52 RI shenanigans @GC ????

[bgwatts]

:? I was recently out helping some friends buy xmas guitars for teenagers .While taking a break from the 150.00-250.00 varieties, I picked up a 52RI. Now,I can't realy make use of the fat necks ,still they look and sound great,and I always check ,just in case I've magically adjusted to the big neck in my sleep But this time the guitar played like crap,sounded worse and the controls felt cheesy!(rough pots lightweight knobs)1800 retail on sale for 1200!Now before I go acuusing a major retail outlet of fraud and get sued,How many versions of this guitar are out there at that price point?This one appeared to be american made,judging by the lack of a made in somplace else decal.(actually they hade two 52 RI's and they were both identical)Could they be parting out the elctronics to the grey market and selling the wood and hardware for 1200.?
Tell me what you think.Maybe I'm just not as guitar savy as I thought I was .........Or maybe I'm just not as savy to the ways of the world as I thought I was.

[lenny]

sounds to me like you played a regular 52 ri. they all "discount" them down to around that price from the list price.

[BB]

Well bgwatts, I don't know whats going on with 52 RI's at GC either, but every one I've tried ( about 5-6 ) at two different stores, all fall into the catagory you describe. From what I had heard, I was expecting the holy grail of teles. I was very unimpressed. The necks on the ones I played sure didn't seem big...I thought they were rather slim myself. Of course, that could just be my huge mitts! Now, I don't want to upset anyone who owns and loves their 52 RI's. From all the good things I've heard, I'm sure they are great guitars. I would just like to play one other than the GC offerings and see what it's all about.

[Raymond]

BG, I posted recently that I'm very disappointed at the quality of Fender lately. The best example is the 52 RI's. All the ones I've tried have been way below expectations. The finish of the body and the neck are amateurish, at best, and the electronics don't impress me at all. So I'd say it isn't you… They're American made and retail for around $1200 new, so they aren't offering anything special.

Let me tell you this. With folks like Rob Di Stefano putting together top-notch Teles for around $800, there's no way in hell I'd expend over a grand in one of those things.

[spyeman]

I dabble in 52 RI's, my main gigging axe. It seems that among USA 52 RI's, there is a HUGE spectrum of quality out there. My main axe is a 1999, and it is unbelievable in construction quality, tone, pickups, appearance - I continue to search for a matching one. Have found close, but not as good. Many of the more recent USA 52's have a horrible feel to them, they hardly ring out when played accousticaly, the necks feel "dead", perhaps due to the newer "nitro" finish which I understand is really poly with a thin coat of nitro over it. Point is, there are 52's out there that are just outstanding machines, and you have to hunt and peck to find them. I recently bought a 2002 CIJ re-issue, a made for Japan model with Texas Specials, sold it because I didn't like the neck profile, but it was about $500 less than the current USA's and nicer than what's hanging in GC. I have had really good luck on Ebay, can get a mint older 52 for $900-$1,000, and if there is some belt rash or nicks, it might go for $100 less or so. If you find "the one", like I fortunately have, you will guard that sucka wit your life - it's worth it!!!!

[el_extranjero]

I bought one last year that was gorgeous! Played and sounded fantastic. My wife made me take it back :( I've played several since and they mostly suck. Looks like I lost the 'good one'! I'm settled on rolling my own now.

[spyeman]

One of my best tele's is a 52 RI Mexican "Classic" series. Has a beautiful nitro neck, switched the pups for Rio Grande Muy Grande's, put on brass saddles - Awesome! I do note that the frets are wearing down much faster than typical - a great neck but with cheap metal perhaps. What a difference those pickups made!

[el_extranjero]

Originally Posted by spyeman

One of my best tele's is a 52 RI Mexican "Classic" series. Has a beautiful nitro neck, switched the pups for Rio Grande Muy Grande's, put on brass saddles - Awesome! I do note that the frets are wearing down much faster than typical - a great neck but with cheap metal perhaps. What a difference those pickups made!

I've heard good things about the MIM 50's serious guitars. But your point is well taken; it either grabs you or it don't! I just bought a Nashville that had a couple of dings in it from GC for $300 (out the door). I could have bought a 'mint' one on ebay for 350 (plus s&h) but I played this one and it felt and sounded good

I think that it is too common though to find quality discrepancies. Still, the quality today (see Fuzzy's recent post on "Why are we so lucky?") is WAY better than it was way back in the old days!

[Mark Davis]

The problem is GC gets all the worst Fender stock.

All the Fenders other stores send back for finish flaws bad pots poor workmanship get sent to GC they dont care anything about the product and just sell them like cookies.

The 52ri is a good guitar its overpriced but still a good guitar just dont buy one from GC or any large chain store your just hurting yourself in the long run.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

The problem is GC gets all the worst Fender stock.
[snip]

Mark, you always say this, but what evidence do you have that this is the case?

[Mark Davis]

I talk with 3 different Fender dealers once a week. One of my friends works at the GC here in Bakersfield. Musicians Friend and GC being the same company dump all their B grade stock at GC. MF also has blemish scratch and dent sales but GC just sells the same dented guitars as new.

