I get that, I thought the AmPro was hers.I would also recommend looking at a good used guitar shop if you can find one. I was in one the other day with cool guitars over a range of prices and excellent setups etc. on every one I touched.
Not to get too off topic here, but could you point me to some examples of those? I've pretty much stopped thinking about non ss fretted guitars after upgrading one and making two partscasters with made-to-order necks. So I'm curious what these are?
I gather the "upgrade" is that it would be hers.
Is a bad fret job to be expected on the Player range?
- Thread starter scubadoo
- Start date
Leofender55
TDPRI Member
You could gift her your Tele and go buy yourself another one. I just bought an American Pro II Tele and it is one of my favorite guitars out of the ones I've owned over 40 years of playing. If it is something she is already comfortable with she will want to continue playing and learning.
Jim85IROC
Tele-Meister
It worked out to my advantage in a big way. I had a Firefly FF338 (their 335 clone) listed on Marketplace for about $220 or so, back when they were selling new for $130. I'd been successfully flipping those for profit after going through them with large amounts of turd polish to address their issues. In addition to fixing cosmetic issues, I would round the fret ends, polish the frets and give the guitars a good setup. Anyway, I get a trade offer for a Player's HSS Strat. I wasn't sure if the guy was trying to scam me or if he was serious, but I bit and drove to him an hour away (no car, lives with Mom, etc). I was nervous that I was going to get robbed when I walked into his house. Anyway, there's the Strat. As soon as I grabbed the neck I knew why he wanted to get rid of it.
He tried the firefly and his eyes lit up. He commented multiple times how well it played. We made an even trade and both walked away happy. I fixed the frets on the Strat and liked it so much that I wound up keeping it instead of reselling it.
The Player Series started in 2018.
dukewellington
Tele-Meister
Thank for that — Shop was wrong, then. Frankly I’m happy with the brass saddles and block in the bridge, and quiet coil pickups the previous owner put in it. Wondering what the bones are now! Stay tuned
dukewellington
Tele-Meister
Fender engine says 2019 Player. So ten bucks says I misread the handwriting on the tag “2019” as “2014.” Thank you for clearing that up.
Attachments
dukewellington
Tele-Meister
Saddles are stainless from Highwood, not brass. Either way, easily adjustable and low profile. I like that.
AquariumRock
Tele-Meister
I got a PS telecaster from CME about a year ago. It was my first experience with the PS and I was floored by how crummy the neck was. Especially the fretwork.
Eventually returned it, I had a bad taste in my mouth. This was right after the price hike, and seeing the $890 charge on my bank statement irritated me when I was playing the PS less than the guitar I had replaced it with.
I bought a cheap CV to use in the interim while I hunted for a permanent guitar. I’m not a huge booster of the CV line, I thin’ they get well overrated, but even considering an equal price, I’d rather play the CV than the PS. The CV feels like a cheapish guitar with a well attended neck. The PS felt like a guitar made of expensive parts.
I wouldn’t pay CV prices for the PS, honestly. What they charge is flat out robbery.
Eventually returned it, I had a bad taste in my mouth. This was right after the price hike, and seeing the $890 charge on my bank statement irritated me when I was playing the PS less than the guitar I had replaced it with.
I bought a cheap CV to use in the interim while I hunted for a permanent guitar. I’m not a huge booster of the CV line, I thin’ they get well overrated, but even considering an equal price, I’d rather play the CV than the PS. The CV feels like a cheapish guitar with a well attended neck. The PS felt like a guitar made of expensive parts.
I wouldn’t pay CV prices for the PS, honestly. What they charge is flat out robbery.
Trenchant63
Tele-Meister
I love my G&L ASAT Tribute made in Indonesia. I’m still blown away at the guitar quality in that price range. No fret work needed and smooth fret ends. No buzz at all on standard action setting. Also - great intonation from proper nut slot cut depths. Very highly recommended!!!
Agree. And the US made models don’t hold their value. I think my s-type was under $800 and was barely used but was 10 years old.
GratefulDean
TDPRI Member
I have both a Player Strat and a Tele. The frets on each were not bad. Ends needed some dressing and a shine on the top, but both were totally playable. I also have an SE245, these frets were perfect.
I would suggest the PRS for rock and metal but I prefer Strat/Tele necks. If she goes for Tele, pick up a clean boost and something like the OCD to get that gain.
I would suggest the PRS for rock and metal but I prefer Strat/Tele necks. If she goes for Tele, pick up a clean boost and something like the OCD to get that gain.
TX_Slinger
Tele-Holic
Bought a $1700 USA signature model strat a few years back that had crappy fretwork. Sold it and got a Mexican strat that had better fit and finish overall. Never went back to Fender. Schecter imported PT models around the same price as Players and they have excellent fretwork and offer some things like contoured neck heels, colors and body/arm carves (some models) that Fender doesn't. Their import pickups are made by G&B, same maker as PRS imports. Just a thought.
