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Fender Fools Gold Jazz

Duroc17

By Duroc17,
in Bass Guitars

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shoulderpet Mentor

shoulderpet

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, miles'tone said:

Fender Mexico:

 

Wtf is this? It's not even a proper Jazz. Sod it, the trainee kids can have a pop at it..

Wow, wtf, how long before Fender renames the American basses as the premium range or similar and prices them at 3k and prices the MIMs at 2k ? I wouldn't be surprised if it happened

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Kev Grand Master

Kev

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, shoulderpet said:

Wow, wtf, how long before Fender renames the American basses as the premium range or similar and prices them at 3k and prices the MIMs at 2k ? I wouldn't be surprised if it happened

Musicman basically did that, I'd still say Musicman basses are of a higher standard than Fender but still, can see it going that way.

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40hz Mentor

40hz

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

Performer series are £1.3k

 

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-American-Performer-Jazz-Bass-RW-Arctic-White/2RA0?origin=product-ads&gclid=Cj0KCQiA54KfBhCKARIsAJzSrdq9e-EborJOds7z8gcOw__PMENHtGhdzwn8Wwz0xeryob2wX9oTbUkaAuyuEALw_wcB

https://www.andertons.co.uk/fender-american-performer-jazz-bass-rw-3tsb?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gclid=Cj0KCQiA54KfBhCKARIsAJzSrdphVxVW6nhts4WNaQWSufaD3xqhTZRMEzvFvhDPmNn2-RH7bMjR968aAgOMEALw_wcB

These were a smidge under £1000 less than 2 years ago. That's quite a hike.

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TheLowDown Mentor

TheLowDown

Posted
Posted (edited)

Apart from custom made, I would doubt that there is any better QC on £2000 compared to £200. I think people naturally assume that the more expensive, the better the QC and the more the human touch. We like to believe that if we pay more, then it has better quality. With CNCs and the shift in manufacturing centres to the East, I don't think that philosophy applies any more, but companies still need ways to differentiate their products to be able to charge more for different ranges.

 

In the past it was always China that was saddled with making the lower end(hence the previously bad rep of "made in China"), but that is no longer the case. As Kev above quite rightly says, the quality of the product is dependent upon what the big company pays - if they pay for a top product, then they get a top quality product. 

 

Because of the shift in manufacturing centres and expertise and large scale automation, I would far rather have a bass made in Indonesia or China than the USA or Europe, both for quality and value. 

Edited by TheLowDown
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bubinga5 Grand Master

bubinga5

Posted
Posted

Its the old lets make the exact same body shape cookie but put something slightly different into the cookie cutter mix Fender, made by low paid workers. But release it and make it really badly with no QC.. Blah Blah. That is Fender in a nutshell. Ive played some really nice Fenders but they are more miss than hit.

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drTStingray Mentor

drTStingray

Posted
Posted

Surely the biggest problem with these basses is the alignment of the E string over the pick up. It appears to be much quieter than the other strings as a result - so is the pick up rout wrong or the pick up not wide enough in the first place? I also noticed that Billy Thakidd virtually played no notes on the E string in his review, but when he did they were significantly quieter. 
 

I would have thought, as did Lobster, that that’s a fundamental issue on a bass guitar. 
 

Regarding the £ = $ situation, at least there’s a real excuse - since the value of one £ got ever closer to the value of one $ since B**x** there’s a bigger excuse for the value of instruments priced in the two currencies to be closer together or the same when you consider taxes and increased shipping costs. There didn’t used to be, however. 
 

The only people who seem to have profited from this situation seem to have been financial traders (some of which appear to be politicians!!!). 

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Woodinblack Grand Master

Woodinblack

Posted
Posted
On 05/02/2023 at 17:08, Duroc17 said:

I know the exchange rate isn’t great but $1299 is £1087ish Fender have been doing this in UK for a few years now seeing same £ and $ price which is another rip off unless it’s Brexit related import duty 

 

No, $1299 is £1,083.47 + Vat = £1300 - you are actually saving a quid.

 

Its a very good review video though, very comprehensive.

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bartelby Grand Master

bartelby

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, MungoBass said:

I have just been on Thomann’s site and if you search Fender basses in order of most popular, guess which bass is top?

 

 

Yep….the gold foil!
 

Not sure what that tells us! 🤣

 

But is that Sales popularity or just link clicks and searches popularity?

