I got a Squier Thinline Telecaster back in July. Awesome guitar. When I was setting it up, the truss rod stopped working and in fact seemed to max out, so I took it to an authorized service center. They couldn't get the neck to straighten out even with no string tension, so they reached out to Fender about a warranty claim on the neck.
From the shop:
Hi Alex. The wheels are in motion although they are moving very slowly. The eta on your neck is March of 2022. Actually, they will be replacing the whole guitar. Should you not want to wait they would refund your money but it could take a month or so to get you a check. You would bring it here to the shop and we would destroy it and send proof to Fender. They would send you a check in 30 days or so. No need to do anything if you are willing to wait. This guitar is made in Indonesia which is compounding the supply issues already present here in the States.
The reason I'm posting here is because while it sounds like things are going to get corrected, I'm not sure what to do. The neck has a natural bow and the truss rod is maxed out, but with .10s the setup is still good. The neck feels awesome, the tall/narrow frets are great, there's no fret sprout or ridges along the skunk stripe (I'm looking at you, Fender), the tinted finish hits me in the nostalgia, and as I've played it the last couple months I have realized that I could play it into the ground as one of my #1s (I'm not a big collector). And it's unclear to me if they'll be destroying the neck AND the body, which I guess I could clarify with the shop.
Would it be foolish to keep this neck and not file for warranty replacement? As in, do I risk a damaged or less playable neck over the years because of the natural bow and maxed out truss rod?
Similarly, it is foolish to think that whatever replacement Fender sends is going to have the same mojo/magic? Yes, this is a bit ephemeral, and to be fair I've played two of these models in person (a 2021 model and a 2020 model) and they both had that "special something" for me.
What would you all do?
From the shop:
Hi Alex. The wheels are in motion although they are moving very slowly. The eta on your neck is March of 2022. Actually, they will be replacing the whole guitar. Should you not want to wait they would refund your money but it could take a month or so to get you a check. You would bring it here to the shop and we would destroy it and send proof to Fender. They would send you a check in 30 days or so. No need to do anything if you are willing to wait. This guitar is made in Indonesia which is compounding the supply issues already present here in the States.
The reason I'm posting here is because while it sounds like things are going to get corrected, I'm not sure what to do. The neck has a natural bow and the truss rod is maxed out, but with .10s the setup is still good. The neck feels awesome, the tall/narrow frets are great, there's no fret sprout or ridges along the skunk stripe (I'm looking at you, Fender), the tinted finish hits me in the nostalgia, and as I've played it the last couple months I have realized that I could play it into the ground as one of my #1s (I'm not a big collector). And it's unclear to me if they'll be destroying the neck AND the body, which I guess I could clarify with the shop.
Would it be foolish to keep this neck and not file for warranty replacement? As in, do I risk a damaged or less playable neck over the years because of the natural bow and maxed out truss rod?
Similarly, it is foolish to think that whatever replacement Fender sends is going to have the same mojo/magic? Yes, this is a bit ephemeral, and to be fair I've played two of these models in person (a 2021 model and a 2020 model) and they both had that "special something" for me.
What would you all do?
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