Who is your rep? If you want to PM me that would be fine.
Sorry that the process is off to a slow start but I do recommend calling the regular Fender help line, worked like a charm for me.
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Fender American Design Experience
- Thread starter ShoeManiac
- Start date
Who is your rep? If you want to PM me that would be fine.
Sorry that the process is off to a slow start but I do recommend calling the regular Fender help line, worked like a charm for me.
Ok - it looks like it will be taken care of. Fender is taking care of the shipping back to address the hump and neck pocket.
Interestingly, they spent some time looking at the neck hump issue in the factory and found others with the same issue and sent some photos. The photos they sent had a number of different size humps, so it really didn't bring me much comfort seeing a "variety" of humps coming out of the factory. I've never seen it on an American Standard (or any other P or other bass I've owned), so I'm not sure why it would be within acceptable tolerances. I'm not quite sure if Fender feels it's something they need to resolve or it's normal, but my rep said he had quite a bit of back and forth with the factory about the issue.
To be continued...
Interestingly, they spent some time looking at the neck hump issue in the factory and found others with the same issue and sent some photos. The photos they sent had a number of different size humps, so it really didn't bring me much comfort seeing a "variety" of humps coming out of the factory. I've never seen it on an American Standard (or any other P or other bass I've owned), so I'm not sure why it would be within acceptable tolerances. I'm not quite sure if Fender feels it's something they need to resolve or it's normal, but my rep said he had quite a bit of back and forth with the factory about the issue.
To be continued...
Nobody else is going for the obvious joke, the ones with humps are made on Wednesday...
Hi guys,
Aside from the pocket fit and bump issues, and I'm not saying these are not important, how's the playability, tone, dead spots etc...?
Aside from the pocket fit and bump issues, and I'm not saying these are not important, how's the playability, tone, dead spots etc...?
I played mine only a bit a before sending it back to address the issues discussed above. Playability was very good. Nice fretwork and light satin finish on the back of the neck. I didn't notice any dead spots. Similar to a "good" American Standard (as opposed to a dud with poor QC). Tone will vary depending on which pickups you select. Mine has the '63 P pickup. I didn't get to play it enough to compare it to my other Fenders or Laklands. Hopefully it will come back soon so I can play it more.
I checked out the American Design Experience for the precision and Jazz basses. Kind of neat, but the price was steep for what you get. I can see that it can have a lot of intrinsic value if you get custom lettering on the neck plate. That's it.
Me. I'm Doctor Cheapo. I would rather buy an American Deluxe p bass instead of the design experience bass with ash body.
I'm not quite sure what you're saying. How is getting an American Deluxe P less expensive? It's around the same price or more expensive than an ADE bass depending on the options selected. Plus, it's not a "traditional" Fender because it's active. The ADE program, for now, is to create a somewhat custom traditional J or P bass for a few hundred more than an American Standard.
All the Fenders I have had over the years have a router hump including my '09 AM STD and my '14 ADE. Never really thought much of it though if it bugs you and they are going to fix it, good deal then.
What I'm displeased about is the fret sprout my ADE developed. Unfortunately I don't have anyone to direct my displeasure at. When I got the bass the neck was pure satiny smooth with flawless fret ends. Almost a year later they poke out of the neck and stab me. Stupid arid Colorado desert.
Jokes aside, my ADE is still great and I'm playing the hell out of it. Now equipped with LaBella light DTFs, it's 100% vintagey classic P bass sounding. I hope you guys with less than stellar experiences get it sorted out.
What I'm displeased about is the fret sprout my ADE developed. Unfortunately I don't have anyone to direct my displeasure at. When I got the bass the neck was pure satiny smooth with flawless fret ends. Almost a year later they poke out of the neck and stab me. Stupid arid Colorado desert.
Jokes aside, my ADE is still great and I'm playing the hell out of it. Now equipped with LaBella light DTFs, it's 100% vintagey classic P bass sounding. I hope you guys with less than stellar experiences get it sorted out.
Sprout is an easy problem to solve that should not come back if addressed correctly.
Not less expensive, almost the same price. Sorry about that.
With the American Deluxe, you get a fancier fretboard compared to the American Standard. It has block inlays and is bound. I like that.
I get what the ADE program is about. I see there are more options than a regular American Standard, but not option-ey enough for me to spend a couple more hundred... because I'm cheap.
Happy to say that after my horrendous experience last year as described above^^, I finally got an amazing ADE bass. I decided to try yet again (masochistic tendencies maybe?) and it paid off.
I went for a modern Jazz Bass.
Lake placid blue/mint green guard
Alder Body
Maple Board
Vintage '64 Pickups
I could babble about it more, but here are some pix instead.
Regarding the issues some of you are having I wonder if they are like with the bad routing issues, are the bodies from Mexico because the bodies on the American Standards seem to be fine, I'm just wondering if the bodies are from Mexico and being produced as American bodies.
I've thought about having a Precision bass made but now I'm concerned with why the QC is being over looked.
I've thought about having a Precision bass made but now I'm concerned with why the QC is being over looked.
Some of the issues I had seemed like they were caused by rookie mistakes. There were misplaced strap buttons, botched solder jobs, and extra holes mistakenly drilled for channels coming from the pickup cavity to the control cavity. The necks being trash was a whole other dimension of incompetence though. I experienced those issues on the vintage models only though. It's still a mystery to me but that was a year ago now.
Happy to say that after my horrendous experience last year as described above^^, I finally got an amazing ADE bass. I decided to try yet again (masochistic tendencies maybe?) and it paid off.
I went for a modern Jazz Bass.
Lake placid blue/mint green guard
Alder Body
Maple Board
Vintage '64 Pickups
I could babble about it more, but here are some pix instead.
Purty enough to make Derek Zoolander turn left!
Hey! I saw your YouTube video unboxing it! AwesomeAbout to order this today. 64 AVRI Jazz neck on a P-Bass body. 1958 P-bass pickus and vintage bridge. The only things keeping it from being an AVRI variation is the finish and the price, really. And the neckplate, which I am going to have engraved with my daughter's name. She's 4 1/2 years old and grabbed my ipad while I was building one on the site. As a child of the iPad generation, she designed this one on her own and it turns out to be my favorite of all the options I toyed with. The plate will read:
Designed by
Lily Grace 2014
*before I read some of the thread that is
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My bass is back from Fender and looks great now. Photos coming....
Well, sorry it took so long to get these posted, but here they are. As described in the posts above, the two primary problems with my ADE bass were (1) excessive router hump on the lower bout and (2) a sloppy poorly finished neck pocket. I learned a lot about router hump during this process and never really knew it was a common thing on certain Fenders despite having owned many MIA Fenders over the years. Neither my current Am Std. Jazz nor my other Am Std. Precision has the router hump.
In any event, it took Fender a LONG time to get my bass back to me. Until the last couple of weeks, I really didn't care as I have plenty of other basses and I'm not playing a lot right now anyway. I was told they made me an entirely new body, which appears to be the case because the grain is different (even better) and it's even lighter than the first version which was about 8.5 Lbs. I haven't weighed this one yet, but I'm guessing it's about 8 Lbs or maybe even slightly under.
Despite the long wait, Fender did make things right. First, the issues are resolved (and now I'm willing to accept a little router hump). Second, they upgraded my case to the TSA case which is much lighter and more comfortable to carry than the standard plywood case. Third, my ADE rep gave me a generous credit in the Fender store which allowed me to buy some merch, an interface pedal, cables, t-shirts, etc.
As a reminder, the specs are: (1) American Standard "Modern" body; (2) Ash Body; (3) Translucent Blonde; (4) American Standard Jazz Neck; (5) '63 Pickups; (6) Custom name plate message (includes my name which I've blocked out).
I have to say, this appears to be the finest Fender bass I've ever played and I'm now very happy. The playability of the Am. Std. Jazz neck on the P body is terrific. It's very comfortable and lightweight. And it sounds...well, like a real P-Bass thumper. Sounds great with slap too. I did change the strings immediately to DR Lo-Rider Medium Steels, which are my favorite and they really made the bass come alive. This purchase will help motivate me to thin my too-large collection over the coming months!
So, despite some initial problems and definite skepticism, I'm ultimately very pleased with my ADE P-Bass.
In any event, it took Fender a LONG time to get my bass back to me. Until the last couple of weeks, I really didn't care as I have plenty of other basses and I'm not playing a lot right now anyway. I was told they made me an entirely new body, which appears to be the case because the grain is different (even better) and it's even lighter than the first version which was about 8.5 Lbs. I haven't weighed this one yet, but I'm guessing it's about 8 Lbs or maybe even slightly under.
Despite the long wait, Fender did make things right. First, the issues are resolved (and now I'm willing to accept a little router hump). Second, they upgraded my case to the TSA case which is much lighter and more comfortable to carry than the standard plywood case. Third, my ADE rep gave me a generous credit in the Fender store which allowed me to buy some merch, an interface pedal, cables, t-shirts, etc.
As a reminder, the specs are: (1) American Standard "Modern" body; (2) Ash Body; (3) Translucent Blonde; (4) American Standard Jazz Neck; (5) '63 Pickups; (6) Custom name plate message (includes my name which I've blocked out).
I have to say, this appears to be the finest Fender bass I've ever played and I'm now very happy. The playability of the Am. Std. Jazz neck on the P body is terrific. It's very comfortable and lightweight. And it sounds...well, like a real P-Bass thumper. Sounds great with slap too. I did change the strings immediately to DR Lo-Rider Medium Steels, which are my favorite and they really made the bass come alive. This purchase will help motivate me to thin my too-large collection over the coming months!
So, despite some initial problems and definite skepticism, I'm ultimately very pleased with my ADE P-Bass.
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