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Post subject: Warranty help! 51 P-Bass
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 12:34 am
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In late September, I believe, of '09, I bought a new 51 P bass from guitar center to use as my backup. The guy who works there pointed it out to me because it was on deep discount. He said they'd had it there for awhile but it lived in back because it needed a setup bad and nobody ever got around to doing it. I guess it lived on the floor for a long time because it was so poorly setup. He set it up a week or so prior to me being there because the manager decided to clearance it out. With the setup it played great but soon the neck got funny again. As my backup, and I unfortunatly stopped gigging shortly after I bought it, so it's lived at my house unplayed really since then. With new years having come around, and I haven't gotten a chance to have looked at, I took it to a trusted friend who works in pro audio. He took one look at the bass and said it was "totally eff'd" He pointed out where the neck was warped around the 5th fret and that's why it had bowed to the point of having 3/4 inch action by the 14 fret or so.

So my question is: since I have a 3 or 4 month old new almost unplayed guitar, with a bad nut and a warped neck, will the Fender warranty cover this? I looked at the warranty fine print provided here on their website and I got the feeling that the warranty is worded to say that its One year from the point that the retailer gets it, not the consumer. That seems wierd and kinda BS to me since it shouldn't at all be the consumers resposibility to check how long a model has been at the store.


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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 6:01 am
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Man that sucks. Good question as to what Fender will do 480-596-7195 is the number for Customer Relations. If they won't stand by it, I would think that Guitar Center will make it right. On two different basses I had problems, when I took them back they just said to grab another one right off the wall. I didn't because I had already set them up and put new strings on, mine were minor issues that were fixed.

Hopefully you'll get this problem resolved, let us know.


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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 8:37 pm
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I'm guessing you still have the receipt?

Take it back to Guitar Center for a setup.

Your friend may know a lot about pro-audio but is probably not a certified Fender guitar tech.

If a real Fender Tech says it is not fixable then Guitar Center should make it good with a replacement or with a credit toward a different model Fender. They want to sell you more stuff and it is in the store's interest to make you happy.

Good luck and yes do keep us posted on the outcome.


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 2:03 am
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I went to guitar center today to clarify the issue with the warranty. The employee called the store manager who remembered the bass well, and said that I should have no problem getting a replacement neck from fender.

BrotherDave - The bass had been set up multiple times before I purchased it, but since there's apparantly an unnatural warp around the 5th fret, even when the truss rod is adjusted it's only temporary.

That's how I came across the bass to begin with. It wouldn't stay right, so it lived at GC in the warehouse for a long time (not sure how long). When a big sale was coming up, an employee, that I know kinda from an open mic night we both attend, tipped me off to the fact that it was being clearanced out. And he only suggested it becasue he had thought he'd fixed it by cranking the truss rod until it was straight again. When I bought it it was fine, but now I realize that it was a very temporary solution, due to the extreme cranking on the truss rod. Now the warp has returned worse than before, and there's no room to adjust. :(

As it stands now, it appears that there's a kink in the wood around the 5th fret. From there the action gets worse until it's now 3/4 inch high at the upper register. The only work I've personally done to counter this was lowering the saddles, but to no avail.

Even the manager said he would've sent it back himself but from what was relayed to me, I guess the retailer themselves only have a year to get it done, and nobody ever tried to take the steps to do so until it was too late. Now that I'm the owner, I can do something about it, because my one year on necks started when I bought it.

I've got my receipt in hand and will call the fender phone number on Monday morning, I'll let you all know :P


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 2:04 am
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double post :p


Last edited by Chris1980 on Mon Jan 04, 2010 6:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:31 pm
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This neck issue is the first I've heard of with this model. New neck should be much better.


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Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:47 am
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Well I called the Fender warranty number and they were very helpful and friendly. Unfortunatly, I still have to get my bass to an authorized service center, and while I wouldn't think that would be a big deal, of the 20 they have in the state of Illinois, 18 of them are in Chicago, which is almost 3 hours from me :(

I know I can call and ship is off, but I'm jsut dissappointed that I don't have the opportunity to get this done face to face, and without shipping charges.


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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 2:11 am
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Well you are going to have to get it done and get it to the service center.

In a sense you are lucky it is only 3 hours drive away as it could be worse. You can do that round trip in one day. Just make sure to go on a day they are open. Shipping it would probably be cheaper than buying gas to drive there and back twice, but driving it might be preferable to shipping it not just for the face to face, but shipping damage and cold exposure this time of year are also considerations.


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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 4:35 pm
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Just wanted to give an update:

I took my bass to the authorized service center and within 10 days my new neck had arrived and was put on. Fenders warranty took care of everything and all I had to pay, other than gas, was $20 for shipping my old neck back to them.


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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 11:04 am
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That was a small price to pay to get it fixed. I'm surprised they didn't eat the shipping. Oh well, bet it plays much better now! Did the new neck cosmetically look just like the old neck? Glad you got this handled. They are nice instruments.


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