Quality Control? Real or Gimmick

Baxter and Jonathan Talk about the Gimmick of QC checklists. Is it a real tool or just a pencil whipped checklist?

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[anthonypanneton]

Quality ain't something you slap on a product after its been built.

[dw]

I like the old Fender bit from the Leo days.
Each person who worked on the guitar or amp had to sign off on it, so they caught errors and issues sooner in the process & got them fixed.

[virtuososo]

Reverend also does that "SE" thing. All the guitars come from South Korea, and are inspected and set up in Michigan before going back out. I have two, and the setups were spot on. (Go, Zack!)

[unclelefteye]

FWIW, I’m just one guy and it was one guitar, but the gorgeous Gibson acoustic I bought from you was an absolute fantastic experience. Clear and thoughtful communication, the guitar was packaged carefully, it arrived in better than expected condition, and there was even a thoughtful little “Thank you” in the case. Almost unbelievable, honestly. It was my first (in 53 years) internet purchase, sight unseen for the most part, so I may be spoiled now. Thanks guys, I will love her always and think you all every time I strum her. ❤❤😊

[dksdeathwish]

Sweetwater’s 55 point inspection happens as the guitar gets received. It gets processed and added to the website during the inspection. If it’s a guitar that doesn’t sell right away, every 6 months it is reinspected. Returned guitars are also reinspected. It’s a really great system. If there are any blemishes or chips or finish cracks or anything like that, if they’re not fixable, they will be marked as demos per manufacturers standards. If they are fixable there are some incredibly knowledgeable and talented techs working in the guitar gallery that fix them. The point of the 55 point inspection is that wether the customer buys a $400 guitar or a $4000 guitar, they both play great out of the box. I hope this answers any questions anyone may have! Love your channel guys!

[wisteriahill]

I'm a shredder guitar/extended range guitar player primarily, but I feel the urge to get a classy guitar from Casino this year. I still like to believe that there's value in who and what a person supports when it comes to merchants, and getting to listen to you folks speak on guitar topics and discuss the shop has swayed me. Keep the videos coming!

[JJ-nqll]

I order online from you guys few months ago, and my Strat was and is impeccable! Thank you! 🎸🎸

[BounceBoomBounce]

I bought a guitar once from a large retailer that supposedly does inspections. On that particular guitar there is no way they could have done anything more than glance at it. The bridge was installed incorrectly which caused the bridge pickup to push into the strings. There is no way it could be played like it was as no notes would ring out. It was something I could fix so I kept the guitar, and it plays great now. It was just a good reminder to never assume anything. I always need to check for myself.

[guitarsandguitaraccessories]

I used to be the warehouse manager for a medium big Midwest guitar retailer. We had a dedicated tech that restrung/checked the truss rod/cleaned/polished/checked the electronics on every guitar we sold. During the busy season that would be anywhere from 30 to 50 guitars a day. It was a well oiled machine, run by fear and pressure from the ownership. I don't miss that place at all. But it can be done with the right amount of staff who are paid fairly for the work they do.

[edpitman]

I received a masterbuilt Fender custom shop strat with a badly cut neck pocket causing a misaligned neck and lacquer runs in the finish - dealer over here in the UK picked it up, thank god for local businesses who care...

[kevinmayo]

I've got one coming Thursday from Sweetwater. I'm going to check the inspection date. Great question! Love your show!!!

[thesmellycatjazz]

Sweetwater checks it first. I just saw this under "Available to ship soon"

"This guitar is currently acclimating to the climate inside our warehouse before we can complete our 55-point inspection. Order yours now, and we'll ship it as soon as our team is finished with the inspection process, usually within the next 48 hours."

[mattwork]

Sad to say for me, FMIC and their custom shop have a real QC problem. Here’s my experience over the last 18 months

#1 - Masterbuilt Todd Krause Strat. Tone knob broken on arrival. Spins forever. 6 months back and forth with fender support for replacement (relic’d knob so needed matching one)
#2 - Fender Mod shop order. Received guitar, the QC Checklist was included. Signed off under picture of hard shell case I ordered. Guitar came in gig bag.
#3 - American Ultra Jazzmaster - Tone Knob was so tight it was unmovable. 4 of 6 tuners were so loosely installed the washers spun on them. Push button on vol knob didn’t work. Had to pull apart and reinstall. Worlds worst setup on a guitar. Bridge made loud clunking noise (different than usual Jazzmaster sound). Returned guitar.
#4 - Custom shop telecaster - Arrived with wrong neck (21 fret not 22 fret on build sheet). Wrong string gauge and wrong tuners (vintage not locking). 6 months ship back/replace.
#5 - Custom shop strat - Guitar was perfect, the included certificate of authenticity has totally different serial # than guitar. Still waiting for replacement COA.

[bdge]

Sweetwater inspects on arrival, photographs and weighs each guitar. They do not use stock photos for the listings.

[_NoDrinkTheBleach]

I bought a Sweetwater "exclusive" Tele about five years ago that was mostly amazing. There was some glue on the fretboard at the nut that could have been cleaned up at Fender, and certainly should have been noticed at Sweetwater during their "55 point inspection." There were also a few finish issues that should have been noticed at Fender and Sweetwater. But other than that, the guitar showed up well set up and actually in tune. I imagine that there's a limit to what can be done at the retail level, but there should be a little more care at the manufacturer. Especially with something above base model.

[gregweilersbacher]

I’ve purchase a Martin CEO7 and a PRS CE 24 from Sweetwater and when I received both of them they played great right out of the case. The PRS I gigged with on the day I received it and had to make no adjustments to string height, intonation, or truss rod tweaks. I haven’t had that same experience with most my local guitar shops.

[jameshughes]

My understanding from a friend who bought a guitar from SW- they perform the inspection once you purchase the guitar, not prior. So that makes sense on how they can afford to do it

[Jamzocd]

I ordered a Fender Player Stratocaster recently and I decided to upgrade the tuners. After changing the tuners out and restringing it I discovered that the nut was cut uneven, with a wider gap between the high E and the B string therefore making all the other slots off. It’s a beautiful guitar with a light weight and it wasn’t noticeable at first glance. But this defect wasn’t caught by either Fender’s QC nor the retailer that did their multi inspection. To the credit of the retailer they are going to cover the cost of the nut replacement and setup. But buyer beware that you need to look 👀 the guitar over with an eagle eye!

[jayhill]

Well, having dealt with Sweetwater I can say their 55 point inspection is a joke, they were ok about returning a guitar and getting another but the 55 point inspection was not done, the nobs were crooked and barely on, one of the pots was way loose, so I don't know how anyone actually inspecting the guitar could miss this !

[TheFeelButton]

When in doubt ship it out! Cheers Casino!!