panic! NOW!! squier 51s to become scarce collectibles tomorrow!!

[jdjonsson]

Originally posted by DenverDave I've played probably 12 Squier 51's in various stores (GC, Media Play). All of them have had unacceptably sharp fret ends. It made me wish I knew how to file them down and smooth them off. If I did I would have bought one - especially when Media Play had them for about $89.00. As popular as they seem to be, you would think that the QC would be a bit better.

 

 

I think the fret ends are probably fine when the come off the assembly line in indonesia. My guess is that it's the tropics, and the wood is swollen with humidity. You bring it to the US, anywhere in the southwest particularly, and that wood is gonna dry out, shrink away from the frets, and voila, sharp edges.

 

EDIT: This probably means that they're using lower quality woods for the necks that aren't properly aged lumber. i.e. they're probably a little green.

[Burningleaves]

all the 51'a I played were turds.

[angus_old]

Originally posted by jdjonsson I think the fret ends are probably fine when the come off the assembly line in indonesia. My guess is that it's the tropics, and the wood is swollen with humidity. You bring it to the US, anywhere in the southwest particularly, and that wood is gonna dry out, shrink away from the frets, and voila, sharp edges.

 

 

I've been thinking about this... I've had REALLY good luck buying stuff online from Rondo (about a half hour from me) and MF (sometimes ships from KS, sometimes from PA or NJ).

 

I'm in NY, which has a similar climate to where the guitars are coming from - maybe the people bitching about the low quality of Agile, SX, Squier, Epi and the like are from elsewhere?

[RaVenCAD]

Ok, then between Dave and myself, we've played 21 '51s, and only ONE (1) has been what we consider to be a non-b-stock item.

Anyone else seeing more and more truth to the rumor we are discussing?

Perhaps the general public these guitars are aimed at (newbies) don't want a fixer upper? I can see guys like those on this forum, people that want to customize a cheapie and make it something unique (seen some really nice looking '51s on here!) buying them. But if a kid goes to GC, picks it up and needs a bandaid, they're not going to buy it, no matter how cheap it is.

Again, I'm NOT dogging the '51. I'm dogging the QC on it. When they get it right, it's not a bad guitar and certainly well worth the usual price of $100. But when they get it wrong, it's dangerous to play. That's a bad thing at the retail level.


Frets, why not go for both and average their looks? Double the fun

[RaVenCAD]

Originally posted by jdjonsson I think the fret ends are probably fine when the come off the assembly line in indonesia. My guess is that it's the tropics, and the wood is swollen with humidity. You bring it to the US, anywhere in the southwest particularly, and that wood is gonna dry out, shrink away from the frets, and voila, sharp edges. EDIT: This probably means that they're using lower quality woods for the necks that aren't properly aged lumber. i.e. they're probably a little green.

 

 

I wholeheartedly agree with this. I refuse to believe they ship THAT many guitars with THAT level of fretwork problems. No QC is that bad... Anyone bought a fresh one that was good but after a month or so the fret ends are exposed?

[jdjonsson]

Originally posted by onbongos I'm in NY, which has a similar climate to where the guitars are coming from - maybe the people bitching about the low quality of Agile, SX, Squier, Epi and the like are from elsewhere?

 

 

I'm in Utah, where the relative humidity in the winter is too low to measure, and in the summer rarely gets over 30%. I ordered my '51 and a Squier Affinity Tele Special from MF. Both were fine when they came out of the box. After about a month though, the fret ends got sharp. That was the wood drying out.

 

We need a distribution map to find out where people are who have sharp fret ends on their squiers.

 

Hell, I was in guitar center the other day, and I played an Ibanez Artcore AS73 that had sharp fret ends. I think it's just a hazard of a dry climate.

 

EDIT: Oh! and even my Les Paul Studio, which has heavy laquer over the fret ends has problems. I can see little chips coming out at the fret ends. and I suspect it's the same thing. I even went to GC here and checked out a couple used LPs, and they're all doing the same thing. The wood is shrinking from the dryness, and the frets start to poke out. In this case, causing small fractures in the laquer. (I guess Nashville has high humidity.)

[argh]

they are releasing a new squier 68

[Mind Riot]

I'm afraid one of my posts may have started all of this. I can assure you that I only relayed what I was told. It's entirely possible that the GC guy was talking out of his ass, and to be fair, he was not talking about GC in general but only that particular GC store. It's entirely possible that given slow sales this particular GC decided not to stock the '51 anymore. As far as I've seen I'm just about the only customer interested in them anyway.

