Cancelled Fender Custom Shop order

[MattZilla]

The lumber shortage is artificial if it exists at all. I don't buy that excuse for a second.

From a manufacturing perspective, it’s as real as the ocean is wet.

The sawmills might be stocked to the roof with fully cut lumber ready to ship, but all of the lumber yards in my neck of the woods have some racks at a quarter their typical capacity and some racks empty.

My company is waitlisted for birch 1” ply,

The shortage might very well be manufactured.

 

[LBS-bass]

From a manufacturing perspective, it’s as real as the ocean is wet.

The sawmills might be stocked to the roof with fully cut lumber ready to ship, but all of the lumber yards in my neck of the woods have some racks at a quarter their typical capacity and some racks empty.

My company is waitlisted for birch 1” ply,

The shortage might very well be manufactured.

It's a huge issue. There's been a lot of home construction going on in my neighborhood. New homes, rebuilds, remodels. We've been thinking about a remodel of some sort, but the cost of materials has skyrocketed because lumber is ridiculously expensive, if you can even get the lumber you want.

I don't know what kind of body the OP wanted but there are also issues with ash being decimated by insects, so that wood is a lot more likely to show up with defects than it used to be.

 

[bass12]

It's a huge issue. There's been a lot of home construction going on in my neighborhood. New homes, rebuilds, remodels. We've been thinking about a remodel of some sort, but the cost of materials has skyrocketed because lumber is ridiculously expensive, if you can even get the lumber you want.

I don't know what kind of body the OP wanted but there are also issues with ash being decimated by insects, so that wood is a lot more likely to show up with defects than it used to be.

This is completely off-topic but that donut looks delicious. I haven't eaten a donut in years and now I want one.

 

[petrus61]

The custom shop is probably swamped, but that doesn't excuse their excuses which are obviously lies. And I'm judging Fender CS assuming that you received those comments directly from Fender, not through the dealer.

I think the difference in who is informing OP on his bass’s status isn’t negligible. I asked earlier, but it must have gotten buried. The part about the shop deciding not to do any more business with the CS was interesting...

 

[Mastermold]

It's a huge issue. There's been a lot of home construction going on in my neighborhood. New homes, rebuilds, remodels. We've been thinking about a remodel of some sort, but the cost of materials has skyrocketed because lumber is ridiculously expensive, if you can even get the lumber you want.

I don't know what kind of body the OP wanted but there are also issues with ash being decimated by insects, so that wood is a lot more likely to show up with defects than it used to be.

Yeah if you have an ash bass you like hang onto it! They are going to be hard to replace.

 

[BobKos]

If the situation is as the OP presented then shame on Fender for administering run-around customer service. CS instruments are a big deal and although they are low sales volume they indirectly generate tons of mid line to high line production instrument sales. Fender really needs to keep that shop in order if it is slipping.

Concerning Fender vs all the other builders. Fender makes SOOOOO many basses that there are bound to be duds, average and remarkable examples throughout every line. It's just odds. All the boutique builders are subject to similar odds. I'm sure Sadowsky, Lull, Alembic, etc have all produced duds, average, and remarkable gems. Given the price points, the odds of a dud Sadowsky are probably the same as a remarkable gem production Fender. I think the Fender branded remarkable gems are what keep people clamoring for them. If you luck into one, it will always be cheaper than ANY competition out there. And it will be very special. The CS is a way of buying better odds. But EVERY instrument from EVERY manufacturer is a gamble till it is built and in hand.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Buy a n

Sorry, but Fender is just a name anymore. A great legacy of bygone American homegrown companies that have just lost it. Check out other builders who do the same sort of custom builds and get something very nice.

Honestly most brands; even some "custom made" are just names. P or jazz bass copies or some goofy shape. You can only make a bass so good.

 

[Iridescentone]

Oh, this is nonsense. Your are defending lies with lack of communication????

Better off with a custom order from G&L.

At least you get what you pay for.

That may have been the case a few years ago with G&L, but not lately. You'll be very lucky to get exactly what you pay for these days. If we're to believe what we read on TB these last couple years, when it comes to G&L there have been too many cock-ups for my tastes...bad necks, specs different than what were ordered. TB is littered with these types of complaint posts.

G&L's service dept has become a joke. I'm dealing with them right now about a cracked neck on a bass I bought brand new, and is under warranty. This Memo dude has been dancing me around for months now. Communicating with this guy has been like pulling teeth, whether by phone or via email. When we finally do communicate it's only because I've had to re-start the convo (again) and then what I get is mostly double-talk and gaslighting, but still no progress.

