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Damn, that's really disappointing!Man, I just took ownership of mine today... Very fun to play. Feels great in my hands. The wide range humbucker sounds AWESOME.
the bridge pickup is pitiful. It only picks up the G string at full volume, and only barely - if you lower the volume at all, it's completely inaudible. It otherwise sounds fine... I'm super bummed about this.I reached out to the folks I bought it from, since it apparently passed through their hands AND Fender's QC without noticing. No idea how they keep dropping the ball.
I saw one of these in GC last Friday, looked very nice.
I usually try out a few basses, actually bought a Jazz bass, but didn't even bother plugging this one in due to their issues.
(Not to mention I knew without knowing it wasn't as nice as the Squire I did buy.)
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As far as actual discussion goes, it seems like it's only me and @sonojono - every other sound sample or "review" hasn't mentioned any issue with them, which really makes me wonder... Granted, once these get in more hands I'm sure there will be more.
No my guess is it's the pickup that Gretsch uses in their G2220 Junior Jet basses. If it is then it might not be a true humbucker. But rather a single coil under that cover. I saw a post online about that and it was confirmed the pup was not humbucking. In fact, it was Low End Lobster who figured that out.
Gretsch 2220 - "No Humbuckers" Reparations
Are we talking customer reviews or store reviews? After every store with a Youtube channel seemingly ignored the issues with the Epiphone Newport's electronics, I've learned that it's best not to expect too much objectivity from them.
I'm dropping mine off with an authorized Fender repair center today... They weren't quite sure of what was up with it over the phone, but I figured I may as well take advantage of the warranty. Who knows if they'll be able to have it done in a timely manner, or exactly what the problem is in the first place. :/
So got mine yesterday. Gave it the ole, eagle eye once over and fit and finish seems spot on. Can't find any apparent issues. The neck is very nice. Frets are dressed nicely, zero sprout. Even the nut is nicely rounded on the sharp corners, can run my hand right to the end with no snags what so ever. Rosewood fretboard is very nice and evenly dark colored. So I don't have my amp here at house, but was able to plug in my fender mustang headphone amp this morning, and can report my bridge pickup seems to function properly. The store I purchased from ended up doing a nice QC and setup, and pickups perform perfectly. The only thing i have found, is the toggle switch is a bit scratchy when switching between pickups. Maybe a be of switch exercising will help it out. I'm still convienced a gold pickguard will make the overall appearance more appealing, but am loving it so far. Can't wait for first practice this weekend.
Figured this would be the best way to break down the QC issues I’ve discovered with the Mike Kerr signatures:
To put the speculation to rest (and a great one at that) most people including myself thought the “mini humbucker” in this bass is a Gretsch Junior Jet. Well, turns out it is in fact a “Mini humbucker” and not a Gretsch Single Coil “bucker”good job Fender!
Second, I’m noticing throughout the stock photos from the Fender website the string alignment from the G string is off from the pole piece of the neck pickup. I’m guessing this could result to the reason why I’m getting a “flub/out of phase sound” from the high G string??
I even used a magnetic film to see if the G was aligned. Telling from the photo, it’s barely where the magnet is compared to the other 3 strings.
Just recently Squier by Fender released their Rascal bass Paranormal series with this neck pickup and that one is aligned under the pole piece of the G string compared to the Mike Kerr.
However if you completely ignore all of this information out of the window and cover it up with distortion, then you have yourself a $1600 QC Signature Bass!
To put the speculation to rest (and a great one at that) most people including myself thought the “mini humbucker” in this bass is a Gretsch Junior Jet. Well, turns out it is in fact a “Mini humbucker” and not a Gretsch Single Coil “bucker”good job Fender!
Second, I’m noticing throughout the stock photos from the Fender website the string alignment from the G string is off from the pole piece of the neck pickup. I’m guessing this could result to the reason why I’m getting a “flub/out of phase sound” from the high G string??
I even used a magnetic film to see if the G was aligned. Telling from the photo, it’s barely where the magnet is compared to the other 3 strings.
Just recently Squier by Fender released their Rascal bass Paranormal series with this neck pickup and that one is aligned under the pole piece of the G string compared to the Mike Kerr.
However if you completely ignore all of this information out of the window and cover it up with distortion, then you have yourself a $1600 QC Signature Bass!
For the pickup pole alignment, I wonder if adjusting string spacing at the bridge could fix it. I ordered mine from Sweetwater but they haven’t even gotten the basses in yet, and then it will get sent to me. I might experiment with throwing one of my Hipshot bridges on the bass to see if it helps things line up better.
The bridge has 3 screwholes and is a string through, despite not being a string through body, just as a heads up. I'm not sure if the KickAss bridge will work without drilling into the body...
Hipshot makes bridges for both types. Most of the Hipshot bridges I’ve collected over the years are the FM1 five hole type which wouldn’t fit (I noticed the Mike Kerr jag was using the bridge from the American Standards in the marketing photos), but I just so happen to also have a spare FM2 3 hole bridge floating around from a bass project I never ended up finishing.
Does anyone know how these been selling? A friend of mine in a music store by me has one and they are real cool but every single person says the same thing not for a mortgage price. I like his bass for the wide range pickup but still like the pawn shop mustang bass way better they both sound similar and a tip for wide range pickup users do a series/parallel mod this bass has the four wires it’ll make this bass have many more sounds and there all great.
That’s great news! Looking forward to seeing how it’ll work out for you. Also to mention in your last comment, here’s a pic of the bridge alignment of the bass. As you can see the G is already at its last saddle position. Wish I could move it further to align with the neck pole piece
Man, I would love one of these but $1600 for a MIM? I’d insta-buy at $1000 and I’d think hard at $1200 but I don’t think I can convince myself at that price…
Alright, so the folks I dropped it off with just raised the bridge pickup and it's better... when both pickups are on. when it's just the bridge, it still phases out pretty noticeably. I'm pretty sure these are just Firebird pickups - if I can't gel with it, I *may* try to replace it. At least the bass is fun and easy to play, and the wide range 'bucker sounds great.
Alright, so the folks I dropped it off with just raised the bridge pickup and it's better... when both pickups are on. when it's just the bridge, it still phases out pretty noticeably. I'm pretty sure these are just Firebird pickups - if I can't gel with it, I *may* try to replace it. At least the bass is fun and easy to play, and the wide range 'bucker sounds great.
I agree. While raising the bridge pickup helped on my end, soloing the bridge pickup still phases out and the volume drops out slightly. Sounds great with distortion however. Final verdict. Not a good Bass worth the price tag. Wait a few months, buy used if you don’t mind the QC Issues.
