Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

[esandes]

If I'm going to consider buying a $3000 select series strat then why would I want to have a basic nut and bridge? Plastic nuts and bent steel bridge saddles do not cut it. Keep that for the squires.

For that much I don't want the cheap stuff. I want a Wilkinson roller nut and a Fender Deluxe Locking Bridge. These were standard on some of the US Strat Plus Deluxe models from the 90s.

What gives?:31:

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

Personally, I strongly prefer the vintage style, stamped steel Stratocaster bridge saddles. Why? Because, for all of Leo Fender's unashamed Cheepnis, they sound right.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

^^ Ironically, the Strat Plus (+Deluxe) were discontinued because people "hated the tone" of the Roller Nut and locking bridge. I attribute that in no small part to vintage cork-snifferey.

If you truly want a "modern" fender, you have to go either Custom shop or somewhere else. That´s one of the things that I both like and despise about Fender. They know their target demographic mostly wants "vintage, vintage, vintage" and play to that, but at the same time the seem to forget that not everybody is a purist.

That said, FMIC owns numerous other brands that cater to anything but vintage corksniffers (Jackson /Charvel instantly comes to mind), so it´s a bit understandable that they dont want to undermine their own subsidiaries.

 

[jumble jumble]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

In the same way that "second-hand" or "used" guitars were magically rebranded as "vintage" so we had an excuse to make them more expensive than new guitars, we need a new, non-offensive word for "modern" to apply to instruments that use the hardware and materials that work the best rather than the ones that were cheapest in the 1950s. The word "modern" makes people think "crap". Any suggestions for a better word? Contemporary, maybe? Progressive? Visionary? Advanced? Renaissance?

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

I like Progressive because it makes it sound like it's specifically for science geeks and spec nerds :smokin:

Fender markets to trendy counterculture ******bags like me who are into weird 60s and 70s stuff because of the flaws...

 

[esandes]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

lol..cork-sniffery

the bent steel saddles are so primative. they don't even have a groove so when you do a wicked bend it actually moves the string across the saddle.

with a plastic nut you often get a creak noise when you bend.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

Personally, I strongly prefer the vintage style, stamped steel Stratocaster bridge saddles. Why? Because, for all of Leo Fender's unashamed Cheepnis, they sound right.

Bingo.

Hate those old 90s "improved" bridges and roller nuts. Ick.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

If I wanted a strat with modern features, I wouldn't shop Fender. If you're considering a $3k Fender, why not look at Suhr, Anderson, or any number of other companies making fantastic guitars for less than $3k? Fender and Gibson get yelled at by consumers for features that aren't "vintage correct", so they tend to stay in that camp.

 

[Vengeance]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

Plastic nuts and bent steel bridge saddles do not cut it.

Just why I'll never own another. I pretty much hate those bent steel bridges. Just not my thing with so much better out there.

Contemporary, maybe? Progressive? Visionary? Advanced? Renaissance?

They did a Contemporary series in the 80's going after the super strat market. Once again though the dive bomb trems they used were pure garbage. What sux is they were REALLY nice MIJ guitars and played kick ass. Now days you can make more money just selling one of the necks then you can selling the whole guitar.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

with a plastic nut you often get a creak noise when you bend.

NO, that has ZERO to do with the material of the nut and everything to do with the person that cut it being a skillless hack.

ASSUMING a quality setup was done after purchase.

Factories cut nuts to fit the most common guage, 9s. Some of these are wide enough to fit 10s, but not all of them.

This is why until about 20 years ago when people stopped caring and MF`s cheap instant gratification became "the best thing since sliced bread", a set of new strings and a setup to customer specs was almost universally included in the sales price of a new guitar. It is the reason why any shop that truly still cares and can afford it has quality tech or luthier in fuilltime employment.

And it´s why most people buy new guitars that play like **** and never realize what´s going on.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

Did a setup on a brandnew American Standard last week.....they downgraded on all fronts....
The chrome is about 3 or four stages further down the wrong ladder, bad hardware all over, looked all wrong, neck was badly made, almost looked like a 90's MIM neck, same with the fretboard.
Could not play two notes without having it all fall apart soundwise(those new 3'rd grade rebranded D'Addario strings are trash at best, the new 250's.....not worth anything) and a badly cut plastic nut!

I'm not in the anti Fender group, got a two CS guitars myself that I love!!

But if that was a pointer on what we can expect in the future....forget it!!!!
Did manage to get it to play, but I felt sorry for the guy who bought it....

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

Plastic nuts and stamped saddles work great, and are traditional on a Strat. If you don't like the hardware, change it. If you don't like the guitar, get a different one, or, better yet if you want to nitpick specs on a $3,000 guitar, build your own. No Fender short of an antique is worth that much money, with all the licensed parts suppliers out there.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

Well the point is.....the old American Standard had nice hardware....
Now they look like CV's or other lowend Fenders hardware wise......
It does not play out of the box, before this downgrade most of them could play after a minimum of setup work....now....forget it...it takes major time to get them to play...not worth anyones money.
Plus the necks are bad now, the fretboards looks like something from a Gibson

They cheapend the line down in a major way.....
Bad move....
They must really be in financial troubles...

 

[FretFire]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

One guitar != entire product line

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

When did Fender start getting cheap? About a year ago I really, really liked the American teles I played (the American Standards and Specials).

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

Dunno somewhere in late 2012 I guess....
So far I have only seen this one...dunno how the higher end stuff is these days...we have not bought much Fender lately, as they do not want their dealers to earn any money...
But later this year we will get our last CS guitars....but I doubt that those will be affected...if so they are majorly screwed!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

With the number of Strat and Tele models available with every option possible, I don't see how anyone could feel left out......unless you truly don't like Fenders.

Don't base the company on the 2 Fenders you saw hanging on the wall at your local mom'n'pop music store.
Open up their big full color catalog and order the Fender that most appeals to you.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

With the number of Strat and Tele models available with every option possible, I don't see how anyone could feel left out......unless you truly don't like Fenders.

Don't base the company on the 2 Fenders you saw hanging on the wall at your local mom'n'pop music store.
Open up their big full color catalog and order the Fender that most appeals to you.

I agree with you to a certain degree, but I'd also argue that your mom and pop store should be the "perfect" place to pick up a Fender. Ordering guitars sight unseen rarely works out well. There's something to be said for going to your small music shop and playing what they've got to make sure you're getting a good one. I can't imagine ordering a Fender from a place like Musician's Friend, Sweetwater or Guitar Center... there's way too many variables involved that you really have to experience in person. I do get what you're saying in terms of specifications though - Fender does really have something available for everyone.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

Any lowering of quality has been fairly recent. My 2007 Am. Deluxe Swamp Ash Strat is amazing. I do have to say that I didn't like the plastic nut so I put in a roller nut. I left that in for about a year. Now I use nothing but my "home made" bone compensated nuts (my own design) on all of my guitars. When I consider all of the time I put into making one, it certainly doesn't make $$ sense to do it myself, but I'm a perfectionist and I find that every guitar is a little different and needs a slightly different design. And I'm not really a tremolo kinda guy, so I blocked mine with a TremolNo and have no complaints about the quality at all.

I do have several other guitars with aftermarket tremolos that work just fine, so I may unblock my Strat someday and learn to feel more comfortable with the whammy.

Anyway, I couldn't ask for any better quality in a guitar in every respect, than what I have in my '07 Strat, and it only cost me about $1000 new back then. I haven't priced them recently nor have I checked their quality lately, so I guess it is possible that they are going the way of Gibson...higher cost, lower quality.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?

Funny, I picked up a 2012 AS Fender at the store and I was seriously wowed by the quality feel of the neck. If Fender is "cheapening" then how did they just upgrade the pickups in the AS line last year?

As for the Select Series... The nut is actually synthetic bone, not plastic. And birdseye maple necks, compound radius fret boards, chambered Ash bodies, flame maple tops, natural binding. Yeah, what a piece of crap guitar. The Chinese Squiers are absolutely equal or better quality! /sarcasm