Fender is a frustrating company

JTEX said:
Can any of y'all actually play?
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No sir, I cannot.

I can PAY, though, sort of...
... not really. Money's tight. However... SOME things are worth eating porridge for three months straight, though.
Unlined fretless... I could probably stretch that three months to six.


JTEX said:
It's not Fender's fault, it's ours. Fender tried many times to put out more modern guitars and they didn't sell well. Remember Heartfield? They absolutely rocked, but didn't sell well. I bet Fender are also frustrated and feeling trapped in the past.

I mean, just as one example, isn't everybody tired by now of the dang saddle set screws sticking out and digging holes in their palm? But no, the more vintage and shittier the bridge, the better it sells. And don't get me started about old school Tele bridges and saddles.
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As for Fender head-honchos feeling trapped in the past... well, they're doing their best to CAPITALISE on it.

Ever try to find a vintage '57 Mary Kay or a '66 Jaguar? Or ANY vintage Fender? GOOD LUCK!

NO, you get flooded with all the bullshit "'61 American Standard Series Fender Stratocaster" or "'52 Broadcaster Limited Edition Custom Shop Bedroom Relic Fender" — there must be 1,000 Fender instruments named for a particular year that makes it impossible to successfully sift, sort, and shop through the white-noise of number-nomenclature model-year-moniker modern-made instruments for a genuine MADE-IN-1966 Fender Jazz Bass — or whatever year of vintage Fender instrument you're looking for.

Ever try to get a neck plate that's the correct size for a given Fender instrument?

Able to discern the differences in the hierarchy of Fender's series-soubriquets?
Which one is better? Can't go buy by price alone!​

~~~~~~~~~~

FENDER — STOP THE INSANE NAMING MODERN INSTRUMENTS BY YEARS BYGONE...
oh wait, never mind, you've been doing it for years and the damage is already done-done.
 
JTEX said:
It's not Fender's fault, it's ours. Fender tried many times to put out more modern guitars and they didn't sell well. Remember Heartfield? They absolutely rocked, but didn't sell well. I bet Fender are also frustrated and feeling trapped in the past.

I mean, just as one example, isn't everybody tired by now of the dang saddle set screws sticking out and digging holes in their palm? But no, the more vintage and shittier the bridge, the better it sells. And don't get me started about old school Tele bridges and saddles.
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I had to work on a friend's 90s MIA Tele. 9.5" radius, med jumbo frets, 6 block saddles. Makes me wanna puke just thinking about it. Worst sounding Tele I ever heard. Luckily he had me install a DiMarzio chopper in the bridge so it tamed the harshness. Still, awful :)

I'm a vintage spec fiend. Anything modern just doesn't look right and I hate that players want vintage looks with modern appointments because then Fender makes hybrids and for us diehard vintage buffs who'll only play period correct guitars there's almost none left.
 
I really like the vintage hardware on Fenders! Vintage style tuners make so much more sense than the Schallers so many newer style Fenders come with. Cut the string to length, poke the string down to hole and wind. No string end to poke you. Brilliant!

I confess I don't like brass Tele saddles. The strings slide around on them. I like the steel saddles with the groove for each string. They sound good too. You can easily set them up so that the screws don't poke out enough to scratch your hand. Same with vintage style Strat bridges. Either by adjusting the neck angle with a shim or using shorter screws you don't have to put up with anything bad.

Modern Strat bridges suck some of the tone. And my main issue with them is the angle of the whammy bar. They come out at 90 degrees which puts them at a weird angle to your hand. Vintage style trem bridges put the hole for the bar at just the right angle so that the bar is in a great place for your hand. And you can wind it back to over the jack plate to put away in the case. They also wind down lower into the bridge block to make them super comfy to use. The modern bridges are clunky and uncomfortable to whammy on.

The only thing I don't like about "reissue" Fenders is the 7.25" radius and tiny frets. The Eric Johnson maple neck Strat is almost the perfect Strat for me. Great neck with 12" radius, lightweight alder body, good pickups, all vintage bits... except that the med-jumbo frets are dressed so low they may as well be bloody vintage frets! Really hard to bend strings on!

Oh well... A few years ago I lucked onto a used CS Strat in '64 guise. It's a "Journeyman" which means it is mostly vintage style but has a 9.5" radius and tall skinny frets. I can play it! It also has staggered tuners and no string tree and stays in tune incredibly well. I put Kinman Woodstock pickups in it and they work for what I do. I bought the guitar from the USA before orange people made it impossibly expensive through increased shipping costs and whatever else to increase the price beyond my reach. The prices have more than doubled once you take shipping into account.

But still, I walk into my local guitar store stocked to the rafters with all the latest Fenders and there is not one of them I would want to buy.
 
I thought Journeyman was just a finish option from the CS, not a set of specs.

BTW I checked Musikraft and they have increased their prices and now shipping a neck to Europe costs $136. So $635 plus 25% when it enters the EU. I guess I will never be able to afford the bass neck of my dreams.

I will never understand why no companies like that (and like Tayda) exist in Europe. The market is there now more than ever.
 
Journeyman is a set of specs for sure! It usually means either a 9.5" radius or sometimes a compound radius, sometimes with staggered tuners and sometimes not, sometimes with the contoured heel, sometimes not... And usually with hotter pickups. Mine came with some very nice Josefinas which I have given to a friend who loves them.

Dave's Guitars usually stocks plenty of CS Strats and Teles with a 9.5" radius and med-jumbo frets but I can't afford to go there and buy one!
 
Ale_jellybelly said:
I just wanted to point out that I'm not bragging, I'm only a shit guitar player
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I hear ya. I think it can ‘feel’ offensive, but really, for some people it doesn’t matter. I’m one of those- I’m happy playing on any piece of shit. I’ll play a tree trunk with strings on it.

It’s only offensive if you say or imply that you are superior because the neck dimensions are irrelevant to you. That’s like saying you are better because you can play both left and right handed… it doesn’t really matter. It’s just a spec that’s not on your radar.
 
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