Oh, I'm with you on the caliber of the work although I've not gotten one that was poorly done myself. Odd to find that it somehow escaped being rejected.
I'd guess that the wiring is done on the scratchplate by outworkers for 10 cents a pop. PCB's (PWB's) don't come cheap and still have to be populated with components and connected to the scratchplate. Money honey!
We shouldn't hold our breath. It took Leo starting up G&L for someone to improve upon a few of the basic flaws he found in his own original designs. IMHO Fender is an will remain very tradition bound for many more years because many of their buyers demand it. Me, I've gone over to G&L.
A lot of the types of players that would be into Strats want to see that old-school wiring and know their guitar is made like they used to. Guitarists generally seem resistant to change in a lot of ways, this being one of them, and Fender is giving us what we want.
The simpler things are the easier they are to fix when something goes wrong. Remember when you could fix your own car by the roadside?
Actually you can get hundreds of them printed for just a few dollars these days, and a PCB makes it a much faster and simpler job to attach the cap and pots, etc. I think it comes down more to the old-school mentality of guitarists and general resistance to change, so Fender is giving us what we want.
To be honest I have never bought a new Fender in my life and the used ones I own have always been tinkered with under the hood, so can't comment on the soldering work from the factory! For me, it's the standard audio taper pots they use in lefties and most people don't bother changing that bug me most...
Having seen some of the soldering work on used guitars shown here on the forum (and other horrors), I am happy with my decision to buy new guitars, that nobody here has messed with.
I'm struggling to think of a car, TV or phone that still uses point-to-point wiring in mass production. PCBs, in the simplicity and quantities Fender could use, are dirt cheap. In both cases someone has to fasten the components to the scratchplate. With a PCB - job done. Old style - cut wire to length, trim insulation, solder and test. I think we can tell it's done by outworkers for 10 cents a pop, which doesn't sit well on a "premium" guitar.
its only about the money....a squier bullet has excellent wiring...for those pennies you have to pay for it.....
Everything was fine until the OP looked under the hood. Ignorance is bliss. If it ain’t broke... A penny saved... etc.
Guitarists by and large don't want new tech in their guitars. I actually bought a Deluxe Plus with the Personality Cards because they sounded great and offered so much flexibility. There were supposed to be many more to come out but that got cancelled due to the lack of response by consumers. If I was Fender I wouldn't invest in pcb tech either. It won't be accepted at a level necessary to make money. Fwiw, my LB Strat has very nice wiring and soldering.
Well yes, I said as much about the vintage thing. But it's sloppy workmanship, which we wouldn't tolerate on the finish or the frets.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't think most people bother to look under the guard. Finish and fret flaws though are immediately noticeable.
