DeWayne Hayes
Strat-Talk Member
Thanks. I really dig the Firemist Gold + mint pick guard. Something about that combination really catches my eye.
Problem Custom Shop Strat, need help!
- Thread starter DeWayne Hayes
- Start date
My bad, I do believe that the cost of failing an attempted fix, at this level, would be too high for me to undertake, but I did say that in a more snarky way than I normally would. I apologize.
And there is always something to be gained from learning, so I should keep that in mind..
buzzword
Strat-Talker
Take it to the warranty shop they recommend. It will either get fixed or the shop will find an unfixable problem and recommend to Fender that they take back the guitar. At this early stage I'm not sure what you would expect Fender to do, they've told you to take the guitar in and have it looked at on their dime by a warranty approved shop. It would have been smarter to do that before filling the nut slots yourself.
It's disappointing to receive a Custom Shop guitar like this, but **** happens, it's Monday morning and QA or final setup guy had too many beers during the weekend.
My two best guitars are Carvin/Kiesel. Ordered online. Kiesel has decent QC, so the guitars arrive setup and ready to go. You have 10 days to return it if you don't like it. I'd buy a Kiesel over a Fender.
H
Hey man, I went to Keisel's website and configured my dream Les Paul. But the price I got after customization was stupendous. 3449USD. I don't think it is worth it in that case.
Chicago Matt
Strat-O-Master
I'm really sorry to read about your experience with Fender's Custom Shop. It sucks for sure. But at least you have helped old players like me by confirming that it's not necessary to spend the extra cash to get a Custom Shop guitar. Believe me, I've thought about it. But at the end of the day, my assembly line production guitars have served me just fine for over 50 years.
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I totally understand the sticker shock.Those options add up. I've done that so many times, lol. The build quality is exceptional but Kiesel's are bright sounding guitars with exceptional clarity. I've never heard one that had the Les Paul 'woolly' sound. Is it worth it? I'd say yes, but that is only if you plan on keeping it. Flipping a Kiesel isn't the same as flipping a Les Paul. The history of Gibson and Fender keeps the prices elevated.
I'm about to pull the trigger on this, for $2100. It is an ash body, lava 'raw tone' stained, with a walnut neck, ebony board, berylium pickups (PAF voicing) and trem system.
Buzznut
Strat-Talk Member
Hi.
I've noticed that my Japanese SQ Squier/Fender Strat doesn't cater to the scale length thus the intonation cannot be properly set because there is a lack of a few mm's. Half of the saddles are right against the end of the bridge. I even took out the little springs on the saddles in order to gain some extra length but of course that was idle thinking. The bridge is almost flush to the body so that's not the problem. I've noticed that many (cheaper) guitars have this problem. Doesn't the manufacturer knows the proper position to drill the holes for the bridge on the body? That would be blasphemous for any guitar brand. I've been advised to buy a Gotoh bridge for Strat since it is a few mm's longer than the original ones and Fender only has one size.
DeWayne Hayes
Strat-Talk Member
OP here. I thought I would provide an update.
Talked to the gentleman, the proprietor Randy, at Hughes Guitars and Repairs - the Fender warranty service center in North Carolina. I wanted to touch base and make sure the guitar made it alright and was in the queue.
It was with no small sense of relief that I listened to Randy tell me that G string rattled all the way up and down the neck and he couldn't figure out why either! He said he's tried everything he knows insofar as relief, checking for vibrating hardware, etc., etc., and he's perplexed.
He said his next step is to put the guitar on his bench, get the Custom Shop on the phone, and let them ask him questions such as, "Have you checked this, or that?" In other words, let them try to problem solve over the phone. But if that fails to reveal the source of the problem, he expects the Custom Shop will want the guitar back to inspect themselves (ahem ... exactly what I wanted in the first place.)
Randy's a real gentleman and has 50 years experience building and repairing, so to hear him say he's as perplexed as I am by this mysterious buzz was somewhat gratifying.
Will update again when I know more.
DeWayne
Talked to the gentleman, the proprietor Randy, at Hughes Guitars and Repairs - the Fender warranty service center in North Carolina. I wanted to touch base and make sure the guitar made it alright and was in the queue.
It was with no small sense of relief that I listened to Randy tell me that G string rattled all the way up and down the neck and he couldn't figure out why either! He said he's tried everything he knows insofar as relief, checking for vibrating hardware, etc., etc., and he's perplexed.
He said his next step is to put the guitar on his bench, get the Custom Shop on the phone, and let them ask him questions such as, "Have you checked this, or that?" In other words, let them try to problem solve over the phone. But if that fails to reveal the source of the problem, he expects the Custom Shop will want the guitar back to inspect themselves (ahem ... exactly what I wanted in the first place.)
Randy's a real gentleman and has 50 years experience building and repairing, so to hear him say he's as perplexed as I am by this mysterious buzz was somewhat gratifying.
Will update again when I know more.
DeWayne
life_with_a_song
Strat-Talk Member
Hey DeWayne.
The title of this thread caught my eye, because late last year I was in a position to trade a high-end acoustic guitar for a brand-new Fender CS Strat, so I went for it . . . only to be disappointed for many of the same reasons you are describing here about yours. For example: Three of the open strings buzzed and played like a sitar, and then buzzed all the way up the neck. As well, I measured the fret heights, and they were off in places by over .003" from each other! And as for the buzzing up the neck, as best as I could determine as it sat (with no adjustments on my part during the trial period), the reason was because in the machining of the saddles, the top curvature had these lateral ridges under where the strings rested while passing over them, putting them in a position to buzz no matter where I fretted on those particular strings.
The shop's response was that Fender "makes them just like they used to, flaws and all." Fortunately, I was able to send that one back and get a smaller builder's strat-style that I've been happy with.
Greg
The title of this thread caught my eye, because late last year I was in a position to trade a high-end acoustic guitar for a brand-new Fender CS Strat, so I went for it . . . only to be disappointed for many of the same reasons you are describing here about yours. For example: Three of the open strings buzzed and played like a sitar, and then buzzed all the way up the neck. As well, I measured the fret heights, and they were off in places by over .003" from each other! And as for the buzzing up the neck, as best as I could determine as it sat (with no adjustments on my part during the trial period), the reason was because in the machining of the saddles, the top curvature had these lateral ridges under where the strings rested while passing over them, putting them in a position to buzz no matter where I fretted on those particular strings.
The shop's response was that Fender "makes them just like they used to, flaws and all." Fortunately, I was able to send that one back and get a smaller builder's strat-style that I've been happy with.
Greg