 

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DTB Community Regular

DTB

Posted
Posted

I am assuming that these are made in Mexico?

when I was able I did a fair bit of motorcycle touring although I never ventured as far as Mexico I have seen areas in Spain and Portugal where the local towns are like a time warp. The residents are dressed in extremely faded old clothes, they have virtually nothing, the houses are extremely basic, built on dirt roads with dust all the time and they live on bread and tomatoes and other basic stuff they can cultivate themselves. They live with the oppressive heat most of the year and are always hiding from the sun. It is an existence that most of us never see or appreciate, I can imagine Mexico being very similar and then there’s the Fender Factory stuck there making the most of the cheap workforce. 
I might be wrong of course, but that’s how i see it. 
 

 

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40hz Mentor

40hz

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, DTB said:

I am assuming that these are made in Mexico?

when I was able I did a fair bit of motorcycle touring although I never ventured as far as Mexico I have seen areas in Spain and Portugal where the local towns are like a time warp. The residents are dressed in extremely faded old clothes, they have virtually nothing, the houses are extremely basic, built on dirt roads with dust all the time and they live on bread and tomatoes and other basic stuff they can cultivate themselves. They live with the oppressive heat most of the year and are always hiding from the sun. It is an existence that most of us never see or appreciate, I can imagine Mexico being very similar and then there’s the Fender Factory stuck there making the most of the cheap workforce. 
I might be wrong of course, but that’s how i see it. 
 

 

Not sure how all of this affects the CNC machines they use in the Fender factory in Mexico, as they use the same ones in the USA, China, Indonesia and Japan. Where people are from would make little to no difference to the end product given the high level of machine automation in a Fender product.

 

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Woodinblack Grand Master

Woodinblack

Posted
Posted
30 minutes ago, DTB said:

I might be wrong of course, but that’s how i see it.

 

Due to the power of computer magic, go to google maps, search for Ensenada, Mexico, click any place and go to street view, you can wander around and have a look.

I have seen worse places in mexico (I have seen worse places in California!), but I wouldn't like to be there.

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DTB Community Regular

DTB

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, 40hz said:

Not sure how all of this affects the CNC machines they use in the Fender factory in Mexico, as they use the same ones in the USA, China, Indonesia and Japan. Where people are from would make little to no difference to the end product given the high level of machine automation in a Fender product.

 

Is the quality control automated or is it done by a human?

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Quilly Experienced

Quilly

Posted
Posted
On 05/02/2023 at 16:28, White Cloud said:

I've seen the exact same issues as Lobsters on a Mexican Geddy Lee before. Fender QC strikes again. Bizarre: These instruments are agricultural and straightforward to build after all.

Dave in Dave’s World had to realign a bridge on a Mex Geddy Lee I recall so it looks like bad QC alright 

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Quilly Experienced

Quilly

Posted
Posted
57 minutes ago, DTB said:

I am assuming that these are made in Mexico?

when I was able I did a fair bit of motorcycle touring although I never ventured as far as Mexico I have seen areas in Spain and Portugal where the local towns are like a time warp. The residents are dressed in extremely faded old clothes, they have virtually nothing, the houses are extremely basic, built on dirt roads with dust all the time and they live on bread and tomatoes and other basic stuff they can cultivate themselves. They live with the oppressive heat most of the year and are always hiding from the sun. It is an existence that most of us never see or appreciate, I can imagine Mexico being very similar and then there’s the Fender Factory stuck there making the most of the cheap workforce. 
I might be wrong of course, but that’s how i see it. 
 

 

I’ve a MIM player precision bass and everything is perfect on it, I had a MIM jazz years ago and while the components weren’t great the workmanship was flawless. I don’t think shoddy workmanship is omnipresent on fenders Mex instrument. Remember Mexico has a proud history of making guitars. The issue with the gold foil is caused by inconsistent quality assurance. I think the quality of the components is good , just put together badly .

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40hz Mentor

40hz

Posted
Posted (edited)
19 minutes ago, DTB said:

Is the quality control automated or is it done by a human?

The basic finishing and set up will be human. The rest of the construction process, automated.

 

Let's not ignore the fact the Mexican factory has pumped out some stonkingly good quality basses and guitars for the best part of a decade now. So, imo, specifically being from Mexico has very little do with this.

Edited by 40hz
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