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Post subject: Indonesian quality issues? And hello!
Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 10:46 am
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hey everyone! New to the forum here, and I figured this would be the best place to get info on my newest purchase.

I ordered a custom telecaster fmt hh with the duncans from samash.com (yeah, I know). Gorgeous, killer tone, wonderfully playable. Just sweet y'know? As I looked it over, I noticed the "crafted in Indonesia" on the box. After seeing this, I went over the girl with a fine-toothed comb and found several flaws. Misaligned tuning machines, loose coil wraps, loose pup selector switch, loose volume and tone knobs (the spacers between the posts and the knobs themselves are plastic?!?!). The truss rod access on the headstock had most of it's finish cracked away. One of the tuning pegs was cinched down so tight, it cracked the finish on the back of the headstock.

I had the opportunity years ago to buy the squier equivalent of this guitar (custom fat tele deluxe) and missed out. Essentially the same guitar, but without the maple top and duncan designed pickups. It was discontinued after a SHORT run, and I've been kicking myself ever since. I saw that Fender started making this model, and ponied up the $700 bucks. Now THIS one has been discontinued as well! I know to be wary of online ordering but the model/finish/pup configuration was tricky to find. The sales people at Sam Ash are bending over backwards to help me out here. As is fender customer service.

Ok, after all that, my question is this: has anyone else had problems with the Indonesian guitars? Or did I just get lucky and get stuck with a lemon?


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Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 12:49 pm
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I've heard several similar comments on the lite ash std tele. made in Korea. If you get a good it's great if you a bad one it's crap and it's usually resold as a scratch and dent and that's the problem with buying online. unfortunatly most stores don't have more than one in stock to choose from


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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:13 am
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Thanks Idaho. I think I'm going to just pack it off back to samash. I've definitely learned my lesson about online ordering. Going thru my local guys now, and they (when not giggling about this whole thing) seem fairly helpful.

But has anyone else had issues like this?


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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:29 pm
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I've got two Indonesian Squiers-one Strat and one Tele-and aside from a really bad tuning problem with the Strat which turned out to be just a couple of loose tuning nuts I've had no problems with either one. Sounds like you just got a lemon in the bunch.

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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:43 pm
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Didn't Indonesia have that tsunami?

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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 2:47 pm
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idahored wrote:
I've heard several similar comments on the lite ash std tele. made in Korea. If you get a good it's great if you a bad one it's crap and it's usually resold as a scratch and dent and that's the problem with buying online. unfortunatly most stores don't have more than one in stock to choose from

So is he is talking about a Squier Tele. Made in Indonesia or a Fender Tele made in Korea. Korean Tele. Set neck

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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:11 am
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It was a Fender made in Indonesia. Not a Squier. I spent some time on the horn with customer service and I guess the korean plant had been shut down, so the remainder of the order was built in Indonesia. Everything that I'd read about the quality out of that area was positive, so I guess it was just a lemon. BUT........... It was probably a previous return. I gave the tech from samash permission to open the box and inspect it before shipping too. He should have caught it.

Once I get the replacement I'll post a picture of it in the show-off thread. Didn't see any pics of this variant, and it is a beauty!


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Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:04 am
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bridog wrote:
It was probably a previous return.

That was my first thought, particularly with the chipping around the trussrod adjustment.

Most of your gripes, though, are trivial. I typically have much significant problems than you mention on my MIA Fenders.

These are made under contract by Cor-Tek in Korea or Indonesia. I don't think that Cor-Tek's Korean operation has shut down as I'm seeing product from it made as recently as a couple of months ago. I think that these were simply "downsourced" to the Indonesian plant. I think a lot of Yamaha's contract models that were previously built in the Korean Cor-Tek plant in Inchon has also been downsourced to the Indonesian operation. For the most part, their build quality is fine.

Virtually all Korean and most Indonesian guitars are built by Cor-Tek, regardless of "brand."


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Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:20 am
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Bezmotivnik wrote:
bridog wrote:
It was probably a previous return.

That was my first thought, particularly with the chipping around the trussrod adjustment.

Most of your gripes, though, are trivial. I typically have much significant problems than you mention on my MIA Fenders.

Virtually all Korean and most Indonesian guitars are built by Cor-Tek, regardless of "brand."


Really? Huh.

Yeah, I know that they're trivial complaints. But this is the most I've ever shelled out for a guitar (a pittance compared to the rosewood tele I saw pics of in the 'show us your tele thread'. DAMN!) and it'd better be perfect :D

I never knew the MIA fenders had such problems either. Not that I could afford one anyways, but all that extra cost just for a super thick finish? What kinda problems did you have with your MIAs?

So I guess it goes back to this: don't order from the online companies. Duh. They'll sell you a returned guitar at full price, not fix the problems and not tell you about it. Kinda bogus.


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Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 12:41 pm
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So I returned the guitar to samash.com, and went thru my local guys. The new tele arrived on tuesday, in MUCH better shape than the last. However, the bridge pickup plastic is scratched. Seems the height hadn't been adjusted when the thing was strung at the factory. This one isn't going back, but damn.

Oh yeah crafted in Indonesia too........


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