I finally took my Road Worn strat in for a fret level today...

[omni]

I could not take the uneven frets anymore. I swear those frets were put in by a chimp at the zoo. That goes along with the stock setup. I called Fender and they said I would have to ship it to a authorized repair center which is 7 hours away. I am having a local guitar builder do it instead.Beware the uneven frets on the road worn series guitars.

[It's Time!]

Originally Posted by omni

I could not take the uneven frets anymore. I swear those frets were put in by a chimp at the zoo. That goes along with the stock setup. I called Fender and they said I would have to ship it to a authorized repair center which is 7 hours away. I am having a local guitar builder do it instead.Beware the uneven frets on the road worn series guitars.

Those guitars are made like McDonald's hamburgers

[buyusfear]

Unless the guitar has been plek'd or is a PRS or Taylor (those two brands always seem to be A+ right out of the box), or from a small indi-luthier, I always suggest doing a quick dress. Really, it's not that much money and you will love your guitar that much more...

[eronson]

I would just go ahead and say beware of those guitars. I've played several of the srats and teles. Even a few set up still hated 'em.

[rhinocaster]

I really think this is where less expensive guitars show where money is saved. Part of it just has to be wood that is less seasoned and still thinks that it's a tree! I wouldn't be surprised to find that the necks on the Roadworns will continue to change for a while. This leads to some fret movement, relief changes and fret sprout. It would expect that to stabilize over time.

Mine needs nothing at this point, and if it's still stable next year I'll take it to my tech for a full fret dress in order to make it a good as possible.

[buyusfear]

Originally Posted by rhinocaster

I wouldn't be surprised to find that the necks on the Roadworns will continue to change for a while. This leads to some fret movement, relief changes and fret sprout.

Fret sprout?

Sorry bro, but you aint escaping that.
I worked in a guitar store as a daytech for several years, and whether it was a $200 Squire or a $6,000 John Cruz master built, when the heaters went on come fall, I busted out my flat file to them all.

[rhinocaster]

Originally Posted by buyusfear

Fret sprout?

Sorry bro, but you aint escaping that.
I worked in a guitar store as a daytech for several years, and whether it was a $200 Squire or a $6,000 John Cruz master built, when the heaters went on come fall, I busted out my flat file to them all.

It's just been a bit of an epidemic from what I understand on these guitars. I haven't seen it, but it's been a major "Sticking point" for many that have looked at the Roadworns.

[buyusfear]

Originally Posted by rhinocaster

It's just been a bit of an epidemic from what I understand on these guitars. I haven't seen it, but it's been a major "Sticking point" for many that have looked at the Roadworns.

I've seen them in person and they look great.
Really, I wouldn't let uneven frets and fret ends sway me. If it saves me a couple grand, I all over that.

These guitars are perfect, IMO, inexpensive, look good, and the rest who cares. I always spend hundreds on high end pups, pots, etc, so the cheaper that stuff is the better.

A fret dress is stupid easy to do, now that i'm not in the business I wish more guitarists would take the few hours to learn this. Nothing beats the joy of "fixing" a mutt and enjoying playing it.

Fret ends, I love when they stick out, 'cause to fix them takes no effort. a flat file, some sand paper, and a rag with polish and you're better than custom shop.

If I needed a strat or tele, I'd buy one of these in a heartbeat!

[hazel-rah]

surprised by the bad fret work? these are mexican fenders, right?

($1000 mexican fenders!!!!)

[Boris Bubbanov]

Frankly, I didn't see any RW fretwork I found unacceptable.

I wonder to what degree RW problems are worse in places with long and/or extreme heating seasons, resulting in very low relative humidity in stores, etc. Perhaps my experience is impaired because the Gulf Coast guitars have a fairly easy Winter life, but elsewhere when I have seen "fret sprout" I also see frets bulging up, this sort of thing at the same time, generally the same guitars. Perhaps the Road Worns are taking it the worst there, but I would not personally know that.

[robelinda2]

I'm loving my blone RW tele, but I have played a few shockers, the first few I played totally turned me off them, but when I played mine it was setup perfect, took it home! Love it. RW 50's strat next, I dont think of it as a relic, it was the nicest playing and sounding tele in all the stores I went to, logic would dictate that it was the correct one to buy!

[Targ]

zzz

[omni]

Well, this had nothing to do with weather., It was a shit job from the factory. Don't get me wrong the guitar is cool but it has needed much fine tuning that has added to the cost. I payed for a new guitar and I gotta have the frets leveled, crowned and polished. I call that Bullshit. I was happy upon the inception of my purchase but damn mang... that shit cost money! Hello! My rant. Sorry. I have to be honest this was my first MIM strat, I have owned many USA strats including a 1963 some 70's 80's 90's and a few 2000's.. I am terribly dissapointed for the coin I laid down on this one. Now, after the fret job I will give a new report to the outcome.

[masayako]

Can't wait for the report back. Please do share the result.

[Holliman]

My 2008 American Strat was perfect out of the box. 12 months later it's still the best playing strat I've owned. I live in the deep south so it's had it's fair share of whacky weather already.