[Raymond]

I have no evidence Kev, but please read what I posted here LINK

Now, as good troubleshooting engineer, and a fan of CSI, I can't conclude the GC gets the worst stock. I can only conclude , however, that the Fender guitars tested at the GC located in route 29 in Fairfax VA were all terrible. All of them: MIA's, MIM's, Squires, and 52 RI's. I'm so glad we put the orange-caster together...

[Captain Simian]

I don't think that GC gets the worst Fenders per se, I think it's because no one at GC knows how to do a simple setup. There's a '52 re-issue at the GC where I live and it's not very playable (fretting out, not intonated, etc.). When I mentioned this to one of the guys in the shop, he said something to the effect of, "Setups are the customer's responsibility." Now the other Fender dealer in town, Grandma's, also have a '52 re-issue and that one plays like a dream. Grandma's will not put out a guitar unless it is playable. They have at least 2 guys there who know how to work on a guitar. GC needs to train their staff better and teach them some basic guitar maintainence instead of 64th note mixolydian arpeggios tuned down to C#.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Captain Simian

GC needs to train their staff better and teach them some basic guitar maintainence instead of 64th note mixolydian arpeggios tuned down to C#.

GC has no motivation to do it since they probably sell the guitar cheaper than "Grandma's" since they move more volume and no resources are put into setting up the guitars. It's just their business model; it's neither bad or wrong. I work in the guitars myself so I take advantage of their lower prices. I'd recommend to anyone going to "Mom and pops" and expend the extra money if they need a more personal service. To me, shopping at GC is like shopping at Walmart.

[Captain Simian]

Originally Posted by Raymond

GC has no motivation to do it since they probably sell the guitar cheaper than "Grandma's" ...

The 52's are the exact same price at both places, $1249.99.

[Sarge]

Ordered one from my local Fender store in 2000, it came in 3 months later and I was very dissapointed, sure it LOOKED great but no soul. I put an ad in my local paper and a guy came over played it, loved it, go figure.

[stantheman]

I gotta go with what Mark Davis is saying.
The only Guitars that G.C. has had in recent years that
were not all SCREWED UP have been up-scale Martins
and Gibson "Historics". I've worked in Music Retail before
and I'm sure I will again and there is a significant difference in "off the rack" quality in regards to GC and the rest of the Retail World.
GC is decent when it comes to USED Fender "mid-line"
instruments, MIM's, CIJ's mainly because someone got
them reasonably "sea worthy" before they were traded in. The Store is much,much worse TODAY than even 5 years ago. When Mars went under they must have figured "hey we're the only game in town now".....
is this a pre-curser to what's gonna happen to us all
when WallyWorld takes over The Universe .

[GilmourD]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Mark, you always say this, but what evidence do you have that this is the case?

I don't necessarilly believe that, either... I work as the buyer for a high volume Fender dealer and the ONLY guitars that I had to send back to them (since all vendor returns go through me) were a Jazz Bass that FedEx messed up (they graciously took it back even though it wasn't their fault) and a Squier Affinity that somehow had the bridge routes in the wrong spot (somebody must've sat on the controls of the CNC router that day). I've got about 15 American Fenders in stock at the moment (about 80% of our Fender business is MIM and Squier) including one of those '52RI's with the spruce top, and they all pass my tests of pickiness. It's nice working for a store, cuz I could clock out after I'm done for the day, plop my butt down on a stool, and play with whatever I want. :)

My point is... If GC's getting all the rejects, where are the rejects coming from? Not from my store. I'm the first to complain about stuff with a high reject rate, and there are a couple brands that I basically told my boss I wanted to drop cuz we never got good gear from them even though I complained to the manufacturer. I pride myself on keeping my store stocked with only the best brands because good product at good prices equals a good customer base. I've been a customer for so long, I do my best to act like a customer that suddenly got handed a position of power on the other side of the counter.

[Mark Davis]

One of the dealers I talk with sends back about 3 out of every 10 Fenders he gets. He sends them back for finish flaws, poor neck pocket fit, improper bridge placement making it impossible to intonate. Fender doesnt burn these guitars or fix them they just send them to the less critical dealers like GC and MF.

[GilmourD]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

One of the dealers I talk with sends back about 3 out of every 10 Fenders he gets. He sends them back for finish flaws, poor neck pocket fit, improper bridge placement making it impossible to intonate. Fender doesnt burn these guitars or fix them they just send them to the less critical dealers like GC and MF.

Well, if these guitars are going to "smaller" dealers first, getting sent back to Fender, and then Fender's sending them out to GCs, how come my store has seen only ONE guitar remotely like that in the three years that I've been with the company and ONE guitar they took back because FedEx hit the box with a forklift (you should've seen this box!). I was on the sales floor with this store for two years and a month, and now I'm the buyer, but in my time on the sales floor, I played almost every Fender that came through our doors. I had to adjust a lot of truss rods, and their packaging leaves white marks on the finish that can be scraped off with the tip of your finger, but nothing has come through the doors that I said "This is going back!" 'cept for that ONE black Squier Affinity Strat that came in a Strat Pak, and over the past three years, we've sold about 500-600 of those. Any other problems with Fender happen on our sales floor because some parents simply don't know how to control small children that like to yank guitars off the wall or see if they function as a pendulum.