Ibanez owner defects to Fender

[chris101uk]

I've been an Ibanez player since 1989, only had one Fender during that time until I got fed up with my same old tone and decided to try a brand new "American Professional II" in Miami Blue from Andertons in the UK.

Setup out of the box wasn't brilliant but not a mile off, plays well enough now, but having just gone over it to check for cosmetic issues I noticed something that surprised me, it doesn't have any neck pocket cracks, but it does have some rather poor touch up paint in that area, both sides in fact - its as though the paint had chipped at the factory and its been patched up - its only small and not a deal breaker, but I'm now wondering if this is typical of these guitars, is it just a by-product of the manufacturing process? Never seen it on my Ibanez guitars (which have plenty of other issues btw!). Hard to photograph but I can see where the paint has run between the body and the neck heel and stuck the 2 together lol.

 

[Cheap Trills]

I feel like most people are defecting the other way. Probably for the reasons you post about this guitar here. I haven't tried these new AZ models everyone's talking about, but for the money I'd still go Fender. Headstock shape matters and Ibanez just doesn't seem to get it..

 

[Killing Floor]

It’s a great color. Rock it.

 

[awasson]

I've been an Ibanez player since 1989, only had one Fender during that time until I got fed up with my same old tone and decided to try a brand new "American Professional II" in Miami Blue from Andertons in the UK.

Setup out of the box wasn't brilliant but not a mile off, plays well enough now, but having just gone over it to check for cosmetic issues I noticed something that surprised me, it doesn't have any neck pocket cracks, but it does have some rather poor touch up paint in that area, both sides in fact - its as though the paint had chipped at the factory and its been patched up - its only small and not a deal breaker, but I'm now wondering if this is typical of these guitars, is it just a by-product of the manufacturing process? Never seen it on my Ibanez guitars (which have plenty of other issues btw!). Hard to photograph but I can see where the paint has run between the body and the neck heel and stuck the 2 together lol.

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That‘s an awesome colour! I like that a lot!


I’m an Ibanez/Fender guy too. I’ve got 3 Strats and a couple of my own DIY telecasters. I had the Ibanez’s first though. Bought the first one 40 years ago. I tend to play the telecasters and Strats pretty much daily but I’ll keep the Ibanez’s until my last breaths. Mine are early 80’s Artists and they do have a lot of great tones. They don’t do a strat or a Telecaster though

So that touch up is odd. In my experience, Fender doesn’t touch up. They send it to B-stock and then their dealers blow out the B-stock guitars with slight blemishes at a discount. I’m not sure if I would be fussed about that on my new guitar but I might. I’d mention it to the dealer though because I’m pretty certain it didn’t leave Fender like that.

 

[FortyEight]

Looks like when they installed the neck a small amount of paint chipped off. I've not spent that kind of money on a guitar. But if all else was good about it, I doubt I'd care. To me the main thing about a guitar is do I like how it feels when I play it, and do I like how it sounds. Everything else is secondary. And that is a pretty small detail.

 

[teletimetx]

Defect is almost microscopic, though clearly present. However it is purely cosmetic and won’t impact anything played on guitar. At that price point, any defect is irritating, IMO, however tiny it may be.

My analysis here is completely free from experience of any kind with Anderton’s, so grain of salt…

Three basic pathways:
1. Enjoy guitar as is. In the overall scheme of things, not a cosmic threat.

2. Anderton’s do claim a high level of customer service, etc. on their website.

It’s possible they were unaware of the defect or would so claim now - but you won’t know their position unless you contact them. Perhaps you would accept a partial refund? You have to think it’s worth your time. Maybe there is a flaw in Anderton’s process and maybe they would like to correct? You have to communicate with them to find out.

3. Return this guitar for a flaw free version. Don’t know what their return policy is, but clearly this is not shipping damage; in general, the cost & risk for exchange should be all theirs- but a minor PITA for you. You did keep the box & shipping materials, yeah?

 

[chris101uk]

Apologies for late reply, I must have had notifications turned off.

Thanks for the replies.

Well the guitar went back for exchange, in fact I paid extra to get the Ultra model, another minor hiccup was that this (brand new, supposedly) replacement arrived yesterday with a very noticeable dent in the 1st fret! However, in the few minutes I had it in my hands before being boxed back up I came to realise that the neck pickup on the Ultra sounds amazing, cant wait to get one that doesn't have any cosmetic issues, maybe next week I'll be 3rd time lucky....

 

[Fenderdad1950]

Wait till Ibanez finds out, it will be off to the town square with you, to be shackled in yard arms and then flogged vigorously

 

[GGardner]

Wow. I’ve never heard of a factory paint “touch up” on a brand new Fender. Is that a new QA practice?