Ordered a Fender American Professional II P bass in white with the tortoise shell pick guard and it came to my guitar center today. Well needless to say I am very disappointed in this “new” instrument that cost almost $1600 on SALE mind you.
The truss rod nut was completely stripped from the factory
The nut was cracked by the D and G strings
The setup from the factory was atrocious
You could fit a credit card in the neck slot
Screws holding the pick guard were off kilter, as if the holes weren’t lined up with the screw holes
Needless to say I returned it and I will stick to my cheap squire, which has arguably much better quality control than that American fender.
FFS… I visited a music shop yesterday to spy on toys… and was talking to a bassist I know there that said “Avoid Fender for the time being, especially 5 strings”
He told me so many things that @tonyd89 described.
He even mentioned that some American fenders have the truss rod snapped before they reach them… nearly half of their stock in the past 6 months was sent back. (They don’t have much also)
I just purchased a new Fender American Pro II in White last weekend (see show us your bass 2) and thankfully the shop I purchased from does a full set up on all guitars and basses they get in, and send back everything that doesn’t have the right quality to begin with, which they claim is about 10% of what they get in.
Maybe check out some of the US made G&L’s? They’re similar enough to the Fender’s to scratch that itch but they likely have better QC. Price wise, they’re in the same ballpark.
I look at them as being basically the Ford Motor Company of musical instruments. Sometimes a F-150 is the right answer. But for me, it usually isn’t. Sometimes they make good stuff. Sometimes they make lemons.
It’s not super surprising that each country’s guitar manufacturing mirrors, quality-wise, its other manufacturing. It’s why Japan ate Fender and Gibson’s lunch in the lawsuit era; in the '70s and '80s Japan was making inexpensive high quality instruments, while the US was busy making highly priced junk, exactly like the auto industry.
I’d read enough comments on various message boards to know I shouldn’t just order something to be delivered to me personally, and at least have it delivered to a shop like @tonyd89, and I wanted to try a few options. Thankfully there a guitar shop up in Portland OR that had an excellent selection of in stock basses to try, and like I said they go through each guitar before keeping it. I’d visited my local GC a few times here in Eugene and I could hardly get anyone to actually even acknowledge my presence so I decided I’d rather drive 2hrs each way and not give GC Eugene my business.
