Just received my Brand New 62 AVRI - Lefty. After waiting 3-4 months...

Fender and Sweetwater did not catch this, even though they both say they inspect the guitars.

Sweetwater is ordering me a new one however....

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08 American Strat - Blizzard Pearl
04 MIM Strat - Black Maple Neck
07 Gibson SG - Heritage Cherry
11 Gibson Les Paul Studio 60's Tribute GT
Martin Acoustic - 00CXAE
Marshall Class 5 Head
Blackstar HT5 Combo
Mustang V Head
Behringer AT108

Is it that the low E string is too close to the edge of the fretboard? If so, this can usually be adjusted. Loosen the four neck mount screws, and adjust the angle of the neck toward the high E string side, then re-tighten the screws.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Yeah that's it. It's almost off the board... I sent pictures to a tech at Sweetwater and his very 1st impression was that the bridge was mounted incorrectly.

He immediately agreed that a new one should be ordered, so I'm leaving it at that...

It's just a shame that you wait that long for a Brand New guitar and this is what you get...

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08 American Strat - Blizzard Pearl
04 MIM Strat - Black Maple Neck
07 Gibson SG - Heritage Cherry
11 Gibson Les Paul Studio 60's Tribute GT
Martin Acoustic - 00CXAE
Marshall Class 5 Head
Blackstar HT5 Combo
Mustang V Head
Behringer AT108

Yeah, that sucks after waiting that long. I would guess that the neck is just loose and maybe shifted a little bit during shipping, it happens, and I've had to adjust a few like this. If the spacing at the nut looks correct, you can maybe just adjust the neck as I described before, and all will be well (quicker too). I'm surprised that the shop didn't at least want to try and adjust it before ordering a new one, maybe they didn't consider it, it does look off quite a bit though, maybe too much to be able to be corrected. Since the guitar body is made of wood, even the best neck pocket will have a little wiggle room, very few are real tight. But, it sounds as if it will be made right for you, except for the wait. I hope that you don't have to wait that long again.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

This happened to me when I got my Clapton Strat 10yrs ago. I losened the neck and straitened it out. Fixed in less then a minute. The guitar has been great ever since.

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1975 Sunburst Stratocaster rosewood finger board
1979 Stratocaster with roseowood finder board
2001 Candy Green Clapton Stratocaster
2007 Andy Summers Inspired Telecaster
2007 '51 P-Bass
2012 Taylor 110
2015 Mystic Ice Blue Deluxe Stratocaster Plus

Interesting.... Yeah I was surprised that they didn't want to look at it 1st too.. Maybe I will mess with the neck. Although it doesn't appear loose or feel loose. It seems pretty tight actually.

The nut looks good and the spacing at the top of the neck looks good to, it starts to go bad around the 12th fret.


I actually played the guitar for a few hours before I discovered the problem, great playing and sounding guitar..besides this issue.

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08 American Strat - Blizzard Pearl
04 MIM Strat - Black Maple Neck
07 Gibson SG - Heritage Cherry
11 Gibson Les Paul Studio 60's Tribute GT
Martin Acoustic - 00CXAE
Marshall Class 5 Head
Blackstar HT5 Combo
Mustang V Head
Behringer AT108

I've had this problem in the past with the high E. If the neck is good, then it does look like a bridge position problem. Sorry for you, nice looking though. I would let them replace it.

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My ability to spell is in direct proportion to the amount of coffee I've had.

First of all, it's not Sweetwater's fault that you had to wait so long. Their website is very good at letting you know the availablilty of each item they sell. They also stay in contact with the customer to update them on status. At least my sales tech always has.

As far as them missing the alignment problem, that could have happened during shipping simply due to temperature and humdity changes. I seriously doubt the bridge is out of whack.

Sweetwater takes pride in their customer service. It is in their best interest to simply replace the guitar rather than jerking you around by making you take it to a repair shop. I think they are really doing right by you.

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Bill

What everyone else said but wanted to underline.....sometimes the next does shift in shipping. Hard to tell about the bridge because the pictures appear to be at an angle, but it looks straight from what i can see.

All the best,
rob

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rob Schwarz
Director,Fender Customer Service
Proudly serving Fender Customers
for over 30 years

Never once said it was Sweetwater fault I had to wait.... I'm a lefty, I expect these things when I buy a new guitar. I am happy with Sweetwater, I buy from them often. I didn't know of such issues as the neck shifting during shipment. I will now investigate, that's why I called them 1st, then posted it here. I pay a lot of money for my guitars and I expect the best customer service and quality.

What's with the attitude.... Do you work for Sweetwater????

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08 American Strat - Blizzard Pearl
04 MIM Strat - Black Maple Neck
07 Gibson SG - Heritage Cherry
11 Gibson Les Paul Studio 60's Tribute GT
Martin Acoustic - 00CXAE
Marshall Class 5 Head
Blackstar HT5 Combo
Mustang V Head
Behringer AT108

By the looks of that last picture, there's a nice gap between the low E saddle and the A saddle. Try pushing the low E saddle down so that it touches the A string saddle. The as others have said, loosen the strings then loose the 4 neck bolts and see if you can shift the neck.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

No I don't. Just a regular customer. Seems like you are the one copping an attitude.

Hope you are happy with your replacement guitar.

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Bill

Ok.. so at the advice of everyone here and at the advice of Marty at Sweetwater. I tried the neck adjustment. Marty's recommendation was to loosen just (2) bolts, criss-cross, This did not allow for any neck movement, the neck was still to tight. So I loosened all (4) and was able to make a slight adjustment.

It seemed to help, but I not convinced this is the underlying cause. I'm sent him new pictures and I am waiting for a response.

How do I close the GAP on the saddles?

Thanks for all of the input...

New pic's.

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08 American Strat - Blizzard Pearl
04 MIM Strat - Black Maple Neck
07 Gibson SG - Heritage Cherry
11 Gibson Les Paul Studio 60's Tribute GT
Martin Acoustic - 00CXAE
Marshall Class 5 Head
Blackstar HT5 Combo
Mustang V Head
Behringer AT108

Dude, that looks perfect! Look how nicely the fret dots line up with the two middle strings, and the pup pole pieces now. For the saddle, loosen the low E string, to relieve pressure on the saddle so as not to scratch the bridge plate, and push the saddle over then re-tune.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Wow, that looks pretty good. That made a big difference. Like others have said, make sure the saddles are not spaced apart. I'm not sure that you will do much better than that on any guitar. Does it play correctly now?

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My ability to spell is in direct proportion to the amount of coffee I've had.