Fender Custom Shop Disappointment

[danweb22]

A few weeks ago I wanted to scratch an itch of wanting to try a Fender Custom Shop Precision. Having had a look online there was nothing local to me so went done the route of having to buy and making use of the 14 day return policy if I wasn’t happy. 
 

Good job I did as I wasn’t happy! 
 

I ordered 2, an Olympic White ‘63 Journeyman Relic and a Dakota Red ‘63 Light Relic

 

Olympic White (£3200)

 

Pros: Nice ageing of the body paint and neck, neck was lovely and worn and beautiful to play.
 

Cons: Heavy (over 9lbs) Strings misaligned over the fretboard when aligned over the pickups. Pickups were tilted towards the neck as if the foam underneath hadn’t been placed properly. Tuners were so stiff you almost needed 2 hands to turn them!

 

Dakota Red (£3500)

 

Pros: Lighter than the Olympic. Nice ageing again and tuners actually turned! 
 

Cons: Electronics were completely dead! Plugged in and nothing at all!! 
 

So did I think either of these basses were worth over £3000 each? No!

 

If I’d paid £1500 I still would of been miffed so obviously they were both returned post haste! 
 

I then managed to get one of these 

 

 

Fender Classic 50’s Lacquer (Nitro), about 12 years old so nicely aged neck, body and hardware (naturally) Neck is gorgeous and worn so silky smooth, nice low action and frets are impeccable. Pickups sound great and weighs under 9lbs. Cost? £700!

 

This one isn’t going back! 😂

[Lozz196]

That’s a beauty 

[Supernaut]

"Pickups were tilted towards the neck as if the foam underneath hadn’t been placed properly."

You do know that's done on purpose, right? 

[BlueMoon]

It just goes to show that reputation and reality can sometimes be at odds!

 

Good score on your £700 cracker!

[danweb22]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

"Pickups were tilted towards the neck as if the foam underneath hadn’t been placed properly."

You do know that's done on purpose, right? 

No I didn’t, why is it like that? I can understand the tilt side to side to allow for the radius of the fretboard but not the other way 

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by danweb22

[Reggaebass]

Can’t say I’ve ever had any precision pickups tilted that way 

[Owen]

I must admit I struggle with Custom Shop stuff when Bravewood is out there. 

[Supernaut]

4 hours ago, danweb22 said:

No I didn’t, why is it like that? I can understand the tilt side to side to allow for the radius of the fretboard but not the other way 

 

Ah, to be fair, that's tilted toward the bridge, not the neck as stated. That's not right. 

[blisters on my fingers]

Never seen pickups tilted towards the neck or the bridge, so what was your point again?

[Doctor J]

They're not supposed to lean either way.

[danweb22]

47 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

They're not supposed to lean either way.

That’s what I thought! 

[OliverBlackman]

Rather than two imitations, if I had that sort of money I’d be on the phone to Mr Baxter for the real deal.

[blisters on my fingers]

1 hour ago, Doctor J said:

They're not supposed to lean either way.

No they are not.

 

So Supernaut share your wisdom with us.

 

 

 

 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

6 hours ago, Owen said:

I must admit I struggle with Custom Shop stuff when Bravewood is out there. 

John doesn’t take commission builds though.

[Lw.]

So you bought two brand new CS's from a shop and both failed? That's pretty incredible if so and quite damning in the store. 

 

All worked out well in the end though - that black one looks great & you saved yourself a few quid! 

[uk_lefty]

That's a bit of poor QC from the shop on the setup in my view. I've only ever played one Fender CS Bass and I have to say it was...... A bit like my 90s MIM Jazz. I wasn't blown away by it at all. I didn't even like the relic work, it just looked too fake and making the back of the neck look like it had been in a bonfire did nothing for the feel of it. Overall while I think some of their CS Basses look fantastic online I'd need to spend a lot of time with one before parting with my cash. You did right buying online so you could return with no fuss 

[bigthumb]

I've never owned or even played on a custom shop bass but that made pretty grim reading considering the prices. You'd have to expect nothing less than perfection. 

I bought a Vintera Precision off eBay a few weeks back and have to say it's one of the finest Precisions I have played. Lighter than my other Pbasses. looks great with the gold scratch plate replaced with a white one. The neck and frets are perfect with a very low action which I raised quite a bit to suit my liking and it sounds killer, absolutely no need to change the pickups.

I can't fault it in any way and all for under £500!

[naxos10]

I like that Vintera bigthumb.

[Vin Venal]

21 hours ago, danweb22 said:

A few weeks ago I wanted to scratch an itch of wanting to try a Fender Custom Shop Precision. Having had a look online there was nothing local to me so went done the route of having to buy and making use of the 14 day return policy if I wasn’t happy. 
 

Good job I did as I wasn’t happy! 
 

I ordered 2, an Olympic White ‘63 Journeyman Relic and a Dakota Red ‘63 Light Relic

 

Olympic White (£3200)

 

Pros: Nice ageing of the body paint and neck, neck was lovely and worn and beautiful to play.
 

Cons: Heavy (over 9lbs) Strings misaligned over the fretboard when aligned over the pickups. Pickups were tilted towards the neck as if the foam underneath hadn’t been placed properly. Tuners were so stiff you almost needed 2 hands to turn them!

 

Dakota Red (£3500)

 

Pros: Lighter than the Olympic. Nice ageing again and tuners actually turned! 
 

Cons: Electronics were completely dead! Plugged in and nothing at all!! 
 

So did I think either of these basses were worth over £3000 each? No!

 

If I’d paid £1500 I still would of been miffed so obviously they were both returned post haste! 
 

I then managed to get one of these 

 

 

Fender Classic 50’s Lacquer (Nitro), about 12 years old so nicely aged neck, body and hardware (naturally) Neck is gorgeous and worn so silky smooth, nice low action and frets are impeccable. Pickups sound great and weighs under 9lbs. Cost? £700!

 

This one isn’t going back! 😂

The first one sounds like a setup issue, which is on the shop rather than fender imo, but yeah, if I buy an expensive bass I expect a good setup.

 

The second one is obviously a fault, which could be on Fender, but equally could have come out of the factory working perfectly and got jolted or dropped somewhere along the way leading to a dodgy connection somewhere. Either way, again the retailer bears much of the responsibility imo - they should be doing a setup which includes making sure the electrics work at least.

 

Edit: I wonder if custom shop stuff often ends up sitting in the shop for a really long time due to the massive prices, leading to setup issues, stiff tuners, dodgy electrics etc?

Edited October 9, 2022 by Vin Venal

[BigRedX]

4 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

That's a bit of poor QC from the shop on the setup in my view. I've only ever played one Fender CS Bass and I have to say it was...... A bit like my 90s MIM Jazz. I wasn't blown away by it at all. I didn't even like the relic work, it just looked too fake and making the back of the neck look like it had been in a bonfire did nothing for the feel of it. Overall while I think some of their CS Basses look fantastic online I'd need to spend a lot of time with one before parting with my cash. You did right buying online so you could return with no fuss 

 

Exactly.

 

And how hard is it to make a P-Bass? It's an instrument designed to be made originally by relatively unskilled labour using 1940s (at best) technology. The design is tried and tested, hasn't changed in over 60 years, and now the far east can churn out perfectly acceptable copies for next to nothing.

 

Given this, anything built to this design with the words "Custom Shop" in the name should be absolutely perfect in every way.

[Lozz196]

Agree, and given the quality of other brands at similar - and indeed lower - prices, it can and is being done, so there should be no excuses.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Agreed with the last three comments. No excuses for anyone involved in the supply chain in this example, but I can’t believe the non-functioning bass left the Custom Shop like that. They do have some quality control and the check that it actually makes noise is probably fairly near the top of the list. Regarding the other bass, how many other people has it been shipped to and returned? The reality is, we just don’t know.

 

I’d be interested to know what dealer the OP bought these basses through. Thomann perhaps?

 

I’ve played loads of Fender CS basses and own quite a few. The only two I’ve had issue with was a Pino Signature which had a really chunky neck that I didn’t particularly like and a Van Trigt Master Built which my brain couldn’t correlate the price tag with (£8k). It was a nice bass, but not 8 thousand pounds of nice.

[Guest]

I’ve always thought of Fender and Custom Shop in the same sentence as an oxymoron. They were always meant to be workmanlike instruments for the gigging bassist. The main reasons for the painted finishes were to attract the eye like Californian hot rods and custom cars, and to cover up the fact that they glued any old bits of wood together to make the bodies. Unless there’s a particular combo/spec they never actually made you can probably get the original for far less money.

[Bassybert]

3 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

I’ve always thought of Fender and Custom Shop in the same sentence as an oxymoron. They were always meant to be workmanlike instruments for the gigging bassist. The main reasons for the painted finishes were to attract the eye like Californian hot rods and custom cars, and to cover up the fact that they glued any old bits of wood together to make the bodies. Unless there’s a particular combo/spec they never actually made you can probably get the original for far less money.

 

This. 

[Vin Venal]

Yeah if I was buying a new Fender, and wanted that custom shop vibe, I'd be looking at the American Originals with the nitro finish - the relicking surely isn't worth £1500 on top?