Re: Fender...what ever happened with the decent hardware?
Fender has been my #1 company since I was a kid and after the worst decade in their history (The 70's) and the buy back by Bill Schultz I personally feel they have consistently produced top notch instruments since- though there have been a few hicups. Unlike most guys my age (51) I am not a vintage freak and am always looking forward to improvements. My main Strat the last decade has been an 02 Beck model that is solid as a tank and has all features I prefer like locking tuners, 2-point trem- block saddles, LSR nut- and a nice contoured heel for easy upper register access. Come to think of it all my Fender Strats have modern specs 2010 US Ash Deluxe/02 Clapton/ and my 96 Strat Ultra which is one bad ass guitar and one of only two Strats I know of that ever came with an Ebony board.That is one real fun ax to play with the non locking Floyd-II Trem, LSR nut, Locking Tuners, and TBX, the quality on those border on custom shop.The only thing I was never crazy for on it were the were Lace Sensor pups, though they can do a lot of genres of music really well they never nailed anything great to my ears. I had gone on an EBMM binge for a number of years and though I did not need another Fender when I played the Deluxe I had to have it! I honestly could not find any cheap hardware on any of my Fenders and the Deluxe showed me IMPO that they are making guitars as good if not better than ever.I find the Cherry Burst finish on the Deluxe simply beautiful, as it shows off the figuring on the Ash perfectly.
Now where I think Fender got too cute was with the custom shop as you now have Team Built and Master Built. A good friend of mine who owns his own store and is a Fender dealer twice offered me great prices on seperate occassions on two CS Beck guitars. If I just wanted to hoard or be greedy I would of just taken one but the truth is my off the rack Beck was a better guitar than the two CS models. When you compare the specs on both outside of a bit of figuring on the CS necks what justifies the 2K+ added price- a CS logo? You can do the same comparison with a US Deluxe and CS Deluxe as well as a few others, Fender has so many price points but the truth of the matter is they are bolt on neck guitars.If you are going to layout some serious scratch on a CS guitar the price starts jumping as (supposedly) off the bat the best wood is sourced out but Fenders are not noted for having great figured tops so what is their to prove that your Master Built Strat has such a superior body than a Team Built- Top of the line Factory build or f#cking MIM build lol.I see some guys paying 7K for a MB Strat and on many occasions even going way higher then 10K for some LE model of only XXX being made and find it totally insane. I have found that staying at the top of the factory produced line and putting in the time to run the racks has always been the best way to go and with all companies in general I feel you should get all the guitar you would ever need in the 2K-2.5K range tops. Fender produces an insane amount of instruments daily so of course at any price point you will come across a guitar with issues, but for the most part I think they have excellent Quality Control and use excellent hardware. I personally am not a fan of vintage saddles as they rip up my hands though when it comes to Tele's I prefer a vintage bridge and barrel saddles. But in the crazy world of the guitar industry today where you have what seems like hundreds of companies and builders when guitar based music has not ruled the airwaves since Grunge, everyone builds some Boutique piece of hardware that many consider superior for just about every part of a guitar. A lot of guys do specialize in building a superior product and some is nothing more than hype, but I think Fender is on the money overall!
