MIM Precision Bass - diasappointed!

[bolophonic]

OP: do you buy clothes and wear them and then return them for a refund as well?

 

[Captain Chaos]

Tort it up bro. You might change your mind.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

Wow!
Where to begin...
I have seen a number of reveiws and comments on MIM basses
and they are generally very favorable.
This one seems to have caught more than one mass production defect.

Whatever the original intent was, I'd want to send that back.

Then again, I don't think I would want to be dealing with someone that wants to
charge 700 Euros for a MIM bass, even with free shipping.

 

[buldog5151bass]

"Unethical" was the word that sprung to my mind as well. The fact that such behavior makes business unviable is so entirely self-evident as to need no elaboration.

By the way, Kim needs a Devo hat.

 

[bassstrangler]

Wow!
Where to begin...
I have seen a number of reveiws and comments on MIM basses
and they are generally very favorable.
This one seems to have caught more than one mass production defect.

I wasn't there, but it looks like Pedro was hung over and forgot the
fretboard roll and fret polishing, Maria was in a hurry when she screwed on the PG
and Jose' was out back smoking a joint when he was suppose to do final QC.

Whatever the original intent was, I'd want to send that back.

Then again, I don't think I would want to be dealing with someone that wants to
charge 700 Euros for a MIM bass, even with free shipping.

Wow, just wow.

 

[74hc]

That's a definite QA issue in Ensenada. One would think with the cheaper wages down there, Fender would be able to afford to spend more time on fret dressing.

 

[JGbassman]

I roll fretboard edges with a socket when needed.

A brass slide works great for this as well and no chance to damage the frets

 

[Yahboy]

Compare to my lovely Squier CV60P, previous CV60J and CV50P, your MIM P is absolutely SUCK !!
All my CV bass's have nice fret job , zero issue nut slot , good pickguard assembly , sweet stock pickups sound and useful electronic.

Return it, get the Squier CV70P and save your money. If you still have Brand matter, get the MIM Classic P instead.

 

[rmars]

This guy notes it shouldn't be done over a poly or thickly finished neck. If it has binding, you can use a razor blade to scrape it round.

Yeah, I’ve mostly done this with rosewood boards with no binding. I’ve done a few maple board with oils finish or before I apply a finish. Have not attempted this on a poly covered maple board though I’d think the finish is going to get fairly messed up with the razor blade anyway unless you plan or refinishing after it’s done. I’ve done a rosewood board with a razor and prefer using a socket as it feels more like real wear on a old neck and is substantial faster to do.

 

[40Hz]

The numerous issues along with things like misaligned knobs and wire under the pickguard are ringing all sorts of warning bells for me. Can you even sure that’s still the original Fender wiring harness and pickups? I’d be willing to bet somebody was in there previously and (at the very least) generally buggered around with that bass big time. And it sure wasn’t Fender.

Guess that’s what you get in places where it’s supposedly common practice to order something while fully intending to return it just for a demo. Sooner or later what goes around comes back around.

 

[Ryan Atchison]

This is way off topic: I really like your wallpaper in the pictures with the bass hanging on the wall.

 

[FenderB]

Meanwhile the shop said, “this guy again? Send him a factory second.”

Ha.

 

[FenderB]

That's fender for ya, sorry

No it's not.

 

[petrus61]

OP: do you buy clothes and wear them and then return them for a refund as well?

Not before posting images of himself wearing said apparel on social media.

 

[Acoop]

You gave it away with "so I ordered a MIM standard p-bass". ... Who orders a Mexican P-bass? ... Doesn't Sam's Club have these in stock? ... This is a joke but, you get the drift.

 

[west al]

I have two MIM Fenders that are on a par with most MIA Fenders. It looks to me like someone has had the PG off of you Precision, and was messing around in the control cavity. The pot knobs not lined up mean nothing. The wire under the PG is a dead giveaway that the bass has been screwed around with. I would venture to say, it didn't come from the factory that way. I don't know about you, but I can open, and reseal a carton, and you wouldn't know it.

 

[BigBigGuy44]

Not before posting images of himself wearing said apparel on social media.

I worked in a men’s clothing retail store for a couple of years while in school. The number of returns were exponentially higher around prom and New Years than any other time of the year. Shameless.

 

[Grahams Groove]

When you are trying it in the store:

1. you only have it for a few minutes
2. Someone can be watching you
3. The store does not incur shipping fees.
4. Stores often have an instrument they know people are using. Here they are shipping is a bass they expect to sell, and generally they are pristine (the fact so many people do it there may explain why op got a less than perfect instrument)

Other than all that, you may be right.

Disclaimer: I would never "buy" a bass for 30 days of free playtime, knowing I was never going to keep it.

However, I've definitely had a run at GC where I bought a bass (~$1100) that I played for 7-10 days at home (and at a few rehearsals) before returning it for a different bass of similar value. I then found the second bass unsatisfactory in terms of how it played and how it sat in the mix. I returned that one after a week, got a full refund, and spent my money elsewhere on a third bass. I didn't feel like I was doing anything unethical. I was spending my hard earned money and wanted a product that met my needs.

If you don't have stores in your area to play basses, I don't see anything wrong with ordering several if you intend to buy the winner. And if they are all short of reasonable expectations, I don't think you should feel obligated to keep any. Again, this is with the assumption that you are legitimately looking to buy something "for keeps."

 

[Slater]

If the OP intended to return the bass when he ordered it, the universe sent him the bass he deserved.

 

[Korladis]

If you've done this with the same shop before, I wouldn't be surprised if they sent you someone else's return.