Fender Player update... What to do..

TINMAN82

I bought an AVRI 52 tele in jan ‘17 (a bit more expensive too) with the same low e string problem. Like yours wasn’t a neck alignment issue it was string spacing at the nut. Can only assume they are CNC cut nuts and there’s sometimes a mismatch with a given neck.

I loved the tele otherwise- under 7lbs in weight, great neck profile and sounded perfect. Didn’t want to take the chance of a) shop messing up a nut reinstall or b) the guitar getting swapped by fender to a lesser example.

I chose not to have it done under warranty and paid a trusted luthier a small amount for a custom cut bone nut. Great decision, it’s like a custom built instrument now. If the guitar is otherwise good, the nut is an easy and inexpensive fix. 

skunkwerx

duotone said:

This reminds me of Phillip McKnight’s review of the American Professional Telecaster Deluxe.

https://youtu.be/3HatSqi7kmY

Dya know what I recently watched that actually. Could see the disappointment on his face.

skunkwerx

Im just on an unauthorised fag break, so I gotta be quick, but I should add, Fender Uk, Pedro, and our Matt (above here) have been nothing but exceptionally helpful with this so far, so massive kudos to them. 

I didnt want anyone to think I’m bashing Fender as a whole, and I’m certainly blessed to have had help here too! 

If you see this Matt, I will be home around midnight but I recieved your kind message and will respond to you asap when Im with the serial number etc! 

ICBM

TINMAN82 said:

I bought an AVRI 52 tele in jan ‘17 (a bit more expensive too) with the same low e string problem. Like yours wasn’t a neck alignment issue it was string spacing at the nut. Can only assume they are CNC cut nuts and there’s sometimes a mismatch with a given neck.

I'm certain they are not, from looking at the string spacing - especially given that it's differently wrong from the last one. If they were, there wouldn't be this problem.

They appear to be hand-cut freehand. As I said earlier this really surprises me given that it must be more costly, but if they were CNC'd or even cut with a simple multi-blade saw - or even hand-cut using a jig - then they would all be the same and all correct.

TINMAN82

ICBM said:

TINMAN82 said:

I bought an AVRI 52 tele in jan ‘17 (a bit more expensive too) with the same low e string problem. Like yours wasn’t a neck alignment issue it was string spacing at the nut. Can only assume they are CNC cut nuts and there’s sometimes a mismatch with a given neck.

I'm certain they are not, from looking at the string spacing - especially given that it's differently wrong from the last one. If they were, there wouldn't be this problem.

They appear to be hand-cut freehand. As I said earlier this really surprises me given that it must be more costly, but if they were CNC'd or even cut with a simple multi-blade saw - or even hand-cut using a jig - then they would all be the same and all correct.

Well the luthier I mentioned who builds guitars for pros looked at it, compared it with a CNC cut nut he had in a drawer and said he thought it was CNC’d....

Not sure it’s that easy to tell from photos.

The issue with my particular tele seemed to be the heavy rolled fingerboard edges, effectively narrowing the frets. The nut wasn’t right for that particular neck. Low e slip off was exaggerated by the vintage radius.

In any case, you’d expect a decent nut on a US fender. But I wouldn’t write off  an otherwise good guitar for it, so easily fixed.

ICBM

TINMAN82 said:

Not sure it’s that easy to tell from photos.

Yes it is, just look at it. The spacing between the slots is very visibly different - compare the E to A with the A to D for example.

And if you look at the guitar in the original thread, you can see that the slot spacing is *differently* wrong.



If they were CNC'd they would all be the correct spacing, unless someone purposely set up the program to do it wrong, with random variations... and surely you don't believe that.