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MIM Precision Bass - diasappointed!

#221
Sixgunn said:
Still has nothing to do with the fact that he never intended to buy the bass.

You're so close! It doesn't matter if it's a dish washer, toaster, phillips screwdriver, TV or a bass. I'm talking about people who use deceptive practices to "use" merchandise they never intend to buy.
Click to expand...

I seriously wonder about this whole thing. Depending on how " common" it is. It has to cost the store $30-100 to pick pack and ship out an instrument. Then IF they pay return shipping too getting whacked with another $30-50 for that. That money has to come from someplace, And I would expect that it just goes into the sell prices of the instruments.

But the thing I wonder about is. Given that this is "common" where he is. And the first thing he seemed to do was to take the thing apart. I would tend to think that the guy or three guys before him did the same thing, take it apart, fiddle with it with no intention of keeping it. Then half assed slap it back together-ish. and send it back to the vendor.

Given that. I would expect that the "buyer" err "renter" err "chew and screwer" would be receiving these instruments understanding that they have probably been played around with and would require a complete set up. I would expect that the visible wires under the PG are probably due to the yutz before him taking it apart to look at and take pictures of the neck pocket, etc.. prior to sending back. As well as any sort of "set up "issues" WRT neck relief or bridge height, etc..
 
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#222
Duder said:
I don't know about MIM, but my MIJ Mustang I got last year (brand new, limited release) came with one. I can't remember if my CIJ Jaguar did.
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The MIJ Fender stuff is a different story. The basses from Japan I've owned either came with a gig bag, or a case, and did indeed have the wrench with it. That isn't the case with MIM Fender stuff unless it's the higher end models which will come with a case, but not usually an adjustment wrench.
 
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#224
Sixgunn said:
Honor and integrity have been replaced with group think. :dead:
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It's probably a mix of a few things. Social norms change, but also people pick and choose when they want to express morality.
The OP doesn't have any problem ordering a bass that he wants to try, even though he won't keep it, but he probably doesn't punch babies in the kidney for crying.
 
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#225
Eternal Day said:
Up to now I always played jazz basses and hollowbodys, never tried a precision, so I ordered a MIM standard p-bass, just to get an idea what they're all about. It's one of the new ones with the Pau Ferro fretboard.

Yesterday I received the package and what can I say? Well, let's just get into it...
Bare with my english, I'll give my best.

NECK
As soon as I took the bass out of the package I noticed that there's something
off about the neck.
View attachment 2797556

See that edge? It feels just as sharp as it looks, almost like holding a 2 by 4.
The fretboard is very rough for the most part, only in the upper register you find some smoothness. The frets are not polished as far as I can tell, they look dull, feel rough and most of them have these dark spots on the sides. First I thought, they cut to deep into the fretboard and filled it up with woodfiller but these spots seem to be markers. The back of the neck is covered with some very weird, plastic-like stuff that feels very slippery and unorganic. Very different from any neck I ever hold in my hand.

NUT
While tuning the thing up I had problems with the E-string. It's impossible to get a stable
tuning and I think I found the reason.
View attachment 2797576

The slot for the E-string is far to wide as you can see.

TUNERS
They turn smooth and everything but the holes where you put the string in are far too small.
A lot of people including me bend their strings, before cutting them so you end up with a
hook type of string end which you put into the tuner. Well that's not possible here and even
just getting the strings in and out is a pain in the neck because it's so narrow in there.
Take a look:
View attachment 2797620

For comparison my CIJ jazz bass:
View attachment 2797621

TRUSS ROD
Does it work? Probably yes, because the neck has a back-bow but I'll never know for sure.
Why? First of all, the tool they gave me is FREAKING BROKEN:
View attachment 2797586

Fortunately I have several allen keys in the exact same size but none of them did fit!
Btw, the foil is intact so the allen key must have been broken, when they put it in there.

SETUP
There is none to speak of. The Instrument comes in virtually unplayable condition.

ASSEMBLE QUALITY
I don't know if the guys and gals in mexico are working under extreme time pressure
and I don't wanna judge anyone but they surely didn't look too close, while assembling this bass. There is a cable stuck under the pickguard:
View attachment 2797597

The knobs are not aligned but that's a minor thing compared to everything else.
This is how it looks, after I got in there:
View attachment 2797603

Yup... still bent. They used a cheap ceramic capacitor btw. At least the solder job is decent.
But this is another thing, I've never seen:
View attachment 2797604

TONE CONTROL
Roll it off 95% and you have a nice high-cut, roll it off 100% and it sounds, like you rolled
it off 50%. This is NOT how a tone control is supposed to work. Probably just cheap, bad pots.

