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Fender quality control

N

NineSpine

Jun 19, 2007
552
8
#1
Ive heard that Fender has awful quality control but Im kind of in a tough place. Im getting a Fender Highway One P-Bass but none of the ones at the local stores are in the color scheme I like (white blonde). This means I am going to have to order it, which means I dont get to play the exact bass beforehand.

What are the chances of me just getting a crap Highway One?
 
#5
Professional set-ups make a huge difference in "playablity." Usually between $50-$75 plus strings. IMHO a small price to pay considering the benefit. Being made of wood, the "factory" set-up is usually irrelivant by the time it hits the retail store months (sometimes years) later. Also, taxed by retail employees trying to do set-ups and miss tunings by in-experienced shoppers.

So, I think with a professional set up, your Hwy 1 would be a great bass for years to come.:hyper:
 
#6
You probably wont have a problem with the new Fender. Just make sure before you pay for it that each note on the fretboard sustains the same amount. Check each note twice especially on the G string (no dead spots) Everything else can be dialed in (adjusted to your liking).
 
#8
I gotta say all this Fender Quality Control talk is absolute and utter BS!

If Fender makes such a bad product....why does the majority of the guitar players and bass players in the world play Fender instruments. I've owned (and still do) quite a number of Fenders instruments. I never....and mean never had a problem do to poor quality control. The only issues I've come across is due to poor handling, storage and lack of proper setups by the stores. Now I have had some Fenders I did not like, but it had nothing to do with quality control.

It seems for some reason all the bad ones just go to TalkBass members!! Sorry if I seem mad, but all this Fender bashing about their QC just pisses me off!!
 
#9
ClassicJazz said:
I gotta say all this Fender Quality Control talk is absolute and utter BS!

If Fender makes such a bad product....why does the majority of the guitar players and bass players in the world play Fender instruments. I've owned (and still do) quite a number of Fenders instruments. I never....and mean never had a problem do to poor quality control. The only issues I've come across is due to poor handling, storage and lack of proper setups by the stores. Now I have had some Fenders I did not like, but it had nothing to do with quality control.

It seems for some reason all the bad ones just go to TalkBass members!! Sorry if I seem mad, but all this Fender bashing about their QC just pisses me off!!
Click to expand...

+1 I was actually kidding in my post. btw :)
 
#11
ClassicJazz said:
I gotta say all this Fender Quality Control talk is absolute and utter BS!

If Fender makes such a bad product....why does the majority of the guitar players and bass players in the world play Fender instruments. I've owned (and still do) quite a number of Fenders instruments. I never....and mean never had a problem do to poor quality control. The only issues I've come across is due to poor handling, storage and lack of proper setups by the stores. Now I have had some Fenders I did not like, but it had nothing to do with quality control.

It seems for some reason all the bad ones just go to TalkBass members!! Sorry if I seem mad, but all this Fender bashing about their QC just pisses me off!!
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more.
 
#12
The Highway Ones are pretty consistent. Buy it somewhere where you can send it back if it is a lemon. Fenders are not magical or blessed. They are factory produced instruments, and with any factory that produces the numbers that theirs does, you are going to get lemons.

I don't care for the HWY1 basses at all, but none of the ones I've played in Guitar Center have been terrible.
 
#13
My Highway One needed a fairly decent truss rod adjustment to get the action down. There is also a minor (to me) flaw with the pickguard, the notch cut for truss-rod adjustment is off-center. I don't have a proper truss-tool so I don't know if it is so bad as to require removal of the pickguard even with a tool. I sometimes wonder if this is why it left the factory in need of such an adjustment.

I took it home anyway because the tone and weight/feel were fantastic. Now that I've set it up it plays great. Maybe if I lived closer to a big city with more choices I'd have been more picky.

This is a total contrast to my Geddy J. I took it out of the box after it came to the store and it was perfect. Fit/finish, action, everything.
 
#14
I hate the lame "Fender Quality Sucks" rap. It's been done too many times on TB and I think it couldn't be less true. You may find a bad one here or there. Most basses in a music store need new strings and a set up, not just Fenders. Bashing Fender is a pass time for some of us on TB.

Fender quality is quite good. Since the advent of computer controlled routers, the parts fit well, frets are totally workable, hardware is much better than it ever was and the electronics sound like Fender electronics, great to my ears! Competition has demanded the quality improve and it has.

In the middle 70's, quality was not good. Jigs were worn out, Klusen tuners are beyond terrible, neck pockets were sloppy, necks were famous for dead spots and twisting. Those are the Vintage Mojo basses people pay a premium for.

You are much better off with a newer fender for the most part. The are made better!! There are some great old ones out there, but there many, many badly made ones too.

I advise anyone looking for a Fender or any other bass, to play as many as you can. You will find one that feels right, sounds right and is better than all the others you try.....buy that one!
 
#17
NineSpine said:
Ive heard that Fender has awful quality control but Im kind of in a tough place. Im getting a Fender Highway One P-Bass but none of the ones at the local stores are in the color scheme I like (white blonde). This means I am going to have to order it, which means I dont get to play the exact bass beforehand.

What are the chances of me just getting a crap Highway One?
Click to expand...

Your chances of getting a good Hwy1 are pretty high actually. They Hwy1 is one of the bargains out there today. A solid, made in USA bass for well under $1K. I have played several Ps and 1-2 Js and they were all great, no major, obvious issues. I ordered my Jaguar via mail order and the setup was great right out of the box. So, I wouldn't sweat it. Most online stores have some sort of money-back guarantee, and Fender has a lifetime warranty(for the original owner only, non-transferable), so its not a big risk either way. But, you should be fine.
 
#19
I think this is a safe purchase for you.... You can exchange it if it really doesn't work for you - given you're working with a respectable store.

I've never had an issue with Fender's quality. To +1 some of the replies here, being "unplayable" at the store is more about the set up which can be thrown off after it leaves the factory. I seen this happen with all bass brands, not just Fenders.

Don't buy into the haters Bro... I'm sure some of them have legit reason to hate on Fender, but I believe there's a fair amount who don't even have experience with them and just join the hype... to feel better about the basses they own.... only on TB. IMHO.

Every brand has plus's and minus's... it's all up to you.

In my experience, Fender has always come through.
 
#20
As with all Fenders, I would try before you buy no matter what the color. A lot of places on line will allow you a trial period to try out the bass.

The other thing for me is the bridges. A lot of fenders have bridges which the Gstring saddle gets lower and lower after a day of playing time. Thats why I'd opt for a model with a badass bridge or just modify one that doesn't.
 

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