The way I look at it, Fender isn't the only musical instrument/amplification company in the world. If you don't like their products or the way they do business, don't buy them.

SlapChop, have you been here? http://www.rig-talk.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=26 It's pretty much an Egnater forum and Bruce is on it quite a bit. I found out that the pcb's in the Rebel are double layered with the holes for the components soldered on both sides all the way through. If I find the thread again I'll post it.

My blood pressure went way down since I dumped the HRDlx.

'63, I have been there... just getting my feet wet. Man, those guys are hardcore fans!

It's funny I just found you under the name I know you by. Interesting stuff. As far as I can see, very few problems too.

I've only had to deal with Fender customer service a couple of times, and both times the service was excellent.

Ok, I know you’re thinking, well he knows Shane and Mike Eldred, but this was how I got to know them, many years ago.

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Tony Houston

so do you guys think i should give it another try? as in try another Pro Jr? part of me is saying that this has got to be unusual, between all this and the first PJ having a weird noise problem. so maybe chances are good that a third PJ will have better results?

i try to be optimistic, but i'd like to know what you guys would do in my shoes.

my first obstacle is getting a refund...i hope GC will support me, instead of accusing me of stealing the tube myself, or some BS. i'm still under the original warranty from the first amp, so they had better back me up.
i'm planning on getting the refund, and perhaps buying another PJ elsewhere (because we all know what GC is like).

here's the clincher, to avoid getting any questions...i already ordered a retube kit for the PJ from eurotubes. (DOH!) i know, what horrible circumstance it is. i kicked myself for buying it when i saw the amp. but how was i to know this would happen?, and i looked at it as having spares on hand, especially if i get weird tube noise again, i could try switching tubes to diagnose any issues. so i had plenty of reasons for buying the retube kit when i did. anyway, i'm probably locked down with the Pro Jr because of it. i mean, yea, there are other EL84/12AX7 amps in the world, but i feel like Bob probably picked out a set specifically for the amp and my playing style, etc. so maybe it'd be best to try my luck on another PJ.

right now, "inconvenienced" isn't even enough to express my situation

msvolpe - if you didn't get all that you paid for, then you deserve a refund or a replacement.

A mistake like a missing tube is obviously the "misfortune of the day:" somebody just missed something, as we all do, and that includes everybody who works at Fender (unless somebody at GC really did swipe the tube for some reason that makes no sense). I don't see any problem with trusting a replacement product.

But your having bought a re-tubing kit doesn't matter.

I've been using Macintosh computers since 1988 and have never had a hardware issue. So when my new Mac Pro had trouble reading some of my archive discs, I assumed the discs were deteriorating. So I bought a second internal SuperDrive for the machine so I could start making direct copies of the discs. The new drive proved that the original was bad. So I called Apple. They shipped me a replacement drive overnight, I installed it in 3 minutes and sent the old drive back in their prepaid container.

It didn't matter that I had enough drives. I didn't get the one I paid for, so they replaced it. Same goes for your amp.

But I think assuming that Bob at Eurotubes picked out a set that fits your amp and your playing style is REALLY stretching the limits of what you should believe. If that's what he told you, it's pure eyewash.

Did you call GC immediatly when you found the amp had a missing tube? I'm sorry, but I think you are the most naive person I've seen in a public forum. You seem to be too optimistic on every bad situation you let them take you fof a fool. Now, you got your replacement, but it has missing parts. Is that what you paid for originally?? So now you had to pay out of your pocket for a tube that was missing.

I would demand a refund at this point.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/gmlasam

i AM going for a refund, today after work. i didn't call last night (when i saw the problem) because the store was closed by the time i opened the box...again, i work in the day, and i didn't get around to feeding my excitement until later on, as i was busy with other things. maybe i didn't make clear the time of day this all happened, my bad.

with all due respect, calling me naive was an uneducated/misinformed thing to do. i made the thread as a way to vent, and also to alert the public of what happened, as everyone has a right to know what's going on. think of it as a news report. so last night, i found the problem, but couldn't do anything about it since it was after hours (however i DID use the time to write a letter to Fender customer service, so i did take action, contrary to what you believe). today, i will be at the store, sure thing.

I would be upset also. Let me guess, that particular model is made in China?

I understand your point. I would have been peeved too.

I too wonder if it was a problem from fender or from the chain store. Either way, you have more than ample cause to be ticked.

I suspect the store sent you a b-stock, or refurbished amp. But this may not be the case. These QC problems seem to appear across all the companies, if the boards are any indication. It is a discouraging trend. It seems to affect most of the major companies. QC issues like this are deal breakers.

At this point, satisfaction probably isn't just a matter of correcting the problem. 2 Strikes already, for both whoever is at fault. They need to compensate you. ie fix the problem, then add some extra value. Otherwise you should deal with someone else.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Actually, some of the stuff I have that's made in China is way better than anything I got out of Mexico. My beater guitar an Ibanez AS73 and my Egnater Rebel 20 for example come from China. Amazing well buikt and designed stuff. It's not where it's made, it's how much the corporate people and the people assembling the products care about their products. My first GDec, failed too as well as my HRDlx. See what I mean. The Fender quality issues on the lower end stuff seems to be getting worse and worse.

Randy, the current production PJ's are taco's.

12Bar, you can imagine where i'm at by this point
i no longer will deal with GC, and that decision was made before this issue. I was thinking of trying again with Music and Arts Center (for various reasons)...but i wonder how that will work out because they feed from GC stock.

Actually, any Fender tube amp under a grand isn't built for the long haul. Single layer PCB's cheap parts and poorly designed.

They feed from them because GC owns them. The amp I said had all its tubes taken from in the earlier post was at one of the Music Arts center near me. Of course it was taken care of

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson