It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:09 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 
Author Message
Post subject: Stratocaster defects in new HSS Pro and Squire Deluxe
Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 7:58 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2017 7:12 am
Posts: 3
I've registered because I've just taken delivery of a Strat American Pro HSS in Sonic grey, which arrived with 3 pock mark defects in the grain of the Rosewood fingerboard, on the top edge of fret 1,2 and 3. I assume that the Rosewood has contained a weakness and then tearout has happened during sanding, leaving three noticeable holes/depressions on the top edge of the board.

The finisher has obviously tried to remove the defects, by sanding and buffing, but they are just too deep. Whilst trying to hide the defects, he or she has clearly oversanded the edge of the board and given it an excessively wide chamfer on 1,2,3 and 9. Some how, this reject neck has ended up on a premium American guitar and passed numerous quality control stages. To add insult to injury the shop hasn't noticed it. This is the third 'duffer' from this Fender dealer, the first two being a G&L legacy with excessive fretbuzz, then a used HSS pro that an ex-Fender repairer/luthier(Dave Farmiloe Woodford) described as 'Truss rod maxed out'.

I contacted East Grinstead directly and a girl called Hanna went above and beyond to make me feel that she cared about getting this problem sorted. The Pro got UPS'd back to them directly this morning, so that I don't have to involve the shop.

Just when I thought that things might get better, I've had a fourth instrument, a Squire Deluxe Hot Rails, on order for 8 weeks or so. It turned up today and the shop owner said that it was a great guitar and that it had been checked over. I tenderly drove it home, treated it so gently that you would think it was a puppy. I got it out of its box and surprise surprise, two neck cracks at the heel joint, one of them about 1 1/2 inches long and paint chipping at the heel edges. The shop owner more or less said that he might of missed one, but the other one was a mystery, which is shop owner code for "I think you did it". That guitar has now been collected and another is due next week. I've emailed Fender UK and US, but I just wanted to vent and ask, do normal people have this much bad luck or is Fender that bad at QC? I've spent the equivalent of over $2200 on two guitars(£1370 and £336) and I am left high and dry without a single guitar, because I've decided to go with Fender, instead of a brand that generally, in my experience, can be trusted, like Epiphone. Have standards of quality control dropped to the point where a poorly finished Pro, can get all the way out of the door, without 1 single employee saying something? Does their piece-work rate take a hit when they reject a neck?

On the plus side, Hanna Elias at Fender UK was the kindest, most helpful, intelligent and understanding angel, I've ever had the good fortune to deal with. She really went out of her way to sort the Pro issue and it was pretty much the best customer service experience that anyone could wish for. Hopefully they'll sort this quickly and I'll have a piece of wood with no cracks or damage that I can actually play.

Apologees for letting off steam on a first post, but I've had a terrible year and I'd hoped that I could put it all
behind me by burying myself in my fretboard.

All the best, Nick.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: