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factory second neck?

great bleudini

great bleudini

Sep 19, 2011
134
156
Tucson, AZ
#1
I picked up a Squier bronco bass for a project. I will upgrade the electronics, but I took a quick peek at Fender necks online. I found some eBay listings for Fender Vintera necks for a very low price. The catch is they are factory rejects. Am I asking for trouble if I pursue this? Here is an example.

Fender Vintera neck on eBay
 
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#4
Bodeeni said:
I really like the Bronco necks. I prefer the profile to the Mustang. I am not sure if the Vintera neck has the same pocket size or not. For the price you can buy another Bronco just for the neck.
Click to expand...
Agreed, other than the oddly oversized headstocks the Bronco necks are excellent. I have one on a parts-bass.

And a new Sonic Series Bronco is just over $200, and the color choices mean you can pick one with a maple or laurel fretboard.
 
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#7
It’s hard to say why something is a second. It could just be for a minor cosmetic issue that you won’t notice once the bass has some wear on it. If you can fix most physical things that might be wrong with the neck yourself and it’s inexpensive enough go for it. If you’d have to pay someone to fix issues it’s probably doesn’t make financial sense.
 
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#10
"At best the neck has a wavy nature"...as someone who grew up playing surf rock this sounds useful!

But really, no. If he means the back-to-front of the neck itself is wavy then you could reshape that into a thinner profile straight. But most people seem unwilling to use the words "neck" and "fretboard" correctly, so we can't assume. If the wavy includes the fretboard, I don't think you're going to get that sorted out short of pulling the frets, correcting the surface geometry, and refretting.

As said above, with a bit of patience you can find a decent used neck for less.
 
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#12
There are a lot of ways that necks like this could end up on Ebay. Most of them involve something shady (or worse) - the partially removed serial number makes me think they are trying to avoid being caught.

Run away!
 
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#13
micguy said:
There are a lot of ways that necks like this could end up on Ebay. Most of them involve something shady (or worse) - the partially removed serial number makes me think they are trying to avoid being caught.

Run away!
Click to expand...
I'm no expert, but I believe that is the policy from Fender. Strip the serial number once it's no longer fit for a retail instrument so it can't be eligible for warranty. I definitely wouldn't buy THAT neck based on that posting, but I have bought plenty of factory seconds over the year with little issue. It's certainly easier to trust the larger sellers, like Franklin Guitar Works, overall. More recently, they announced an official partnership with MIRC to sell factory seconds with a reissued serial number and limited 1 year warranty.

Fender Press Releases & Products Updates | Fender Newsroom

Fender News Releases, Brand Logos, Media Kits, Company History & Media Contacts
spotlight.fender.com spotlight.fender.com
 
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#14
1st thing I do is review the seller's feedback - and I instantly recognized this seller FROM his feedback.
It's not the negative feedback alone - it's HIS responses to the negative feedback - clearly some "anger management" issues there and lacks any fundamental business acumen.
(that's all polite fancy-speak for "sociopath") - - - So that alone = "AVOID"
(oddly, I didn't see any negative feedback specifically on Necks...)

As far as the "USED" necks go, about 5-6 years ago I got a 2010 Squier P with the neck stamped "used" (not disclosed to me at the time of sale)
I did a bunch of research, and IIRC- it basically means the instrument was returned for whatever reason and then cannot be sold as new.
They are stamped "USED" and a new s/n sticker is applied over the original s/n (at least that was the practice ~ 2010)
That bass set up and played fantastic - one of the easiest/smoothest turning & immediate responding truss rods I've ever had, so I ended up keeping it (the price was right...)
Turns out that neck on that Squier P has been fantastic - one of the best necks I have. Very stable, and rarely requires tweaking. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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#15
Kevlanco said:
I'm no expert, but I believe that is the policy from Fender. Strip the serial number once it's no longer fit for a retail instrument so it can't be eligible for warranty. I definitely wouldn't buy THAT neck based on that posting, but I have bought plenty of factory seconds over the year with little issue. It's certainly easier to trust the larger sellers, like Franklin Guitar Works, overall. More recently, they announced an official partnership with MIRC to sell factory seconds with a reissued serial number and limited 1 year warranty.

Fender Press Releases & Products Updates | Fender Newsroom

Fender News Releases, Brand Logos, Media Kits, Company History & Media Contacts
spotlight.fender.com spotlight.fender.com
Click to expand...
So, there is a way they sre selling off legitimate factory seconds, and…this listing isn’t that. Got it.
 
#16
micguy said:
So, there is a way they sre selling off legitimate factory seconds, and…this listing isn’t that. Got it.
Click to expand...
I don't think anyone here is recommending that listing or seller, but saying "scratched serials = stolen" is a strong statement when it's not the case most of the time. Here's just one random listing from Franklin Guitar Works (MIRC) on ebay with a scratched serial number and the "USED" stamp on it. That's how they do it.

www.ebay.com

Fender American Ultra II Jazz Bass V Neck Maple Broken Truss Rod | eBay

🎸 Genuine Fender / Squier / Jackson / Charvel / Epiphone Guitar Bodies. Fully Loaded Bodies: Complete electronics + hardware already installed — just add a neck and play. These are authentic model-correct pieces ready to match with your favorite neck.
www.ebay.com

I know OP's linked listing or the many dozens of similar fender necks by that seller are not stolen. A terrible deal, surely. But It doesn't take much internet sleuthing to look through the seller's feedback and find that they bought most all of those necks from FGW (MIRC) and are trying to resell them for more money than they paid. Nothing illegitimate about that. It's a terrible deal and not a great business model, but perfectly legal. That's capitalism, baby.
 
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#17
great bleudini said:
I picked up a Squier bronco bass for a project. I will upgrade the electronics, but I took a quick peek at Fender necks online. I found some eBay listings for Fender Vintera necks for a very low price. The catch is they are factory rejects. Am I asking for trouble if I pursue this? Here is an example.

Fender Vintera neck on eBay
Click to expand...
STAY AWAY from that seller. Look at their negative feedback reviews. It's a horror show if you receive that neck and something is wrong or he inexplicably sends you the "wrong" item. All the replies by him point to being an extreme narcissist and it's ALWAYS your fault with them. The guy writes like Ted Nugent talks and uses big, "insulting" words to make himself sound superior. STAY AWAY!!!

Feedback

www.ebay.com www.ebay.com
 
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