BRIDGE
The bridge is... weird. I love high action and set it up just like my jazz bass, take a look:
View attachment 2797616

Compare it to the bridge on my jazz bass:
View attachment 2797617

As you can see almost everything about this bass is weird and off but not everything!
Let's talk about the good stuff!

BODY AND FINISH
The way they combined the wood pieces, the sunburst... just perfect, I love it.
It looks like one solid piece of wood. Nice on photo but stunning in real life:

View attachment 2797623
View attachment 2797624

SOUND
After spending a good hour or two setting this mess up with some Labella's I had laying around it was ready for a sound check. Good thing the Labellas are high tension, they just about cured the back-bow. I'm sure the pickups are not the best and they sound kind of
one dimensional but it's sooo much fun to play this thing! Put some foam by the bridge
and thump thump thump, great.

So yeah that's my experience with this thing. It's a fun instrument but honestly it feels
like a cheap toy and the thought of someone getting this bass as a birthday present made
me feel sad, lol.
Click to expand...

IMOAO - OP you seem to have taken 'disappointment' to a whole new level OR you have one of the severest cases of 'buyer's remorse' on record...
 
#226
Sixgunn said:
Still has nothing to do with the fact that he never intended to buy the bass.

You're so close! It doesn't matter if it's a dish washer, toaster, phillips screwdriver, TV or a bass. I'm talking about people who use deceptive practices to "use" merchandise they never intend to buy.
Click to expand...
I agree it wasnt right to 'intend' to send it back within the 30 days.

As far as "use", did the OP actually use the bass? Otoh, he stated he liked the sound and response of the bass.....i have to say most MIM fenders i have played (and own 5) had issues with different "finish quality areas".

This is out of maybe at least a 100 in the past 20 years randomly playing some for a minute or less.

The price he paid seems high to me even for new.....but, i see so many decent used MIM for a fraction of what he paid, my opinion is likely not valid

I would want a very refined MIM at that price with almost zero issues but even if i ordered from Guitar Center new, i can return it to 3 of my local GC stores....a luxury, but that return policy is likely key to GC success imo.
 
#228
-Asdfgh- said:
The OP is in Europe, and prices for new Fenders are much higher, as are used prices.
Click to expand...
AND, apparently the supply is seemingly very short compared to the USA.

I've sold old production USA tubes and effects overseas in the past for this very reason from what i gathered from buyers.

However, i gave them very personal service often talking at length to buyers in Northern Europe on the phone, for example, about various aspects of the whole "vintage guitar thing" (which i enjoyed) and how i tested and acquired my tubes/gear in the USA in the past 40 years....i am literally a phone call away as a very small buyer/seller of the cool gear of 50's and 60's.

Seemingly, the 'demand' is stronger than the 'supply' for certain USA based brands in at least parts of Europe.....just saying....makes one wonder why this is the case in the internet age.
 
#229
DavidEdenAria said:
As far as "use", did the OP actually use the bass?
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He took it apart enough to show us the routing around the inner corners of the neck heel. He removed the pickguard at least. If I bought a bass from a store that some meathead had already taken apart and reassembled once I would want to be paying a 'used' price for a used bass, not have it sold to me as brand new.
 
#230
Axstar said:
He took it apart enough to show us the routing around the inner corners of the neck heel. He removed the pickguard at least. If I bought a bass from a store that some meathead had already taken apart and reassembled once I would want to be paying a 'used' price for a used bass, not have it sold to me as brand new.
Click to expand...
Hold on...i was under the impression the pickguard had wires exposed when he received the bass, no?

Otoh, if a bass is taken apart & re-assembled properly (especially a P bass) how would you know who did what or even if it happened in the 1st place? We dont honestly know if this bass "was in circulation" before the OP received it, do we?

Maybe i am missing something.
 
#231
-Asdfgh- said:
The OP is in Europe, and prices for new Fenders are much higher, as are used prices.
Click to expand...

Well.. No wonder.

How much does it add to the price when the business model is such that companies are expected to ship gear out, freight free, that customers do not have any intention of actually buying? Possibly many times before that piece of gear actually finds a permanent home. Add to that return shipping, putting an item back in stock, relisting, re pack, reship, re-receive, possibly re set up each time, etc.. And with no restock/ handling fee of any sort?

On the flip side. I have to wonder what the expectations of the customers are with regard to receiving "new" product. I would guess that the customers' expectations are such that they expect that all "new" gear they purchase, has been shipped/ received/ demoed/ returned possibly many times?
 
#232
DavidEdenAria said:
Hold on...i was under the impression the pickguard had wires exposed when he received the bass, no?

Otoh, if a bass is taken apart & re-assembled properly (especially a P bass) how would you know who did what or even if it happened in the 1st place? We dont honestly know if this bass "was in circulation" before the OP received it, do we?

Maybe i am missing something.
Click to expand...

