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Fender American Design Experience

#761
Well yesterday I talked to a very reputable dealer who informed me that this whole American design experience is a test bed to eliminate dealers and sell direct to the public! There is a meeting that will take place at Fender Corporation on August 4 to discuss this and they invited 50 of their top dealers to attend to get their input. Personally I think this idea sucks! 1) There will be no reduction in Price! Fender is simply going to profit more by eliminating dealers. 2) forget about customer service. having to deal directly with Fender in my opinion is going to really suck! 3) regardless of what ever marketing BS they put out who is actually going to be paying for the shipping? My guess is it will be incorporated in the price. 4) having to order directly from Fender means I will not be able to try out a bass until after I pay for. 5) no more deals from the store you might have a good relationship with. Fender is not going to give you any break. 6) many dealers will go out of business because of this. more jobs flushed down the toilet due to corporate greed!
Hey Fender if you're reading this I absolutely despise this idea,
 
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#763
I received my ADE Precision and it initially seemed fine out of the box. The factory setup was high for me and when I made adjustments it seems like the G nut slot is a little low, open G buzzing and no clearance at first fret when fretting the third. It took a few phone calls and an unanswered email but I did get ahold of someone at Customer Service who I must say was very helpful. I also left a voicemail with Bradley Shelton who is the ADE rep and I will hope to hear back from him.

The current plan is to take it to the local GC (authorized Fender tech) and hopefully get this sorted out.

Lovely bass otherwise! I know, need pics. I haven't even taken the plastic off the tuners!
 
#764
It really seems like they have the B (or B- team) assembling and setting up these basses. You'd think they'd want to make a really good impression right out of the gate. I'd like to order one, but a USA Lakland Glaub with a jazz neck will cost me less than $850 more with second to none QC and customer service. C'mon Fender -- make me feel confident to plunk down $1700 on what is essentially not much different than an American Standard!!
 
#765
boristhespider9 said:
It really seems like they have the B (or B- team) assembling and setting up these basses. You'd think they'd want to make a really good impression right out of the gate. I'd like to order one, but a USA Lakland Glaub with a jazz neck will cost me less than $850 more with second to none QC and customer service. C'mon Fender -- make me feel confident to plunk down $1700 on what is essentially not much different than an American Standard!!
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You mean used, right?

USA Lakland Bob Glaub basses are over $3K... my ADE '58 Precision was $1400.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#766
Addison said:
You mean used, right?

USA Lakland Bob Glaub basses are over $3K... my ADE '58 Precision was $1400.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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I purchased a new USA Glaub with JO neck from Bass Central for $2699, built to my specs, and I'm considering ordering another one at the same price. What they put on the web site is the starting price.

The ADE P-Bass I designed is around $1700 and I worry about its QC based on the above. I certainly don't worry about that from a Lakland USA or their responsiveness. And yes, I guess the difference is more like $1000.

I'd still like to order the ADE -- just wish there were more positive stories so far.
 
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#767
boristhespider9 said:
I purchased a new USA Glaub with JO neck from Bass Central for $2699, built to my specs, and I'm considering ordering another one at the same price. What they put on the web site is the starting price.

The ADE P-Bass I designed is around $1700 and I worry about its QC based on the above. I certainly don't worry about that from a Lakland USA or their responsiveness. And yes, I guess the difference is more like $1000.

I'd still like to order the ADE -- just wish there were more positive stories so far.
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Or you could save $1,000+ and buy an American Standard p bass. Any adjustments to things QC missed can easily be done.
 
#768
Slpbass81 said:
Or you could save $1,000+ and buy an American Standard p bass. Any adjustments to things QC missed can easily be done.
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I own a 2013 Am Std P, and a 2010 Am Std Jazz, and a USA Glaub (with J neck), and a USA Joe Osborn, and a Stingray Slo Special, and more...

I would like another USA P with a Jazz neck, which I can't get in the Am Std. So, GAS tells me I should get a P with Ash, Blonde, Tort, Maple FB J neck. I don't need it -- just want it!

But the stories above are making me hesitant.
 
#771
Matt R. said:
But they installed your pickup backwards. Even though it didn't cause you problems, that's still bad QC, and a very obvious blunder on their part.
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I'd hate to say it, but if that's the least that happened, he made out alright. It's a very simple fix that doesn't quite rise to the level of a flawed finish, wonky frets or misaligned bridge. Should Fender have caught it? Absolutely. Should they be made aware? Yes. But there are many worse ways that bass could have left the factory.
 
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#772
petrus61 said:
I'd hate to say it, but if that's the least that happened, he made out alright. It's a very simple fix that doesn't quite rise to the level of a flawed finish, wonky frets or misaligned bridge. Should Fender have caught it? Absolutely. Should they be made aware? Yes. But there are many worse ways that bass could have left the factory.
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Of course I agree it's a small mistake in the general scheme of things, but at this price point, this stuff should not be happening whatsoever.
 
#773
Matt R. said:
Of course I agree it's a small mistake in the general scheme of things, but at this price point, this stuff should not be happening whatsoever.
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I agree completely. I think Fender should be made aware when stuff like this happens. It's important for maintaining QC on Fenders end. The more folks that report issues instead of letting it slide, the better it will be for everyone because it presses addressing the issue on their end.
 
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#774
Yeah despite how frustrated I am seeing this stuff, I do believe Fender will do a good job of correcting these issues. In my experience, all the American Standards I've owned have been amazing in every way (except the pots) so these should end up even better. I guess I'll see. My PBass arrives in a few days, and I'm still waiting on my Jazz replacement.
 
#775
Matt R. said:
Yeah despite how frustrated I am seeing this stuff, I do believe Fender will do a good job of correcting these issues. In my experience, all the American Standards I've owned have been amazing in every way (except the pots) so these should end up even better. I guess I'll see. My PBass arrives in a few days, and I'm still waiting on my Jazz replacement.
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Don't tell me they wired some righty audio taper pots the lefty way instead of using some lefty pots! Is that happened?
 
#776
Matt R. said:
Yeah despite how frustrated I am seeing this stuff, I do believe Fender will do a good job of correcting these issues. In my experience, all the American Standards I've owned have been amazing in every way (except the pots) so these should end up even better. I guess I'll see. My PBass arrives in a few days, and I'm still waiting on my Jazz replacement.
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This may sound strange, but I think Fender has more incentive to make sure the QC on the American Standards is very high given the wide distribution, the retailers who will have to deal with complaints and returns, and the reputational issues. So, they probably have a mass of well trained workers on that line. Then there's the Custom Shop where you're going to get top quality staff. So, who knows what team they are using for ADE and their level of training and QC experience? The mistakes mentioned above are pretty fundamental.
 
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#778
KyleSerlington said:
those are the only colors they are going to offer? they could make so much money off this. i just put together a pretty boring bass for $1675. in my opinion you're better off going with Warmoth. also, why the hell does fender charge $100 more to use an Ash body on this? ash and alder are the same price at warmoth
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Amen to this.
You could build a lot nicer of a Warmoth for %60-70 of the price.
 

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