Jero wrote:I understand them shrinking a little and having "sprouts" which is what I'd consider was on the Squier, and wasn't too bad. But a $1500 guitar shouldn't have 1/16th"+ of fret hanging over both sides (IMO, at least).
Agreed. It's sad that spending $1000+ on a guitar now days guarantees nothing in the way of basic build quality.
leaves turn wrote:How current is current? I have no complaints with my pawn shop Jag (only a year or two old?) or former Tele Deluxe reissue (which is pretty recent too IIRC).
I'm pretty sure the pawnshop series is coming out of the chinese factory that has proven [to me at least] to have surprising quality.
I think the Pawnshop is MIM. I don't know of any 'Fender' stuff coming from China or Indonesia. They save that for the Squier line.
My Fender Modern Player Jazzmaster is crafted in China. The build quality is excellent, the finish is just beautiful and flawless and the neck/fretwork too. It needed a minimal setup, but that's normal right out of the box. And it says fender on the headstock. But go ahead, call it squier... I'm gonna hug it when I get home
P.s.: no offense to squire stuff, it's mostly excellent and I love my squier vi.
PumpkinPieces wrote:lack of humidity control in a guitar shop can certainly ruin a great neck.
^this.
I used to work for Framus and their guitars always left the factory in pristine condition - I know that as a fact, I spent time in QC there.
There were however reported cases of fret problems from customers - not surprisingly they were all from the same couple of shops.
Not a big fan of Fender myself, but the condition of a guitar in a shop is not necessarily the condition it left the factory.
This is were the company lets go and retail takes over.
And you wouldn't believe how very little retail knows and cares about instruments.
There are exceptions - but not many.
leaves turn wrote:How current is current? I have no complaints with my pawn shop Jag (only a year or two old?) or former Tele Deluxe reissue (which is pretty recent too IIRC).
I'm pretty sure the pawnshop series is coming out of the chinese factory that has proven [to me at least] to have surprising quality.
I think the Pawnshop is MIM. I don't know of any 'Fender' stuff coming from China or Indonesia. They save that for the Squier line.
My Fender Modern Player Jazzmaster is crafted in China. The build quality is excellent, the finish is just beautiful and flawless and the neck/fretwork too. It needed a minimal setup, but that's normal right out of the box. And it says fender on the headstock. But go ahead, call it squier... I'm gonna hug it when I get home
P.s.: no offense to squire stuff, it's mostly excellent and I love my squier vi.
Yeah, I was kind of surprised the first time I found that out, too. They should just kill squire, or make it a vintage thing, and just go with the Chinese fender banner. Practically the same price point, but will hold value for anyone who buys one. I kind of hope the Chinese factory opens them up to more experimenting or making something new…
I look at the NAMM coverage and other than pedals and modular synthesis, the whole industry seems so epically conservative and nostalgic…I'd love to see a 21st century design renaissance instead we are getting Custom Shop Nitro Relic Closet Classic, or robot tuners and "sound cartridges" and mac compliance or what ever the fuck fender put out this year as their innovation…I love a quality build of a favorite design [the 60's reissues both do], but I'd love to see Fender or Gibson just try to do something new that would actually captivate someone...
FIREBIRD X YOU LUDDITE! What a crock of shit that thing was. I think Gibson is too worried about making Sig LPs for 9 grand, robot tuners and 100 different LP models than they are about quality control, more than 3 colors for SGs, and anything truly exciting and innovative. I have less complaints about Fender, currently I think they're doing a much better job.
Good deals with: Officer Bukowski, Caesar, BriBri, Amorphous, ThePastRecedes
Can't remember the last time I played a brand new Fender. Been a couple years probably. But I would probably guess a lot of the fault is on the shop's side. Poor conditions, getting played by inexperienced musicians, low turnaround.
Squier has definitely been holding its own lately. Both the bass and guitar of theirs I got in the past two years have been very high quality. The hardware can be a little cheap, but the frets were certainly not a problem for the most part. A couple rough ones, but not any worse than higher end guitars I've played.
At this point I pretty much expect any instrument I play to need some sort of work. It's tough to catch every single thing that might be problematic when you're putting out thousands of guitars a year.
i had a similar experience with SG's
it seemed the more expensive ones i tried out
the worse the necks got
from uneven sanding to drips in the neck pocket
started with a g400- faded - studio or standard?($899)
out of spite i grabbed a epi lp special ii
with that super heavy paint job
fuckin neck felt so nice
dare i say it was perfect
a buddy of mine recently confirmed im not crazy or naive
hand made in USA is great
as long as the american in question gives a fuck
