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Post subject: New Tele Std with horible frets above 12th
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 12:04 pm
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Sad but true. Bought a new Tele Std, the Black and Chrome model last month. The fit and finish was fine. The pickups are great. However, above the 12th fret and closer to the 14th on up things were awful. Most of the frets from there on up were so high and uneven it was not playable. The fingerboard was badly formed and the frets were pooply installed as well. It was just not worth even trying to dress them enough to level it out. The heal end of the neck showed a definitive rise in the wood and the fingerboard was the easist to address. So I pulled the frets and redid the surface of the fingerboard into a compound radius from 12" at the heal down to the 9.5" below the 9th fret. After leveling and smoothing the fingerboard, I did a refret with Dunlop frets and smoothed out the action more. Now it's a very playable guitar and all. But dog gone it, one should not have to rebuild a brand new guitar! Kinda takes some of the fun outta it if ya know what I mean....Was in the business for decades so this was not a hard job by any means, but was frustrating to do on a new guitar...Is this common among the new Squires now a days?

Wade


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Post subject: Re: New Tele Std with horible frets above 12th
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 2:19 pm
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it doesnt seem to be common at all on current squiers, build quality throughtout the range has improved, it seems you unfortunaely purchased a rotten apple, glad you managed to fix it

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Post subject: Re: New Tele Std with horible frets above 12th
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 3:41 pm
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Uhhh, ever hear of this thing called a "warranty"? Why didn't you just return it to the place of purchase in exchange for a new one?

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Post subject: Re: New Tele Std with horible frets above 12th
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 6:19 pm
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As to returning it to the shop, well, I didn't get it from a local shop. Of course if I did, I wouldn't have bought it with the frets as they were. I got it from an internet supplier and returns take forever. They're a pain in the neck, and I used to do warranty repairs in the shop I worked in. I trust my repairs far more than others. Besides, I might have ended up with another one that was worse! As it is, it now plays great and the Dunlop 6130's are the best frets I've used in the 30 years I was in the business.

I was just wondering about this and posted to see if this was a common problem is all. I like the guitar. The black headstock and the mirror style pickguard caught my eye, and so I ordered one based on how well it appealed to me. Knew that the pickups were good and there's little one can do to perfect on the simple Tele design. True classic. Just hadda get one that was different is all.

Wade


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Post subject: Re: New Tele Std with horible frets above 12th
Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 3:52 am
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It's getting less common, but I would never buy a guitar I hadn't held, played and personally inspected. Quality control will always be an issue, particularly on budget guitars.


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Post subject: Re: New Tele Std with horible frets above 12th
Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 6:59 am
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I agree about getting your hands on a guitar before buying it. However, where I live, there is no REAL guitar shop within a 95 mile radius. I retired to an isolated part of the state, and thus am dependant on online sales for the majority of my stuff. Nice to be in the woods where I can have the privacy, but getting to a place where they sell good guitars and amps? Geeze! My old car groans when I just drive to the nearst town 8 miles away. :lol:

But the Tele is set up good now and that semi-rubber like nut was replaced with an unbleached bone when I did the fingerboard leveling and refretting. The things plays like a dream now. The black and chrome is a bit different and I think the neck shape is just right. Now with the topside all fixed up it's a great player.

Wade


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Post subject: Re: New Tele Std with horible frets above 12th
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:37 pm
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Muff Diver wrote:
It's getting less common, but I would never buy a guitar I hadn't held, played and personally inspected. Quality control will always be an issue, particularly on budget guitars.


Agreed. There is no substitution for putting it in your hands and playing it before you make the purchase.


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Post subject: Re: New Tele Std with horible frets above 12th
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 4:42 pm
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Well, at least now, it's "Custom".. and Very playable!! Congrats!!


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