Fender American Quality Control

[Smilemon]

I bought a Fender American Series 60th anniversary Telecaster this fall. It was a result of backbreaking work I did for my dad. I'm pretty proud of it and love the sound but my front pickup kept going out on me. I took it into the shop and the people couldn't find anything wrong with it. The pickup worked fine when we plugged it in.

I took it home and played it for about two months, the pickup went out again. I take the guitar back in and the switch needs to be re-soldered. The next day, it breaks again. I ended up getting every single solder re heated.....

My friend told me a quote that sums up the problem pretty well.

You can buy a Mexican series guitar made by Mexicans, or you can buy an American series guitar made in factories by Mexicans.....

Anyway, it was all under warranty, it seems that with 60 years of experience Fender could make things quality.....

Smilemon

 

[schecterplayer]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

hey man, we need to have a band practice next weekend. Im getting bored.

 

[B Bent]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

That sounds pretty unusual for a PUP to do that. Must be something wrong with the PUP itself. I have had great luck with modern fenders. They aren't the old ones for sure, but they are still great guitars IMHO. You need to yank it out anyways and get a good Duncan in there! :beerchug:

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

I had a similar issue with a Duncan 59n about 10 years ago. Just a short in the coil somewhere. Duncan replaced it no questions asked and life was good again.

Fender has their issues like any other mfg. There are going to be problems from time to time. How they resolve the situation is what matters.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

Fender has their issues like any other mfg. There are going to be problems from time to time. How they resolve the situation is what matters.

Exactly. And it sounds like the dealer took care of you on getting it all resolved.

Cold solder joints can happen in anything and if the pickup is still working, that is most likely all it was.

I love the MIA Strats and Teles. IMO their quality is excellent. You'd think with 100 years experience that Ford would make things quality too. :laugh2:

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

yeah i've never had fender QC issues, and all my guitars are FMIC, so that says something

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

Yeah that's the first time i've ever heard of a problem with a stock, new Fender.

Maybe the solder joint went cold during the trip up to Alaska bro...

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

Touch all the solder joints under the control plate with a hot soldering iron. You have an intermittent problem that is 99% a cold solder joint. The techs you took it to should have done this for you.

 

[louthunder]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

Hey , overall, Fender is making some of the best guitars ever! So many styles to pick from, and whether its MIA or MIM , You still get alot of bang for the buck. A 60 year old design can't be wrong!

 

[shredaholic]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

I see no reason why an American worker would make a guitar to a better standard than a Mexican one anyway - the only reason American guitars are better than the rest of the Fender line is because they get the best woods, the best hardware, and they're given better specifications to work towards. That's the reason Japanese Fenders aren't imported into the USA by Fender any more - the Japanese factories were producing better guitars for cheaper.

 

[tubeman87]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

I see no reason why an American worker would make a guitar to a better standard than a Mexican one anyway - the only reason American guitars are better than the rest of the Fender line is because they get the best woods, the best hardware, and they're given better specifications to work towards. That's the reason Japanese Fenders aren't imported into the USA by Fender any more - the Japanese factories were producing better guitars for cheaper.

+1

 

[spacecaptain21]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

Eerily similar thing happened to me and a Am. Std. Strat, except the whole guitar was just buzz/noise suddenly, no matter what pickup it was on. Got it all resoldered and it was fine, but I ended up selling it for my tele.

The quality of the Am. Stds. is iffy, IMO. When I bought that strat, it took me five of the same exact model to find one that I liked the sound and feel of...and then look what happened with the electronics! Just goes to show ya that isn't always WHERE it's made but how it's made that counts...

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

Touch all the solder joints under the control plate with a hot soldering iron. You have an intermittent problem that is 99% a cold solder joint. The techs you took it to should have done this for you.

+1. the tech could have touched ALL the solder joints in nearly the same time as finding/correcting one. Better techs, escpecially ones not bothered by telephone calls or stupid bosses are keener about little (but important) things like this.

Also, a component like a switch or pot may sometimes be at fault. I had a pot go bad, because tiny "riveting" that attaches the pot lug to the resistance disc was poorly attached.

Stuff happens, and it sucks! I hope you did not have to drive 200 miles each way. Stay warm, bro'!

 

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

I have had TONS of quality control problems with US Fenders (and I won't even go into the imports!), and have never gotten FMIC to warranty most of them, but I will say that I have never had a problem with the pickups, ever, and only once with the controls, a widely reported defect with the last "Hot Rodded" Precision Bass control circuit (apparently due to using the wrong pots) that FMIC also never owned up to, to the best of my knowledge. The model was just discontinued.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Fender American Quality Control

I see no reason why an American worker would make a guitar to a better standard than a Mexican one anyway - the only reason American guitars are better than the rest of the Fender line is because they get the best woods, the best hardware, and they're given better specifications to work towards. That's the reason Japanese Fenders aren't imported into the USA by Fender any more - the Japanese factories were producing better guitars for cheaper.

I don't think it was an issue of getting the same guitar cheaper but more along the lines of Fender Japan offering more models that Fender USA didn't have.

Fender's alot like Gibson in that way....there's a certain MIA Jones which only a MIA can typically cure.