Re: A (SAD) TALE OF TWO FENDERS.

On Feb 10, 11:06 pm, bertie <pwsguit...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Feb 10, 9:04 pm, persistent_offen...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:









On Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:38:28 +0000, Robert Manktelow

<robertmankte...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 23/01/2011 12:31, bertie wrote:
Dear Mr Fender,
                        Sorry you have been dead a while but I thought
I`d just let you know how things have been here recently. As you will
no doubt not have heard, I tried one of your Supersonic 22 blondes a
month ago, straight out of the box. It had a fault. A loud "crack"
audible when changing channel from clean to burn. Odd that your
Quality Control people in USA or more likely in UK hadn`t picked that
up. However, these things can and do occur ( however rarely ) even
with the biggest manufacturers.
       Imagine my....surprise, shall we say, when one was ordered for
me at another retailer which took three weeks to arrive, and that one
had EXACTLY the same fault.
        I work with many young people, some of which take Business
Studies at GCSE level.
I suspect they might have a couple of questions for you after I
explain to them what has transpired. These questions might be:
1. Do Fender use Quality Control procedures and if so, why didn`t they
pick up on these faults?
2. Two identical faults with the same product a month apart suggests a
possible design flaw; has such a flaw been recognised by Fender and if
so, why have the faulty examples been fixed prior to shipping?
3. Customers are in the dark as to when their order will arrive, an
attitude of " it will be here when it gets here" seems to be the norm
in the UK at least.  A person can send and track a letter for a couple
of pounds so why not with a £900 amplifier?

Obviously I am not going to pursue the illusive "non-faulty Fender"
indefinitely. I think one more chance will show me to be more than
generous and patient. Fender make sound equipment which can sound
great and I would like to purchase the above model from you but
remember, there are serious competitors not least, small operations
which will built ( hand - wired ) to order and that will probably be
my next port of call if Fender cannot supply me with a model fit for
purpose.
    PS wouldn`t it be a shame if some of the students used Fender as a
case study for a company with falling standards regarding QC and
customer support? A comparison with Gibson`s infamous "Norlin Period"?
I hope not, I have several of your very good guitars and have so far
had great respect for the Fender name.
Regards, Bertie.

I recently repaired a Fender Blues Deluxe in which all three of the
large power supply electrolytics were faulty (very low capacitance).
Looks like they were dried out having exceeded thier expected lifetime
possibly due to a lack of stock rotation by Fenders Manufacturing.
This amp was JUST outside its warrenty period which was good for Fender
at least:)
Big names dont always equal good quality but selling amps that ALL make
noises when switching is terrible, do they carry out final tests without
the speaker connected I wonder - that was hopefully a joke.

And the message is.....handmade is best. Just like guitars, really.

I love my Carvin - nothing special, just an old-fashioned California
blues amp, but for the price of a Twin Reverb the Rev could do
something really quite special to the same spec I'm sure.

Pete

Over the years....I`ve had, as far as I can remember:
Selmer Truvoice 10 watt combo ( great sound, not loud enough )
BEL 60 watt tranny combo ( crap but loud )
Linear Concord ( crap but quiet )
Solavox combo ( crap )
Fender Champ 1972 new. ( Very nice but only for practice )
Yamaha 100 watt combo new ( cheap, did a job, that`s it ).
Vox AC30 1973 ( great sound if on full or nearly full, very
unreliable  and HEAVY ).
Vox AC30 1960? beige head with diy  cabs containing one green 12" each
( good sound if flaky, ultimately unreliable )
Fender Bassman 50 head with matching 2 X 15 cab. ( fine sound for some
things, ridiculously heavy and big ).
Burman 50 watt combo ( poor sound, crap reverb, even Greg Burman had a
go at diagnosing faults over the phone-failed).
Musicman 60 watt head and 2 JBL 1X12 plus horn cabs. ( Heavy, couldn`t
get it to break up even on full which was stupidly loud ).
Peavey stereo chorus  circa 1990. ( lots of features but not a good
sound ).
Peavey bandit combo circa 1992 ( convenient size and weight but poor
clean sound )
Mesa Boogie 22 caliber ( very loud for size but harsh sound )
Mesa Boogie Mk 1V combo ( hideously heavy, very user unfriendly with
over complicated controls )
Peavey Classic 50 4 X 10 ( beautiful sound but too big and heavy after
car accident ).
Peavey Classic 30. Kept it for 15 years, no trouble other than
occasional valve change. A great amp. )
Mesa Boogie 50 Caliber Plus. (A very powerful amp for rock, clean
channel a bit prone to low frequency hum.)
       Plus I`ve used others in studios, colleges, jam nights, etc.
Had a Marshall Valvestate 80 80 around 1993. Most unreliable piece of
(new) crap I`ve ever come across. After 3 amp changes and 2 footpedals
in a month it went back to it`s makers.
      Consequently I`m simply choosing the sound and manufacturer that
has appealed most to me over that time span.
    If it goes badly then I`ll probably get another Peavey Classic.

PS. Also had Peavey TKO, Ampeg piggyback, and finally Ashdown 300 wt
bass combos. I still own a Trace Elliott TA 50 R acoustic amp which I
rate as the best invention since ......well, everything!. 15 years
with only one minor snag.
.

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