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How Is Fender USA Quality Control Soooo Horrible?
- Thread starter MARVIN MECKLER
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Didn't realise Fender were pressing their own control plates till I just saw this. If they're doing their own toolmaking on site then they want to sack 'em like dogs as control plate and pickguard made in same factory and don't line up?
Also that bloke seems like he's never seen a press brake before. Bit of a difference between one of them little babies with a cute little flywheel guard and the 250 tonners I used to have to climb a wooden ladder tied together to get to the shaft to grease with the 4' dia unguarded flywheel driven by 6 vee belts spinning right next to me because the operator had it 1500rpm on a clutch as he was on piecework. Shudder to think of the malarkey we got up to in the 70's and 80's with no H&S
I applaud Mr Meckler for calling out Fender. It's his hard earned money. For $2000 he expects better quality and he's right. Why pay that much money and get sub par instrument? There are lots of instrument makers that produce better quality than what was shown by the OP, for less money. What is wrong with expecting the same or better quality from Fender?
I've already offered the solution to this.
When buying new
1. Require pictures of the actual bass before buying.
2. Require actual weight of bass.
Clearly Fender and other builders have different opinions of acceptable quality standards. YOU are the buyer do your due diligence before buying.
If everyone did this basses not selling will be discounted, marked as seconds or returned to builder to be made right.
Keep blindly buying when you know of risks puts the disappointment on you.
If this bass in OP is a fluke then we need to quit exaggerating every problem.
Returning the bass and making the sub par quality public is also a solution.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
If it bothers you so much, why did you buy it?
True. It's hard to get a perspective though as to how often this is happening. (yes once is too much if it's yours)
As we know from forums some people (not this one) have agendas when posting on forums. He said, she said.
Not buying basses when pictures clearly show a problem leaves the manufacturer no doubt that there is an issue. Inventory back up of non sellable basses I think could be effective?
Loosen the screws. re-align the plate, tighten the screws. Done.
Should you have to? No.
Is it a big deal to fix? No.
I can see from the pics that there's room in the recesses on the plate to make that adjustment.
Fix it and play it.
Should you have to? No.
Is it a big deal to fix? No.
I can see from the pics that there's room in the recesses on the plate to make that adjustment.
Fix it and play it.
The guard could be 1/4" off for all I care if it plays & sounds awesome.
Not defending FMIC; I'm back down to just the one '78 P neck.
Not defending FMIC; I'm back down to just the one '78 P neck.
Take a look @ the starting hourly rates for work in the factory and compare it to average cost of living in CA. That's a good clue.
Good point but I think you may be missing the bigger picture, you shouldn't need to fix anything when you are buying a premium brand, that should already be done for you since you have paid the extra $$$ to have that already done for you. I see where you're coming from, it's possibly an easy fix, but why would it need to be done in the first place.
Cheers
Guess my sarcasm went over your head.
I forget whether missing the sarcasm is an example of a Type I or a Type II error. It's been over 25 years since doing that stuff in stats.
I don't joke about Quality Systems.
Specialized in writing, Implementing and Auditing them. My teams have generated company, industry and world records for QMS improvement. It it a multi billion dollar industry tossed aside by management as a junior/middle management function which is the auditable and proven root cause of quality failure.
Y'know, it does appear to have been a conscious decision to do that. Which is kinda funny--maybe it was a "new guy", who didn't know that Fender Jazz control plates and PG's have never been the same width there, and you're just supposed to center it?
How Is Fender USA Quality Control Soooo Horrible?
One of three maybe?
1) to boost Mexican an Japanese sales?
2) shouldn't have sacked a lot of their most qualified put togetherers, as I heard they did?
3) Nothing new...when thinking back it is a recurring issue. Coming back to..'Go buy Japanese'
One of three maybe?
1) to boost Mexican an Japanese sales?
2) shouldn't have sacked a lot of their most qualified put togetherers, as I heard they did?
3) Nothing new...when thinking back it is a recurring issue. Coming back to..'Go buy Japanese'
And that, is Quality Systems failure. They QA staff are not there to do checks, they are there to audit that the employees are making checks and verifying compliance to specs. They can, perform additional checks, especially when finding a defect and checking product before and after to determine a quantity for quarantine.
No company can have quality if they expect a thin QA staffing to perform all the checks taken. It is the responsibility of the employee to check and verify specs. It is the reponsibility of the supervisor, management and company, to generate competence and awareness in their employees, all auditable requirements of a QMS.
With respect, but very firmly, if you don't know how a quality system works with intimate detail and first hand experience, you should just read and learn and not muddy the thread.
Rule 1. There is no such thing as "QC". That proven failure of a term has been obsolete for 35 years. It is "QA", Quality Assurance.
I would out a bet on corporate ownership as the root cause of inconsistent quality. A proven fact, always reported when Quality Standards are revised.
To be fair, quality is only worth what the market will pay for it.
There'd likely be no market for Fender American made instruments if the level of QC was upped to the point where the retail price would need to be $5k to make it economically viable.
Now, the obvious retort is that the entire management should be ousted if it'd require such a huge increase in prices to result in top notch quality.
Here are 5 basses in stock at sweetwater now. All have excellently aligned parts. The OP should send his back. Quality control at Fender is OK, he just got an outlier.
Interesting point but No.
It costs the same to do it right.
It saves rework costs to do it right.
It requires less QA people when its done right.
Managements attitude is controlled when its done right.
Customer complaints reduce when its done right.
Return freight costs reduce when its done right.
The company branding is enhanced when its done right.
I have seen 180 CAPA's issued a month and a fulltime sorting department eliminated by implementing a proper QMS. There is no argument against it and cost is BS.
A QMS also includes a Cost of Quality report which proves improvement and cost reduction. Again, cost is a BS argument.
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