I'm actually making a trip up there today to buy some headphones, I'll see if I spot any '51's on the floor. But this particular GC is not one of the busiest, they don't have too much turnover, so I kind of doubt it.

[DenverDave]

Originally posted by onbongos maybe the people bitching about the low quality of Agile, SX, Squier, Epi and the like are from elsewhere?

 

 

Well - Denver area is almost devoid of humidity most of the year so the shrinking fretboard makes some sense. But I've owned two Agiles and two SX guitars and none of those four have had fret issues at all.

[angus_old]

a squier '47 noncutaway hollowbody with a neck mounted pickup would be kinda cool. or would it be the epi '47?

[jdjonsson]

Originally posted by DenverDave Well - Denver area is almost devoid of humidity most of the year so the shrinking fretboard makes some sense. But I've owned two Agiles and two SX guitars and none of those four have had fret issues at all.

-- Properly cured lumber.

EDIT: And I think korea has a much dryer climate than say Indonesia. I could be wrong though... It sure looked like socal when they showed it on MASH

[Frets99]

Originally posted by RaVenCAD Frets, why not go for both and average their looks? Double the fun

hmmmm well everybody knows ugly girls try harder.... and Chuck Norris hasn't taken their virginity....

[RaVenCAD]

Originally posted by Frets99 hmmmm well everybody knows ugly girls try harder.... and Chuck Norris hasn't taken their virginity....

True, but pretty girls are all afraid of a little pain, and we all know the chief export of Chuck Norris is........ what? PAIN! So, he probably hits the ugly chicks too..

[Frets99]

BTW - the talk of wood is interesting. Cured/aged versus green. Effects of different temperatures n all. Living in the northeast, I do shudder when we go from one extreme to the other but my guitars have held up reasonably well.

On the other hand I have watched a friends Gibson LP turn to dust while he was playing in a show. I think it was raining. Bad luck that.... unless it was a Gibsun... wait... that's a different thread!!

[Shocker]

Originally posted by RaVenCAD I wholeheartedly agree with this. I refuse to believe they ship THAT many guitars with THAT level of fretwork problems. No QC is that bad... Anyone bought a fresh one that was good but after a month or so the fret ends are exposed?

 

I've never really seen this fret end thing, but then again, I live in a temperate climate and you guys (the rest of the US- believe me, California had no involvement) just went through winter.

 

Maybe they'll be better now that it's starting to be less dry/less humid?

 

//S

[angus_old]

mightn't bound vs. nonbound necks have something to do with it as well?

[jdjonsson]

Originally posted by Shocker I've never really seen this fret end thing, but then again, I live in a temperate climate and you guys (the rest of the US- believe me, California had no involvement) just went through winter. Maybe they'll be better now that it's starting to be less dry/less humid? //S

 

 

too late for me, I filed down all my offending fret ends.

[RaVenCAD]

lol, now the wood is going to expand and you'll have 3/4 size frets..... oh that'll suck!

[Shocker]

Originally posted by RaVenCAD lol, now the wood is going to expand and you'll have 3/4 size frets..... oh that'll suck!

 

I guess the real lesson in all this is...

 

Live in California.

 

But please don't come here, we're full.

 

//S

[Mind Riot]

Update:

I went to GC today and asked around, and this particular GC will not be stocking the '51's anymore. But that has nothing to do with any other place carrying them, as I said.

Folks talk about the fret ends like they only occur on '51's. You see it on many maple fretboard guitars of many levels of quality. Climate changes as they're shipped around the world, and changes in your location as seasons pass all take their toll. Even a nice guitar can have this happen, I remember one forumite with a custom Carvin that had the frets sprout when he went through a hard winter, although that was an ebony fretboard.

It's not hard, and shouldn't be a deal breaker. It's one of the easiest things to fix, you just need some kind of flat file. You can use a flat knife sharpening stone if you got one.

It's like if people complained about guitars that need truss rod adjustments and fret polishes every now and then. It's just normal maintenance of a temperamental wood instrument. The guitar will not take care of itself on it's own. If you are unwilling to learn to do it yourself, then take it to a tech and accept it as a cost of ownership. That, or only buy guitars with bound fretboards from now on, because this kind of thing happens. Even with the expensive stuff. No big deal.