Fender Design Experience - Quality

[The Chuck]

Hello TB,

I was wondering if a bass ordered though the Design Experience would be a higher quality instrument than one purchased from a retail store?

Do they take more time and care when painting or when selecting the body from the pile of bodies and the neck from the pile of necks and so on?

I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a Lake Placid Blue American Precision and was just wondering what the story is.

 

[ModuMan]

There are a couple of threads relating to this. You can read all about the gnashing of hair and tearing of teeth. Or at least the problems some of us reported.

Short answer, they do not.

 

[KyleSerlington]

yeah, they aren't making you a custom instrument from scratch, they take parts already made and then assemble the guitar to your order, the body is already painted before you order it, and yes, there has been some complaints about factory errors in other threads.

 

[ShoeManiac]

OP, your perception of what the American Design Experience is about appears to be something of a problem for Fender. When they introduced the concept it seemed very cool. You could put together an official Fender instrument according to a set of choices that Fender was prepared to offer. However, I think that got people thinking that this might be some form of a lower price point Fender Custom Shop. That is most definitely NOT the case. The Fender ADE is about offering a broader range of options that are roughly on par with Fender's range of American Standard instruments.

 

[The Chuck]

Thank you all for the information. IF/when I order and receive the instrument, I'll be sure to post the details.

 

[Gorn]

The fact that they won't put a P neck on a J body is one of the silliest things I've ever heard of.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Fender is just trying to preserve their models. For extra money you can get a better interior, but you can't get Mustang engine on an Escape.

 

[jamzcl]

Mini-bump.

Anyone tried this recently? Just got a Fender email today and was fiddling around with a design and it offers a Jazz neck on a P body. I know some in the previous ADE threads said that this wasn't an option, but now it shows it offers a Jazz neck with a Precision decal. Is this incorrect?

Invalid Link Removed