My Blem CV-1 Arrived - Trainwreck Neck

chazmo

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Indeed, guys. I hope the necks are readily repairable. The good news, of course, is that bolt-ons are simple to take apart and put together. However, if there really are construction issues with the neck itself, that could be a problem.

Anyway, wishing you guys the best. FYI, there are a bunch of reclaimed (USED) Contemporary Series guitars on eBay right now. Must be that Fender decided to send the Tacoma facility stock out for distribution through this channel. Might be possible to get parts from these guys, if needed. Check the sellers out. If I recall correctly, most of their stuff routes through a company called MIRC (Musical Instruments Reclamation something-something)...

G'luck!
 

Jeff

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Scratch said:
Jeff; do you know why yours is held up?

:x :( :( :(

Ken,

Brady called me today, the neck on my CO1 isn't coming off clean, easy & simple, didn't come apart like he expected. Removed the bolts & she remains stuck fast. Brady says he's never experienced this problem on other bolt on necks & wants to quit now rather than bugger my guitar experimenting on the unknown.

He does have correspondence in to Fender for tech help,

In the back of my mind all along I've suspected trouble. I dropped in on the Tacoma factory twice attempting to weasel a tour, I met the fella claimed responsiblty for the design of the Contemp neck system. A Frenchman he was & I distinctly remember asking him about adjusting the neck on my CO1.. My question took him off guard & he backpedaled a bit, made some reference to finish problems involved.

Brady's gonna keep the guitar for now & wait to see what he hears from Fender. Keep me posted on your guys progress/success. Brady's open to do the job, just not without more understanding & acceptable odds on success.

I've written Fender myself, looking forward with interest to their response. It'd be real nice if they stopped in here & gave us a hand.

Good news is the little top cracks on my D25 were no big deal, & all is better now. I suspect the cracks were humidity related, 2 1/2 years a nursing home might dry a guitar out, huh??
 

chazmo

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Ugh, that blows, Jeff. If Fender give you no love (I can't recall if you bought yours new or second) then try contacting MIRC. They're the guys that riffle through a lot of the Tacoma guitars that were seconds.

Good luck, guys... This experiment of Tacoma's sounds like a real bust. :( The whole damn point of a bolt-on neck is to make it easy to repair and build!
 

cjd-player

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FWIW ... Guild's literature once said "Patent Pending" for their bolt-on neck joint. Since at one time I was considering the purchase of one of those, just for kicks I searched the U.S. Patents to try to find it. No luck. I found Taylor's and Garrison's patents, but no Guild or Fender patent for a bolt-on neck. Could be under an individual's name and Fender purchased it, but I couldn't find it if a patent was indeed granted. Then again, maybe their patent application was denied.

Too bad. If there is a patent, or if someone can find it, then you would see exactly how the joint is constructed.
 

chazmo

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CJD, you won't see a patent until it's been approved by the patent office. Applications are not visible to the external public (I think). Pat. pend. means an application has been submitted, not that a patent has been issued.
 

Scratch

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Jeff,
So sorry to hear of your ordeal. Ross has not touched mine yet. I took the F212 over last week for a new nutt and asked him to place it, as a priority, ahead of the CV-1.

I must say that I fear the same verdict, but it may be another two or three weeks the way things are going.
 

capnjuan

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Jeff said:
... the neck on my CO1 isn't coming off clean, easy & simple, didn't come apart like he expected. Removed the bolts & she remains stuck fast.
Bolts and Suspenders? Ugly stuff ... here's hoping the Fenders step up to the plate. J
 

cjd-player

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Chazmo said:
CJD, you won't see a patent until it's been approved by the patent office. Applications are not visible to the external public (I think). Pat. pend. means an application has been submitted, not that a patent has been issued.
The Guild literature that I have is from 2006, and I know I got it in early 2006 when I started looking for a D-55. Three years would be an unusually long time to wait for a response from the patent office (at least in my experience it was usually less than a year). So unless they are still litigating I would suspect that it was either denied or granted in a name other than someone in relationship with Guild or Fender (i.e. purchased by Fender). However, I fould nothing under bolt-on or other neck attachment methods other than the Taylor and Garrison patents. Even if it wasn't under Guild or Fender, I would think I would have found it searching about guitar necks. But you never know for sure. Maybe I simply did not find it.

You might be right ... the application could still be pending. If they're still litigating, then they would probably be into revised versions of the joint to avoid prior art. If memory serves me correctly I think you only get 6 months to respond to a denial. If true, then in three years they've likely been back and forth with Patent Office more than once.

My guess is that they were denied. Which may also be a factor in why they have apparently abandoned the Contemporary Series.
 

chazmo

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Took me over four years to get my patents through in my last job. Admittedly, that was software, so I'm sure it's different people in the patent office.

Indeed you're right, of course. There may have been prior art that precluded the patent, or Fender might've just given up on it.
 