I would suspect that the "I have no intention of actually buying it, I am just free renting it" Yutz previous to the OP probably took the PG off to look at the neck joint and take pics of the wiring previous to sending it back and did not care enough to button it up properly.
 
#233
mp40smg said:
On the flip side. I have to wonder what the expectations of the customers are with regard to receiving "new" product. I would guess that the customers' expectations are such that they expect that all "new" gear they purchase, has been shipped/ received/ demoed/ returned possibly many times?
Click to expand...
Most companies sell products that have been sent back as B-stock with a small discount, like 5%, but with full warranty. You then have the option to by new, which is new in the box, or B-stock.
 
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#234
mp40smg said:
Well.. No wonder.

How much does it add to the price when the business model is such that companies are expected to ship gear out, freight free, that customers do not have any intention of actually buying? Possibly many times before that piece of gear actually finds a permanent home. Add to that return shipping, putting an item back in stock, relisting, re pack, reship, re-receive, possibly re set up each time, etc.. And with no restock/ handling fee of any sort?

On the flip side. I have to wonder what the expectations of the customers are with regard to receiving "new" product. I would guess that the customers' expectations are such that they expect that all "new" gear they purchase, has been shipped/ received/ demoed/ returned possibly many times?
Click to expand...

It would depend on the rate of returns as to whether it's a significant effect. In the UK, you don't have the right to return items if you feel like it if you buy from a bricks-and-mortar store, but prices are much the same as online, and much higher than the USA. So the standard UK distance selling 14 day returns policy doesn't seem to have much effect here, although to be fair many people don't know about it. Not even stores.
 
#235
Joybass said:
Most companies sell products that have been sent back as B-stock with a small discount, like 5%, but with full warranty. You then have the option to by new, which is new in the box, or B-stock.
Click to expand...

Thomann does this, and I'm tempted at some point to grab a fretless from them for a project, if they ever have a dirt cheap fretless P on offer.
 
#237
DavidEdenAria said:
Hold on...i was under the impression the pickguard had wires exposed when he received the bass, no?

Otoh, if a bass is taken apart & re-assembled properly (especially a P bass) how would you know who did what or even if it happened in the 1st place? We dont honestly know if this bass "was in circulation" before the OP received it, do we?

Maybe i am missing something.
Click to expand...

A bloody good point that I'd sort of missed. Either way, you don't need to remove the entire pickguard to 'repair' the snagged wire. On the other hand it is beyond easy to snag a wire screwing the pickguard back down if you aren't careful. It is also just as easy to do so in a bid to invent a spurious reason to return an instrument.

I also wonder why OP needed to remove the entire pickguard anyway. That isn't standard operating procedure, surely? That bit just weirds me out. I go and order a bass online that I have no intention of keeping. I then take the bass to bits to... document the construction? Simple idle curiosity? Find inventive reasons to trash it online to try and justify a shady practice?
 
#238
Axstar said:
A bloody good point that I'd sort of missed. Either way, you don't need to remove the entire pickguard to 'repair' the snagged wire. On the other hand it is beyond easy to snag a wire screwing the pickguard back down if you aren't careful. It is also just as easy to do so in a bid to invent a spurious reason to return an instrument.

I also wonder why OP needed to remove the entire pickguard anyway. That isn't standard operating procedure, surely? That bit just weirds me out. I go and order a bass online that I have no intention of keeping. I then take the bass to bits to... document the construction? Simple idle curiosity? Find inventive reasons to trash it online to try and justify a shady practice?
Click to expand...
Wait a minute....maybe i am clueless but i thought he removed the PG to correct the wiring issue under the PG, no?

Myself, I would likely be curious if i saw that wire exposed on a new bass and POSSIBLY remove the entire guard to see "what else" was amiss.

I had the initial impression that this bass was purchased by someone else from "the get go" and not a factory sealed untouched bass, follow me?
 
#239
Sixgunn said:
That was my point. This kind of deceptive practice reflects into higher prices for all of us.
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exactly.

If they have to send an instrument out (on average) twice , once for "people with no intention of keeping them" and then once to an actual buyer. That has got to add at least $100 onto the sell price.

If has been mentioned also, that gear that is new and shipped once returned now become "B" stock and further discounted those extra charges also have to be reflected some where.
 
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#240
DavidEdenAria said:
Wait a minute....maybe i am clueless but i thought he removed the PG to correct the wiring issue under the PG, no?

Myself, I would likely be curious if i saw that wire exposed on a new bass and POSSIBLY remove the entire guard to see "what else" was amiss.

I had the initial impression that this bass was purchased by someone else from "the get go" and not a factory sealed untouched bass, follow me?
Click to expand...

I think what I think a "normal" person would do would be to push the wires back in, sliding a small allen wrench between the PG and the body) and tightening down the pick guard. and if all worked fine be done with it.
 

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