The frets should be low down on the 'worry' list. Just had a family member receive a brand-new Player Tele as a gift, and the guitar came from the factory with a nut from a left-handed guitar installed!
That's right...it got strung-up, was inspected for quality control by the factory, and hung up on the wall at a store with a backwards nut! The low E was obviously not even close to being in the nut slot lol. Before he handed me the guitar, he said "I've noticed it doesn't stay in tune very well"....I picked up his guitar and immediately noticed the nut and said "Well, look at this. That would be the problem." It's in for a warranty repair now....but seriously....damn, that is one embarrassing mistake. The guitar looked aces, other than that!
That's right...it got strung-up, was inspected for quality control by the factory, and hung up on the wall at a store with a backwards nut! The low E was obviously not even close to being in the nut slot lol. Before he handed me the guitar, he said "I've noticed it doesn't stay in tune very well"....I picked up his guitar and immediately noticed the nut and said "Well, look at this. That would be the problem." It's in for a warranty repair now....but seriously....damn, that is one embarrassing mistake. The guitar looked aces, other than that!
scubadoo
Tele-Afflicted
Blimey, that's a shocker! And presumably suggests they don't fine tune the nut slots or they would have noticed.
scubadoo
Tele-Afflicted
Is the jump to the Player Plus a worthwhile one? The Performer is getting out of budget but I have seen a food good deals secondhand.
Brent Hutto
Tele-Afflicted
I played several Telecaster options side by side at the local dealer. Several of the Players, one Player Plus and one Performer.
I did not get along well at all with the 12" radius and rolled edge of the fretboard on the Player Plus. Not sure whether there was any difference in the neck carve as well, kind of felt like it but that may have just been the radius and edge treatment messing me up.
My conclusion was if you really feel like the Player is a perfect fit, you probably won't like the Player Plus and vice versa. I think they'd appeal to different people.
I also thought the Noiseless pickups seemed to need different EQ settings or something compared to the normal Alnico single coils.
The Performer felt pretty nice to me, it seemed like a good fit. I didn't like the 3-saddle deal (I pretty much only want six individually adjusted saddles) and there was something sounded weird about that Greasebucket tone control, like it was rolling off the tone too quickly. But physically I liked the Performer.
I truly do not believe that any of the above will to a major extent help or hurt your chances of finding good fretwork on a guitar hanging on the wall of a store. I think you can find $849 Player models with perfectly fine frets and you can $1,400 (or $1,600, whatever they are) Performers with fret "issues". It's all down to who was QC'ing that guitar the day it left the factory and who if anyone at your local dealer inspected and if necessary corrected fret problems.
ABetterTelePlayer
Tele-Meister
The fretwork on my Player Jazzmaster that I got for Christmas is pretty amazing. Can't really say anything bad about it!
So you say, you basically scammed the guy and are bragging about it? I'm not sure its coolIt worked out to my advantage in a big way. I had a Firefly FF338 (their 335 clone) listed on Marketplace for about $220 or so, back when they were selling new for $130. I'd been successfully flipping those for profit after going through them with large amounts of turd polish to address their issues. In addition to fixing cosmetic issues, I would round the fret ends, polish the frets and give the guitars a good setup. Anyway, I get a trade offer for a Player's HSS Strat. I wasn't sure if the guy was trying to scam me or if he was serious, but I bit and drove to him an hour away (no car, lives with Mom, etc). I was nervous that I was going to get robbed when I walked into his house. Anyway, there's the Strat. As soon as I grabbed the neck I knew why he wanted to get rid of it.
No.
I’ve played at least 6 of them.
All fine.
That being said, I’m in the tiny UK with a pretty consistent climate.
The North American continent is vast and varied.
Oddly enough though, I’ve seen some awful and totally unacceptable fretwork on USA models that couldn’t of possibly happened as a result of climate tbf.
(Twisted frets and frets not placed squarely).
I’ve played at least 6 of them.
All fine.
That being said, I’m in the tiny UK with a pretty consistent climate.
The North American continent is vast and varied.
Oddly enough though, I’ve seen some awful and totally unacceptable fretwork on USA models that couldn’t of possibly happened as a result of climate tbf.
(Twisted frets and frets not placed squarely).
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Brent Hutto
Tele-Afflicted
Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure Fender set up their "made in Mexico" factory and manufacturing process almost identically to their "made in USA" facility. If so, it stands to reason that an assembly and Q/C process that lets an occasional awful fret job out the door at one factory is going to do the same at another.
Beyond that, I thought I read here once that the Mexico factory makes the necks for both "made in Mexico" and "made in USA" models. Not sure if that's just the CNC process or it includes fretting.
All I know is, something like fretwork on a mass produced guitar is a classic case where the rate of defects is determined by the degree of quality assurance designed into the entire process from the first manufacturing step all the way to delivery to the end user. Fender obviously has set up their system where having 20% or 5% or 2% (whatever the rate actually is) of their guitars having defective fretwork is acceptable to them.