Jeff

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If'n I wuz President of Fender, I'd need some pretty strong convincing to pursue this particular patent.
 

cjd-player

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Chazmo said:
Took me over four years to get my patents through in my last job. Admittedly, that was software, so I'm sure it's different people in the patent office.
Mine were all metals related ... new grades of steel. All went through pretty quickly. You're probably right about different times for different products.
 

chazmo

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Jeff said:
If'n I wuz President of Fender, I'd need some pretty strong convincing to pursue this particular patent.
Of course, I understand where you're coming from, Jeff...

Fact is, most organizations that go through an effort to make a patent application in the first place, tend to try to see it through. The patent portfolio is considered valuable to a company, particularly if it ever starts to look like an acquisition target. Even if Fender never used the patent again they might still try to see it through.
 

zplay

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Jeff said:
Scratch said:
Jeff; do you know why yours is held up?

:x :( :( :(

Ken,

Brady called me today, the neck on my CO1 isn't coming off clean, easy & simple, didn't come apart like he expected. Removed the bolts & she remains stuck fast. Brady says he's never experienced this problem on other bolt on necks & wants to quit now rather than bugger my guitar experimenting on the unknown.

He does have correspondence in to Fender for tech help,

In the back of my mind all along I've suspected trouble. I dropped in on the Tacoma factory twice attempting to weasel a tour, I met the fella claimed responsiblty for the design of the Contemp neck system. A Frenchman he was & I distinctly remember asking him about adjusting the neck on my CO1.. My question took him off guard & he backpedaled a bit, made some reference to finish problems involved.

Brady's gonna keep the guitar for now & wait to see what he hears from Fender. Keep me posted on your guys progress/success. Brady's open to do the job, just not without more understanding & acceptable odds on success.

I've written Fender myself, looking forward with interest to their response. It'd be real nice if they stopped in here & gave us a hand.

Good news is the little top cracks on my D25 were no big deal, & all is better now. I suspect the cracks were humidity related, 2 1/2 years a nursing home might dry a guitar out, huh??

Sucky news to be sure! What the Hell: could they have glued it on top of bolting it ..... and why?! I guess I shouldn't jump to conclusions, but as you say, Jeff, ya gotta wonder if they had a design flaw they were aware of, but chose to take it into production anyway. Regardless, I appreciate you seeing this through and reporting on it.
 

Jeff

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[quote="zplay.

Regardless, I appreciate you seeing this through and reporting on it.[/quote]

Hey Z,

I'm hoping to hear constructively from Fender, it's my best bet for fixing what should be a sweet little guitar.

Thanks for the attaboy, my dauber's been down for a couple days over a renegade homeowners assn board member. I took exception to the methods used to muscle a couple lady board members.

Wasn't all bad, highlight was when said renegade asked me to leave a common area volunteer work party. Got even more fun after I refused & was informed he could have me removed. I handed him my cell phone so's he could call for backup.
 

guildzilla

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Lots of very discouraging information on this thread, especially in light of the fact that FMIC appears to be dumping so many of these contemporary series guitars on the market as blems selling without a warranty. These defects related to the bolt-on neck are, if anything, more serious than the finish problems that affected the Corona guitars. And it sounds like the FMIC strategy is to get as much money as possible out of its defective inventory and pass the problems on to unwary buyers with little regard for the reputation and future of Guild guitars.

I hope you guys are ultimately able to get your gits repaired, but whatever curiosity I had build up about the contemporary line has popped like a balloon.
 

capnjuan

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guildzilla said:
... And it sounds like the FMIC strategy is to get as much money as possible out of its defective inventory and pass the problems on to unwary buyers with little regard for the reputation and future of Guild guitars....
Maybe FMIC needs a source of funds to pay for the ones/few they do fix ( "Why should we pay for it?" FMIC Mgmt.)

I wonder if a requirement for a patent is that the idea actually work ... if so, I can think of at least one good reason why the patent might be 'Pending'.
 

Dr. Spivey

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I agree 100% 'zilla. Would FMIC do this with a Fender branded product? I doubt it. It's one thing to sell cosmetic defects as seconds, mechanical defects are a horse of a different color.

FMIC has foolishly spent large money moving Guild around the country, this is one way to let the customer pay for it. :evil:
 

zplay

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Jeff said:
[quote="zplay.

Regardless, I appreciate you seeing this through and reporting on it.

Hey Z,

I'm hoping to hear constructively from Fender, it's my best bet for fixing what should be a sweet little guitar.

Thanks for the attaboy, my dauber's been down for a couple days over a renegade homeowners assn board member. I took exception to the methods used to muscle a couple lady board members.

Wasn't all bad, highlight was when said renegade asked me to leave a common area volunteer work party. Got even more fun after I refused & was informed he could have me removed. I handed him my cell phone so's he could call for backup.[/quote]

Way to stick to your guns, Jeff ..... though I hope not literally!! :lol:
So now homeowners assn honchos come equiped with henchmen? The assn pay for that too?
 

cuthbert

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These news are pretty scary indeed.

I just bought a CV-2C, and I'm waiting for the delivery...alI can say is that if this thread was in the public area, I wouldn't have bought that guitar... :x
 
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