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Update to the G2220 saga

#181
J_Bass said:
"Previously, the toothpaste tubes had a small opening of about 5 millimeters for squeezing out the paste. If you increase the diameter of the hole from 5mm to 6mm, the volume of paste squeezed out for a given length of squirt along the brush is increased by 40%. So, most users have to consume the tube that much faster and hence need to buy more."

"Nearly 30 years ago American Airlines made a startling discovery. They determined that eliminating one olive from each passenger’s salad plate would reduce costs by $40,000."

"In 1987 Northwest Airlines saved $500,000 by cutting limes into 16 pieces instead of 10 for its drinks service."
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This kind of bean-counting makes a lot of sense when you're talking about things that get sold in great quantities. I don't see this weird little short-scale bass as being something they sell so many units of that shaving off a few cents by doing something underhanded makes a lot of good business sense. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

Anyone have any idea how many of these basses they sell in any given year? Given that bass players are a relatively small slice of musical instrument sales to begin with, and given all the other competition out there in this price range from names more familiar than Gretsch, this can't be a huge number, can it?

I mean, the store I worked in didn't even have a "bass" department, just a handful of basses hanging up in the guitar section, and this was a relatively large store. Basses just weren't a quantity sales item, and they usually hung there for a pretty long time. But maybe times have changed.
 
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#182
LBS-bass said:
This kind of bean-counting makes a lot of sense when you're talking about things that get sold in great quantities. I don't see this weird little short-scale bass as being something they sell so many units of that shaving off a few cents by doing something underhanded makes a lot of good business sense. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

Anyone have any idea how many of these basses they sell in any given year? Given that bass players are a relatively small slice of musical instrument sales to begin with, and given all the other competition out there in this price range from names more familiar than Gretsch, this can't be a huge number, can it?

I mean, the store I worked in didn't even have a "bass" department, just a handful of basses hanging up in the guitar section, and this was a relatively large store. Basses just weren't a quantity item, and they usually hung there for a pretty long time. But maybe times have changed.
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Good point.
 
#183
LBS-bass said:
This kind of bean-counting makes a lot of sense when you're talking about things that get sold in great quantities. I don't see this weird little short-scale bass as being something they sell so many units of that shaving off a few cents by doing something underhanded makes a lot of good business sense. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

Anyone have any idea how many of these basses they sell in any given year? Given that bass players are a relatively small slice of musical instrument sales to begin with, and given all the other competition out there in this price range from names more familiar than Gretsch, this can't be a huge number, can it?

I mean, the store I worked in didn't even have a "bass" department, just a handful of basses hanging up in the guitar section, and this was a relatively large store. Basses just weren't a quantity item, and they usually hung there for a pretty long time. But maybe times have changed.
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I don't know, but I do know that instrument sales have shot through the roof since the pandemic started.
 
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#184
LBS-bass said:
This kind of bean-counting makes a lot of sense when you're talking about things that get sold in great quantities. I don't see this weird little short-scale bass as being something they sell so many units of that shaving off a few cents by doing something underhanded makes a lot of good business sense. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

Anyone have any idea how many of these basses they sell in any given year? Given that bass players are a relatively small slice of musical instrument sales to begin with, and given all the other competition out there in this price range from names more familiar than Gretsch, this can't be a huge number, can it?

I mean, the store I worked in didn't even have a "bass" department, just a handful of basses hanging up in the guitar section, and this was a relatively large store. Basses just weren't a quantity sales item, and they usually hung there for a pretty long time. But maybe times have changed.
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Well, the logical question is whether there are other instruments made in the same factory or by Fender with the same issue.

Time for someone to get some magnetic viewing paper and head to a Guitar Center.
 
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#190
LBS-bass said:
This kind of bean-counting makes a lot of sense when you're talking about things that get sold in great quantities. I don't see this weird little short-scale bass as being something they sell so many units of that shaving off a few cents by doing something underhanded makes a lot of good business sense. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

Anyone have any idea how many of these basses they sell in any given year? Given that bass players are a relatively small slice of musical instrument sales to begin with, and given all the other competition out there in this price range from names more familiar than Gretsch, this can't be a huge number, can it?

