I purchased a Super Champ XD today and was so excited to open up the box and plug her in when I noticed the grill cloth slant starting about 12 o clock and leaning to the right for about 1/4" to the right side.I was then curious as to where it was made and looked on the back and saw made in China.
America made Fender what it is today and now it's being outsourced to another country for the sake of saving money?....they save the money,I buy the product that isn't up to the standards they are known for and I suffer the poor quality control......yes,I am very disappointed to experience this as I have seen the slanted grill cloth before in their other amplifiers on the floors of music stores....If Fender is reading this.....IT IS AN EASY FIX!......KEEP YOUR PRODUCT LOOKING PROFESSIONAL IN THE FENDER TRADITION!......IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM .....PLEASE ASK ME AND I WILL SHOW YOU HOW......THE GOOD OLD AMERICAN WAY!

That is completely incorrect, Japan did.

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No no and no

My SCXD is perfect. The Chinese know how to do things right. In fact, looking around at all the Fender amps surrounding me (read the list below) I don't really see any with crooked grill cloth.

So... take a deep breath and be careful - first-time posters who come on this Forum to flame often end up getting roasted.

If it's new out of the box, simple solution - TAKE IT BACK!

There, that was easy.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

There's nothing "Japanese" about these, pal......



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Yeah but it was the Japanese guitar builders that Dan Smith used to rescue Fender after CBS' long destruction of the company in '81 (at least three of those amps were built by that company in that timeline).

A fact you are well aware of Retroverbial. You can't pick the bits of history you like and ignore the bits you don't. It's well documented, the facts speak for themselves.

Without Dan Smith, Bill Schultz and John Mclaren who CBS took from Yamaha(note another Japanese company) in 1981. And Smith's subsequent trip to Japan to buy a fake Strat that he could take back to Fullerton and show the company how to build a guitar. CBS would have been bankrupt long before 1984.

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No no and no

Which three?



I never "cherry-pick" history.



Personally I couldn't give a damn about Smith, Schultz, Mclaren, or anybody else in the post-CBS era -- if FMI had slipped beneath the waves of guitar-manufacturing history in 1984 it wouldn't have affected me in the least. The fact is, you made a broad generalization that is both ridiculous and factually erroneous so I booted your 'nads across the channel to Calais. Now man up, rent yourself a rowboat, and go retrieve them.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Top right, top left and bottom left.

So Fender/CBS were not on the verge of bankruptcy due to low sales figures in the early eighties?

Smith and Shultz in particular, along with a few others did not rescue the company. Using Japanese copy guitars as a benchmark that American manufacture had to at least meet?

And you don't cherry pick history?
Whether it means anything to you or not, those are the facts. Not a generalization at all. American manufacture has never been outstanding except for maybe in arms and medical equipment. That era of Fenders history was bleak to say the least. That's a fact. Smith used Japanese guitars as a quality benchmark. In his own words the employees at Fullerton were near tears because they couldn't make their own product as good.
Where is the generalization?

As for my bollocks their safely tucked where they usually reside. It would take far more to get them to swing.

And I aint your pal, pal.

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No no and no

Oh Dennis in CR....I am soooooo glad you dont have any slanty grill cloths on any of your amps.I do wish I was in your shoes.Anybody can be taught how to put a grill cloth on straight even if they are 10 years old and live in Slobovia.......Inferior workmanship is not based on the country an item is built in but on poor supervision....send good experienced leadership to whatever country you want to build a quality product in and the result will be a quality product.
If you are trying to get a job selling tuxedos,do you go in with torn blue jeans and your belly hanging out of your tee shirt?....I certainly hope not.......If you want to sell your Mercedes do you leave the tires flat and don't wash that jewel before selling?......I certainly hope not......If you want to buy the amp you've heard so much about with its great reputation and expect that beauty to arrive as seen in the wonderful ads they have....don't you want it to be that nice when it arrives?...I certainly hope so ......will I stop buying Fender products because of this seemingly minor detail?...probably not... but like the Sheriff in Los Angeles....I think I would have a pow-wow with the boys in charge and either give a little pep talk or make arrangements for some replacements if the supervision is starting to slide and people are getting hurt.

Well let's see now, pal......

Top right is a 1980 Princeton. CBS era, not a goddamm thing to do with Fender-Japan, Bill Schultz, or anything else relative to the sale of FMI in 1985 or the subsequent reformation of Fender as FMIC.

Top left is a '67 Bandmaster. Dittos. Not sure how you fit that into the Fuji-Gen scheme either.

Bottom left is '68 Bronco. Samey samey.

You find your 'nads yet?



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

My point that you so obviously fail to comprehend is that they are from an era where an American company nearly bankrupted an American icon. Not that the amps are Japanese or even bad. That is not what I said.

My bollocks are right where they belong. You'll really have to do a lot better than that to ruffle my feathers pal. And the internet hardman rhetoric really don't do it.

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No no and no

If you've made a point, I fail to see it.

Your generalization remains a total non sequiter.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Now mates, lets all be nice. We have enough knuckleheads in this forum and I consider both of you my forum buddies.. I will just say this..I love Fender...there were times when they were not so good and there are times when they are fantastic...all in the circle of life. Arjay...everytime you post those pics of your amps I just drool!!! Not fair
ABS

Guess no matter how much you hammer, some nails just don't go into a plank.

So where are your bollocks Mr E-Muscle flexer. My factual statement is apparent to anyone capable of reading. CBS near bankrupted Fender through their largely terrible product and consequential poor sales. Japanese production guitars were used as an example of modern guitar building to aim for. A series of events that has been published many times. Why would CBS sell a name like Fender at a bargain bucket price?

What's so hard to understand about that factual statement? The fact that it's not from the mouth of some Archie Bunker type clown?

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No no and no

This has dick to do with your factually-erroneous assertion that Fender-Japan had a goddamm thing to do with any of the amps in my collection. And it's even less germane to the OP's diatribe.

Hang in there, though......I'm hopeful you'll yet come up with something resembling relevance.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Gentlemen--

You have both made valid points.

Niki, you're right, Japanese craftsmanship made Fender what they are today...What you posted about the three gentlemen who liberated/rescued/whatever Fender from the end of the CBS Era is absolutely correct; they did use the then-superior examples of Japanese manufacturing to get the company back on track.

Arjay, you're correct, too. All of your amps--from before and after the CBS purchase are excellent examples of American design, manufacturing and quality. I would venture to say that most of the "classic" Fender tube amps--Twin Reverbs, Deluxe Reverbs, Champs, etc.--were/are good amps, even during the less-popular and less-lauded silverface years.

Now, I would prefer that a product that I spend my money on--musical product or otherwise--would be manufactured in a country that doesn't have human rights issues, environmental abuse issues, etc., but it looks as if China is here to stay in the manufacture of Affordable lower-end equipment. I would prefer my Marshalls and Voxes be made in jolly old England and my Fenders and Gibsons be made in the US...but for the most part, it isn't going to happen anymore...so I guess I'll just have to save up for upper end stuff, buy vintage or do without.

Now, can we leave each other's naughty bits alone?

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals