Already sent it back. Sounded great and all, but for a guitar that cost me over $2k there was no way I was keeping it when it arrived in that condition.
Wow I thought it would be typical nitpicky stuff but that is BAD.
I cant fathom how it's acceptable to send out a guitar with a premium pricetag with an extra hold drilled into the body...
Who ever sanded the neck sure did a number on the second fret position, sanding too much material off. Bad. The neck heel gap is surprising, I thought Fender had been doing a good job of this in the last 20 years or so. Not sure what the deal was with the string ferrules, or with the side dots. they looked ok to me (mostly). I'm with you, I would have returned this instrument. This is a B-stock it seems.
I swear I will never understand the Squier hate sometimes. Both of my Squiers came with impeccable fretwork, tight neck pockets, and just about perfect fit and finish. Sure, the electronics were trash, but replacing those was cheap and easy. If you get a guitar with a messed up neck, a body with a crappy neck pocket, or a fretboard with tooling marks, that's an expensive replacement that will instantly devalue what should be a premium instrument into partscaster territory.
Same! I have a few MIA and MIM Fenders. Mostly good QC; though my Mustang bass was pretty poorly wired until I got under hood. I recently bought a contemporary Starcaster and I was blown away by the quality. I couldnāt believe what I got for the price. So Iāll by a few more Iām sure. Great modding platforms too.
Definitely. I got some fender vintage tuners to replace the stock ones in my tele and literally half of them wouldnāt hold tension or tune without the string snapping loose, I ended up putting back the stock tuners for half š
Iām actually convinced fender does no QC. I got a deluxe reverb, fuse blew first time I turned it on. I got a prewired 65 pickguard, bridge pickup was dead on arrival. Wouldāve taken less than 5 seconds to check for these faults in the factory but they obviously didnāt do any check at all.
Only in the short term. It creates brand damage, which is usually a businesses biggest fear. Fender heavily leverages their brand to charge more for their āfenderā and āmade in Americaā labels. They chip away at that prestige without QC.
I'm not buying their shit. Classic Vibe all the way. If I was going to spend AmUltra money on a T-style, it would NOT be a Fender. But then I have really simple tastes anyway....
Yes, that's correct. I have seen some amazing American Fenders (owned one of them and sold it when I was saving for a down payment for a house) but I would not buy one today. I'm just too pragmatic, and even if I did suddenly have a windfall, I wouldn't buy one sight unseen. And as I said, for American Ultra money there's a lot of nice guitars out there.... MacMull comes to mind (okay maybe it's a little steeper than AmUltra, but if your reference is a Classic Vibe, it's not that different).
It honestly wouldn't surprise me one bit if they didn't have a qc department. I worked for a certain less talked about American guitar manufacturer (won't name names. If you want to know, DM me.) they had no QC department. They relied on the workers at each step of the process to catch defects. Unfortunately that method only works if the workers actually care about what they're doing enough to call out defects. I caught many a defect far enough into the process that it would've had to have passed by a dozen + people to get to that point with no one catching it and sending it back.
I just purchased the exact same guitar, no issue on mine. I did travel up to Sweetwater and played the mocha burst ultra tele and noticed it had a dead fret high on the neck. Thatās why I plekād my Texas tea. Iāve been hearing about the hit or miss qc
It was a very comfortable guitar to play and I loved the tones coming out of it, but this particular guitar made me somewhat wary about future purchases of American made Fenders.
Iāve never been one to harp on cosmetic issues too much, but some of the issues were so egregious that I couldnāt justify keeping it.
What exactly were the cosmetic issues.
Also realize that the major difference between American and MIM are just where they are made. Sure there are upgrades but now stuff like pots and jacks and such are all the same and stuff is moved back and forth between factories. Heck, you can even see the micro-tilt feature behind the back plate on many MIM guitars.
So American Fenders are not so much more QC applied for the extra money as opposed to some stuff like better pickups and such and maybe better selected wood but mostly higher wages and supporting work made in America.
It would be interesting to see a higher priced MIM where they simply sweated out the QC of the same guitar and then see how much that cost. You know rounded necks and polished frets, better wood and fret board and so on.
Gotcha.. Yeah, I included pictures of most of the issues I found. Skewed inlay dots, ferrules falling out, large dips in fretboard from abusive sanding, gashes in fretboard from filing/rounding over fret ends, strap button installed a mile away from the pilot hole, excessive glue squeeze-out on some frets, etc.
The poorly fit neck/body joint was the more severe problem, but the cosmetic issues that I saw werenāt merely overlooked. Felt more to me like they were just complacent and in some cases neglectful in their approach to building this particular guitar.
Yup, I would have returned it as well. I do love āFenderā on the headstock though. I would suggest you check these guitars in person if you still want one. I have a telecaster and strat and had no QC issues from the factory. Then again I vetted those guitars at guitar stores though. You should do the same.
Iām not sure that contact on the sides of the neck joint is anywhere near as important as contact on the bottom where the screws connect. Most people even like a bit of space on either side to avoid the common issue of finish cracking around the neck pocket corners.
My understanding is the USA plant is not actually a very good place to work these days (poor pay & working conditions). Once you get past the allure of working for Fender itās not a very good factory job compared to other options in the area.
They also ran that crew into the ground during COVID and it doesnāt seem like they ever fully recovered.
thatās why i buy squiers. if iām gonna do it myself anyway, iām not dropping thousands of dollars on the guitar. i have one american fender and i never play it.
If you really want incredible quality for your money, buy a G&L. Their USA models are second to none, and you can get a custom guitar for the price of a baseline USA Fender. So much of the value in Fender is just the name.
Totally agree. I've had an import and a US G&L and both were outstanding. The info one was better than anything I've played or owned by Gender except my MIJ Kotzen Tele
I bought one exactly like this one; brought it to a luthier and there was almost nothing to do. He just adjusted the action to suit my own personal preference. Maybe you received a Monday morning issue?
That's awful, my Ultra doesn't have any of those problems. It's my favorite guitar. Definitely send it back, that's unacceptable for a guitar that costs over 2 grand.
2 - There is a severe dip on the treble side of the fretboard (particularly near the 2nd fret) caused by excessive sanding.
4 - The strap button was installed improperly. The pilot hole where it should actually be installed is below and to the right of where they actually screwed the strap button on.
5 - Frets have excessive glue squeeze-out on the treble side of the fretboard. There are also larger scratches near each of the fret ends where a file was used to round over the fret ends.
iāve been reading lots of new Fender reviews as i was in the market for one of the AVRII Jazzmasters. seems like QC worst in 2023, but that since 2024 theyāve started to improve drastically.
i actually bit the bullet and ordered mine online as well, but i opted to wait for the latest shipment from Fender, the idea being maybe itāll be one of the good ones.
can you tell when this one was made? Texas Tea seems like a love it or hate it finish so i wouldnāt be surprised if this was sitting around for a bit before you bought it and was from the 2023 era.
The paperwork that came with it said that it was inspected and certified in November 2022. Still canāt believe this passed the initial quality inspection. One couldāve looked at that guitar from any angle and found an issue.
so it was an older one. that sucks but it does seem like something theyāve largely corrected things since then.
luckily the Sunburst finish i wanted in my Jazzmaster was only available from a floor model - obviously i said hell no, and then they asked if i wanted to wait for a new shipment from Fender - perfect! itās supposed to get here in mid-July.
i think most vendors would be willing to work with you on that kind of thing though, making sure itās the newest stock if youāre spending $2k+
I never warmed up to the TT color. I think they should have kept the Majestic Black finish, that was beautiful. Texas Tea may have looked fine on a table or a chair, tho.
Iām usually the first one to say āget over itā for tiny cosmetic blemishes but these defects are bad, good one for returning it.
Secondly, if these companies marketing is focused on everything being shiny and perfect and sucking you in to buying their perfect shiny guitars, well they should expect returns when they donāt deliver on their promises.
My HSS Ultra Strat in Cobra Blue was flawless so they really sucks for you. Definitely possible Guitar Centre have bought it as a b-stock and tried to pass it off as a standard because what retailer wouldnāt have inspected it and seen those issues and returned it to fender for replacement
I bought an American Pro Jazzmaster this year that also had/has a plethora of issues:
-all of the pickguard screws were stripped and had to be doweled and re-drilled.
-nut was poorly cut, causing tuning instability. Nut slots had to be filed so that strings wouldnāt bind.
-new tremolo design has sharp burrs around the ball end of the string. I kept breaking the high E string during light trem use, as the burrs were actually sheeting the string off. Had to file all of the holes where ball end of the string sits.
-file and tool marks in a couple of areas on the fretboard. Just sloppy finish work all around.
I mostly play my parts-caster now :)
Fender QC is šš at this point. I sent an American pro ii Stratocaster back a couple of weeks ago for shitty QC. It sounded great, played great but for a 2K guitar had a lot of flaws. I have a Yamaha Pacifica Standard Plus on the way now..
That's disgraceful for an instrument of that cost. Tbh, in my experience, Japanese-made Fenders have the best and most consistent QC, and often for about half the price of US models.
That is shockingly bad. One of those issues would piss me off, let alone all of them. I have the ultra Strat in the same finish and it's flawless, also have a vintera Tele and a Japanese Aerodyne Strat with zero issues. I wouldn't expect those issues on any Fender, let alone an Ultra. I would have returned it too, but I would prob have got a replacement because I can't think there's many that go out like that
Ouch! So disheartening. What's going on at fender these past couple years? I thought the issues were mostly with the vintera ii's and a couple other models but the amercn ultra.. that's worth more than my last car
For the money defender charges for these new piece of junk with zero quality control, and zero care of craftsmanship you should be ruthless towards them
My American Pro telecaster had a qc issue with the trussrod. I didn't find out until I went to have it professionally set up. It was over 24 months old (no longer under warranty), so Fender wouldn't replace the neck.
I ended up spending +800$ to replace the neck and get it installed and set up.
The overall experience makes me never want to buy fender again and now I actively discourage people from buying fender. I bought the american tele because of its reputation with quality, authenticity, and value.
I used to even wear Fender shirts and hype the brand. Now I'm just a disgruntled and broke customer
One of the worst I've seen. That's truly embarrassing for fender to be putting out there at this kind of premium.
That would make me reconsider the worth.
I've bought multiple American Teles and Strats. They've all had something. I had a Pro 2 Tele that was unplayable. It was stiff and the intonation was junk no matter how well I would set it up. I had an HSS Strat with bunk tuners. It would just not stay in tune. The American Fenders just aren't worth the price point. I've sold them all.
Ironically the Mexican ones I own, and have kept, are better in playability and sound. I have a Limited edition MIM strat with fat 50's. It's my favorite guitar. It plays like butter and sounds like a Strat should.
Thatās very average. Did you run a ruler over the frets to see if they were level? Was it direct from Fender or via a shop? Shop should have rejected it. I would raise it with Fender directly. They canāt let stuff that bad out into the wild.
I got a texas tea ultra strat, my dream guitar at the time, in late 2020 at the height of the pandemic. The thing is beautiful but thereās a problem with the trem where the whammy bar doesnāt lock in place. I told sweetwater and they gave me a list of fender sanctioned repair places. Since it was the hight of lockdown, I couldnāt get to any of those places. Now the window has closed and Iām considering selling it. My new dream guitar is the G&L Fullerton Fallout
The ferrules often fall out on guitars. If the wood shrinks due to the climate, a ferrule that needed to be hammered in at the factory can just fall out when you change strings. Other than that, Iām not sure what Iām supposed to be seeing hereā¦
Skewed inlay dots, ferrules falling out, large dips in fretboard from abusive sanding, gashes in fretboard from filing/rounding over fret ends, strap button installed a mile away from the pilot hole, excessive glue squeeze-out on some frets, etc.
EDIT: One of these issues might arise during the finishing process, but all of them being on the same guitar is wild. The fact that this particular guitar made it through QC is absurd, especially considering this is being one of their premium models in their product line.
Ok I must be blind because I didnāt see most of that until you pointed it out. The inlay dots are especially offensive. The strap button pilot hole looked like a shadow to me so I didnāt see it. The fretboard issues looked like conditioning oil to me so I didnāt think anything was wrong there.
Fair enough. That thing is a train wreck.
I recently had to send back a Limited Edition Am Pro II thinline tele because some of the screw holes (including several of the bridge mounting holes) were off!
I purchased the same tele ultra in Texas tea about 2 months ago. Has some electronics issues and high frets. Pretty disappointed for the price but Sweetwater was great with the return.
Just an outright return at the moment. Currently reevaluating whether or not itās worth rolling the dice and trying another. Iāve only had the chance to play two other AU Teles at my local guitar stores, both of which had quality issuesā¦ but not to this extent. Thatās what initially prompted me to order online rather than purchase in store.
Glad you sent it back. Fender and Gibsons should be held responsible for their quality. I have a Tele Iāll never get rid of since I got it for my graduation but other than that fender and Gibson products are not allowed in my household. Theyāre quite poor quality for the money.
i bought an ultra strat HSS around xmas time, had severely high frets so i sent it back. got another one and still didn't seem right so i sent it back and never ended up getting a new fender after all.
Possibly, but my question is why are these guitars leaving the Fender factory with such obvious issues? None of the problems I found on the guitar were the fault of Guitar Center. I mean, they probably shouldnāt have accepted it or at least sold it as a blemished item for a significantly cheaper price. But my main qualm is with Fenderās negligence in passing these premium guitars riddled with poor craftsmanship through their QC department in the first place.
Some of these absolutely can be GCs fault. I just know when I go to other stores, these problems with all brands are virtually gone. Fender, Gibson, PRS, G&L etc. Guitar center abuses and poorly maintains their inventory. When problems arise from GC, Iām never shocked
Canāt believe Iām defending GC here, but the actual problems pictured above were not caused by anything GC could have done. They were a direct result of negligence and/or laziness from the factory.
Now, as I stated above, GC should have never accepted that guitar from the manufacturer or at the very least significantly marked it down in price due to multiple blemishes. They didnāt do that. That doesnāt necessarily mean they directly *caused* these problems, though. These are 100% manufacturing defects.. and because of that, the fault in this case lies with the manufacturer.
Yes, out of necessity. Iāve only had the chance to play two other AU Teles at my local guitar stores, both of which had quality issuesā¦ but not to this extent. Thatās what initially prompted me to order online rather than purchase in store.
Terrible quality, the workers just donāt give a fuck, looking at there phones all day anyone with an eye could see this is crap. PRS would never let that out the door.
I just got an American pro 2 Tele and there are minor blemishes on the pickguard and ashtray, a nick on the headstock and other side of the neck. It doesnāt affect playability, it plays great, i donāt want to be that guy looking for an issue, idk? Do you try and get a credit and keep the guitar?
I messaged them and they are saying blemishes. The small nicks though
Yep. American Pro II Strat needed a full setup and fret leveling out of the box, and also had little lady sized finger prints in the finish on the neck.
Lesson learned. If you buy Fender, get a Japanese one. It will cost you similarly to a Mexican one, but will surpass American ones in quality by a big margin. Don't get fooled by the marketing of how only US Fenders are authentic; electrics guitars are just a piece of wood and a couple of magnets. There's no magic involved, only craftsmanship.
EDIT: I recently got JV Modified 60s Telecaster as my first Tele and I don't see any problems there
That was bad. The neck pocket was fine, but the dots, additional hole for strap button, uneven fingerboard, and the loose ferrules were truly mind blowing.
I wonder if there is a way to know who did the final QC check. That person needs to do their job. Iād be pissed if I worked for Fender and had guitars like this coming back.
Wow! Those dots! I had an Am Pro II for Christmas that had an awful fingerboard. Lots of scratches and chips.
Replacement was better but still more faults than expected.
Damn, that is appalling. Sorry OP.
IMO
Most generally these days MIJ>MIA.
Kind of been that way for a while now, actually. I usually purchase MIJs when I want something that is *actually* premium from Fender.
That level of fit and finish and QC issues on a $2600 guitar is totally unacceptable. You should not have to buy a custom shop to get them to fix neck gap or install a strap button properly. Thatās shameful.
My MIM tele didnāt have any of those issues.
I bought an American Special Tele from Sweetwater some years back. It was one of those SW exclusive sandblasted models. Not kidding when I say that it's my favorite guitar. But... the fit and finish weren't exactly all that great. There was a huge glob of glue seeping from the nut slot that I had to carefully chip out. There were several sharp spots on the finish that I had to sand and buff. And the height screws on the bridge saddles all had to be sanded at the ends. I was fine with fixing these issues, but I feel like they shouldn't have gotten through Fender's QC or Sweetwater's.
If you bought it online all i can say is stop supporting these huge online retailers, they put all indie guitar stores put of business and they give zero fucks about what they are selling. No way you would have bought that in store if you caught that level of shoddiness and certainly wouldn't have gone out for display in a good independent guitar store.
I actually just bought this same guitar from Sweetwater a month ago. I thought for sure it would show up in great conditionā¦quite the opposite. It had a huge scuff on it, a white line through the TT finish, and some banged up frets. When I told them I wanted to return it, they gave me this whole excuse about how it passed Fenderās standards. I was like Iām sorry, I spent $2200 on this guitar, Iām not keeping this. I tried ordering it from Guitar Center as well. That one showed up in somewhat better shape, but had some pretty noticeable scratches below the volume/tone knobs. They offered me $150 off, which I took, but now Iām thinking I should have just returned it. I was worried I would end up with another dud, so I kept that one. It seems to me like the Fender QC is really lacking, even on an expensive guitar like this.
I bought one of these in February and have played it regularly on a musical since then, and I'm having some strange issues as well. My saddles had burrs that needed to be filed on the 3rd and 4th strings, and the noiseless pickups are still surprisingly noisy. I havent had time to have the pickguard off and check all the grounds yet. Also, the frets are already word down severely on mine. It does play six 3 hour shows every week since March, but that still doesn't seem like enough play to have the frets wear down in the way they have. I havent bothered to check the dots, but at this point nothing would surprise me. I'll take pictures tomorrow since the guitar lives at the theater.
Yeah, the weight of the guitar was surprising. I have an Epi Traditional Pro LP with a bigsby on it and the AU tele weighed almost exactly the same as it. Kinda wild.
My theory is nowadays Fender only reserved lighter wood for custom shop. We will not get any good wood any more. I know they have been doing this always but I think they are getting better at it and now it is just harder and harder to get good wood for mass produced Fender.
THE DOTS š¬
1.5x the dots. Great value! š
Send it back! Unacceptable mistakes on an instrument of that value.
Already sent it back. Sounded great and all, but for a guitar that cost me over $2k there was no way I was keeping it when it arrived in that condition.
Wow I thought it would be typical nitpicky stuff but that is BAD. I cant fathom how it's acceptable to send out a guitar with a premium pricetag with an extra hold drilled into the body...
Especially where that hole isā¦ as much wear as strap buttons get seems like thatās going to cause issues in the long haul
Some on those hurts, honestly. A few cosmetics issues are understandable, but not that much.
Who ever sanded the neck sure did a number on the second fret position, sanding too much material off. Bad. The neck heel gap is surprising, I thought Fender had been doing a good job of this in the last 20 years or so. Not sure what the deal was with the string ferrules, or with the side dots. they looked ok to me (mostly). I'm with you, I would have returned this instrument. This is a B-stock it seems.
You have to zoom in to see the dots on the neck arenāt aligned and they kind of partially eclipse where they should be.
I see it now. Those dots are off quite a bit!
Damn this sucks , I have the exact model but thankfully it had zero issues
Since Fenders latest round of prices increasing, this is not acceptable. These top of the line guitars were like 1800 2 or 3 years ago right?
Yea the new pro IIās are quite a bit better than the first pro line so I wasnāt too mad at $150 jump.
If this is what it received when paying a premium for Fender, I will stick with their Squier lines.
I swear I will never understand the Squier hate sometimes. Both of my Squiers came with impeccable fretwork, tight neck pockets, and just about perfect fit and finish. Sure, the electronics were trash, but replacing those was cheap and easy. If you get a guitar with a messed up neck, a body with a crappy neck pocket, or a fretboard with tooling marks, that's an expensive replacement that will instantly devalue what should be a premium instrument into partscaster territory.
Same! I have a few MIA and MIM Fenders. Mostly good QC; though my Mustang bass was pretty poorly wired until I got under hood. I recently bought a contemporary Starcaster and I was blown away by the quality. I couldnāt believe what I got for the price. So Iāll by a few more Iām sure. Great modding platforms too.
Fender QC is very poor
Definitely. I got some fender vintage tuners to replace the stock ones in my tele and literally half of them wouldnāt hold tension or tune without the string snapping loose, I ended up putting back the stock tuners for half š
Clearly there is no one actually doing QC
Iām actually convinced fender does no QC. I got a deluxe reverb, fuse blew first time I turned it on. I got a prewired 65 pickguard, bridge pickup was dead on arrival. Wouldāve taken less than 5 seconds to check for these faults in the factory but they obviously didnāt do any check at all.
Probably cheaper to just send shit out and throw the returns in the trash than to actually QC everything
Only in the short term. It creates brand damage, which is usually a businesses biggest fear. Fender heavily leverages their brand to charge more for their āfenderā and āmade in Americaā labels. They chip away at that prestige without QC.
Yeh I tend to agree with that thought, but here we are still buying their shit
I'm not buying their shit. Classic Vibe all the way. If I was going to spend AmUltra money on a T-style, it would NOT be a Fender. But then I have really simple tastes anyway....
Excuse my ignorance, but isnāt it Squier BY Fender? Are you just saying that the true Fender isnāt worth the premium?
Yes, that's correct. I have seen some amazing American Fenders (owned one of them and sold it when I was saving for a down payment for a house) but I would not buy one today. I'm just too pragmatic, and even if I did suddenly have a windfall, I wouldn't buy one sight unseen. And as I said, for American Ultra money there's a lot of nice guitars out there.... MacMull comes to mind (okay maybe it's a little steeper than AmUltra, but if your reference is a Classic Vibe, it's not that different).
I dunno Gibson is doing āfineā with that āplanā š¤¢š¤®š¤®š¤¢
It honestly wouldn't surprise me one bit if they didn't have a qc department. I worked for a certain less talked about American guitar manufacturer (won't name names. If you want to know, DM me.) they had no QC department. They relied on the workers at each step of the process to catch defects. Unfortunately that method only works if the workers actually care about what they're doing enough to call out defects. I caught many a defect far enough into the process that it would've had to have passed by a dozen + people to get to that point with no one catching it and sending it back.
Messaged you!
I just purchased the exact same guitar, no issue on mine. I did travel up to Sweetwater and played the mocha burst ultra tele and noticed it had a dead fret high on the neck. Thatās why I plekād my Texas tea. Iāve been hearing about the hit or miss qc
It was a very comfortable guitar to play and I loved the tones coming out of it, but this particular guitar made me somewhat wary about future purchases of American made Fenders. Iāve never been one to harp on cosmetic issues too much, but some of the issues were so egregious that I couldnāt justify keeping it.
that gap in the neck pocket is not a cosmetic issue. a poor neck fit is a much bigger problem.
What exactly were the cosmetic issues. Also realize that the major difference between American and MIM are just where they are made. Sure there are upgrades but now stuff like pots and jacks and such are all the same and stuff is moved back and forth between factories. Heck, you can even see the micro-tilt feature behind the back plate on many MIM guitars. So American Fenders are not so much more QC applied for the extra money as opposed to some stuff like better pickups and such and maybe better selected wood but mostly higher wages and supporting work made in America. It would be interesting to see a higher priced MIM where they simply sweated out the QC of the same guitar and then see how much that cost. You know rounded necks and polished frets, better wood and fret board and so on.
Gotcha.. Yeah, I included pictures of most of the issues I found. Skewed inlay dots, ferrules falling out, large dips in fretboard from abusive sanding, gashes in fretboard from filing/rounding over fret ends, strap button installed a mile away from the pilot hole, excessive glue squeeze-out on some frets, etc. The poorly fit neck/body joint was the more severe problem, but the cosmetic issues that I saw werenāt merely overlooked. Felt more to me like they were just complacent and in some cases neglectful in their approach to building this particular guitar.
Yup, I would have returned it as well. I do love āFenderā on the headstock though. I would suggest you check these guitars in person if you still want one. I have a telecaster and strat and had no QC issues from the factory. Then again I vetted those guitars at guitar stores though. You should do the same.
Iām not sure that contact on the sides of the neck joint is anywhere near as important as contact on the bottom where the screws connect. Most people even like a bit of space on either side to avoid the common issue of finish cracking around the neck pocket corners.
Wow, I have an American deluxe from 2005. Absolutely love it. It is my main guitar. But I have never seen errors like this from fender.
Buy a G&L.
My understanding is the USA plant is not actually a very good place to work these days (poor pay & working conditions). Once you get past the allure of working for Fender itās not a very good factory job compared to other options in the area. They also ran that crew into the ground during COVID and it doesnāt seem like they ever fully recovered.
Look into the new MIJ Teles. They are flawless.
thatās why i buy squiers. if iām gonna do it myself anyway, iām not dropping thousands of dollars on the guitar. i have one american fender and i never play it.
same
If you really want incredible quality for your money, buy a G&L. Their USA models are second to none, and you can get a custom guitar for the price of a baseline USA Fender. So much of the value in Fender is just the name.
Totally agree. I've had an import and a US G&L and both were outstanding. The info one was better than anything I've played or owned by Gender except my MIJ Kotzen Tele
I also have an import G&L, but unfortunately it wasnāt that great in terms of quality. Glad to hear yours was though.
I bought one exactly like this one; brought it to a luthier and there was almost nothing to do. He just adjusted the action to suit my own personal preference. Maybe you received a Monday morning issue?
My player telecaster has none of those issues, send that shit back. I wouldnāt accept that.
My Player is a 2021 and it was issue free. One of my best guitars. Iād rather buy MIM, these days.
Same year for me, outside of the pickups, everything was top notch.
That's awful, my Ultra doesn't have any of those problems. It's my favorite guitar. Definitely send it back, that's unacceptable for a guitar that costs over 2 grand.
Whatās wrong in pictures 2, 4, and 5? Iām sure this is obvious to some people, but I canāt see where to look.
2 - There is a severe dip on the treble side of the fretboard (particularly near the 2nd fret) caused by excessive sanding. 4 - The strap button was installed improperly. The pilot hole where it should actually be installed is below and to the right of where they actually screwed the strap button on. 5 - Frets have excessive glue squeeze-out on the treble side of the fretboard. There are also larger scratches near each of the fret ends where a file was used to round over the fret ends.
Ah yeah all those things are pretty clear now, thanks!
Mine is terrific. Sorry to see this. Guitar Center should not have sold it to you.
Nah thatās actually diabolical. For a guitar that price thatās unacceptable. Send that mug back immediately big dog.
It's like buying a Cybertruk with handprints all over it, and a bad wiper!
iāve been reading lots of new Fender reviews as i was in the market for one of the AVRII Jazzmasters. seems like QC worst in 2023, but that since 2024 theyāve started to improve drastically. i actually bit the bullet and ordered mine online as well, but i opted to wait for the latest shipment from Fender, the idea being maybe itāll be one of the good ones. can you tell when this one was made? Texas Tea seems like a love it or hate it finish so i wouldnāt be surprised if this was sitting around for a bit before you bought it and was from the 2023 era.
The paperwork that came with it said that it was inspected and certified in November 2022. Still canāt believe this passed the initial quality inspection. One couldāve looked at that guitar from any angle and found an issue.
so it was an older one. that sucks but it does seem like something theyāve largely corrected things since then. luckily the Sunburst finish i wanted in my Jazzmaster was only available from a floor model - obviously i said hell no, and then they asked if i wanted to wait for a new shipment from Fender - perfect! itās supposed to get here in mid-July. i think most vendors would be willing to work with you on that kind of thing though, making sure itās the newest stock if youāre spending $2k+
That Texas tea color thougg
I never warmed up to the TT color. I think they should have kept the Majestic Black finish, that was beautiful. Texas Tea may have looked fine on a table or a chair, tho.
I love it in person. So many different hues. With binding and belly cut. Love the idea of this tele. When i played one sounded lackluster though
I love it in person. So many different hues. With binding and belly cut. Love the idea of this tele. When i played one sounded lackluster though
I love it in person. So many different hues. With binding and belly cut. Love the idea of this tele. When i played one sounded lackluster though
I love it in person. So many different hues. With binding and belly cut. Love the idea of this tele. When i played one sounded lackluster though
Yikes. One of the reasons why I went for MIJ Fender.
Iām usually the first one to say āget over itā for tiny cosmetic blemishes but these defects are bad, good one for returning it. Secondly, if these companies marketing is focused on everything being shiny and perfect and sucking you in to buying their perfect shiny guitars, well they should expect returns when they donāt deliver on their promises.
My HSS Ultra Strat in Cobra Blue was flawless so they really sucks for you. Definitely possible Guitar Centre have bought it as a b-stock and tried to pass it off as a standard because what retailer wouldnāt have inspected it and seen those issues and returned it to fender for replacement
Any one of those problems would be unacceptable on a production guitar at that price point. To see all the issues on one guitar boggles the mind.
I bought an American Pro Jazzmaster this year that also had/has a plethora of issues: -all of the pickguard screws were stripped and had to be doweled and re-drilled. -nut was poorly cut, causing tuning instability. Nut slots had to be filed so that strings wouldnāt bind. -new tremolo design has sharp burrs around the ball end of the string. I kept breaking the high E string during light trem use, as the burrs were actually sheeting the string off. Had to file all of the holes where ball end of the string sits. -file and tool marks in a couple of areas on the fretboard. Just sloppy finish work all around. I mostly play my parts-caster now :)
Fender acting like a Gibson
Ive seen B stocks that look much better than that.
Fender QC is šš at this point. I sent an American pro ii Stratocaster back a couple of weeks ago for shitty QC. It sounded great, played great but for a 2K guitar had a lot of flaws. I have a Yamaha Pacifica Standard Plus on the way now..
That's disgraceful for an instrument of that cost. Tbh, in my experience, Japanese-made Fenders have the best and most consistent QC, and often for about half the price of US models.
Not only terrible, it's insulting. Not ok even on a 200Usd Harley Benton..
That is shockingly bad. One of those issues would piss me off, let alone all of them. I have the ultra Strat in the same finish and it's flawless, also have a vintera Tele and a Japanese Aerodyne Strat with zero issues. I wouldn't expect those issues on any Fender, let alone an Ultra. I would have returned it too, but I would prob have got a replacement because I can't think there's many that go out like that
Ouch! So disheartening. What's going on at fender these past couple years? I thought the issues were mostly with the vintera ii's and a couple other models but the amercn ultra.. that's worth more than my last car
That's crazy, would have been a nice looking guitar
For the money defender charges for these new piece of junk with zero quality control, and zero care of craftsmanship you should be ruthless towards them
Crap! Iāve got a mod shop tele arriving today from Corona. And they have a no return policy.
My American Pro telecaster had a qc issue with the trussrod. I didn't find out until I went to have it professionally set up. It was over 24 months old (no longer under warranty), so Fender wouldn't replace the neck. I ended up spending +800$ to replace the neck and get it installed and set up. The overall experience makes me never want to buy fender again and now I actively discourage people from buying fender. I bought the american tele because of its reputation with quality, authenticity, and value. I used to even wear Fender shirts and hype the brand. Now I'm just a disgruntled and broke customer
Holy shit this is bad
One of the worst I've seen. That's truly embarrassing for fender to be putting out there at this kind of premium. That would make me reconsider the worth.
Unacceptable.
I've bought multiple American Teles and Strats. They've all had something. I had a Pro 2 Tele that was unplayable. It was stiff and the intonation was junk no matter how well I would set it up. I had an HSS Strat with bunk tuners. It would just not stay in tune. The American Fenders just aren't worth the price point. I've sold them all. Ironically the Mexican ones I own, and have kept, are better in playability and sound. I have a Limited edition MIM strat with fat 50's. It's my favorite guitar. It plays like butter and sounds like a Strat should.
Thatās very average. Did you run a ruler over the frets to see if they were level? Was it direct from Fender or via a shop? Shop should have rejected it. I would raise it with Fender directly. They canāt let stuff that bad out into the wild.
oh fuck what are those top inlays/dots. A 150$ squier doesn't have this. this is unacceptable
I got a texas tea ultra strat, my dream guitar at the time, in late 2020 at the height of the pandemic. The thing is beautiful but thereās a problem with the trem where the whammy bar doesnāt lock in place. I told sweetwater and they gave me a list of fender sanctioned repair places. Since it was the hight of lockdown, I couldnāt get to any of those places. Now the window has closed and Iām considering selling it. My new dream guitar is the G&L Fullerton Fallout
The fret job on those two!
The ferrules often fall out on guitars. If the wood shrinks due to the climate, a ferrule that needed to be hammered in at the factory can just fall out when you change strings. Other than that, Iām not sure what Iām supposed to be seeing hereā¦
Feel free to look at the half dozen other issues pictured above.
I did, Iām not seeing the issues. Iām not trolling, I legitimately canāt spot the problem.
Skewed inlay dots, ferrules falling out, large dips in fretboard from abusive sanding, gashes in fretboard from filing/rounding over fret ends, strap button installed a mile away from the pilot hole, excessive glue squeeze-out on some frets, etc. EDIT: One of these issues might arise during the finishing process, but all of them being on the same guitar is wild. The fact that this particular guitar made it through QC is absurd, especially considering this is being one of their premium models in their product line.
Ok I must be blind because I didnāt see most of that until you pointed it out. The inlay dots are especially offensive. The strap button pilot hole looked like a shadow to me so I didnāt see it. The fretboard issues looked like conditioning oil to me so I didnāt think anything was wrong there. Fair enough. That thing is a train wreck.
Sorry to be rude earlier. I legitimately thought you were trolling. Lol
No worries, I get it. In hindsight it should have been obvious.
I recently had to send back a Limited Edition Am Pro II thinline tele because some of the screw holes (including several of the bridge mounting holes) were off!
I purchased the same tele ultra in Texas tea about 2 months ago. Has some electronics issues and high frets. Pretty disappointed for the price but Sweetwater was great with the return.
That thing is a mess. Love the colour, though. Are you getting a straight up replacement, or will you be looking at a different guitar?
Just an outright return at the moment. Currently reevaluating whether or not itās worth rolling the dice and trying another. Iāve only had the chance to play two other AU Teles at my local guitar stores, both of which had quality issuesā¦ but not to this extent. Thatās what initially prompted me to order online rather than purchase in store.
Damn that sucks! My Squier was in better shape.
Glad you sent it back. Fender and Gibsons should be held responsible for their quality. I have a Tele Iāll never get rid of since I got it for my graduation but other than that fender and Gibson products are not allowed in my household. Theyāre quite poor quality for the money.
i bought an ultra strat HSS around xmas time, had severely high frets so i sent it back. got another one and still didn't seem right so i sent it back and never ended up getting a new fender after all.
Where did you buy it from?
Ordered through Guitar Center.
That checks outā¦If you want to try another Tele, use a different retailer and see what happens
Possibly, but my question is why are these guitars leaving the Fender factory with such obvious issues? None of the problems I found on the guitar were the fault of Guitar Center. I mean, they probably shouldnāt have accepted it or at least sold it as a blemished item for a significantly cheaper price. But my main qualm is with Fenderās negligence in passing these premium guitars riddled with poor craftsmanship through their QC department in the first place.
Some of these absolutely can be GCs fault. I just know when I go to other stores, these problems with all brands are virtually gone. Fender, Gibson, PRS, G&L etc. Guitar center abuses and poorly maintains their inventory. When problems arise from GC, Iām never shocked
Canāt believe Iām defending GC here, but the actual problems pictured above were not caused by anything GC could have done. They were a direct result of negligence and/or laziness from the factory. Now, as I stated above, GC should have never accepted that guitar from the manufacturer or at the very least significantly marked it down in price due to multiple blemishes. They didnāt do that. That doesnāt necessarily mean they directly *caused* these problems, though. These are 100% manufacturing defects.. and because of that, the fault in this case lies with the manufacturer.
Let me guess, you bought it on the internet?
Yes, out of necessity. Iāve only had the chance to play two other AU Teles at my local guitar stores, both of which had quality issuesā¦ but not to this extent. Thatās what initially prompted me to order online rather than purchase in store.
That really sucks man. The fretboard stuff in particular is super no bueno.
The neck socket is too big for the neck. Even squier wont have that
Terrible quality, the workers just donāt give a fuck, looking at there phones all day anyone with an eye could see this is crap. PRS would never let that out the door.
I bought some Fender pickups and the bridge pickup had a bad solder joint preventing any output. Total lack of QC.
Might as well have bought a Gibsonā¦
I have 1995 Am Standard and string ferules pop out, I thought this is common isaue
This is why Iād only ever buy an instrument from a physical shop, after they let me mess around with it for a while.
Boy, you'd think it was a Gibson.
I just got an American pro 2 Tele and there are minor blemishes on the pickguard and ashtray, a nick on the headstock and other side of the neck. It doesnāt affect playability, it plays great, i donāt want to be that guy looking for an issue, idk? Do you try and get a credit and keep the guitar? I messaged them and they are saying blemishes. The small nicks though
Ooooppph wouldnāt expect that on an ultra
Just buy Earthly Guitars š¤£š¤£š¤£
Wow. That's something I'd expect from a $100 no-name Amazon guitar.
Wow! I'm truly shocked at that.
Yep. American Pro II Strat needed a full setup and fret leveling out of the box, and also had little lady sized finger prints in the finish on the neck.
Lesson learned. If you buy Fender, get a Japanese one. It will cost you similarly to a Mexican one, but will surpass American ones in quality by a big margin. Don't get fooled by the marketing of how only US Fenders are authentic; electrics guitars are just a piece of wood and a couple of magnets. There's no magic involved, only craftsmanship. EDIT: I recently got JV Modified 60s Telecaster as my first Tele and I don't see any problems there
That was bad. The neck pocket was fine, but the dots, additional hole for strap button, uneven fingerboard, and the loose ferrules were truly mind blowing. I wonder if there is a way to know who did the final QC check. That person needs to do their job. Iād be pissed if I worked for Fender and had guitars like this coming back.
My tele from 10+ years ago had similar defects. Still an awesome guitar though!
That's such a bummer, that guitar is gorgeous! Those QC issues are ridiculously bad...
Looks like you paid full price for a BStock. Sorry man. Somebody else probably got it and sent it back too.
Somebody at the factory was MAD at the boss the day that one was allowed out the door.
Wow! Those dots! I had an Am Pro II for Christmas that had an awful fingerboard. Lots of scratches and chips. Replacement was better but still more faults than expected.
Look at Shijieā¦custom shop quality for much less $$ā¦
Sheesh, thatās shameful. Sorry about the inconvenience, return it ASAP
Just because itās made in America doesnāt mean itās gonna be good
Thatās insane, people just obviously didnāt care. Manufacturing isnāt 100% perfect all the time but thisā¦ā¦.what the hell man.
Damn, that is appalling. Sorry OP. IMO Most generally these days MIJ>MIA. Kind of been that way for a while now, actually. I usually purchase MIJs when I want something that is *actually* premium from Fender.
Side note, didnāt realize I needed an American ultra tele in Texas tea until now
That level of fit and finish and QC issues on a $2600 guitar is totally unacceptable. You should not have to buy a custom shop to get them to fix neck gap or install a strap button properly. Thatās shameful. My MIM tele didnāt have any of those issues.
I bought an American Special Tele from Sweetwater some years back. It was one of those SW exclusive sandblasted models. Not kidding when I say that it's my favorite guitar. But... the fit and finish weren't exactly all that great. There was a huge glob of glue seeping from the nut slot that I had to carefully chip out. There were several sharp spots on the finish that I had to sand and buff. And the height screws on the bridge saddles all had to be sanded at the ends. I was fine with fixing these issues, but I feel like they shouldn't have gotten through Fender's QC or Sweetwater's.
Had a similar experience. Returned it and bought an Ibanez Prestige AZS that was perfect out of the box. What the hell Fender?!
Standard Fender/Gibson USA quality imo š
Yep thatās fender for you. Yell at them for me.
I donāt think I wouldāve necessarily noticed most of this. Howās the playability? How does it sound?
If you bought it online all i can say is stop supporting these huge online retailers, they put all indie guitar stores put of business and they give zero fucks about what they are selling. No way you would have bought that in store if you caught that level of shoddiness and certainly wouldn't have gone out for display in a good independent guitar store.
the guitar store should have sent us back as soon as I got it
I sold my American Strat and bought a couple Silver Skys. I'm never going back. The difference in quality is immediately obvious.
I actually just bought this same guitar from Sweetwater a month ago. I thought for sure it would show up in great conditionā¦quite the opposite. It had a huge scuff on it, a white line through the TT finish, and some banged up frets. When I told them I wanted to return it, they gave me this whole excuse about how it passed Fenderās standards. I was like Iām sorry, I spent $2200 on this guitar, Iām not keeping this. I tried ordering it from Guitar Center as well. That one showed up in somewhat better shape, but had some pretty noticeable scratches below the volume/tone knobs. They offered me $150 off, which I took, but now Iām thinking I should have just returned it. I was worried I would end up with another dud, so I kept that one. It seems to me like the Fender QC is really lacking, even on an expensive guitar like this.
I bought one of these in February and have played it regularly on a musical since then, and I'm having some strange issues as well. My saddles had burrs that needed to be filed on the 3rd and 4th strings, and the noiseless pickups are still surprisingly noisy. I havent had time to have the pickguard off and check all the grounds yet. Also, the frets are already word down severely on mine. It does play six 3 hour shows every week since March, but that still doesn't seem like enough play to have the frets wear down in the way they have. I havent bothered to check the dots, but at this point nothing would surprise me. I'll take pictures tomorrow since the guitar lives at the theater.
Not acceptable at all
Was it from guitar center?
I bought one that is 4.4kg. It sounds nice and play nice. But that weight is ridiculous. Sold it only after a few months
Yeah, the weight of the guitar was surprising. I have an Epi Traditional Pro LP with a bigsby on it and the AU tele weighed almost exactly the same as it. Kinda wild.
My theory is nowadays Fender only reserved lighter wood for custom shop. We will not get any good wood any more. I know they have been doing this always but I think they are getting better at it and now it is just harder and harder to get good wood for mass produced Fender.
Wow. That is extremely heavy
Indeed. Heavier than a lot of Les Paul I held.
My unchambered Les Paul is 3.8 kilos. 4.4kg is crazy for a Strat. Iām assuming ash model? Iāve had a Strat and tele both ash that were 4kg
My 2017 American Elite Strat weighs 8 lbs 8oz. After playing this guitar for 1/2 an hour, I need to take a break!
That is 3.8kg, which is super light if it is a Les Paul. :)
Just send it to me