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Post subject: Different screws on my bridge
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 4:29 am
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So I bought this MIM Standard Strat last January. It was maybe a month or so ago that I first time took it to a tech to get it intonated. The tech pointed out to me that the screws holding down the bridge to the body are not all of the same kind. I hadn't noticed that before and asked the retaler about it. They insist that it was indeed a brand new instrument when I bought it, but the best they offered was to change the screws (would take several weeks to send the guitar back and forth). Then I asked Fender customer service about it and they promised the same thing, or to send me new screws. I opted for the latter, although I haven't heard of them since.

Browsing the internet I've quickly noticed that 1) there's quite some amount of this kind of qc-slippages in Fender instruments, 2) the usual attitude by manufacturer,retaler and musicians is "it happens,get over it".

My problem is that I really expected a quality instrument when I invested my hard saved cash into an iconic brand like Fender. Why pay extra for the Logo if it doesn't mean anything? It's not about whether or not the flaw affects the playability of the instrument, or if it's fixable; the top names in any field would handle his kind of qc issues a lot more seriously, like changing the instrument into a new one no questions asked.


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Post subject: Re: Different screws on my bridge
Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:42 pm
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It happens, get over it. ;)
Seriously... Fender was created as a company offering guitars that were affordable and easily repairable, and they continue to do so. They aren't Gibson, and they aren't asking $1500+ for a "budget model" Strat.
But keep in mind that, while there is absolutely nothing wrong with an MiM Fender product, they are not up to the QC standards of the MiA products. Yes, you are paying for the name, and you ARE getting a higher quality instrument than a Squier or other Asian imports in the same or lower price range.

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Post subject: Re: Different screws on my bridge
Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:56 pm
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onkeltuka wrote:
Why pay extra for the Logo if it doesn't mean anything?

Indeed!

The brand has been mismanaged into the ground by a succession of visionless, uncaring profiteers for so long that the logo now is meaningless. And their biggest competitor today isn't Gibson, or Vox, or PRS......it's the products they themselves made some thirty, forty, or fifty years ago. Back when they gave a damn.

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Post subject: Re: Different screws on my bridge
Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 2:59 am
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Perhaps 50 years ago the guys and girls on the shop floor cared because they wanted to make guitars. I fear that this is less the case and people just want a job and couldn't care if they were making guitars or sex toys. Either way they are governed by how many units they can get out of the door.

Any slip up, the wrong screw in a box or a missing screw hole, is going to slow them down if they have to stop to report or resolve it. If they slow down they could be out of a job so it is better that they just pretend nothing happened.

In relative terms todays new Strats are a fraction of the cost they were new in the 50's. Only a percentage of that saving will be due to technology. Economy of scale will make a big difference but you still need to consider less skilled hours go into the instruments than they ever did.

Custom Shop instruments are perhaps the closest to the original builds and we know how much they cost.

In many respects the quality of far Eastern builds is higher than those made in Mexico but they are hampered by market placement requiring the use of budget materials.

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After all this time I should be better.


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Post subject: Re: Different screws on my bridge
Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 6:06 am
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Hmmm. Fender doesn't stock a lot of different screws that would be usable for 6-screw bridge mounting. In fact, just the gold, black, and chrome versions of the same screw they've been using since '54. All the other screws are too big, too small, or too short.

An employee would have had to bring different screws from home, or run to the hardware store during lunchbreak.

(Squier might be different since they're built by contractors in a multitude of non-Fender-owned factories -- maybe if they run out of screws they just go buy something similar.)

I generally try to be a trusting soul. But when a first time poster makes a claim that doesn't make any logistical sense (they don't have other screws that could accidentally be swapped for the correct ones), I have my doubts.

I'd like to see pics. Or at least a verbal description of the differences between the screws.


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Post subject: Re: Different screws on my bridge
Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 1:54 pm
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John Sims wrote:
In relative terms todays new Strats are a fraction of the cost they were new in the 50's. Only a percentage of that saving will be due to technology. Economy of scale will make a big difference but you still need to consider less skilled hours go into the instruments than they ever did.

My '78 Antigua with HSC was about $600
A current American Professional (w/HSC) is $1500
US inflation would have the '78 at $2300 in 2017

I can't imagine a 70-era Strat ever being worth $2300

But seriously... you are on point at 50 years ago compared to today. The 70s were actually worse than today. We had double-digit unemployment, inflation, and interest rates. Employees didn't have the luxury of demanding a raise, or threatening to quit... there were hundreds of others willing to do their jobs.
CBS/Fender production processes were indeed centered 100% around the bottom line and 0.001% on quality, thus we got cast "Mazak" (Zamak) saddles, one-piece cast bridge plates and tremolo blocks, and tuners that barely did so.
Honestly, we *are* getting better quality instruments out of Corona and Ensenada than we ever got out of the big CBS Fender/Rodgers/Rhodes Valencia plant, but being mass-produced in far greater numbers than the pre-CBS lines, quality is not up to where it was in the 60s.

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