It’s kind of weird how in these internet days I can read posts by two different people, agree with 90% or more of what both writte, but then see them argue. Talkbass is almost like marriage.
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Has Gretsch been lying to us for over a decade?
- Thread starter LowEndLobster
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- g2220 gretsch gretsch g2220
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I think we can at least agree that one should get what one pays for, and if that's a bass with humbuckers, it should have humbuckers. Kudos to Lobster for taking the time to discover this.
That said, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure there are laws for this sort of thing, I don't expect anything to really come of it. It's a legal system, not a justice system, after all, and I suspect the legal types that would look into something like this have bigger fish to fry.
That said, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure there are laws for this sort of thing, I don't expect anything to really come of it. It's a legal system, not a justice system, after all, and I suspect the legal types that would look into something like this have bigger fish to fry.
Nobody wants a baby that makes 60-cycle hum all day.
So they are aware. I had a nightmare of a time dealing with their customer service around this EXACT ISSUE two years ago, which I detail here:
PunkPatriot.com: Gretsch Electromatic G2220 Jet Junior Bass II Review
The TL;DR is they gaslit me and changed their story 20 times, then had the Fender Tech cut the headstock off my bass. They didn't give me a refund until I started cc'ing my state Attorney General's consumer fraud division on my communications.
The folks who assume, like me, that this was a QC issue that they would want to be made aware of are naive, as I was. They know and don't care. I think that we should continue gathering evidence for a class action lawsuit.
Well, I would take that over one that screams and cries all day.
And if you don't believe that they will cut off the headstock of your bass before paying to install humbuckers in compliance with their warranty against manufacturing defects, lemme show you a photo that the Fender Tech sent me one of the many times I had to restart my warranty claim due to their pretending it wasn't an ongoing warranty claim (it was a year that my bass was sitting in the shop of the Fender Tech).
Attachments
I ended up getting my refund, but I had to surrender the bass fully first. So they destroyed my bass, and then didn't issue a check for several months, at which point I started threatening to sue. Then I had to start my warranty claim AGAIN, but yes, I eventually did get my refund.
I just wanted them to make things right and put humbuckers in it. They were unwilling or unable to make it right. To those hoping to get Gretsch/Fender to honor their warranty, it ain't gonna happen. They are either evil, incompetent, or some mixture of the two.
Yeah, so much for "This was an honest mistake". They've known this is a problem and have doubled down on their misrepresentation.
Exactly. As much as everyone would like to give them the benefit of the doubt, as I initially did, we can skip over that, I already found out the hard way.
They know and don't care, because they can get away with it unless we sue them for fraud.
Thanks for sharing all that Asher. I am a proud owner of 2 Squier basses which are great overall quality for the price (and no false advertising that I know of) . But now I feel a little dirty owning them. Don't think I'll go out of my way to sell them, but will definitely avoid Fender brand products going forward until I see them make good on this issue. Not cool. I wanted to say you just got an idiot employee.. but multiple times? On top of everything else in this thread? Nah no more benefit of the doubt from me.
I am so confused. The tech you sent your instrument to cut off the headstock?!?!. So they purposely destroyed your instrument? When you asked them why they cut off your head stock, what was the reason given?
That was done probably on the demand from Fender. So the bass couldn’t be resold.
IMO
I agree.
The fact that the earlier 2202 single pickup versions did actually have a humbucker that looks the same as the single coil versions in the 2220, proves that they could put humbuckers in it as the advertise.
If there was a shred of truth to the claims by Synchro on the Gretsch forum (who refuses to believe that they are in fact single coils) that "There could still be two sets of windings connected out of phase with one another"..... I'm pretty sure that if Gretsch came up with some new-fangled way of making humbuckers that look like single-coils, they would advertise them as such while making wild claims as to how brilliant their new humbuckers are.
I can't see in your posts (and may have just overlooked it) but did you in fact put in a claim with FMI over your 2220 being sold as having humbuckers but in fact having single-coils installed?
Edit: I now have found your post (and your personal blog post) that confirms that Fender in some shape or form know about this issue and have known for a year or more.
I was not too comfortable with LowendLobster claiming "fraud", but now with the above information it appears that their actions do constitute fraud.
@Asher Platts , do you still have the emails and/or letters of your claim?
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