wood that’s not thick enough to be able to twist up in the oven and still have enough to be squared down to size- thus their problem getting a good piece out of the oven for the OP’s body.

I’m not defending them, but trying to put into perspective the ludicrousness of the high expectations many TBers seem to have for this company. They ARE the McDonalds of musical instruments.

Valenti, Fodera, Lull (did Mike have a group of employees to hand over his machines, skills, and ethics to?), Alleva Coppolo, Sadowsky, and others are always a better option for a custom build than a Large Manufacturing Facility, period.

If Fender's board hadn't made the decision to start stockpiling at the start of COVID, given the precarious nature of the supply chain and increased demand, they should be being asked to resign en masse. To not have DR, business continuity, financial health, and reputation of FMIC top of mind would be a governance failure on many, MANY levels. Wood is only a small part of an instrument's production -- to not have several months supply of usable material on-hand at all times would constitute almost criminal negligence.