New one is worse! I purchased a brand new Squier Mustang as well... The difference in QC is staggering
The Squier is perfect
The Squier is perfect
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Fender quality control 2025
- Thread starter JutMitch
- Start date
Well, people are having a hard time believing me when I said my brand new Fender was pretty rough when it came to qc. Like I had mentioned earlier, if it’s overseas I can deal with a few things here and there. But for an instrument coming out of Corona Ca. This should have not found its way out of the factory.
My problems extend to 5 of maybe 8 Fender. 1 Am standard. Perfect. 1 Japan sting perfect.
This. I tried to snug up the original screws and the first one just kept spinning. A local very well respected tech and pro bass player told me about how thin superglue soaks into the wood, swells it and hardens, giving the screws a much stronger hold. The screws I put back in were slightly larger with a coarser thread, they had come out of an american standard pbass years ago.
Screws be dang tight now.
@LowEndLobster Hey, sorry you have the bridge alignment issue, I found the same on my new mustang as well. However, if the bridge were to be aligned to the holes on my bass, the strings would then not line up well along the neck. So I guess it would be more accurate to say mine has misaligned holes, not a misaligned bridge. It does make it hard to change the strings, and one day I might widen the holes a bit to fix that, but I am already particularly fond of this bass, so It's staying.
Last edited:
NGL I feel like the attitude of thinking all USA instruments are superior has waned a bit and was a leftover byproduct of American exceptionalism of the 80's, 90's and early 2000s. I have a gorgeous Heartfield guitar from 1992 and that company (a fender subsidiary) built instruments in Japan but designed them in the US. Fast forward to now, Japan is king of quality and mass produced continental American instruments (including MIM fenders) are lagging behind Korea, Indonesia, end even China now. Ballooning marketing budgets, stagnating wages, and lack of investment in employees crafting the gear ultimately leads to this IMO.
Fender's quality inconsistencies have always been a problem. That's why the advice has always been to absolutely try out instruments before buying them. Yes, it's not ideal, but it's not going to change. Anyone who has a fundamental problem with that isn't forced to buy a Fender instrument. There are plenty of alternatives.
I’m not sure anyone thinks America has better qc but Fender pushes the illusion that it does and i think traditionally speaking when you are building to the price point of $500 vs $1500 there used to be a difference. So I can speak for experience, there absolutely used to be a difference. That wasn’t a matter of ability, it was a matter of building to a certain price point.
Everyone of my made in America/Japan/Germay basses have ALL been superior instruments in standard of quality with exception to this American Performer. I’ve also had a lot of Asian built basses and they were all pretty damn good, but not to the fit and finish as my US basses.
Again that all has to do with price point, now who has the ability to build the most high end, premium mass produced basses. Although I’m found of Japanese basses I would say China has the ability to clean house over everyone.
Judging by what I’m seeing just recently on @LowEndLobster Fenders and my recent Fender I have no doubt that Cor-Tek might be pounding out cleaner basses than American Fender…..well in my experience everyone has produced a cleaner bass than my Am performer
Last edited:
True, It hasn’t been a secret the FujiGen was putting out some insanely well built basses and probably well exceeding quality of 80s American Fenders.
But for quite some time and even extending into prouducts today, China would produce high volume batches of product built to anyone’s budget or price point. Thats where China gets its “all over the board” reputation. Reality is China might be able to produce the absolute best bass on the planet, you just don’t know which company to put your trust in because that said bass has a budget and you wonder where the cuts (if any) have been made.
Japan and Korea, at least what I can see hold all of their product to a very high standard and will only build a product that will meet than standard. Even at the Korean companies like Cort and Samick started open manufacturing in Indonesia.
People are getting QC and standard of quality mixed up. When I say there are certain imperfections I would deal with on a significantly cheaper import that could just be a slightly lower standard of fit and finish that is seen across the board.
I just bought a brand new American Professional 2 Jazz V. Mystic Surf Green. Maple board. From Sweetwater. Bass arrived packed well and I sprung for overnight shipping figuring less time on the road the better. Fit and finish are impeccable. Fret ends are good. Relief was absolutely perfect. I’d say .010. I’m still dialing in the action. Intonation was spot on. Finish is flawless. I’m not exaggerating. I’m always on the wrong side of QC and I’m also fussy. Well after about a week I happened across the dreaded C# dead spot. There’s a fundamental but it decays quickly to a harmonic. For staccato and passing notes no issue. Whole notes are a bit of an issue. I prepared my sales associate for a possible exchange. I’m hesitant though because who knows what the next one will have wrong. I may be better off sticking with what I have. It’s gorgeous and plays well otherwise. A capo clipped to the headstock fixes it, so I ordered a fat finger. I checked 2 other basses I own and my 81 Fender bullet has the same thing but at D. My German Warwick Fretless has a dead spot at D#. So something that I live with on other basses that I didn’t realize until now. Interestingly my 92 Jazz Plus V has no dead spots.
If you’re paying that much and not happy take it back. I’m pretty sure Sweetwater is pretty stellar on really going over these basses so I’d trust they wouldn’t send you something out that wouldn’t meet your expectations.
They will 100% work with me. No issues there. Point I’m making is I can go through the exercise and wind up no better off. It then becomes about time and inconvenience over something that is not uncommon and not a QC issue. Truth is I’m going to gig the bass. It’s a tool in the end. I don’t want to get in a situation where bass number 2 has something different wrong and then we need to try another. At that point I have wasted a lot of time over a dead spot which occurs more than people realize.
This is my brand new American Percision Ultra II, their QA sucks. You pay around two grand for a bass and you'd expect a lot better than this.
I have since repaired this on my own because the sunburst was absolutely gorgeous in my opinion. I didn't want to return it and get a different bass.
I have since repaired this on my own because the sunburst was absolutely gorgeous in my opinion. I didn't want to return it and get a different bass.
Attachments
Yea, that’s pretty bad. How in the hell are these leaving the factory like that.
For me, that's no longer just a mistake by the employee; I believe there's an internal order within the company to act this way.
Fender employees reenact the death star scene from A New Hope every time they place a bridge. They attempt to use the equipment to measure, but a little voice goes "use the force, trust your instincts"... And then we get bridges placed like this because Jedi aren't real
