Got my thinskin JM, unhappy with fender quality - Updated with pics

[sunburst80]

1hi guys, i finally got my sonic blue jm shipped over to germany and im quite shocked at the build quality. let me first say that it basically plays fine but thats still some unacceptable crap which my normal avri doesnt show at all.


lets start  with the headstock, the decal was applied in such a bad way, some glue is still left and impossible to remove without damaging the decal. also its not completely flat but kinda wavy at some places, top of the fender d already coming off. 3 of the tuners arent correctly aligned, looks very funky.

staying at the headstock the nut is the worst job i ever saw, its only filed halfway throug on the treble strings and the whole nut is tilted backwards.

The whole neck is slightly higher on the treble side, probably due to the crappy alignment.

Something is also wrong with the pickguard, a little was filed off at the neck and the bridge thimbles,  probably to mnake up for a crappy aligned guard.

Overall the guitar buildquality feels very rushed, unacceptable for a 1600$ instrument.
besides that its really beautiful and plays nice. not really sure what to do with it. sending it back and getting my import tax back would be a too long and troublesome process.

Whats also bothering me is that the dealer said theyll check every guitar so i neednt worry getting a bad one...

[zhivago]

hmmm....that's no good....but on the other hand if the guitar's really that good, then I'd personally overlook the flaws....that's just me though.

I do undertsand where you're coming from...it's an expensive instrument...you shouldn't have to deal with stuff like that.

[sunburst80]

ill definately try to life with the flaws. right now i cant say if it will keep bugging me or ill just forget and enjoy playing it,  


.it basically has everything my avri has tonally but at the same time it sounds clearer and more open, unamped that is. fantastic even without an amp..


btw, even the tuners werent correctly aligned,

[Green angel]

I'm so sorry for you!! The US dealer is dishonnest, he knows a german would hesitate to send back the guitar...

[heavenstreet]

What are you trying to say about Germans!?! 

[ugly casanova]

btw, even the tuners werent correctly aligned,

then i would definitely send it back. this seems to be some serious production error. i wouldn't accept this.

[Green angel]

What are you trying to say about Germans!?! 

I could have said English or Italian too (not french, a french can't be abused...   

[ohm-men]

Hmmm, that are indeed serious flaws....You don't see those on any CIJ's....

Altough, I had a bad lined up neck on an early MIJ JM too. I just loosened the neck screws and put the neck straight and retight the screws.
But, then again it was a guitar that I swapped for an even worser MIJ Jaguar...So...I would send it back.

[sunburst80]

btw, even the tuners werent correctly aligned,

then i would definitely send it back. this seems to be some serious production error. i wouldn't accept this.

Oh the tuner holes are 100% correct ofcourse incase you meant that,  just the alignment on the back of the neck is funky and not in line, just an optical thing.

[sunburst80]

I'm so sorry for you!! The US dealer is dishonnest, he knows a german would hesitate to send back the guitar...

Its not like he gave/chose this model for me, i chose it myself. But the pictures arent that highres so it's impossible to judge these things from them. He just said they check through all of them on arrival and make sure they're ok.
Im kinda angry at Fender or the lazy a** who worked on this guitar. I surely dont love my job but i take it very serious anyway.

[StevenO]

For the decal, do you mean you can see an outline of the decal? The decal is applied over the finish like a sticker so there is supposed to be a thing surrounding it.

Sort of like this(excuse the terrible ms paint, took me 3 seconds):

[sunburst80]

For the decal, do you mean you can see an outline of the decal? The decal is applied over the finish like a sticker so there is supposed to be a thing surrounding it.

Sort of like this(excuse the terrible ms paint, took me 3 seconds):

It has some kind of brownish fluid/dirt on or under the top outline, the bottom looks ok. My normal AVRI decal looks flawless. The decal however is my least concern, i can always get a new one through fender if this one doesnt survive too long

[StevenO]

Take pics? Of everything...

[sunburst80]

Whats really interesting: Even though the neck fit is really tight on my other AVRI and this one has maybe 0,1-0,2mm room the thin skin sustains longer and resonates more. Nice to know the fit isnt THAT important.  ;)

Will take pics tomorrow. Already got some of the nut, bridge thimbles and the tuners. Will be up soon

[the older brother]

For the decal, do you mean you can see an outline of the decal? The decal is applied over the finish like a sticker so there is supposed to be a thing surrounding it.

Sort of like this(excuse the terrible ms paint, took me 3 seconds):

Is that a '65 transit decal?