Fender Player Series

darthed1981

In stores now, well Andertons and PMT at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liSQAy2HZhg 

What do we think?  Did the VFM Fender range get even more VFM?  Will we see a fire sale of old Mexi Standards still in stock?  Are these the new cool thing to scoff at because only CS masterbuilt will do...?

darthed1981

FWIW, I think they look cool, and look forward to trying some.  I have a Tele and Strat I'm fairly happy with, but one is never enough, plus there are some nifty offsets!

MikeB

I'm liking the new colours and the Floyd model. Nice flat radius and the tone for the bridge have got me tempted.

StefB

22 frets AT LAST on a Fender that isn’t either a USA model or Squier. I know there’s been the odd other one over the years but they’ve been few and far between on MIM models, even those with a Floyd. 

Bellycaster

StefB said:

22 frets AT LAST on a Fender that isn’t either a USA model or Squier. I know there’s been the odd other one over the years but they’ve been few and far between on MIM models, even those with a Floyd. 

And the Modern C neck too, which, out of all the Guitars I've played, I find is the comfiest profile bar my Wolfgang. These Player series are almost the same spec as the previous Am Std, but made in Mexico. I could really go for one.

johnl

What's the advantages / disadvantages of the 2-point trem versus the older style? Does it make a noticeable difference or is it just a stylistic thing?

Voxman

johnl said:

What's the advantages / disadvantages of the 2-point trem versus the older style? Does it make a noticeable difference or is it just a stylistic thing?

2 point is easier to set up, more stable, staying in tune better. I have this on my 2010 USA standard Strat and it's very good, although not quite up there with the trem system on my PRS cu24 which is superb.

stonevibe

They are getting poor reviews from owners, bad fret ends and poorly cut nuts, plus cheap Chinese pots, instead of half decent ones!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guitar/comments/8s4eme/discussion_do_not_order_the_new_fender_player/

skunkwerx

Well the Fender standard tele’s have come down a fair whack recently to £450! 

stonevibe

skunkwerx said:

Well the Fender standard tele’s have come down a fair whack recently to £450! 

I'd go for those instead unless you need the pickups/extra fret

dindude

stonevibe said:

They are getting poor reviews from owners, bad fret ends and poorly cut nuts, plus cheap Chinese pots, instead of half decent ones!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guitar/comments/8s4eme/discussion_do_not_order_the_new_fender_player/

Eh, how so. One guy posts on the internet, all the other comments are commenting on this comment without knowing, bar one who actually owns one and loves his new Player. The power of the internet..

Babones

I wouldn't be surprised by cheap, unbranded Chinese pots. The demos so far sound pretty bland to me. 

freakboy1610

Not keen on the offsets at all.

stonevibe

dindude said:

stonevibe said:

They are getting poor reviews from owners, bad fret ends and poorly cut nuts, plus cheap Chinese pots, instead of half decent ones!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guitar/comments/8s4eme/discussion_do_not_order_the_new_fender_player/

Eh, how so. One guy posts on the internet, all the other comments are commenting on this comment without knowing, bar one who actually owns one and loves his new Player. The power of the internet..

So a Fender dealer sends back the majority of their stock and that isn't a problem. Before the post was deleted it had pictures of the badly cut nuts, on several guitars/basses and if memory serves me correctly out of an order of 34 guitars they kept only 11 or so.

Sure its one person's opinion, however, that is a pretty poor quality control issue for Fender.

Just look at the string spacing on Fender's own site and see how bad the string spacing is!

https://shop.fender.com/en-GB/electric-guitars/stratocaster/player-stratocaster-plus-top/0144552531.html?rl=en_US

darthed1981

Well the range seems interesting, unfortunate if they have cut costs on the hardware.

Perhaps a poor batch for the dealer though?  Generally isn't QC from the Mexi factory considered pretty good?  That shouldn't change with a new model?

stonevibe

darthed1981 said:

Well the range seems interesting, unfortunate if they have cut costs on the hardware.

Perhaps a poor batch for the dealer though?  Generally isn't QC from the Mexi factory considered pretty good?  That shouldn't change with a new model?

I would agree, it has been good recently. If they have rushed these out, which is highly possible as there are 94 SKUs spanning over 21 different guitar models in this range. Well, maybe the QC has been dropped a bit?

Which is embarrassing as the price points have all gone up around £70 each on the RRP

dindude

stonevibe said:

dindude said:

stonevibe said:

They are getting poor reviews from owners, bad fret ends and poorly cut nuts, plus cheap Chinese pots, instead of half decent ones!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guitar/comments/8s4eme/discussion_do_not_order_the_new_fender_player/

Eh, how so. One guy posts on the internet, all the other comments are commenting on this comment without knowing, bar one who actually owns one and loves his new Player. The power of the internet..

So a Fender dealer sends back the majority of their stock and that isn't a problem. Before the post was deleted it had pictures of the badly cut nuts, on several guitars/basses and if memory serves me correctly out of an order of 34 guitars they kept only 11 or so.

Sure its one person's opinion, however, that is a pretty poor quality control issue for Fender.

Just look at the string spacing on Fender's own site and see how bad the string spacing is!

https://shop.fender.com/en-GB/electric-guitars/stratocaster/player-stratocaster-plus-top/0144552531.html?rl=en_US

How reliable is the anonymous source though? Could be a vendetta for all we know.

stonevibe

Well, it is always hard to know with the internet, but look at the pics on Fender site, as the closeup of the Stratocaster headstock clearly shows a poorly spaced nut.

skunkwerx

stonevibe said:

Well, it is always hard to know with the internet, but look at the pics on Fender site, as the closeup of the Stratocaster headstock clearly shows a poorly spaced nut.

What the helll! I just checked out the pictures on Fenders website, through that link earlier in the thread, scrolled along to the headstock pic fully expecting not to notice what was wrong  with my untrained eyes.. 

But I can see what you mean. 

The A D G B strings seem to be spaced equally, and probably too closely, but each E string is a mile away, as if to just use up the remaining edge of the fretboard to compensate for the inner strings being spaced too closely.. 

Is it just me or does the low E string look like its sat on top of the nut as well?! I’m not an expert in fender type nuts, but it looks like it hasnt got a groove anywhere near what it should. 

darthed1981

Badly cut nuts are pretty common on new guitars though, irritatingly, but it keeps a few techs in jobs.

I'd like to try them.  Also like the idea of a mexi standard bargain as well!

Babones

I want to like the Jag, but coil splits always sound bad to me. I'd rather it be a coil tap, so that top switch is useless to me. I'm not convinced by the Fender HB on its own. The clunky blade switch should be a Gibson style 3-way toggle.

I wonder where the E string would be on the fretboard, if it was in its saddle.