I mean, the store I worked in didn't even have a "bass" department, just a handful of basses hanging up in the guitar section, and this was a relatively large store. Basses just weren't a quantity sales item, and they usually hung there for a pretty long time. But maybe times have changed.
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It might be in a large factory. $1 off Gretsch short scale bases - minimal impact. $1 off everything - $$$.
 
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#191
-Asdfgh- said:
It might be in a large factory. $1 off Gretsch short scale bases - minimal impact. $1 off everything - $$$.
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But then it might also be that the specification was for a mini-humbucker, and the factory sourced something that the vendors described as such and they never bothered to check it was really a humbucker. Or they started out with humbuckers, that supply dried up, and the alternative was never properly checked. There are many possibilities.
 
#192
Will the mystery of the single coil humbuckers ever be solved?

watson.jpg
 
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#194
BHK apparently stands for Boo Heung Korea, who are a major OEM of guitar and bass pickups, humbuckers or no. Here's a photo of the "neck humbucker" from an Epiphone Nighthawk, which looks oddly similar to the "bridge" unit LEL pulled out of the Gretsch bass. I note that the single-pole design means the same pickup would work about as well for a 4-string bass as for a 6-string guitar, in terms of the pole/string relationships.
Link Removed
 
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#195
B-Mac said:
Amazing response:

Hello B-Mac,

Thank you for reaching out to us regarding the recent issue surrounding the pickups in our Gretsch Electromatic® Junior Jet™ Bass II.

We are aware of and acknowledge that there is a discrepancy between the listed specifications and the actual pickup itself. We assure you there was no intention for Gretsch to intentionally mislead our loyal consumers. Please know we are working swiftly with our manufacturing partner to rectify this issue and ensure this does not happen again.

Gretsch takes deep pride in its outstanding relationship with its customers for over 135 years, and we would like the opportunity to make things right.
    • Please accept this gift as a token of our gratitude for your continued support. Select $100.00 (USD) worth of Gretsch accessories from our website and supply us with the serial number of your Bass along with your shipping details and we will get your package out to you right away.
    • Please visit: Gretsch Accessories to make your selections.

We would appreciate it if you would be willing to provide us with some feedback of the current pickup that is installed in your Gretsch Electromatic® Junior Jet™ Bass II.
    • Do you find the pickup noisy with an unacceptable degree of 60 cycle hum?
    • Do you find the pickup delivers the output and tone you expected from the bass?
    • Anything else you would like to add?
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your bringing it to our attention. We look forward to your continued support.

Regards,

[email protected]

Fender Play: The easiest way to learn guitar. Invalid Link Removed
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Update:

RE: False advertising? Not humbuckers in the 2202 FEN:0151000015702
C
From:ConsumerRelations<[email protected]>

4/22/2022 5:34 PM

To B-MAC

Hey B-Mac,

That is part of our ongoing investigation with our manufacturer.

Regards,


[email protected]

Fender Play: The easiest way to learn guitar. Invalid Link Removed

------------------- Original Message -------------------
From: B-MAC <B-MAC>;
Received: Thu Apr 21 2022 20:42:52 GMT-0700 (Mountain Standard Time)
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; Customer Support - Consumer Relations US <[email protected]>;
Subject: RE: False advertising? Not humbuckers in the 2202 FEN:0151000015702

Did you or are you going to also fix the two bridge pickup issue?
 
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#196
LBS-bass said:
This kind of bean-counting makes a lot of sense when you're talking about things that get sold in great quantities. I don't see this weird little short-scale bass as being something they sell so many units of that shaving off a few cents by doing something underhanded makes a lot of good business sense. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

Anyone have any idea how many of these basses they sell in any given year? Given that bass players are a relatively small slice of musical instrument sales to begin with, and given all the other competition out there in this price range from names more familiar than Gretsch, this can't be a huge number, can it?

I mean, the store I worked in didn't even have a "bass" department, just a handful of basses hanging up in the guitar section, and this was a relatively large store. Basses just weren't a quantity sales item, and they usually hung there for a pretty long time. But maybe times have changed.
Click to expand...

They're clearly selling enough of them world wide, (they do sell in other markets as well as the USA, remember there are over 6 billion people on the planet and even if only a quarter of them can afford the luxury of buying musical instruments, that's a lot of people) to make it worthwhile keeping the model in production.

Then of course who's to say this is the only model with those sized pickups that the singles, as humbuckers, are being used for, or what other "economy measures", might pass unnoticed?
 
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