NBD - Part duh ? Squier

[reddog]

A week ago I gave into a case of medium scale gas and purchased a blonde / creme
squier vm telecaster for $199 from MF.

well, it showed up.

Part 1: "shame on them"
looked like a couple gnats got stuck in the paint.
also the back was streaky... you could see that the paint wasn't evenly applied.
parts were so lightly painted that the wood character were very visible thru the paint.

MF very nicely offered to take it back and send me another one right away.


Today: "shame on me?"
Got the notice the 2nd one came, so went to fetch it during lunch.
Well, I decided to unbox it at the UPS store just to have witnesses.

Nope, no gnats.

What I did find was the same lack of uniform paint coverage on parts of the body.
Did some guy quit last week and just not get replaced?
Oh, and there is, unfortunately, a visible wood seam on the front.
Stevie Wonder probably couldn't feel it, but it is visible if the light is at a certain angle.

What should I do? Call up MF ... again? Will I regret keeping it?



Photos when able.

 

[Spinal Tapper]

eh, it's a $200 bass (on sale)

I wouldn't be too picky about it...
or return it and keep having them send you different ones, but chances are, you now know why they were on sale to begin with

IMO YMMV

 

[reddog]

i'm all for cheap, subpar goods, if they're labelled "B" stock.
these 2 weren't. annoying.
you think QC put these aside and then gave MF a good deal on the rejects?
seems too possible.

 

[Stinsok]

Send it back. I got a good one and you should too. Later, you can buy the one you sent back for a deep discount!

 

[Solarmist]

Send it back, and get an Ibanez ... & try Sweetwater next time; a much more reliable store.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Squires are a great value, but QC is definitely inconsistent. I wouldn't buy one mail order. Go to GC and ask to play 2-3 of the same model, and you'll find a good one.

 

[BazzTard]

Buying a bass without seeing or playing it IS a lucky dip.

If you want a great bass, sorry, but YOU need to do the work, drive to a shop and try it out.

There are bad MIA Fenders too, and great Squiers, your job is to find the best one for you.

Do you really think MF will look at all their Squiers and save the best ones for online sales? No, they leave the bad ones for that. Think about it.

 

[Nighttrain1127]

Also the Blonde is a see through color. you are supposed to see the wood grain through the finish. and most less expensive bass bodies are 2 or 3 pieces .

 

[Gorn]

Send it back. Sure you can go hunting for one in real life and hope to find a perfect bass but that's the benefit of buying from musicians friend. It doesn't cost you anything but your time and maybe some gas money to send it back. If those basses were 34" scale and what happened to you happened to me, I'd exchange it over and over till I got one that wasn't flawed.

 

[eldoryder]

Also the Blonde is a see through color. you are supposed to see the wood grain through the finish. and most less expensive bass bodies are 2 or 3 pieces .

THIS^^^^^^. Mine is EXACTLY like this, and just as it should be. I love my VM Telecaster!

 

[tangentmusic]

Also the Blonde is a see through color. you are supposed to see the wood grain through the finish. and most less expensive bass bodies are 2 or 3 pieces .

THIS^^^^^^. Mine is EXACTLY like this, and just as it should be. I love my VM Telecaster!

Yep - The blond finish is supposed to let the wood grain show through.
The problem with that is sometimes you get poor wood grain matches that really show (like his did)
I never buy a see-thru finish sight unseen for this very reason.
Its not like Squier gets the choice woods anyway. You need to really watch for it.
I have a Squier VM Jazz in Natural, and it has a real nice wood grain pattern match.

 

[reddog]

Thanks for the feedback, folks.
I have bought some nice pieces from Squier in the past.
And no, I certainly don't expect MF to inspect the goods. That is "Squier's" (Fender's) job.
The paint issue is the only one I find difficult to inspect.
Good to hear that the blond is a bit transparent.
Wish the paint's spray pattern weren't so obvious, though. Knowing the transparent quality of
the paint, they should work even more for a uniform spray pattern. The paint honestly is one coat thicker
on 50% of the back. . . .kinda zebra stripe style.

Note: Given the chance to ease into my fine automobile and check these out in person, I would.
My neighborhood (Philly suburburban) GC doesn't have these on the floor.
...Nor does the local George's Music or Sam Ash.

 

[eldoryder]

Thanks for the feedback, folks.


Note: Given the chance to ease into my fine automobile and check these out in person, I would.
My neighborhood (Philly suburburban) GC doesn't have these on the floor.
...Nor does the local George's Music or Sam Ash.

reddog- The most likely reason that you cannot find these on the floor in stores is that Fender (Squier) is discontinuing them. Hence, the spectacular $199.99 blowout pricing at MF.

 

[reddog]

Yeah, probably headed out... though the new Fender site still shows them.
Frankly none of the above stores ever carried them during the past year or two.
Hit or miss with ordering online seems to be the only option.

 

[Need2KnowBasses]

and most less expensive bass bodies are 2 or 3 pieces

Most basses, even expensive ones, have two or three piece bodies. A multi piece body, if glued properly, is more stable and durable than a single piece.

 

[reddog]

Well after staring at this thing off and on for a couple days, reading y'all's feedback and even enduring some female-friend feedback.
I guess I was being a pussy.
Ok, there are some minor finish flaws. At the end of the day, I like the neck, it has a solid, resonant sound... yeah. gonna keep it.
Thanks for talking me off the ledge.

 

[Stinsok]

Now, the pics?

 

[Batmensch]

Buying a bass without seeing or playing it IS a lucky dip.

If you want a great bass, sorry, but YOU need to do the work, drive to a shop and try it out.

There are bad MIA Fenders too, and great Squiers, your job is to find the best one for you.

Do you really think MF will look at all their Squiers and save the best ones for online sales? No, they leave the bad ones for that. Think about it.

Wrong. The Squier VM P I got from them was about as good an example of an instrument you could want. Your assertion is entirely baseless.

 

[Batmensch]

Well after staring at this thing off and on for a couple days, reading y'all's feedback and even enduring some female-friend feedback.
I guess I was being a pussy.
Ok, there are some minor finish flaws. At the end of the day, I like the neck, it has a solid, resonant sound... yeah. gonna keep it.
Thanks for talking me off the ledge.

Yeah, my VM P (in transparent amber), I you look close enough you will see that one half of the 2 piece maple body is very slightly darker than the other, to me, not enough to matter (gives it individuality, IMO) and kind actually better looking then you might expect from a $280 bass. Either way, it plays and sounds terrific, so it having two pieces of perfectly matched wood is irrelevant as it's really overall more than I would have expected on such a cheap bass.
My VM J, on the other hand, also has a 2 piece maple body, but the match on it is just about perfect, close to what you might see on a more expensive MIA, and it only cost 3oo bucks.

 

[reddog]

pix.
like laying a tile floor.... most of the little crap you first lose sleep about
seems invisible the next day.

been digging this for the past hour or so.
solid quality.
being a "medium scale" kinda guy,
I gotta say that the neck, tho wider than the jazz i prefer, is nice.

yes, i'd buy it again. 4.75/5 ... especially for the price.
rock on.
sorry 'bout the blurr.