Sad really, because I've been onboard with G&L since Day 1 in 1980. Great basses as long as you get a "good one", which I always had done in the past. Nowadays?...I would never order a custom spec bass from them. Beyond that, I doubt I'll be buying any brand new in-stock G&L basses either, considering what their repair/warranty service has become. I can't trust them to honor their warranty. Now I feel like a fool for spending my money with them. Not cool.

 

[JW56789]

Does anyone know if 'guitar wood' prices are rising like the ejection-seat jump lumber has taken at Home Depot, Lowes, and other 'carpentry' wood sources ? ? ?

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Does anyone know if 'guitar wood' prices are rising like the ejection-seat jump lumber has taken at Home Depot, Lowes, and other 'carpentry' wood sources ? ? ?

I wondered the same, but paper prices haven't jumped the same percentage as lumber. I think guitar wood has always had a premium price added, so less of a jump compared to decking.

 

[JAKBOUND]

Call bluesman vintage .
You’ll get the owner on the phone and he will build you any fender type bass you want for less than half the price of FMIC

and it’ll be killer

I am at 18 months and waiting for a ‘63 DeVille. With the no gig situation, I haven’t been pushing, but now things are warming back up. I think many businesses have been caught out with the recent events.
Good news is I got the price from 2019.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I am at 18 months and waiting for a ‘63 DeVille. With the no gig situation, I haven’t been pushing, but now things are warming back up. I think many businesses have been caught out with the recent events.
Good news is I got the price from 2019.

I thought his turnaround was much quicker than that. Good to know.

 

[RodneyM]

What music store was it that decided not to do busines anymore with the FCS?

I had a FCS order during the pandemic and it showed up at month 11 of a 9-12 wait. Custom build, too, not a "production" CS bass.

Also. someone earlier mentioned a G&L as an alternative. I'm a fan of G&L, but my G&L CS bass' neck doesn't come close to quality of a FCS or my MM Old Smoothie. I was kinda bummed about that but still a nice bass.

 

[Chicken Wing]

I recently spoke with a local contractor who builds custom doors. The price for woods that are used in construction materials (think 2x4s) has gone up substantially, but the price of exotic woods used for custom doors has not gone up nearly as much.

 

[Mastermold]

Please report back . Curious to their point of view.

Got a hold of my friend who works in the Fender CS. He said lower grade wood goes to the regular American production instruments and the CS gets the high grade wood. He said getting lumber is always an issue but the current situation has not been anything extraordinary for them, so far as he knows they have what they need. So sounds like the OP’s situation is not a wood shortage issue.

 

[petrus61]

What music store was it that decided not to do busines anymore with the FCS?

I had a FCS order during the pandemic and it showed up at month 11 of a 9-12 wait. Custom build, too, not a "production" CS bass.

Also. someone earlier mentioned a G&L as an alternative. I'm a fan of G&L, but my G&L CS bass' neck doesn't come close to quality of a FCS or my MM Old Smoothie. I was kinda bummed about that but still a nice bass.

I also asked a similar question earlier in the thread. Some folks with a pretty huge platform are still facilitating orders and are much bigger targets to vent frustration upon than our humble TB, if one feels so inclined.

Fender Custom Shop

 

[Black Out Jazz]

Well in this case l've no reason to believe the OP over Fender...
Dude comes on, one post, and disappears.
Other posters have questions about communications with the shop owner ect.
Easy to throw out baseless claims as fact and bail....
I've personally experienced huge supply chain problems and tempered my expectations accordingly, regardless of what the vendor I'm dealing with tells me as they too have only so much control over the situation.
I'm not sure, either, how garden variety a roasted body is though... Don't think I've seen that before.

Uh...looks like the "dude" has been around since 2009...
Member Since:

Sep 5, 2009

 

[bucephylus]

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 lines up with my experience. Sad to say.

I’m not going to get into a lot of detail; but, my interactions were a combination of extreme arrogance on their part and and customer ignore / denigration.

Furthermore, basses only comprise a very small fraction of Fender’s product sales; so, they routinely just pay little attention to what bass players actually need. Their designs just kind of get changed like some faux fashion designer’s Fall lineup. Whatever. Terrible company, zero customer commitment, if anything adversarial to bass players.

I say all this, being a solidly Fender player on the gig. Fact is the brand recognition on the gig is absolute. And, Leo’s designs just work. In spite of the jerks running the company now. Best approach I have found is to play a ton of both used and new instruments, be willing to put parts together, and sort the wheat from the chaff - there being a ton of the latter.

Find your own way. Fender won’t help you.

 

[kmd88]

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

Gibson is Burger King.

I needed a laugh! Thanks for that.

 

[FRoss6788]

Uh...looks like the "dude" has been around since 2009...
Member Since:

Sep 5, 2009

And a total of 6 posts...