I would like to start by saying, this is not a smear campaign. It’s just my personal experience and I wanted to share it with anyone who might be looking to buy or order a Fender Custom Shop.
In early 2020, I purchased my dream Fender; a Postmodern Precision Bass. And did I ever get lucky. It was everything I’ve ever wanted in a Precision Bass; a beautiful quarter sawn neck with a 1.5 nut width, light weight, perfectly balanced, and sounds just like a P bass should. I have owned many vintage Fender Precisions and for what I’m looking for, this one knocked it out of the park. After I initially setup the bass to my personal preference, I noticed the neck would move very quickly (within a couple of days) into an up bow. I own many basses, both new and vintage, so I didn’t panic or think much of it initially. I’m aware the neck will need time to acclimate and settle. However, it never really did. I would even find myself adjusting the truss rod between sets at gigs. The truss rod is now officially maxed out and will not budge. The neck has way more relief than I would ever want and it is no longer a pleasure to play.
So I reached out to The Custom Shop (this part of the story is very long. I will spare you a lot of the details). I work in the industry and CC'd all the appropriate contacts, both at Fender and at the Custom Shop. No response for two weeks. I finally received a response that wasn’t directed to me, but was merely an email passing the buck to another employee, with me CC’d. After many follow up emails and phone calls, I spoke to someone at Fender that basically told me I had to send the whole bass back to them and I would be without the bass for 4-6 months while they fixed the neck. I replied with, “Ok. The neck is obviously weak and would fixing it involve adding washers to the truss rod so it can continue to be adjusted? And does 4-6 months without the bass really mean closer to a year?” His reply was, “Yes, probably.” I asked if they could just replace the neck like they would if it was an American Pro. I was informed that they will not do that with Custom Shop instruments. After another couple of weeks, and another couple of emails that were basically ignored, I was told they will be sending the proper documents to have the bass sent back and they will potentially build me a new neck. I thought, okay, fair enough. I will send the bass back and wait to see what happens. However, at this point, I still haven’t received the email with the proper documentation to return the bass to Fender. I have reached out twice to inquire about the documents. I received one reply, again passing the buck and blaming another department on the delay. At this point, I would have sent the bass back as defective and requested a credit, except that I love this bass so much (when it's properly set). I am very disappointed and saddened with this entire situation. I honestly don’t know if I ever want to play any of my Fender basses on stage again. I have played Fender basses for over twenty-five years, and I genuinely love them. However, this lack of customer service has changed a lot for me. I am going on 7 weeks now and my bass is still at the shop waiting to be sent back. Don’t think that you will get premium or even adequate service from Fender just because you paid a premium price.
I’m aware that the pandemic has affected everyone and that most companies may be short staffed, but I expected a lot more from Fender’s Premium line.
In early 2020, I purchased my dream Fender; a Postmodern Precision Bass. And did I ever get lucky. It was everything I’ve ever wanted in a Precision Bass; a beautiful quarter sawn neck with a 1.5 nut width, light weight, perfectly balanced, and sounds just like a P bass should. I have owned many vintage Fender Precisions and for what I’m looking for, this one knocked it out of the park. After I initially setup the bass to my personal preference, I noticed the neck would move very quickly (within a couple of days) into an up bow. I own many basses, both new and vintage, so I didn’t panic or think much of it initially. I’m aware the neck will need time to acclimate and settle. However, it never really did. I would even find myself adjusting the truss rod between sets at gigs. The truss rod is now officially maxed out and will not budge. The neck has way more relief than I would ever want and it is no longer a pleasure to play.
So I reached out to The Custom Shop (this part of the story is very long. I will spare you a lot of the details). I work in the industry and CC'd all the appropriate contacts, both at Fender and at the Custom Shop. No response for two weeks. I finally received a response that wasn’t directed to me, but was merely an email passing the buck to another employee, with me CC’d. After many follow up emails and phone calls, I spoke to someone at Fender that basically told me I had to send the whole bass back to them and I would be without the bass for 4-6 months while they fixed the neck. I replied with, “Ok. The neck is obviously weak and would fixing it involve adding washers to the truss rod so it can continue to be adjusted? And does 4-6 months without the bass really mean closer to a year?” His reply was, “Yes, probably.” I asked if they could just replace the neck like they would if it was an American Pro. I was informed that they will not do that with Custom Shop instruments. After another couple of weeks, and another couple of emails that were basically ignored, I was told they will be sending the proper documents to have the bass sent back and they will potentially build me a new neck. I thought, okay, fair enough. I will send the bass back and wait to see what happens. However, at this point, I still haven’t received the email with the proper documentation to return the bass to Fender. I have reached out twice to inquire about the documents. I received one reply, again passing the buck and blaming another department on the delay. At this point, I would have sent the bass back as defective and requested a credit, except that I love this bass so much (when it's properly set). I am very disappointed and saddened with this entire situation. I honestly don’t know if I ever want to play any of my Fender basses on stage again. I have played Fender basses for over twenty-five years, and I genuinely love them. However, this lack of customer service has changed a lot for me. I am going on 7 weeks now and my bass is still at the shop waiting to be sent back. Don’t think that you will get premium or even adequate service from Fender just because you paid a premium price.
I’m aware that the pandemic has affected everyone and that most companies may be short staffed, but I expected a lot more from Fender’s Premium line.
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