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Fender Can Have It... I'm Done...

#101
ryevick said:
Well I've decided I am returning my Invalid Link Removed I just bought. I cleaned the glue residue they left all around the nut that was notched all out of wack... the E string has a good 1/16th more space than it should have to the A and the nut action is high anyway. I fixed the concave bow it had, lowered the bridge string action. While I'm adjusting the intonation I find that the saddle piece is not only not moving when I'm turning the screw but the screw is stripped inside of the saddle itself! Then I find that another pickup screw I didn't notice (when I caught the top split pickup sitting like a seesaw) was about to fall out of the freakin' hole... not screwed in at all really. I"M DONE!!!! I plugged in my 5 string Schecter and said to myself 'this will do'... I really have more guitars than I need anyway, I definitely don't need a hunk of crap giving me headaches! Refund please!
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I would've shipped it back the very next day after seeing that nut.
I would've gone with Sweetwater if I couldn't have found what I wanted at GC...I like that they show you pic after pic of the actual bass you're buying and have read quite a few good things about them here.
Luckily, GC had my Deluxe Precision Bass (the passive model) hanging on the wall. I tried half a dozen of them in the past year, all on par with the USA PJs in regards to quality, tone and playability. Sure, it doesn't have that big F on the neck plate, but I'm learning to deal with that one day at a time.
 
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#102
Do you guy see anything wrong with this New Deluxe Active Jbass ? picture from Sweetwater.

MX16738740-body-large.jpg


the Bridge is not in align!!


Spot the different

MX16738740-body-large b.jpg




 
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#107
ryevick said:
I purchased this bass from Zzounds after they told me they would inspect it before it was shipped. First and last time using them, or maybe letting them use me is a better way to put it.
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I bought an amp from them at a closeout price. First one came doa and was obviously a return from someone else. To their credit, they made good on the exchange with no hassle.
 
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#109
lermgalieu said:
I wouldn't blame Fender, I would blame the retailer (zzounds). They should have discovered most, if not all, of these defects and never sold it. And all manufacturers have bad apples; the bigger (biggest) ones will have more bad apples, and that doesn't even indicate a higher failure rate. Last year I bought a *flawless* MIA P bass from Guitar Center of all places. They carefully inspected and set it up before they gave it to me, and an online retailer should always do the same. I agree with the comments about Sweetwater. Never bought a bass from them, but I recently bought an acoustic guitar from them, and from the pictures sent to me prior, the personalized inspection receipt in the gig bag, to the great communication, they are everything an online musical instrument retailer should be.
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I agree. I will say regarding Guitar Centers, being an OTR truck driver I've been to GCs all over the country and just like anything else experience varies from who you are dealing with at that store and even more who is managing that store. Some bend over backwards to help you, others can barely play an instrument and some are complete snobs. Getting to know your local shop and it's management makes a big difference no matter who it is. I had a really great experience with Sam Ash in Atlanta not long ago. Ordered a Squier VM Deluxe Tele to take on the road, had a broken pickup switch... they replaced the part, did a full setup with my choice of string, didn't charge me a dime and did it while I waited... in the back with the tech who invited me.
 
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#110
Callused Finger said:
So do you or don't you like the bass?

When I buy a Fender Jazz or Precision it's because I like how the bass feels and sounds. If I ended up with a bad one I'd do what ever is necessary to get it fixed or replaced - because I like the feel and sound of it. I'd be hoping the replacement felt just as nice as the one lacking QC.

I'm going to guess you just don't like the bass.
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It's a combination of all of it... the bass was 'OK'... I didn't get that wow factor that you do when you connect with an instrument... not too bad but if I do buy I'll check out a few others.
 
#113
ryevick said:
I'll comment on the first one, too tired to start comparing pics... the strings are not set/lined up right.
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If the bass is not completely aligned with the camera lens (in other words, the bass has a slight tilt of one edge forward or back) the strings will appear out of alignment with the pickup poles, but it's only an illusion. What I see in several of the pix are bridges that are misaligned--not parallel to the bridge pickup. Wow.
 
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#114
Before I head off into dreamland I will say if I do decide to get a 4 string I'll look at the ones I mentioned early but I'm to the point that I think I want to do away with the active options... even the pj option... a passive p bass of some sort... one volume, one tone... keeping it simple... I do really love Invalid Link Removed...
 
#115
Yahboy said:
The Second one....

View attachment 953849




This one got 2 problem point, try point it out yourself.....

View attachment 953850

Neck pup and bridge , left image.
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I can see that some of the basses you have posted appear to have crooked bridges or even have them placed off centre. This results in the lower strap button sometimes looking misplaced (but it could well be too!). Also, the strings don't always fall in the middle of the pick up poles pieces (though in reality this won't affect anything audible) and in some photos the front pickup even seems off center too.

In one picture this front pickup also appears to look crooked, but I think that's probably just an optical illusion because it still has a plastic film on it positioned at an angle. Also because Fender mass produce their pick guards I can't see how just one pickguard would have been cut crookedly.

Now, what do I win for passing the 'visual round'? :)

Peace,

Rob.
 
#116
okcrum said:
I'm still chuckling from the suggestion the OP buy a Sadowsky, which costs 4x the price of the MIM Fender they're returning. :roflmao:

EDIT: Checked MIM prices and dropped the ratio - Fender really yanked up the MIM prices last round!
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That's to reflect improvements and changes of course. And they made them a little shinier! I can't afford anything in the Fender line though. Even the non-shiny ones. :roflmao:

Yahboy said:
Do you guy see anything wrong with this New Deluxe Active Jbass ? picture from Sweetwater.
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None of these basses go to 11? :roflmao:

I guess coming from the bottom of the heap, and having expectations that it will maybe have strings and not break when I tune it, I simply don't have the refined tastes shown here. Some things, like screws falling out, thumb rests inside the strings, or the preamp wired so that using the bass shocks you could be problems. I also remember the bass my high school music teacher sometimes used - the J-style bridge cover edge could slice salami. Seriously. Probably how I picked up using a rest on or above the neck pup.

I wonder how any of the given errors affect playability, or could be mitigated by a good set up - which is the first thing we do after opening the box, no? :bassist:
 
#117
ryevick said:
It's a combination of all of it... the bass was 'OK'... I didn't get that wow factor that you do when you connect with an instrument... not too bad but if I do buy I'll check out a few others.
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Ultimately, the bass wasn't your cup of tea. One of the four Fenders that I purchased in my lifetime had an issue.

The older mint condition Fender bass with the fret issue was purchased
on Craigslist. My luthier said that the bass left the factory with the fret issue.
I contacted Fender an casually "mentioned the issue" in hopes that they would offer to fix it.
When they failed to offer to fix it, I wasn't upset.

My luthier corrected the issue with the frets and charged me approximately $150!
Fender should have done a better quality control check back in the day.

With that said, I wasn't so bitter to the extent of saying,"I will never purchase another Fender bass.

If you like Fender's tone no one does Fender's tone better than Fender! ;)
 
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#119
Mr_O'B said:
Ultimately, the bass wasn't your cup of tea. One of the four Fenders that I purchased in my lifetime had an issue.

The older mint condition Fender bass with the fret issue was purchased
on Craigslist. My luthier said that the bass left the factory with the fret issue. I contacted Fender an casually "mentioned the issue" in hopes that they would offer to fix it. When they failed to offer to fix it, I wasn't upset.

My luthier corrected the issue with the frets and charged me approximately $150! Fender should have done a better quality control check back in the day.

With that said, I wasn't so bitter to the extent of saying,"I will never purchase another Fender bass.

If you like Fender's tone no one does Fender's tone better than Fender! ;)
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I didn't say I would never buy a fender again... this was about the lame bass I had just bought, the lack of Fender QC and Zzounds hollow assurances. All of which made me reevaluate my needs vs wants and if I do end up justifying buying another bass I will be widening my search, doing first hand comparisons of a few other brands as well and not being swooned by new feature set that may not be what is needed in the first place.
 
#120
ryevick said:
Yeah, I even heard Greg Koch mention how Fender is slipping in a recent 'No Guitar Is Safe' podcast (AWESOME podcast!!! GET IT!!!)
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I agree; great podcast; BUT! Greg didn't mention "how Fender is slipping", unless you mean ("vol. on HIS Fender") the volume knob on his Tele; which is not sursprising with how he use it, and the guitar had been a long time in the basement; "The Basement of Broken Dreams" ;) as he calls it? With how you're wording it, it comes off as a general statement about Fender, which when it comes to their top stuff; it's the total opposite. The guitar in question:

And that's good Tele tone IMO! And also about the Tele, P Bass knob etc (not your statement though) being "a bad design"; I don't really agree on that one either. They works fine with minimal upkeep (tighten the screws from time to time) and for a repair person; they're great. And that was also a big thing with Fender and Leo's philosophy, that the instruments should be easily repairable. Also with Fender there are so many pricepoints now, and with every price point downwards; means making compromises that will show regards to the quality of the instrument. And most of that is time spent on a instrument. I remember Roger Sadowsky commenting on how they spend as much time on the frets and finessing them, as some offshore manufacturers spend on building an entire instrument. So there's that. I've seen youtube videos from factories like that, and the sheer volume of guitars they put out is staggering. Doesn't look like a good place to work though, very stressful.
(Personal thing for me when it comes to Fender is if it's not nitro, I don't want it; so with that; the basses and guitars I've played is AV and CS stuff, so I may be biased towards the positive view of Fender because of my experiences with the instruments I own and/or have played)
 
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