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Has Gretsch been lying to us for over a decade?
- Thread starter LowEndLobster
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Rather than gaslight them.
And it *is* a warranty issue. If I bought a 5 string model, and it arrived as a 4 string model, you could make the same argument, "hey it still works, right?"
Yeah a 5 string only gives me an extra 5 notes lower, but it's not a 4 string bass.
Sure I could still gig on a 4 string. But it isn't what I paid for.
I don't see anything that Fender/Gretsch could do proactively to address this. If they admitted how this came to happen (whatever the explanation is), they'd have to offer to do something to compensate. The only thing I could think of that they could do is offer to replace the pickups, which would cost way too much money--not for the pickup itself, but for paying shops to install it.
No, what companies do in this kind of situation is phase out the model in question, and maybe replace it with something new (or maybe just "new"). In this instance, maybe it would be something like a "G2230" (just pulling that number out of the air... Don't jump on my a** if it's already taken by some classic Gretsch model!) with some new colors, and new pickups (whether actual cheap humbuckers, or the same single-coils in a new housing). They'd advertise this new model with correct specs, and never speak of the G2220 ever again.
No, what companies do in this kind of situation is phase out the model in question, and maybe replace it with something new (or maybe just "new"). In this instance, maybe it would be something like a "G2230" (just pulling that number out of the air... Don't jump on my a** if it's already taken by some classic Gretsch model!) with some new colors, and new pickups (whether actual cheap humbuckers, or the same single-coils in a new housing). They'd advertise this new model with correct specs, and never speak of the G2220 ever again.
And he’s only been a TB member since yesterday and his only posts (10 so far) are confined to this thread.
Seems a bit curious.
Hate to be so suspicious. But nevertheless I am.
MOD EDIT: I don't have yet more time to spend cleaning up the damage from this post and the follow-ups, so it stays as a great example of something not to do.
If you suspect that a member is not representing themselves truthfully and thus committing a rules violation, report them (you can even report a profile!) rather than committing a rules violation of your own. Just saying.
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I like the automotive analogy of purchasing a new car with an advertised V8 engine. When you pop the hood, you see a V8 engine cover and think it's a V8. However it sounds like a 4 cyl, gets really good gas mileage. When you remove the plastic V8 shaped engine cover, you find a 4 cyl. Does the car still drive? Yes. Can folks still enjoy the driving experience? Of course. Both the marketing and the aesthetics are telling me that it's a V8, and I could absolutely take that at face value. At the end of the day, I purchased the car with the understanding it has a V8 but received a 4 cyl. It doesn't take away from the merits and benefits of a 4 cyl, but it's not what I paid for.
Not necessarily. Maybe he's just a regular new person, attracted to talkbass by chatter elsewhere. We all got here that way somehow, originally.
and increase the price to 349.99
True.
Or move production to Indonesia and lower the price to $249.99
Especially given his story about having his bass confiscated and the headstock sawn off.
I'd join a forum if I had a story so germane to an active thread, too.
Now imagine that Fender told us all that it was a 5 string model. And then when you call to complain about how the bass has only 4 strings, they tell you that you just need to tune everything down a perfect fourth to activate the "5th string mode". That's what Fender is doing here.
The principle of the matter is that they have been aware of the issue for over 2 years, and have done nothing to rectify it.
The only way that they are going to make things right is if we organize a class action lawsuit.
It's not a "cash cow" to sue for the money that will be required to install the advertised pickups to make things right.
Fender should do this on their dime out of their own good business practice, but my experience is that they will fight us tooth and nail-- they would rather cut the headstock off your G2220 and cut you a check than admit fault and rectify the issue. I don't know what the calculation is there, but I assume that they have figured out that they can make more money selling a fraudulent product if they only have to refund one or two every couple years.
The only way will get the money we will need to get the proper advertised pickups installed on our own,, since Fender is unwilling to admit fault or do this on their own.
I really hope that guy is just a rogue Sweetwater employee and not an official spokesperson.
If Sweetwater knew that their representatives are out here essentially saying "anything that costs $300 or less is obviously subject to inaccuracies or failures," I don't think that would be a very good look for the company, and an even worse sales tactic for any of the brands Sweetwater carries.
Possibly. But I’ll reserve judgement and just continue to find it curious for the time being.
For the record, I’m very interested in this thread because I’m a Junior Jet owner (the original G2202 single TVJ designed pup model) and I’ve had nothing but praise for the subsequent dual pickup models and have recommended getting one quite often on this forum. So I’m naturally interested in seeing where this ultimately goes.
ericplaysbass (current Sweetwater sales rep) has been a member for over 10 years. Seems like there is confusion between him and Asher Platts who just joined a day or 2 ago (sawn off headstock guy).
So... a number of people here, and on the FB Shortscale bass group, returned their single coil models -- to Sweetwater no less -- only to receive ... another single coil model. Because they are all single coil models. And not only are they all single coils, it's Cap'n Crunch's "Oops! All bridge pickups!" so they have the same polarity, and no hums are canceled.
seriously? you think this dude made a fake account to share in detail a fake story which he has documented/dated on other websites from 1-2 years ago .. in a thread filled with countless other similar stories including video documented by lowendlobster. first magical single coil humbucker technology now this. what's up with the conspiracy theorists in here?
his post did take me off guard a bit and left a bad taste in my mouth. definitely came across as sticking up for fender and telling the customer to "get over it" or "deal with it" . curious as to why he even felt the need to respond at all if that was going to be his message, but was interesting at least to see how a music store employee felt.
Probabably the dumbest thing I've read on TB, well this week anyway.
I was referencing Asher Platts post regarding Gretsch having no liability. My reply, which you’re quoting, was to @gin1955 who quite fairly asked me to spell out what my suspicions were regarding the Asher Platts post.
What are you talking about?
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