Fender Classic Series

[TelePaul]

What's the quality like on these generally? I assume they're mexi made? Some of them seem to have very cool features.

 

[lpdeluxe]

The Fender Classic '51 Precision Reissue is "crafted in Japan;" the others are "made in Mexico."

I've had two, and the quality has been excellent. The first one I got is the '51, and I fell in love with it. It's the Thump King. I changed out the pickup for a Basslines Quarter Pound single coil, and installed an American Deluxe bridge to replace the 2-saddle original. It drops right in, and has holes drilled for through-stringing. It has Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats, which I put on all my basses these days.

The neck is perfect for me. I can't tolerate skinny necks, and this one, while slimmer than the real thing, is nice and chunky. That's a deal breaker for some people.

Finish is even, glossy, and deep. I don't care for the butterscotch color, but you can't hear paint.

About a year later I got the Classic '50s Precision in "fiesta red," installed a Basslines QP split-coil and TI Jazz Flats, and gigged with it every weekend for the next year, until the band I was in broke up. Another great neck, another nice finish I thought was ugly, and the killer P tone. The band refused to let me play anything else, once I showed up at practice with it.

Eventually I used the '50s for trading stock, since I had started concentrating on playing my fretless Precision, and the '51 stays at a friend's house. I go down there and play every week, and he's really in love with it. He has a choice of a Jazz, a late '90s Gibson Les Paul Standard bass, and a Guild B4N, but they all sit in their cases now.

Things that aren't great: color choice, the vintage 7-1/2" fingerboard radius, the fact that you have to remove the neck to adjust the truss rod (but my two required a total of one tweak). Other things I love: the small vintage frets, overall feel and looks -- apart from the color.

If I were back in a band, and I wanted a fretted bass to play, I'd immediately grab another Classic '50s.

 

[TelePaul]

I was actually wondering about guitars....but I wonder does the same hold true with respect to the truss rod? It'd be a major deterrent...

 

[bongolation]

What's the quality like on these generally? I assume they're mexi made? Some of them seem to have very cool features.

The MIM Fenders range in build quality from OK to appalling. I attribute this to some very odd policies at the Ensenada plant that to me seem to me to be a prescription for bad QC.

I once examined an incoming shipment of five identical MIM artist series basses. One was fairly nice. One wasn't fit for firewood. The other three were somewhere in between with various greater or lesser faults. These were all from the same run and I think even had several sequential serial numbers, IIRC. QC was totally unpredictable, but generally pretty weak.

Of the hundreds of MIMs I've examined, this is about representative. The Mexican artist series instruments are often really attractive concepts, but the QC ruins them.

I personally think the Classic series is overpriced for what it is.

I only own one MIM myself, and it's a remarkable case. It was a Deluxe series Toronado. Incredibly, it actually failed QC, was never completed and yet somehow managed to be shipped and sold as A-stock anyway. The nut was never cut, the body was literally covered with cutting compound and several parts were missing or damaged. Amazing!

In that it was possibly the last remaining new Toronado in the country, I kept it, figuring I'd send it back to Fender at some point and have them clean up their mess, as I really liked Toronados, but I've never gotten around to it.

 

[eyema_believer]

I own a MIM Nashville Deluxe Power Telecaster. It's a very good guitar. I would say it's got more like premium parts on it, so I'm sure that helps. I could not have managed with a heel adjust truss rod though, because when the seasons change, it almost always needs adjusting. Nothing against the guitar though. I had a custom neck built for my other Tele... 1/4 sawn maple, and .880" thick at the 1st fret... 1 11/16" wide at the nut... it still needs adjusting from time to time!! If I were you, I would check out the Highway One series. It's american made, and comes from the factory with many of the upgrades people want to do. I got a HWY1 strat for my son, and it's fantastic. The most awesome feature is the jumbo frets.... If you have never played a well set-upguitar that has jumbo frets, you are missing out on some fine playing. The make the guitar bend like butter, and play like a dream! This is the deal breaker on the classic series, for me.... with the small frets, coupled with the old style 7 1/4" radius on the fretboard.... the strings are very stiff on such a guitar.The HWY1 also has real nitro paint... To top if off, it's the least expensive american made fender there is, I think.

Happy hunting!

~Shawn

 

[TelePaul]

I own a MIM Nashville Deluxe Power Telecaster. It's a very good guitar. I would say it's got more like premium parts on it, so I'm sure that helps. I could not have managed with a heel adjust truss rod though, because when the seasons change, it almost always needs adjusting. Nothing against the guitar though. I had a custom neck built for my other Tele... 1/4 sawn maple, and .880" thick at the 1st fret... 1 11/16" wide at the nut... it still needs adjusting from time to time!! If I were you, I would check out the Highway One series. It's american made, and comes from the factory with many of the upgrades people want to do. I got a HWY1 strat for my son, and it's fantastic. The most awesome feature is the jumbo frets.... If you have never played a well set-upguitar that has jumbo frets, you are missing out on some fine playing. The make the guitar bend like butter, and play like a dream! This is the deal breaker on the classic series, for me.... with the small frets, coupled with the old style 7 1/4" radius on the fretboard.... the strings are very stiff on such a guitar.The HWY1 also has real nitro paint... To top if off, it's the least expensive american made fender there is, I think.

Happy hunting!

~Shawn

Hi Shawn. I have a Highway 1 Tele and I would agree that they are absolutely incredible. I bought mine before the upgrades came in though, so I'm not sure where that leaves me with jumbo frets. Don't think I could stretch to a Hwy 1 strat but sure I'll see what's going when I get there.

 

[lpdeluxe]

I was actually wondering about guitars....

My bad. Being a Gibson guitar, but Fender bass, player, I naturally thought of basses.

I've owned 3 MIM Fender basses, each of which was very nicely made and finished, and were easy to set up: '01 or '02 fretless Jazz, Classic '50s Precision, and my current Standard FSR (ash bodied) P with a fretless Warmoth neck.

 

[eyema_believer]

Hi Shawn. I have a Highway 1 Tele and I would agree that they are absolutely incredible. I bought mine before the upgrades came in though, so I'm not sure where that leaves me with jumbo frets. Don't think I could stretch to a Hwy 1 strat but sure I'll see what's going when I get there.

I think they started with the jumbo frets in 2007....

 

[TelePaul]

I think they started with the jumbo frets in 2007....

Ah I see, thanks for that!