NTD disappoint

[Vinsanitizer]

Long story short, I've heard a lot of good things about Squier Classic Vibe 50's models, and for $430, I decided to take a chance on one, not expecting much.

Surprisingly, it's a great guitar in every way: good tuners, perfect fretwork, the neck is aligned right all the way around, weight is 8.2, etc. The bridge is kinda ass, the pickups are ok, the guitar isn't noisy at all, the weight is balanced, etc., but those can all be upgraded if I want.

I had some trouble intonating it, but I gave up for now, and figured that because the bridge (saddles mostly) are crap, I'll just finish it later.

Anyway, I had decided pretty quickly that I wanted to keep it, so I took off the pickguard film, and placed it in a guitar stand with some light on it so's I could admire it.

Then, looking at it from about 8 feet away, I noticed something odd, which in 45 years, I have never seen before in hundreds of guitars, of even the cheapest models...

Can you see it?

Hint: it's the nut.

 

[Kutt]

A bit hard to tell from the angle but are the nut slots all cattywampus?

 

[Dogs of Doom]

can't really tell either, is it not shaped & the high point is on the outside?

 

[Dogs of Doom]

here's how it looks on my end:

 

[lespaul339]

Can’t tell what you’re talking about from the pic.

 

[Mike_LA]

No slots?

 

[DirtySteve]

Unless it's that the strings aren't spaced evenly at the nut I don't see it.

 

[JeffMcLeod]

...so I took off the pickguard film, and placed it in a guitar stand with some light on it so's I could admire it.

Not sure what's so special about pickguard film, but hey, to each his own.

 

[LPMarshall hack]

Vinny! We’re dyin ova here!!!

 

[JJ119]

Nut sticks out a bit towards the 6th string side and 6th string is a bit off with it?

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Sorry, I had to go out for the day.

The problem is this:

The high-E side distance between the first fret and the nut, is greater than the same distance on the low-E side. The nut was installed crooked because the nut slot was carved that way. Therefore, this guitar will not intonate properly.

The distance by which it is off, is .6mm.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Not sure what's so special about pickguard film, but hey, to each his own.

At my local shop, once you take it off, you can't return it. Personally, I like that policy.

 

[Exotic]

oh for crying out loud get one of these and u don't need to worry

Ibanez 2459 X-Style Guitar | Reverb

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[fitz]

At my local shop, once you take it off, you can't return it. Personally, I like that policy.

But it's F'd up.
Not like you want to return it because it doesn't match your shoes...
It shouldn't go back on the wall, it should go back to Fender.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

But it's F'd up.
Not like you want to return it because it doesn't match your shoes...
It shouldn't go back on the wall, it should go back to Fender.

Yes, I know I can return it, plastic or not, and I have. I've been doing business with them for 26 years, they wouldn't even question me about that. They have a 7 day return policy too - they don't want people scratching guitars up and getting them all sloppy looking, then returning them. They are not Guitar Center, thank God. They've taken guitars back from me after 3 or 4 weeks before.

Personally, I'd like to see if this can be fixed. I really like the guitar, because otherwise, I can't find anything to complain about except the typical electronics. But I don't know how it can be fixed short of it having to go back to Fender. How the heck do you fix that? It has to be perfect down the micron.

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

One fix would be to cut the slot wider and install a new nut. It might look a little weird but if done right it really shouldn't be noticeable. It only needs to be a hair wider.

Looks to me like the first fret is actually crooked though and not the nut. That shouldn't be the case though because I believe they cut all the slots simultaneously, so if one is crooked then they all would be.

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

Not sure what's so special about pickguard film, but hey, to each his own.

... and yet couldn't even post a pic so we could too.

 

[DreamerDeceiver]

Omfg,
Is that a wound G ?

False alarm,
I need glasses,

 

[crossroadsnyc]

Yes, I know I can return it, plastic or not, and I have. I've been doing business with them for 26 years, they wouldn't even question me about that. They have a 7 day return policy too - they don't want people scratching guitars up and getting them all sloppy looking, then returning them. They are not Guitar Center, thank God. They've taken guitars back from me after 3 or 4 weeks before.

Personally, I'd like to see if this can be fixed. I really like the guitar, because otherwise, I can't find anything to complain about except the typical electronics. But I don't know how it can be fixed short of it having to go back to Fender. How the heck do you fix that? It has to be perfect down the micron.

You might remember that I went through something similar last year with a guitar that wouldn’t intonate properly … like you, I wanted to fix it so I could keep the guitar (especially since it was really for my daughter), but neither I, nor anyone at the shop could figure it out, so it was ultimately returned. Looking back, I wish I would have just returned it right away, as I would have saved myself a lot of frustration. There’s really just no reason to fix a new guitar when you could just swap it for one that was built properly.

Btw., what finish did you go with? This thread is full of so many mysteries.

 

[crossroadsnyc]

Omfg,
Is that a wound G ?

False alarm,
I need glasses,

Yep, that’s one of the mysteries to me … the strings look all twisted / weird to me for some reason. They also look like they are sitting on top of the nut rather than in a slot.