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Does Fender Owe Me a New Neck?

#21
Is it because there's an upside down smiley face on the left side of the neck?

Form follows function. If it doesn't affect playability then Fender doesn't "owe you" anything.

I<34080 said:
If this were a Rickenbacker people would be going crazy about how bad the quality control is, but since it's a Fender people are telling him to stop whining.
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Actually, no, most of us would be saying the exact same thing.
 
#22
<insert sarcastic tone>
yeah i see what you mean.
i have a couple of squiers that have wood necks....looks just like that.
yep...looks like wood grain to me.
</sarcastic tone>

OCD much?
if you had this problem for this long, you dont put it away, you sell it or return it.
dont b*tch about something you had complete control over.
now look in "disgust" at you MIA sub squier bass neck and feel bad about it.
its a shame to have such a nice bass and not play it.
tell you what...ill buy your used MIA fender at a new squier price, and take that eye sore off your hands.
 
#23
I<34080 said:
If this were a Rickenbacker people would be going crazy about how bad the quality control is, but since it's a Fender people are telling him to stop whining.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be poisting in a Rick thread because I do not care for them. Fenders, on the other hand, I am a fan of.

This is an American Standard Fender, correct? They don't advertise it with a fancy grain neck, do they? It performs and feels just like a fancy grained neck would, does it not? Why in the world would they owe you anything?

If you want, I will take this hideous thing off your hands for you, OP. Free of charge :ninja:
 
#25
jlepre said:
Maybe he bought it online? Then I would just return it to the online dealer.
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Yeah, I got it online and they had no more. Wouldn't honor sale price on a return w/backorder. "Take it up with Fender," which was the only option left to still keep the deal...which is what I intended to do, but couldn't decide if it was worth the trouble.

I got this piece out for the first time in a year or so and started vacillating on the issue all over again, thus this thread.

Apparently, most respondents (typically) don't understand what they're seeing here, so I suggest they pay attention and learn something:

This is a piece of "crotchwood," near where the tree and the branch met, with grain that goes in two different directions.

So...back in the old days, Leo Fender used to buy whatever wood was cheapest that week, and there were a lot of vintage Fenders with necks like this. Virtually all of them developed twists or warps at these points of grain divergence, particularly those with one-piece maple necks. I have personally seen vintage Fenders that developed fatal warps at these points even with capped rosewood fingerboards, which normally provide a lot of added stability to the neck.

This is why instrument neck blanks are selected for straight and consistent grain.

My only question is whether the graphite reinforcement in these necks eliminates any such concerns and renders this just a cosmetic flaw, which I can live with. If graphite makes no difference, this is a doomed neck.
 
#26
sounds like you thought "american" meant "master built." as stated, if it sounds/feels good, then no fender doesn't owe you anything. If you want a bass with attention to detail that close be prepared to spend at least twice as much. fender isn't responsible for how the grain forms in the wood.
 
#34
southshoreconor said:
Like you said, its been sitting for over a year.
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I know, I was just kidding about the "five minutes" thing.

Actually, FMIC customer service's first line is worse than useless in my extensive experience, about on par with the Mumbai grade of phone help, only without the accents. To get anything done, I'd have to call in some favors down there with people who actually know what they're doing and have the authority to make a decision happen.

My only question here was whether the graphite makes the point moot, and so I should save my favors for something that matters.

I know what this neck means without the graphite (FAIL=NECK DEATH), I just don't know what it means -- if anything -- WITH the graphite.
 
#37
I understand your disappointment in that you don't feel like you got what you paid for .Sometimes, things get through QC with ALL manufacturing companies. BUT

I've never purchased any musical instrument/accessories from on-line that wouldn't take it back within 45 days if I was not happy with it, and I have returned quite a few things including guitars. If they didnt have a replacement, you could have said defective and wanted a refund.The fact that they wouldn't honor the sales price is another issue. It would have been simple for the dealer to RMA it back to fender.

I'm afraid you dropped the ball on this one by waiting past any time you could have remedied the situation. (I had done this in the past but now if its not right, I don't except it and return it)
 
#38
Are you 100% sure about this crotchwood being a problem? I remember reading about a boutique bass builder who only used crotchwood for its strength. May not have been maple however.

Good luck taking care of this, unlike some folks here based on your research I can at least understand being a little concerned. Sounds like you're not going to get much help here though.

@ "Fender isn't responsible for the wood grain.": Think before you speak, pretty much every builder has to consider grain and its structural ramifications.

@ RIC: Yeah, if this had been a Ric I think there would have been riots or something. That seems to be how it goes. I've actually heard some pretty cool news about neck construction from RIC recently.
 
#40
Spleenface92 said:
I don't get it...
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Well, at least you admit it. :rolleyes:

I assumed people here understood this stuff better...jeeze.

OK, really simple: When necks are made, they have to be made of well-cured wood with straight, uniform grain so that they load and flex evenly in use and remain straight over time. This is a structural (and to some extent even a tonal) rather than a cosmetic issue.

When there is a knot or a flaw or any substantial degree of grain irregularity in an otherwise straight-grained neck, the neck will eventually start to move in different directions at that point as it ages, resulting in a warp, bend or twist.

If this was a Leo-era one-piece neck, there would sooner or later have been a BIG and fatal twist or warp centering right on the point where the color apparently changes in that picture (the wood is the same color of course, but the grain in that neck is so divergent that the light reflects that differently off it above and below that point). A warped neck is essentially salvage kindling.

Current AS necks (including this one) have graphite reinforcing bars that impart additional rigidity and consistency, as does a capped fingerboard.

It's rare that a modern Fender (much less a MIA) ships with a neck with grain this off, but what I am asking is if anyone has seen one in the graphite-reinforced era and if it remained straight after years of use -- in other words, is this still the serious structural concern it once was...or not?

It may be that in a neck with capped fingerboard, larger trussrod and graphite reinforcement, grain has become merely a cosmetic issue (however much I tend to doubt this), and there's no reason for concern or trying to get a new neck out of FMIC.

If it's not the case, this neck is a dead man walking, should never have shipped and I deserve a new neck and a sheepish apology. ;)
 

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